There is no Faith Lens this week
“The true light that enlightens every person was coming into the world…”
ELCA Blogs
John Wertz, Blacksburg, VA
Share a song that you really love and say why you love it.
Chances are you are looking at these words on a screen or that you looked at them on a screen prior to printing them out. According to a study released by the JAMA Pediatrics in November 2021, screen time for teenagers has increased during the pandemic from 3.8 hours per day to 7.7 hours per day. The 7.7 hours per day is for recreation (gaming and videos) and social interaction (social media and texting). That does not include online schooling, which can represent another 5-7 hours per day.
With increased screen time, comes the potential for an increase in other problems. According to some studies of adolescents, an increase in screen time correlated with an increase in stress and worry, along with a decline in the ability to cope with stress and worry. In addition, large amounts of screen time can impact sleep patterns and an individual’s eye health. For example, a study of 120,000 children 6-8 in China indicated that myopia (nearsightedness) had increase at a rate in 2020 that was 3 times higher than in previous years.
Given the extraordinary number of screens in the world and the continued need to connect digitally because of the pandemic, it seems unlikely that levels of screen time will returning to pre-pandemic levels. So how should we respond? Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School suggests “increasing non-screen time throughout the day. This could happen at the dinner table, while doing homework, and especially during sleeping hours.”
Some experts noted that there are simple steps to preserve the eyes, such as having good lighting at home and following the 20/20/20 rule when using electronic devices. That means taking a break every 20 minutes to look at an object at least 20 feet away for 20 consecutive seconds. While it will take years of study to determine the exact impact that increased screen time is having on our lives and our health, the initial studies certainly seem to indicate that managing our screen time more actively is an excellent idea.
(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 C at Lectionary Readings.)
For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.
If you have ever worn glasses or looked through a magnifying glass, you know that magnification often makes images clearer and easier to see. The image being magnified does not change, of course, but an outside magnifier makes a big difference in our ability to understand what we are seeing.
We live in a time when problems are increasingly magnified on all of our screens. For example, issues around COVID-19, racial injustice, and social inequity leave some people feeling hopeless and helpless. But what if we had an outside magnifier, so that instead of hatred, anger, sadness and despair, we see the peace, mercy, joy, and hope which God desperately wants for all God’s people?
When Mary, the mother of Jesus, first meets the angel, she struggles to see clearly what God is doing in Jesus. But by the time Mary reaches Elizabeth, Mary’s life is becoming a lens which magnifies God’s love and makes God’s vision for creation clearer and sharper.
In response to Elizabeth, Mary boldly proclaims, “The mighty one, has done great things for me . . ., his mercy is for those who fear him . . . . He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty” (Lk 1:49-53).
Through Mary’s eyes, we glimpse a promised future very different from Mary’s present and from the present many people know today.
Through Mary’s eyes, we discern the possibility that God works through the unexpected, the unlikely, and the lowly to bring extraordinary change and hope to the world.
Through Mary’s eyes, we see God’s vision for a kingdom where the lowly are lifted up, the hungry are fed, and all receive justice.
Her joyful, confident words help us see what she sees. Hearing Mary’s song doesn’t change our situation, but her faithful witness magnifies God’s love for the world and brings into focus God’s vision of a world where all people enjoy a life filled with peace, mercy, justice, and hope.
Possibility 1: Mary’s song is often called the Magnificat. It has been interpreted and set to music countless times across the centuries. Search for ‘The Magnificat’ on YouTube or talk to the musician at your church and identify 3 or 4 different version of the song in different styles. Listen to each version and invite to group to share:
Possibility 2: Download a set of extreme close-up pictures. Here’s an example from Reader’s Digest: https://www.rd.com/list/everyday-objects-close-up/. Show the pictures to the group and invite participants to try and guess what each picture represents. As a part of the discussion during the game, invite participants to consider how the magnification helps change the way one sees an object.
Open our eyes, O God, to see your love for the whole world. Inspire us to reflect and magnify your love through our words and our actions. Help us to know that you are with us in the ups and downs of life and to help to see the ways you call us to serve you in the world. Amen.
Alex Zuber, Harrisonburg, VA
When have you had a real “wake up call”?
