Catalyst Question

H0w do you understand the word “gospel”? More than just a definition, what does the Gospel of Jesus mean to you?

Gospel in the Law

It’s official: commencement season has officially started. Across the country, many high schools and colleges have already held their graduation ceremonies. From South Cameron High in Louisiana, where the entire graduating class was 1 person, to the University of Texas at Austin, where more than 11,000 students are receiving diplomas, there are many people of various ages who are culminating education careers with earned degrees.

What’s fascinating is that graduation isn’t required. Most laws require education until a student turns 18. School attendance doesn’t equal graduation; after all, it’s possible to attend classes without passing and it’s possible to withdraw from school prior to completing coursework. Collegiate education isn’t required at all. Yet, there’s something about the mandate to learn that leads people to follow through to these experiences that recognize the effort they’ve put into their educational journey. This education requirement helps people discover academic passions, develop professional skills, and learn social responsibility. At some point, rather than being forced to learn, we choose to keep learning. Hopefully, this lasts for the rest of our lives!

In this way, graduation–both the earning of the degree and the experience of commencement–offers a good example of the Gospel within the Law: how we can experience good news in something we’re initially told we must do.

In John 13:31-35, Jesus gives his disciples a commandment to love. In some ways, this is strange. After all, Jesus came to fulfill God’s law on our behalf, ensuring we can share in the resurrection to eternal life. If that’s completed, then why is he doling out new laws?

It’s because this law of love directs us toward something that we all desire, and even need: love itself. A commandment to love one another isn’t about forcing us to do something unrelated to our own benefit. Instead, it fosters a world where we are loved by others, even as we love them, too. There is Gospel–good news–in this law because a world where we love one another is a world where everyone is loved.

That’s no useless law. It might just be the best news of all.

Ask Yourself

What are things in your life that someone has told you that you must do and that you know are also good for you? Name at least three.

Ask a Friend

What are two new ways that you can show love for someone else? What are two different ways that you want others to show their love for you?

Catalyst Question

When someone asks “who are you,” who do you typically respond to that question? What are 3-5 things that you share about yourself to indicate who you understand yourself to be?

Who Are You?

Last month, news broke that dire wolves had been brought back to life. Colossal Biosciences, the company behind the animal’s reintroduction, used DNA from well-preserved fossils to give these old creatures new life. Though only puppies right now, these canines will grow to become the largest wolves on the planet, not only by heigh but also by muscle mass. Though they won’t be as big as those depicted by HBO’s Game of Thrones, they’ll still be impressive specimens.

Certainly, this is an incredible feat. Yet, not all scientists agree that these are dire wolves. Some argue that these are, in fact, grey wolves with genetic modifications rather than true dire wolves. Rather than a true rebirth of an ancient species, they consider this a hybrid creature. Impressive, to be sure, but not an exact replica of the dire wolves of old. In their eyes, this is a case of mistaken identity.

Another case of identity confusion–or better yet, conflict–appears within John 10:22-30. There, Jesus is confronted by the religious leaders of his day, demanding to know whether he is the Messiah. “If you are the Messiah,” they demanded of him, “then tell us plainly!” Of course, he’d already told them plainly. By this point in John’s Gospel, he’d performed many miracles, accepted others claims that he was the Christ, and even used the “I AM” language reserved only for God. There was certainly identify confusion, but not because Jesus hadn’t shared his true self.

This was a classic situation of people seeing what they wanted to see; or perhaps, not seeing what they didn’t want to see. If Jesus was really the Messiah, and not some imposter, then that would challenge the authority of these religious leaders. It would shake the foundations of the very temple in which this conversation occurred.

Sometimes we struggle to acknowledge the truth that’s right in front of us. When it comes to the dire wolves, the jury is still out. When it comes to Jesus, though, the truth is clear: he’s saying he is the Messiah.

Are we listening?

Ask Yourself

Take some time to read all of the assigned lectionary readings for this Sunday. You can find them all here. What does God’s Word say about God’s self? How might that challenge your conception of who God is?

