Don Holmstrom, Blacksburg, VA

Warm-up Question

How would you define “forgiveness” if you could not use the word “forgive?”

Forgiving Sins

A middle-aged man named Charlie Ryder grew up in Ireland, the son of an alcoholic father.  As a boy, his father verbally and emotionally abused him, leaving young Charlie with low self-esteem and deep depression.

As a teenager, Charlie started his journey to find healing.  In college, he attended Alateen, a 12-step program for young people whose lives were affected by a family member’s alcoholism.  “Alateen,” Charlie says, “gave me a safe space to open up and share honestly about the shame and humiliation I’d felt growing up.”  He began to find peace.   

To completely heal, Charlie decided he would need to forgive his dad.  But how?  He could easily list things “that he hated about his dad.”  But for what was he grateful?  He thought of ways his dad had shown his love, including giving his son “pocket money,” as well as money for Christmas and birthdays.  

But a more important realization for Charlie was discovering his father’s history.  His father grew up in a family of alcoholism.  Both of his father’s  parents were alcoholics.  His father, also, suffered from depression.  Upon learning this, Charlie, for the first time, felt compassion for his dad.  

A few years ago, Charlie and his sister visited his dad in the hospital.  His father was dying.  Near the end of their visit, Charlie’s father took his children’s hands and expressed regret for what he had done.  His final words to them were, “I’m sorry.”  Charlie responded, “We love you, dad.”

At that moment, Charlie says, he knew he had truly forgiven his father “for harming me as a child.”  And then Charlie offers this insight, “Forgiveness is a very personal journey but it can be a wonderful act of self-love.”

Discussion Questions

Can you remember a time you were forgiven for something you had done or failed to do?  How about a time when you forgave someone else?  What did forgiveness feel like?  

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Genesis 50:15-21

Romans 14:1-12

Matthew 18:21-35

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

This Matthew text starts with a famous question from Peter and an equally famous response from Jesus.  Then Jesus tells a parable illustrating forgiveness and judgment.

Peter’s question to Jesus might imply that the apostle is uneasy with the notion of forgiveness being unlimited.  Let’s just get by with as little forgiveness of others as we can, Peter seems to say. 

Jesus answers:  Not a handful of times should we forgive, but over and over and over again!  (Note that “seven” is a “holy” number in the scriptural world.  “Seventy-seven” indicates unlimitedness.)

But the parable that Jesus tells also seems to imply a catch: repentance must come before forgiveness.  In fact, every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer we evoke this idea of repentance before forgiveness: “Forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”  Do you see such a connection between repentance and forgiveness?  

On the cross, Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  Does this imply that repentance must come before forgiveness?  Or is forgiveness a free gift, no strings attached?

Discussion Questions

• Who is forgiveness for:  the perpetrator, the victim, or both?  How would Charlie Ryder answer this question?
• Where is God in the process of forgiveness?

Activity Suggestions

• Write down the word FORGIVENESS on a sheet of paper or white board.  Using each letter of forgiveness, jot down a word that begins with that letter and is connected to forgiveness.  (Ex.  “F” is for “freeing.”)
• Read aloud the Old Testament text assigned for today.  It’s the conclusion of the long story of Jospeh and his brothers.  You’ll recall that his brothers sold Joseph into slavery.  But because of Joseph’s perseverance and God’s great love for him, he ends up becoming a revered leader in Egypt.  What happens to Joseph and his family due to the power of forgiveness?     

Closing Prayer

Gracious God, through your great love and grace, you continually forgive our sins and bring us to new life.  Help us to receive forgiveness with grace and humility.  And give us the strength and courage, O God, to forgive others as we have been forgiven.  Amen.

Sylvia Alloway, Granada Hills, CA

Warm-up Question

Think of a time when your brother, sister, or friend said or did something that hurt you very badly. How did you react? Did you eventually resolve the conflict? How?

Dealing with Discord

The current estrangement between once-close brothers Prince William, Prince of Wales, heir to the British throne and his brother Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex has been grabbing headlines for some time. The latest skirmish is about Harry’s memoir Spare, in which he speaks frankly about his brother’s bad attitude towards his mixed-race wife, Meghan Markle, and the disagreements between Meghan and William’s wife, Kate Middleton. 

To most ordinary Americans these quarrels over which tailor would alter Princess Charlotte’s flower girl’s dress for Harry and Megan’s 2018 wedding and Meghan’s audacious request to borrow Kate’s lip gloss sound trivial, but to royals they are not.