It’s been nearly two years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have grown weary and complacent as the global crisis wears on. But our challenges are not over; just this week a new variant, dubbed “Omicron”, has been identified by South African scientists. In an address to the nation, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, “The emergence of the Omicron variant should be a wake-up call to the world that vaccine inequality cannot be allowed to continue.”
While many have grown weary, President Ramaphosa calls on the world to wake up, seek equity, and build up one another in the struggle against this virus. Lack of access to the COVID vaccine will affect the poorest of the global populations first. Ramaphosa argues that shutting down travel will only hurt the physical and financial health of nations who are beginning to see the Omicron variant, many of whom need support in producing the COVID-19 vaccine. This disparity in vaccine distribution will cost lives. While inequity may not be on the list of COVID-19 symptoms, it can be just as deadly as the virus itself. It’s easy to focus only on physical disease symptoms. But after all this time, we may need to wake up to the other crises of inequity and injustice which make this pandemic so deadly.
(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 C at Lectionary Readings.)
For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.
Right off the bat we see why Hallmark has a robust industry in Christmas cards and not Advent cards. “Happy Advent, You Brood of Vipers” might not sell too well as a holiday card, but these words are certainly a wake-up call for the audience of John the Baptizer.
With this abrupt beginning, it seems weird that the reading ends with “So, with many other exhortations, [John] proclaimed the good news to the people.” What part of brood of vipers is good news? Biblically speaking, calling someone a descendent of the treacherous serpent of Eden is no compliment. The blow is not softened by the following lines, which proclaim wrath, judgement, and the people’s need to repent. This is strong language, meant to grab the people’s attention and wake them up to their sinfulness and the suffering in the world around them.
It’s a wonder that John was such a popular preacher. He essentially begins his sermon with “SINNERS! Here’s how you’ve got it all wrong!” Nevertheless, John grabs our attention, and then unquestionably shares the good news. (He really does!) After this weird viper start, John lays out God’s bold vision for the world. In this world resources are shared, the wealthy aren’t predatory, and the powerful aren’t violently coercive. The poor are uplifted and the powerful are humble and responsible with their means. This is good news!
The gospel critiques power. The gospel turns the world upside down and lifts up the lowly. We who hear this good news are meant to bear witness, so that the gospel holds communities, individuals, and political powers accountable to God’s way of justice. good news, or gospel, is a bold statement from its very inception. It has deep cultural, personal, and political ramifications which turn everything upside down.
And isn’t that exactly what John does? Those with possessions, tax collectors, soldiers, you and me… John doesn’t let us get off easy. He asks great things of those who hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. John turns our self-centeredness upside down.
This text may seem heavy and out of place. Here we are, in a season of hope and joy, expectantly anticipating Christmas. Today is even called “Gaudete Sunday” across the church, meaning “Rejoice Sunday.” Yet Advent is more than the run up to Christmas. John’s message calls us vipers and asks a lot of us. Still, this reading gives us reason to rejoice. Even as John gives us a challenging wake-up call, the Good News is that there IS Good News—even for vipers.
Find a friend, neighbor, or member of your congregation and have a one-on-one conversation with them about what concerns they have in their life or their community. Practice “active listening,”where you summarize their statement with “I hear you say…” or “what I think you’re saying is…”. Do not offer commentary on their reflections, rather ensure that they are being heard and that you are aware of the needs around you.
Wake us up, Lord, to the needs all around us. As we trust that you hear the cries of our hearts, turn us from our viper-ish ways, and rouse us from our complacency to serve you in thought, word, and deed. Give us hearts full of rejoicing, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Scott Moore, Erfurt, Germany
Warm-up Question
When did you have difficulties getting in, on, or around some thing or some place?
Barrier-Free Love
Two years after the original projected date of completion, the Minoru Centre for Active Living in Richmond, VA is open. It’s not every day that a community gets a new center for events with indoor swimming facilities. It’s also not every day that such community centers win international prizes for their accessibility. The Minoru Centre, however, is one such place. The award was presented in Cologne, Germany by the International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, and International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities. Over 80 architectural projects from all around the world competed for prizes in various categories. The Minoru Centre is a wonderful example of how to make a facility accessible for everyone.
Pam Andrews, herself someone who faces various mobility issues, sits on the city’s design advisory panel. She brings a needed voice for the principal of universal access – for people of “all ages and all stages” of life. Universal access embraces the design vision that all aspects of a building can be accessed and used by everybody.