Ask a Friend

What’s something extinct you’d like to see brought back to life? How do you see God’s handiwork in that creature?

Catalyst Question

When you greet your friends, how do you first speak to or otherwise engage one another? This could be a phrase like “what’s up”, a special handshake, or other shared behavior. What does having this ritual indicate about your relationship?

May the 4th Be With You

This Sunday is a special holiday for a very specific segment of the population. For Christians who are also Star Wars fans, May 4th falling on a Sunday is a special occasion. Why is that?

An artist’s rendering of the B1 Battle Droid, featured prominently in Episode III.

“May The Force be with you” is a line in the Star Wars universe commonly used both by Jedi and their allies. The similar sounds of “force” and “fourth” has led to an unofficial, annual holiday where Star Wars fans greet one another with a galactically exuberant “May the 4th be with you!” This all coincides with last weekend’s theatrical re-release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. 20 years after its initial debut, crowds returned to the theater to experience the sci-fi series one the big screen once again.

Of course, in church, we often greet one another with the phrase, “(May) The Lord be with you.” It’s an especially common phrase in Lutheran liturgies, as well as Catholic, Episcopalian, and other denominations.

Each variation of the phrase serves as a sort of communal signal. If you say it to someone, and they respond in kind–“and also with you”–then you know that you share in a community together. The phrases serve as a kind of bidding of goodwill, wishing a divine presence be with community members when they are gathered and when they scatter.

In John 21:1-19, a resurrected Jesus appears to disciples in a number of places: on the sea while they’re fishing, on the shore amidst a meal, and in conversation about what life looks like in light of the resurrection. Even when it seems most unlikely–after all, he just died a few days ago–Jesus shows up in the lives of those he loves. Interestingly, Jesus does so without bidding. Jesus initiates the presence because Jesus wants to be with the disciples. Not even death will keep him from being with them–or us.

Jesus doesn’t show up because we bid him. Jesus shows us we can trust his presence at all stages of life. Sometimes, we’re looking for God to do something massive. Often, though, God shows up in the mundane. Fishing with friends? Jesus is there. Having a snack on the beach? Christ is with you. Talking about your future in light of recent struggles? God’s a part of the conversation.

When Christians say “The Lord be with you,” we’re anticipating God’s accomplished promise. Rather than hoping for something that might happen, we instead reaffirm that God’s already with us through the Holy Spirit. And that Holy Spirit? She’s certainly a force for good!

This Sunday, when you say “May the 4th/the Force/The Lord be with you,” remember this: when talking about God, we can trust with certainty that God is already with us. Even when it seems impossible, God’s presence with us is assured in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Ask Yourself

Why do you sometimes struggle to notice God’s presence? Name three places where you don’t often notice God so you can intentionally look during the coming week.

Ask a Friend

Where did you notice God’s presence in your life this week?

Catalyst Question

If you were living on a desert island for a year, with enough food and water to last indefinitely, what is one thing you would want to bring to make it the best life possible?

Peace with a Purpose

In John 20:19-31, a resurrected Jesus appears to his disciples twice. Often, when we read this passage, we focus on Thomas. He wasn’t present the first time Jesus showed up, and so was skeptical until Jesus appeared a second time. Some call him Doubting Thomas. Others emphasize Thomas’s devotion because he would only settle for the real Jesus and not any potential imposters.

Today, let’s instead focus on what Jesus says to the disciples during his appearances. Jesus sends the the disciples, just as God the Father sent him. Jesus equips the disciples to forgive sins. Jesus empowers the disciples, never alone, but with the Holy Spirit. As essential as each of these commissions are, they’re built upon something else.

Three times Jesus declares peace. In part this is because the disciples knew him to be dead just a few days before. Now he’s here, but with wounds still showing the evidence of his murder. How threatening would that feel!? Peace is needed. But more than this moment, peace is needed for the movement ahead. After a death wrought by violence, Jesus declares that the way of life is the way of peace.