Then the London press got into the act, making every squabble public, usually siding with William, and adding a strong undertone of racial prejudice that no one in the palace denied. The hostile atmosphere became too much for Harry and Meghan. In 2020 they decided to renounce their royal status and move to the United States. To William, this was an insult not to be borne. His father King Charles (then Prince Charles) officially evicted the couple from their royal residence, Frogmore Cottage, in January of this year, when Spare was published.  By June they had sent the last of their belongings to Montecito, California, where they now live. 

In early August the transplanted royals extended an offer of peace to their brother prince by suggesting that they rent an apartment in Kensington Palace at their own expense, where they would stay during family visits. Journalists from local news outlets doubt that the gesture will be accepted.

Discussion Questions

• If you could give advice to Prince William and Prince Harry about ending their feud, what would you say to them? 
• What do you think about Harry’s offer to rent an apartment in one of the royal palaces, implying that he’d like to visit? Does he want to reconcile with his brother? Could there be any other reason for this gesture?

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Ezekiel 33:7-11

Romans 13:8-14

Matthew 18:15-20

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Jesus wants all his followers to be united as a family (John 17:20-21). But even members of the best families sin and need forgiveness. Sin causes rifts, even opposing factions, within Christ’s family. To avoid disunity, the church needs guidance in dealing with someone who sins against a brother or sister in Christ. Jesus provides one.

According to today’s scripture, there are three major steps in dealing with a Christian brother or sister who has wronged you. The first is the most important – and the most difficult: face to face conversation. Even secular psychologists and other health professionals recommend this. Putting it off, letting your anger and frustration grow will only make the job harder. Arrange a one-on-one meeting as soon as possible.

Simply and calmly, tell the person how they have hurt you. Then listen to their side. Were they unaware of the wrong they have done? Did they do it with malice, but now repent? Or are they unrepentant, still convinced that they are in the right? 

Step two deals with someone who refuses to repent and ask forgiveness. Now the wronged person widens the circle. He or she brings a friend or two from the church and confronts the person again, as the Jewish law suggests (Deuteronomy 19:15).  Jesus did not deal with individual sinners angrily or by threats. Neither should we. Again, the confrontation should be straightforward and peaceful.

Step three is a last resort. If the sinner is still unrepentant, he or she may be cast out of the church. Even now, the goal is restoration, not revenge. If someone is separated from their family, they may be lonely and desire to come back. The goal is always reconciliation; repentance is a necessary step to restoring unity within the Christian family.

Discussion Questions

• Tell about a time when you hurt someone you care about, but you repented, and they forgave you. Who or what helped you to repent?
• What do you think about the process Jesus recommends for keeping unity in the church? Would it be effective in your church? Why or why not?
• What positive actions do you think would promote unity in your church?

Activity Suggestions

• Divide the class into pairs. Each pair is to make up a brief story about two people who are carrying out step one in the unity process. Decide who sinned, what they did, and how the other person feels about it. What would the people say? Invent a dialogue between these people that includes either forgiveness or refusal to repent and present it to the class.
• Go back to the third discussion question. As a class, brainstorm some ideas about gatherings or projects that would improve the unity of the people in your church. Which ones would you like to see carried out? How might you go about it?

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord, you want your people to bond with each other in love and caring as your family, but we often fail. Forgive us for our carelessness and neglect of our brothers and sisters. Let your light shine from us, your concern for others motivate us, and your joy overflow from us to those who need it.  Fashion us daily to become more and more like you. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Faith Lens will not be published over the summer. But don’t worry, it will be back in the fall.

The next Faith Lens is scheduled to be posted on September 5, 2023 for Sunday, September 10.

Bill King, Blacksburg, VA

Warm-up Question

Make a mental playlist of your five favorite pieces of music?  How many musical genres are represented?  Is it all K-pop, metal, classical, rap, jazz, indie?  Do you have a mix?  What do your choices say about you?

Crossing Boundaries

Taylor Swift and The National have both been very influential musical artists.  But they have typically appealed to very different audiences.  Swift is the epitome of a pop star, mining her personal struggles for inspiration and pairing them with catchy tunes which have stadiums of adoring fans singing along.  