Some of the accessibility features at the Minoru Centre for Active Living: barrier-free front doors, accessible reception centers, ramps and “gentle steps,” as well as mobile lifts into the pool. Andrews’ advice for designers is that they should be, “focusing on universal design, focusing on one fit for everybody, no matter what their age, no matter what their needs, no matter what their abilities.”
Discussion Questions
Second Sunday of Advent
(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 C at Lectionary Readings.)
For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.
Gospel Reflection
Luke’s gospel is a story about the good news of Jesus. Luke wants us to know that Jesus is the Lord that the prophet Isaiah was talking about when he said, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” And, John, son of Zechariah, is the one preparing Jesus’ way.
John is out there preaching, baptizing, and inviting people to turn their lives around to meet the Lord, who is on his way. The prophet Isaiah paints an amazing picture of how extreme this preparation should be. “Every valley should be filled. Every mountain and hill made low. The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.” Any barrier for the Lord should be removed. Jesus’ way is barrier free.
This image is about making it easy for Jesus to get where you are now. This image is not just about little changes. It is about big things, too. Every valley, that means even the Grand Canyon. Every mountain and hill, that means the Rockies and the Alps and even Mount Everest. Crooked, straight. Rough, smooth. No twisty-turny roads to get lost on. No bumpy stony roads to stumble on. Easy access. And this access is a two-way street. If Jesus’ way to us should be made barrier free, then the same goes for our access to Jesus. Nothing should stand in the way of getting to Jesus. John the Baptist’s task, according to Luke, is to preach forgiveness for all who turn to Jesus, no matter where they find themselves in life.
Many things in our lives get in the way of hearing God’s word of forgiveness in Jesus. Sometimes it is the voice whispering in our ears, words of unworthiness. Perhaps it is the memories of traumatic things which keep us from believing that the way to Jesus’ love is easy. Maybe it is teachings we’ve heard which suggest that God’s love is not meant for us because of how we look or who we love. So we think God’s forgiveness is not meant for us.
Isaiah’s words are about extreme, barrier-free love. That seems too good to be true. God couldn’t possibly love me or him or her or them. Or could God, indeed, love any of us at any time, all the time? How many people do we know who find themselves living in a wilderness of their own making, desperately needing to hear a voice crying out into their wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord!”? God’s love constantly breaks into the world and Luke points to it. Isaiah points to it. Others around us point to it. We, too, can point to “barrier-free Jesus, for ourselves and for others in the world around us.
Discussion Questions
Activity Suggestions
With the group, check out your own church’s accessibility. Here a few questions to help you assess your own church:
Closing Prayer
Ever loving God, you made yourself more accessible to us in taking on our humanity in the person of Jesus. By reaching out to us, you have made it easier for us to reach out to you. Take away the barriers between us and you, and between us and those around us. When we turn away from you, call us back into your loving embrace. We ask this in the name of one who breaks down barriers with the most powerful love, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Jason Fisher, Champaign, IL
Warm-up Questions
When Your Temple Crumbles
The apocalyptic movie 2012 came out with a startling trailer that featured a Buddhist monk high up in the Himalayan mountains ringing a warning bell, as an enormous wave of water was about to crash down on him and destroy humankind in a flood of biblical proportions. The movie itself was pretty silly in places, but revealed what was most important to a variety of people as they faced the end of their world. Sometimes things in our lives can feel like the end of the world, especially when what we have relied upon for so long is being challenged.
In his book, Silence the Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise, Thich Nhat Hanh talks about two kinds of knots. The first knot is our notions, ideas, concepts, and knowledge. These things are not bad, but when we get stuck on them we miss out on the truth of life. If we don’t hold them loosely and someone challenges them, it can seem like the end of a world we have known and loved. The second knot is our afflictions, fears, anger, discrimination, despair, and arrogance. Thich Nhat Hanh believes that until these knots are undone we remain bound up and not truly free.
Thich Nhat Hanh writes; “These two knots, which are etched deeply into our brain and consciousness, bind us and push us to do things we don’t want to do; they make us say things we don’t want to say. So we’re not free. Any time we do things not from our desire but out of habitual fear or ingrained notions and ideas, we’re not free.”
Discussion Questions
First Sunday of Advent
(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 C at Lectionary Readings.)
For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.