Even so, violence still remains too present in our world. Another mass shooting, this time at Florida State University, reminded us of the violence so prevalent in the United States. This occurred after years of war in Gaza and Ukraine. In the face of such death, and at the absence of peace, we might despair.

Yet, that’s why Jesus resurrection reminder is so essential still for today. Peace is no less essential for life in our world than it is for the recently resurrected Lord. For life to continue, for life to thrive, peace is required. Easter reminds us that we live in the hope of resurrection, and therefore the hope of peace, even amidst the signs of death.

Small signs like that still show up. For instance, after three years of war in Ukraine, Russia recently indicated openness to substantive peace talks for the first time. This is no guarantee, but it is progress, especially since just a few weeks ago there seemed to be no end in sight. Now, we may see only a glimmer of possibility, but it is there.

The peace that Jesus sends us with is much more than this. It is a peace that passes all understanding. It is a peace that relies not only on the natural instincts of survival, but the supernatural experience of resurrection. It is a peace that promotes not only coexistence, but life abundant! That is the peace Jesus gives to us in the resurrection, and it is peace with a purpose: to bring abundant life to the very ends of the earth.

Ask Yourself

What does peace look like? What does peace sound like? What does peace feel like? Take time to reflect on these different senses of peace.

Ask a Friend

How can we work together to bring peace to places where we notice conflict? Strategize two different ways you can share peace in your daily lives.

Catalyst Question

What kind of evidence do you need to believe something is true?

Evidence of Life

Recently, the possibility of life on another planet hit the news. While studying a planet 124 light years away from Earth, scientists made a surprising discovery. Thanks to NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and an advanced understanding of physics, scientists identified two gasses in this plant’s atmosphere that, in our experience, are only produced by bacteria and phytoplankton. How could anyone know that these particles exist from such a distance? The telescope can identify the composition of the planet’s atmosphere by studying the way that light passes through it. Different gaseous components will mean that light behaves differently as it moves through those elements. Right now, with 99.7% confidence, scientists believe that the atmosphere of planet K2-18b is showing signs of organic life.

Artist’s rendering of planet K2-18b based on observed data. Used with permission from NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

The certainly of life was much lower when Mary Magdalene and the other women visited Jesus’ tomb on the Sunday morning after his crucifixion. In fact, they were expecting death. Luke 24:1-12 tells us that they’d brought spices to anoint him for burial, which was impossible to do after his death since the Sabbath had begun. They were showing up to complete the funerary process. But there was just one problem.

There was no body.

After a brief encounter with an angel, who said in no uncertain terms that “he is risen,” the women ran back to share the good news with the other disciples. Though they were much closer than 124 light years, no news could seem further from the truth. What evidence of there was life? At this point, none. There was, after all, an incredible lack of evidence. There was no body. Just like the particles on K2-18b, no one had yet touched Jesus body, whether it was alive or dead. It was just as possible at this point that someone had stolen Jesus’ body for reasons unknown; in fact, most of the disciples thought the testimony to the resurrection was an “idle tale.”

Yet, there were signs. That brief encounter with the angel was kind of a big deal. That angelic presence matched their previous experience of voices from heaven, miraculous healings, and power over nature. There was evidence that this resurrection thing was possible. It just wasn’t something they had touched. Not yet.

Today, none of us have touched Christ’s resurrected body. We, too, rely on the testimony of those who came before us. Just like this faraway planet, we might wonder how reliable the evidence really is. But there are signs. The taste of grace at the communion table is a sign. Waters washing away sin at baptism is a sign. Hope that perseveres despite the most dire circumstances is a sign, all that nothing–not even death–can separate us from the love of God.

Easter Sunday isn’t about academic certainty. Christ’s evidence of life is found in faith passed down from Mary Magdalene to today. Some will come to know this on the road to Emmaus. Others by touching his wounds. Still others like you and I who, for generations to come, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So today, and every day, we proclaim together:

Christ is risen!

Ask Yourself

What are three ways that I can emulate Mary Magdalene and share the story of Christ’s resurrection with my own community?

Ask a Friend

This Easter, what about the story of Christ’s resurrection gives you the most hope?