Colleen Montgomery, Salem, VA

Warm-up Question

What is your favorite font? Your least favorite font? 

What’s in a Font?

What’s in a font? 

 A recent episode of NBC’s Zoe’s Extraordinary Playlist contained a conversation between Mo (Alex Newell) and Max (Skylar Astin) about the menu for their new restaurant. Mo brings immense creative and relational wisdom to the duo, while Max is the details and tech part of the team. Mo asks Max to help decide on a font, saying the font needs to be something that both shows whimsy and strength. Max responds, “Like Cambria?”

Perhaps for Max, Cambria is a whimsical font, but most people would not describe it in that way. As silly as it may seem, people have strong font preferences and oftentimes intense reactions to particular fonts. We recognize fonts that go with a particular brand or that are used on a particular social media platform. Our teachers ask for papers to be written in a particular font. Our employers might have similar requests as well. And I bet if you ask your pastor, they have a set font that they print their sermons in each week. (I used to be exclusively Century Gothic, but have made the shift to Calibri in recent months.)

But did you know that even fonts can be political? 

A CNN article summarizes the findings of a 2019 study published in Communications Studies that researched the political polarization of fonts. “What’s in a font?: Ideological Perceptions of Typography,” breaks down which fonts are seen as more conservative or liberal and begins to explore the use of such fonts in political campaigns. They invite reflection on people’s reactions to the font and the formatting of messages, not just on reactions to the content alone. It seems that the font we use to tell the story may influence how people read it. 

Discussion Questions

• Is there a story or message you would dismiss entirely based on font alone? 
• What other things, previously perceived as neutral, have become politically polarized in recent months? 

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Numbers 21:4-9

Ephesians 2:1-10

John 3:14-21

(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 B at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

John 3:16 is one of the most well known verses in the whole bible. If people know any verse by heart, John 3:16 is probably it. We see it on billboards, social media posts, sports jerseys, and bumper stickers. Lutherans see this verse as one of grace and evidence of God’s love. However, not all Christians interpret the verse in this way. Even this most dear biblical verse can be used in a political and divisive manner. 

Some look at Jesus’ words, made to Niccodemus in the middle of the night, as an exclusionary verse. A directive about who is in and who is out of heaven. Some interpret this verse, especially the second half of the verse, to say that only those who believe and confess Jesus as Lord will be saved and permitted into heaven. With this interpretation, this verse becomes divisive, exclusionary, and even threatening. 

Yet, with a closer examination of the verse and continuing reading, we see more clearly the Lutheran interpretation of grace and inclusivity. Jesus does not say that just those who believe in him will be given eternal life. He is not making an exclusive statement. Jesus only says that those who believe will be given eternal life. He does not make any statement about those who do not believe in him here. Moreover, Jesus goes on to say in 3:17 that Jesus has come not to condemn the world, but rather to show love and to save the world. As Lutherans, we profess that it is the grace of God that saves us, and there is nothing we can do—including believe in God on our own- that can save us. 

Jesus’ words are often political and can be divisive. However, the gospel of Jesus invites, rather than excludes. It brings in, rather than casts out. It goes to the margins and the shadow places to bring hope and new life. The radical love of Jesus may cause some to walk away, however it is this radical love that I need, and maybe you need too. 

Discussion Questions

• What other biblical verses have you heard used in an exclusionary way? How have you come to interpret them through a lens of grace? 
• How does this radical love of Jesus empower you to live your daily life and interact with people who are different from you? 

Activity Suggestions

• Use Canva (canva.com)  or another graphic design program to create a poster sharing the radical love of John 3:16-17 (or another favorite verse). Share these on your own social media or on the churches platforms. 
• Look at your church’s website and social media accounts. Are the fonts, images, and content welcoming? Do they proclaim the gospel that your church believes in? 
• John 1 tells us Jesus is the Word of God and that all life came into being through Jesus. Including you! This means that Jesus loves all of you and your handwriting is one of Jesus’ favorite fonts. Draw a picture of yourself (stick figures allowed) and write Jesus loves me on your body. Or, take a washable marker and write it on your actual body. 

Closing Prayer

Dear Jesus, You are the Word of God made flesh. Empower us to live out the gospel with all that we are: our bodies, our minds, and our words. Remind us daily of your grace and love for us and help us to share that grace with others. Amen. 

Jeremy Serrano, Concord, CA

Warm-up Questions

• Do you have symbols that are important to you? If so, what are they?
• What do those symbols mean to you?
• How do you show they are important?