Gospel Reflection
For many the season of Advent is a reminder of a time to prepare for the coming of dear, sweet, baby Jesus, not a time of distress, when people are fainting from fear. When we think of Advent we don’t typically think of apocalypse! The word apocalypse means “revelation.” So not only is apocalypse about the end of the world as we now experience it, but a revealing of a new world that God is creating. The season of Advent begins with a focus on Christ’s second coming, which can be terrifying for those who are unaware of God’s redemptive work and for those who cling to the things of this world.
The three sections of the text—The Coming of the Son of Man, The Lesson of the Fig Tree, and Jesus’ Exhortation to Watch—are all meant to be words of encouragement to believers whose world has been rocked by disaster.
The Coming of the Son of Man
This passage from Luke was probably written 10 to 20 years after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, which, to the Jewish followers of Jesus, would have seemed like the end of the world as they knew it. Jesus encouraged people to repent and follow his kingdom way. The message of Jesus to Jerusalem wasn’t accepted and the Temple was destroyed in their lifetime by the Romans. In the verses right before this text Jesus says the destruction of the temple will be ansign that Jesus has won and reigns at the right hand of God in heaven. New Testament Scholar N.T. Wright says that, “this passage is about the vindication of Jesus and the rescue of his people from the system that has oppressed them.” So while the world is shaken, they are encouraged not to shake, but, instead, to stand firm and look up, because their redemption now draws near.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
“Heaven and earth will pass away,” but the words of Jesus will not pass away. Some things are lasting and other things are everlasting. Seeing trees bud and bear leaves is a sign of new life in the spring. Jesus reminds his hearers that no matter how much their world seems to have changed, they should still look to those places where there is life and thus know God’s kingdom is near. Those who have not put their whole lives into God’s hands, but have instead trusted in lesser gods, will have a hard time seeing these small signs of life. They will be more concerned with what they have lost than with what God is bringing into the world.
The Exhortation to Watch
You can look around you today and find many examples of people who are frustrated with how COVID 19 has doomed their world. They become angry, violent, and cynical. Jesus warns his disciples against this and tells them to guard their hearts. In crisis people may lose their faith in God and turn to a “let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die,” mentality. This kind of selfishness and cynicism sneaks up on believers slowly. It might begin with a smirk at someone else’s misfortune or with a subtle comment like, “who cares?” But it ultimately ends with faithlessness and hopelessness in the midst of the disasters which surround us.
Yet God’s love for us breaks through all chaos in the person of Jesus Christ, for whom we wait patiently. Theologian Fred Craddock writes that, “Amid painful and prolonged suffering, when there can be seen on the horizon of predictable history no relief from disaster, faith turns its face toward heaven, not only for a revelation of God’s will but also for a vision of the end of the present misery and the beginning of the age to come.” Patience is essential and we cannot let the world’s cares bog us down. Instead we are called to stay alert and stay awake, to hold onto hope and hang on, for our redemption draws near.
Now, in order for that to happen, we may need to let go of some of the notions or images of the world to which we hold. Some of our ideas about how the world works and how God works may need to die in order for God to reveal new life.
Discussion Questions
Activity Suggestions
Creating an Advent Wreath is a traditional ritual this time of year. With these apocalyptic texts about destruction and world-shattering events in mind , make an Advent Wreath out of things that have been destroyed. Visit a thrift store or collect things that have been discarded on the ground. Wrap or glue them together to form a wreath and four separate candle holders. Maybe, instead of using new candles, find some old ones at a thrift store and add them to your redeemed advent wreath. Maybe this activity will reveal something new to you about what God is doing during Advent.
Practice the Ignatian Examen in the evening as a way to ‘be on guard’ and to ‘stay alert at all times.’ Begin by lighting a candle from your Advent wreath and give thanks to God for the world. Think about where you felt God’s presence during the day. Then think back on times when your notions, ideas, concepts, or knowledge were challenged by someone else, how did that feel? Did afflictions, fears, anger, discrimination, despair, or arrogance get the better of you? If so, simply acknowledge it and give it to God. Make an intention to work on that area tomorrow. End your time of silence with gratitude towards God. Try to repeat the process each evening in Advent.
Closing Prayer
Great Redeemer, we ask that you would help us to guard our hearts during uncertain times. Grant us strength to resist hopelessness and cynicism. Help us to look towards Jesus Christ that we might stand boldly with confidence and joy. Amen