In contrast, The National has been the poster child for an indie-rock band, more at home in a grungy after hours club than an arena.  If Swift’s lyrics often sound like a teen’s diary, The National’s are brooding and obscure to the the point of incomprehensible.

So, according to a recent article The Atlantic, it is mildly surprising that Swift and The National have collaborated.  According to the review, both benefited from the interaction.  Swift’s new albums, Folklore and Evermore, feature moodier arrangements and show her “availing herself of the freedoms and imperatives, that men in rock and roll have long enjoyed—and projecting more ambiguity rather than wholesomeness and virtue.”

From Swift, The National seems to have learned to be less morose and abstract.  “In First Two Pages of Frankenstein the songwriting is tighter and often brighter, and Beringer’s [The National’s lead singer] meanings are remarkably direct.”  

Music fans are the big winners when stars push their comfort zones and learn from one another.

Discussion Questions

• How do you react when your favorite musical artist tries something new?
• In previous generations radio stations would play a “Top 40” format, which included many different styles of music.  You might hear country, rock, soul, and a show tune in the same half hour.  Today most people create a play list of their favorites or listen to a curated list on a streaming service.  What are the benefits and costs of each experience?
• Think about a time you have collaborated with someone else?  How were you changed?  How was the product on which you collaborated better or worse?

Day of Pentecost

Acts 2:1-21

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

John 20:19-23

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

It’s hard to say exactly what happened that first Pentecost.  A sound from heaven like a rushing wind, tongues of fire resting on the disciples—this is clearly figurative language which Luke uses to communicate an experience he can not really explain.  Yet, somehow God comes to the disciples in a way they can not deny, transforming them from a scared cadre of confused believers into people compelled to tell what Jesus taught and did.

Nor is it clear how Galileans are suddenly able to speak languages they have never studied.  Some scholars suggest that Luke (the writer of Acts) misunderstood what happened, that this is an example of glossolalia, the “speaking in tongues” we usually associate with Pentecostal worship.  But that is not what the text describes.  This is not people speaking gibberish, which others interpret.  Rather, people from across the empire hear their own languages spoken.  It is like a person born and bred in rural Iowa or Virginia suddenly preaching in flawless Mandarin or Kiswahili. 

Through we can not say exactly what happened, it is easier to see what it means.  There was no way the gospel message was going to stay confined within a tightly cloistered community around Jerusalem.  The rest of Acts shows the expansion of the Church’s ministry.  Peter goes to a Gentile centurion, Cornelius.  Paul travels through Greece, Asia Minor, and ultimately to Rome.  Pentecost serves notices that God intends for the way of Jesus to transcend the boundaries of culture, language, and religion.  This is a message for all people.

During the Church’s history that intention has often been frustrated.  Unfortunately, Christians easily misidentify their own culture as the one true expression of the gospel.  When that happens the Church’s confession is neither good nor news; it becomes just another defense of the status quo.

The Church is most faithful when it reaches beyond its comfort zone and hears and welcomes challenging voices.  It is most effective when it finds new ways to address the hurts and struggles which we all share.  Just as a lake needs a regular infusion of fresh water, so the church needs new voices.  Both grow stagnant without a renewing flow.  Unfamiliar, even disconcerting, voices are the lifeblood of the Church, keeping it in touch with the world for which Christ died.  They are God’s gift, pushing us to see how Pentecost was not a one-and-done phenomenon, but the template for how a Spirit led community looks when Christ is alive in it.

Discussion Questions

• What new voice has challenged you in the last week to think or act in a different way?
• What are your favorite hymns; do any of them come out of a culture different from your own?
• The Church is often accused of being out of touch with the world.  Do you think that is true?  What could it do to more effectively speak to your questions and concerns?
• A hallmark of the Pentecost narrative is that “each heard in his own native language.”  What new “languages” does the church need to master in order to proclaim Christ more effectively?  For example, how well do we speak “science?”

Activity Suggestions

Evangelical Lutheran Worship and many other hymnals  contain music from a variety of  nations and cultures.  Still, most of the hymns in ELW come out of Europe or North American.  Get an ELW or other hymnal and seek out hymns from Africa, Latin America, and Asia.  

• How are they different, both musically and in their theological emphasis, from those written in Europe or the United States?  How are they similar?
• How do they enrich the worship life of congregations which use them?  What would be lost if they were not part of the worship resource Lutherans share?