What Belongs?

Some people watch the Super Bowl to see the best football teams play each other, but for others it is all about the commercials. The 2021 broadcast was no exception. One commercial from a car company hit all the right points for many in the audience, yet left others feeling uneasy. 

It begins with a wide shot of a long road and man driving down it. After a few seconds of light music in the background, a voice says, “There’s a chapel in Kansas standing on the exact center of the lower forty-eight. It never closes. All are more than welcome to come meet here in the middle. It is no secret that the middle is a hard place to get to lately.” As sweeping shots of Americana imagery glide across the screen of wheat fields, trains, and houses (all with the car companies product in them, of course), the voice continues, “We just have to remember the very soil we stand on is common ground, so we can get there. We can make it to the mountaintop through the desert, and we will cross this divide. Our light has always found its way through the darkness. And there’s hope on the road up ahead.” It is as feel good as a commercial can get, drawing on a sense of collective nostalgia for small town rural America. 

This commercial has some beautiful and touching imagery, and the sentiment behind the speaker’s words is worth pondering. However, for the Christian, there is one image worth questioning. A panning shot inside the chapel shows a lectern with candles in the corner of the room, and, on the back wall, a map of the United States painted as the American Flag. Over the map is a black cross. The two symbols are conjoined as the main focus of the worship space. 

Discussion Questions

• What does the American flag mean to you?
• What does the cross mean to you?
• Do we risk conflating American citizenship with our faith when we mix national symbols with religious ones?

Third Sunday in Lent

Exodus 20:1-17

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

John 2:13-22

(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 B at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

We tend to think of Jesus as more tame and subdued than the author of John shows in today’s lesson. Nevertheless, Jesus enters the temple just before the celebration of Passover and shows that not everything belongs in a worship space. Jesus’ visceral reaction to the sellers and money changers—driving out the animals, pouring out the money collected, turning over the tables—indicates what he feels is appropriate in that space. Just in case his actions are unclear, he says “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market place!” (John 2:16, NRSV).

The main people involved are the money changers. They are a for-profit group who exchange foreign coins into local currency. Worshippers need to buy the animals for the prescribed ritual sacrifices of the temple, and so their services are much needed. 

The timing in John’s gospel is just before the Passover. The celebration of Passover is a multi-day festival which remembers the time God “passed over” the houses of the Israelites during the last of the ten plagues on the land of Egypt (Exodus 11-12). Passover has been one of the most important holidays for the Jewish people since the time of Moses. 

The setting of Jesus’ outburst is the temple. The temple was more than just a local church in a neighborhood; it was the epicenter of Judaism at the time. The Temple was the center, not only of worship and music, but also of politics and society.  It was the central place of both celebration and mourning. But, most important, God promised that it would be the dwelling place of God among the people.

Jesus’ wrath is not directed against those participating in or leading worship, but against those detracting from it. As evidenced by Jesus’ actions and words, he views the money changers and sellers as desecrators of the temple. Jesus says, “ Stop making the house a market place!” (John 2:116b).

Jesus’ prophetic action calls for the worship of God to not be an activity married to commerce. In this action, he shows that some things are not useful for worship, nor is everything that we do in our places of worship worthy of being there.

What incensed some of the 2021 Super Bowl audience with the car commercial was the presence of national symbols in a worship space. Two thousand years ago Jesus used an important holiday to show that not everything is acceptable in the worship space, even if it is useful. In the synoptic versions of this story, Jesus says, “My father’s house shall be called a house of prayer.” Jesus shows that the people working in the temple forgot to make the main thing the main thing.

Discussion Questions

• Are there any symbols or activities that don’t belong in a Christian worship space? Why not?
• How do we decide what symbols and activities belongs in the worship space?
• Do you think Jesus would cleanse any of our churches?  If so, what would he cleanse?

Activity Suggestions

• While you are online this week, notice where national symbols and religious symbols are intertwined. Pray for both our nation and the Church. 
• Take a moment to read the ELCA resource, “Are Flags Appropriate in church?”
• In worship this Sunday, identify as many symbols you can in worship, including clothing, images, and statues.  Look up what those symbols mean. Or call your pastor and talk to them about it.
• Imagine designing a worship space for your community with only 5 items or symbols.  What would you choose and why?

Closing Prayer

Holy God, you sent Jesus to guide us in all things related to our faith and lives in you.  Show us those things that bring you glory and give us wisdom, through your Holy Spirit, concerning the things that need to be cleansed from us and our communities today. Amen. 

Mary Houck, Decatur, GA

Warm-up Question

What do you predict will happen in 2021, and how certain are you that it will happen, on a scale of 1-10?

Seeing Clearly

Uncertainty is unsettling, and we’ve had a LOT of uncertainty lately. We’ve had constantly changing conditions and predictions concerning  the pandemic, on top of  a highly charged presidential election. Businesses are closing and laying people off. Churches and schools open, close, and go hybrid. How many times over the past year have we all wished for a crystal ball that would tell us what the world will be like in a year, a few months, or even in a few weeks?

According to a recent article, by Ruth Graham of the New York Times, there has been a big surge in the popularity of prophecy among some Evangelical Christians. This is a role usually played in stories by gypsies, witches, people cursed by Greek Gods, and that one weird professor in Harry Potter. But even Harry Potter, while attending a school for wizardry, was skeptical of prophecy.  Yet, some Christians in modern America look to pastors and other spiritual leaders to predict when the pandemic will end, who’s going to win the World Series, and when they will find love. 

They are frequently disappointed, as these self-proclaimed “prophets” are seldom right. However, people continue to support them. Even when they get things wrong,  followers stay loyal, hoping the next prophecy will prove true. A temporary feeling of certainty is so valuable that they give money to hear reassurances about the future. 

One modern “prophet” described God like this: “[If his] phone is on the table and he mentions wanting to go on a cruise, for example, the phone ‘hears’ him and starts offering advertisements for cruises, he said. ‘God works the same way,’ he explained. ‘He’s listening to everything you say.’” 

While it’s true that God is always listening and cares deeply about our prayers, God is not an automated service that caters to our desires like Siri or Alexa.

Discussion Questions

• In the warm-up question, did your group mostly make bold and specific predictions (Ariana Grande marries Patrick Mahomes!) or did you play it safe (At the end of 2021, the sun will still be shining)? 
  • What did you consider when deciding how certain you were about your prediction? 
• If you could choose one thing to know about the future, what would it be? If you had to pay or give something up to get this knowledge, what would you be willing to sacrifice? 

Second Sunday in Lent

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Romans 4:13-25

Mark 8:31-38

(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 B at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

Prophets in the Old Testament were not people with magical knowledge of the future. God sent ordinary people  to remind the people of Israel that they were headed for disaster if they refused to live in a loving community, as God had taught them to do. 

Peter is not usually considered a biblical prophet, but in today’s Gospel text he sure seems to think he knows God’s plan for Jesus. Just a few weeks ago we read that Peter was absolutely floored by the glory of the transfiguration.  God told him and the other disciples present, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him (Mark 2:7)!” Yet here Peter  rebukes Jesus for what Jesus is teaching! He doesn’t manage to listen for long before he decides he knows what is best for Jesus and God’s people. Jesus calls him “Satan” and points out that Peter is focused on human, not divine, things. 

It’s easy for us to get stuck in thinking about “human things.”  Some people listen to anyone who tells them God’s will is aligned with theirs (like the so-called “prophets” described above). Peter doesn’t like all this talk about Jesus suffering, being rejected, and dying.  He is expecting something more along the lines of the transfiguration than the crucifixion. Like him, we tend to project what we want onto what God wants. We tend to think that our favored politician, our opinion on schools opening (or not), our team winning, and our hopes for the future are clearly endorsed by God. When we focus on victory, glory, and self-satisfaction, we are definitely thinking about human things.

As Jesus explains so clearly in verses 35-38, we know our will is aligned with God’s when we expect to give ourselves away completely, in total humility, service, and sacrifice for our neighbors. When we do that,  we can be certain God will do amazing things. 

Discussion Questions

• What do you think Jesus meant when he told the crowd to deny themselves and take up a cross? What kind of sacrifices does Jesus expect from us now? 
• One of the above questions asked what you’d be willing to give to have special knowledge about the future. What are you willing to sacrifice for a future that is uncertain, but where God is in charge? 

Activity Suggestions

• Write a letter to your future self (6 months away) saying at least three things you hope for in that time and giving yourself encouragement. Ask your group leader, a parent, or a friend to give it back to you at the appropriate time.
• We tend to think of our lives as a narrative that follows a familiar pattern we learn from our families, books, movies, and TV shows.  But God sees many more possibilities. Starting with wherever you are in your school/work/family life, write a “choose your own adventure” story that imagines many different possible futures. You can do this by yourself or as a group, in which each member contributes a different possible chapter to the story. 
• Decide on a faith practice you can do, either alone or with a group, (for example, prayer, meditation, fasting, service to the community, singing or playing sacred music) that you can take up for the rest of Lent, with the goal of knowing God better and asking God to show you God’s will for your life. 