Closing Prayer

Surprising God, just as you came to the disciples in an unexpected way at Pentecost, come also to us.  Shake us out of complacency.  Makes us alive to the gifts which those who seem very different from us may offer to enrich our lives.  Give us wisdom to hold on to what is timeless, your unfailing love.  But also make us eager to embrace bold, creative ways to speak and live that love in our hurting world. 

Kris Litman-Koon, Mt. Pleasant, SC

Warm-up Question

Have you ever been to a concert for a touring artist or band? If you’ve been to several, what was your first concert?

Peace Out

After forming in Boston more than 50 years ago, Aerosmith recently announced their farewell tour will begin later in 2023. Aerosmith is heralded as the best-selling American rock band of all time. They have more sales certifications — multi platinum, platinum, gold — than any other American group. Over the decades, Aerosmith has released numerous songs that received heavy radio airplay — including Dream On, Walk this Way, and Sweet Emotion.  The band frequently makes the short list in rankings of the best bands ever. Aerosmith even has a roller coaster dedicated to them at Disney World. 

Citing a desire to focus on his health and family, drummer Joey Kramer will not be joining Aerosmith’s other founding members — Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, and Brad Whitford — for this finale tour. In their statement announcing the tour, the band said, “It’s not goodbye it’s PEACE OUT!” 

Discussion Questions

• Have you heard of Aerosmith previously? If so, do you enjoy their music?
• What activities, if any, could you see yourself enjoying for 50+ years?
• If you were saying farewell to your fans, friends,  or family, would you do something special for the occasion?  What would it be?

Seventh Sunday of Easter

Acts 1:6-14

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11

John 17:1-11

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Chapter 17 of John’s gospel takes place at the end of what scholars call “Jesus’ farewell discourse.” This discourse occurs during his final meal with his disciples before his arrest, and what he says during this discourse covers multiple chapters of John’s gospel. Chapter 17 marks a shift, however, because Jesus is no longer speaking to the disciples. Rather, he is now praying to God, and the listener/reader hears his prayer. 

In this prayer, Jesus sounds confident that God will see him through this hour. The way that Jesus uses the term “my hour” in John’s gospel has special meaning. His death, resurrection, and ascension are, though three specific events, understood as one single, cataclysmic event for both heaven and earth. To put it simply, all of existence and all of time — and beyond! — find their meaning and culmination in his hour. 

As Jesus begins his prayer in Chapter 17, he states that his hour reveals glory (quickly count how many times variations of “glory” are used in verses 1-5), though it is hard to peg down only one definition of this glory. Likewise, this hour reveals giving (quickly count how many times expressions of “giving” are used in verses 6-11), though it is hard to coherently chart what/who exactly is possessed by what/whom.

That incoherence might be the point. It’s as if he wants us to respond to his hour by saying, “Okay, we understand we can never fully wrap our minds around all this.” Yet, Jesus doesn’t want to leave us with only a sense of bewilderment, so in verse 11 he finally reaches the petition (i.e. “the ask”) portion of the prayer. Jesus asks that the Holy Father protect the ones who listen to his words so that they may be one.

Jesus wants us to know that as he leaves us in his hour, he hands us back to God. He hands us back because Jesus loves us, and in this petition we hear Jesus holding God accountable to the promises that God has made to us. Jesus assures us that our life together rests in and depends on God’s care. Discord within the community will take place, yet the assurance is that God’s protection (and the concord found within it) is always available to us by following Jesus’ teaching to love one another. Ultimately, this farewell prayer is not a mere goodbye to the community; this prayer leaves us with peace. 

Discussion Questions

• Do you think the petition for the community’s protection is a suitable farewell prayer? Would you have asked for something different?
• With Jesus’ ascension being an aspect of his hour, how might it be that God is glorified by Jesus handing over his mission to his followers?   

Activity Suggestions

This is the Sunday after the Ascension of Jesus, yet before the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. So our activity is attempting to keep a balloon in the air without it touching anything but our bodies. You can only tap the balloon, not hold onto it. No one can tap the balloon twice in a row. Depending on the space and the number of people, you may consider having additional balloons at play, or consider having a rule that everyone must touch the balloon before anyone can tap it a second time, or consider whether a one-on-one competition is suitable.

Closing Prayer

Loving God, you are the everlasting protection of those who listen to Jesus. Guide us in our ongoing mission of continuing his work: bearing witness to you through our embodiment of love, compassion, and dignity for every person. Amen.