Closing Prayer

Gracious God, focus our minds and hearts on divine things and give us the courage to let go of human things. Give us confidence in the future you have planned for us, even if it is different from what we envision for ourselves. Amen.

Jason Fisher, Champaign, IL

Warm-up Questions

• How do you decide what you will wear each day? Has this changed since COVID?
• Would you wear something different if you knew you were getting your picture taken?

Who Are You–Really?

Photographer Libby Oliver has a portrait series called “Soft Shells” which explores people’s personalities through the clothes and accessories they wear. Instead asking them to pick out their favorite outfit and then taking their picture, Libby asks subjects to collect every piece of clothing they own and then photographs them underneath their huge pile of clothes! Instead of glamorous pictures of each person you gaze upon what looks like a heap of laundry. In all the photographs the person’s identity is completely covered up.

Libby’s photographs ask us to decide whether the things we own make up essential parts of our personalities or cover them up. She likes playing with the idea that we sometimes use the things we own as masks under which we  hide our insecurities from the rest of the world. In a statement from the artist, Libby says that her series “Soft Shells” speaks to human vulnerability, trust, and power. Clothes can be excellent at communicating which brands we trust, or showing others our own influence or power. Libby’s art is a stark reminder that, if we are not careful, our identities  get covered up or lost underneath the things we buy. Instead of being confident in who we are created to be, we hide our vulnerable selves under layers and layers of products.

Discussion Questions

• What would it look like if you were covered with all of the clothes you own?
• In what ways do you hide behind particular brands or products?

First Sunday in Lent

Genesis 9:8-17

1 Peter 3:18-22

Mark 1:9-15

(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 B at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

The reading from Mark today is a very condensed version of many of the stories we know about Jesus. What, in other gospels, takes six or severn paragraphs, Mark covers in seven verses. Yet packed within this short reading is the crucial pattern of what happens to all of us throughout our faith walk with Jesus. Jesus is called away from home, baptized, and tempted. Then he spends his life sharing the Good News of God. 

The ELCA talks about this pattern by saying we are Called, Gathered, Enlightened, and Sent Out. Another way to think of this pattern is language from Henri Nouwen’s book Life of The Beloved. Nouwen says we are Taken (Chosen by God), Blessed (Called Beloved by God in Baptism), Broken (Tempted), and Given (Sharing the Good News of God with the world). Taken, Blessed, Broken, and Given. We see this cycle in this short text and God invites us into it over and over again throughout our lives.

According to Nouwen, the life of faith hinges on God’s words spoken at baptism. Jesus would never have left home, been tempted in the wilderness, and then followed God’s call to share the good news (knowing it would lead to the cross) without a deep sense of his “belovedness.” Nouwen writes; “We ARE the Beloved and must BECOME the Beloved, we ARE children of God and must BECOME children of God, we ARE brothers and sisters and must BECOME brothers and sisters.”

Knowing our true identity is in God’s love for us is the key to fighting the battles against Satan, who tempts us to believe lies about ourselves. Nouwen says that we are most likely to be tempted away from our baptismal identity as God’s beloved when we believe one or more of these three lies:

• I am what I have.
• I am what I do.
• I am what others say about me.

Jesus went through horrific physical and mental pain: The people from his hometown thought he was a joke. The religious leaders told him he wasn’t being faithful to God. His friends ditched him in his moment of greatest need. On top of that, people constantly challenged his identity: “He eats with sinners. He has a demon. What makes you so special? That’s not the right way to do things.” Had Jesus listened to these voices, he would have traded his identity for a lie. The voice he kept in the forefront of his heart and mind was his heavenly Father’s, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Discussion Questions

• Which of the three lies do you most often listen to?
• How might Libby Oliver’s artwork relate to this passage of scripture?
• Where are you right now in the cycle of being Taken, Blessed, Broken, Given?

Activity Suggestions

• Make a pile of all of your clothes, or all of your physical possessions, and then take a picture of it. Keep it as a reminder that you are much more that what you have.
• According to a recent survey, the average person in the United States will have 12 different jobs in their lifetime. We are much more than what we do. Write down a list of the qualities or gifts that God has given you that you will share with others, no matter what job or career you might be called to.
• Reflect on the lies that others have said about you. Using colored markers write those lies on a piece of paper. Then take a brush and brush water over the lies until they melt away. After the paper has dried write, “I am God’s Beloved child and with me God is well pleased.”

Closing Prayer

Triune God help me to remember that I am your beloved. Remind me that there is nothing anyone can say or do that changes the fact that I am loved by You. Help me to see that before I owned anything you gave me everything I needed. Guide me to see that I am not my work, but that my work is found in sharing the love of Jesus Christ with others. Amen.

Grace Heimerdinger-Baake, Ankeny, IA

Warm-up Question

Have you ever transformed garbage into precious pieces of art? If so, what have you made and what did you use to craft the masterpiece.If you have not, what is stopping you from turning trash into treasures? 

Transformation

A recent article tells how a visitors’ information center in Kathmandu, Nepal is collecting trash from Mount Everest and is transforming the waste into art. Foreign and local artists transform the used oxygen bottles, torn tents, ropes, broken ladders, cans, and plastic into unique masterpieces. 

The information center displays the art with the hope of not only raising environmental awareness, but also generating employment and income. Proceeds raised from the art gallery will go towards conservation efforts in the region. 

Discussion Questions

• How would you transform the climbers’ waste into art? What waste materials would you use to craft the unexpected treasure?
• What other solutions exist in safety disposing the garbage from the climbers?
• How can you up-cycle the waste you and your family produce? 

Transfiguration of Our Lord

2 Kings 2:1-12

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Mark 9:2-9

(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 B at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

This Sunday is the story of the transfiguration of Jesus. Leading up to this important event, Jesus has been very busy. He finished feeding a multitude of people, cured a blind man in Bethsaida, and had a deep conversation about his upcoming death with his disciples. 

After all that, Jesus goes on a hike with three of his closest friends, Peter, James, and John. One might think this is a chance for Jesus to rest. Instead, Jesus transfigures (changes in form and appearance). Not only does Jesus’ appearance change, he is joined by Moses and Elijah. And then, God speaks, “This is my son, the Beloved; listen to him.”  

Peter, James, and John have just observed their friend transform into something unimaginable. It is only rational for Peter to express the desire to make three homes, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. He wants to preserve what he had just witnessed.

We know what the disciples may not have known at the time: the man who they went up the mountains with is the same man with the dazzling white clothes. Although Jesus’ appearance had changed, he was the same man, the same man whom the disciples witnessed feeding people, healing the sick, and walking on water. The transfiguration gives the disciples and us a new way of seeing and hearing Jesus.  

After coming down the mountain, Jesus commands his disciples to tell no one (including the other disciples) what had transpired until “the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” 

Mark’s gospel continues on from the transfiguration with additional accounts of Jesus teaching, healing, and foretelling his death and resurrection. The transfiguration simultaneously leaves Jesus changed and unchanged. 

The mountain waste in Nepal undergoes a transfiguration similar to that of Jesus. It begins as something ordinary, having served the needs of climbers, and acquires deeper significance and beauty.  The physical appearance is altered and the transfigured items provide for the needs of the native people. 

Discussion Questions

• When you hear the story of the transfiguration, what images jump out to you? 
• As the disciples and Jesus hike down from the mountain, Jesus orders them not to tell anyone what they have seen. Why do you think Jesus wants them to keep it a secret until after his death and resurrection? 
• On the mountain, the disciples are told to listen to Jesus. How do you and I listen to him? What role do the gospel stories play in shaping how we listen to him?

Activity Suggestions

Option 1: At the Transfiguration, the disciples are reminded that this event isn’t the end of the story; more is to come and they need to continue to listen to Jesus. A fun activity about a story’s continuation, and about our listening skills, is called One Word At A Time. This activity is best played between 2 to 8 people. 

Introduce the activity by telling the players they are going to create a story that’s never been told before, and this story will be created one word at time. Ask a player to share the title of this story and begin with the first word of the story. Continue going around the room with each player adding a word to the story. It is important to stay focused on the story as a whole while remaining relaxed and ready for your turn. 

Option 2: We don’t need to see new things. We need to see the old things with new eyes. Gather and clean waste items and transform the items into something useful or into art. While transforming, keep in mind that the milk jug you are using, is still a milk jug. You are just seeing it under new eyes.

Closing Prayer

Loving God, you led Jesus and his disciples up the mountain for his transfiguration, and there you commanded the disciples to listen to him. Open our ears and our hearts to always listen to Jesus.  May we be attentive to the cross as we prepare to embark on the season of Lent.  Amen.