Faith Lens

Maggie Falenschek, Saint Peter, MN

Warm-up Question

What are two or three things you are really good at?
Describe your personality: Are you funny? Kind? Compassionate? Assertive? Quiet? If you’re having trouble thinking of this on your own, ask a family member or a friend to help describe you!
What is an issue of injustice that you are passionate about?

Sacred Vocations

Have you ever heard the word vocation before? Sometimes when we hear this word we think of someone’s particular job or career, but it’s really much bigger than that! Sometimes it helps to think about vocation as your unique calling. God has created each of us with strengths and gifts— things that we are good at. In the same way, we each have different things we are passionate or care deeply about. Maybe it’s an issue of injustice that you see in your community. Perhaps it is something that you just love to do! When we combine our gifts and skills with the things we are passionate about, we may find our calling, our vocation.

We each have multiple vocations. We have vocations in our families: to be a child, parent, family friend, or guardian. In our daily lives we might have a have vocation to be a student, scientist, athlete, or grounds keeper. These vocations may change throughout our lives, but all Christians share a special baptismal vocation to use our gifts and passions in service to our neighbor and world. When we live into our vocations, we receive a greater sense of meaning and purpose for our lives.

Discussion Questions

What gives you a sense of meaning and purpose?
Think back to our warm-up discussion. How can you combine the things that you’re passionate about with your gifts and skills in order serve your neighbor?

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Acts 4:5-12

1 John 3:16-24

John 10:11-18

(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

Like us, Jesus had many vocations. He was a son, friend, and teacher. Jesus used the gifts of God and the movement of the Holy Spirit in his life for the betterment of the world. He brought those cast aside into community, healed the sick and hurt, and, ultimately, brought new life from death.

In our gospel reading for today, we hear about Jesus’ vocation as the Good Shepherd. There are things that any “good” shepherd does: tending to the sheep, keeping them safe from danger, bringing them to better pastures to eat. But this story speaks of Jesus as a shepherd who does more than just care for his flock’s basic needs. Jesus knows each of his flock by name; he seeks out those on the margins of the pasture and brings them back. Jesus lays down his life, risking everything for his flock. Even a “good” shepherd wouldn’t take that risk, but Jesus did. God did.

Jesus’ vocation as the Good Shepherd helps us to better understand God’s deep love and care for us, God’s flock. Through Jesus, God went through the depths of human life for us. Through Jesus, God was vulnerable. Because the thought of even one beloved child being lost or alone was too much to bear, God risked everything so that we experience healing, togetherness, and new life. God loves us too much to leave us behind.

It is sometimes intimidating to think of our vocation, or calling, as followers of Jesus. The invitation to care for our hurting world is overwhelming and we may feel utterly un-equipped to do so. There will be times when we surely do not live up to this vocation or the other callings in our lives. We may stumble, feel lost, or fail. But remember this: There is no failure, mistake, hurt, regret, or burden which can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Good Shepherd.

Discussion Questions

Can you think of other stories or words that describe Jesus’ vocation?
How do you react when you feel intimidated or overwhelmed? How can Jesus shepherd you through those times?
Divide a sheet of paper down the middle. On one side, list all of your strengths, skills, gifts, and resources. On the other side, list needs you see in your church or community. Is there a way that your skills, passions, and resources could meet a need in your community?

Activity Suggestions

Listen to the song “You Were Born” by Cloud Cult. Print out the lyrics and highlight the lines that stick out to you or connect to what you’ve learned about vocation.
Take the Via Character Strengths survey online. Did any of the strengths in your report surprise you? How do they fit into your vocations?
Read through the Holy Baptism (page 227) or Affirmation of Baptism (page 234) liturgies in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Circle all of the parts that are vocations or callings for us as followers of Jesus.

Closing Prayer

God, you call us into many sacred vocations. Guide us as we use our gifts and skills to make our community and world a more kind, just, and loving place. When we get overwhelmed or feel intimidated by this great call, remind us that you are our Good Shepherd and that there is nothing that could separate us from your love. Amen.

Bob Chell, Sioux Falls, SD

Warm-up Questions

Do you believe in demons? ghosts?
Have you seen or experienced an encounter with a demon or a ghost?
Is there a world we cannot see?

Seeing the Other

First, some of their names: John Williams, Michael Brown, Elijah McClain, Robert Long, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Dylann Roof, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Hyun Jung Grant, Darren Wilson. They were police officers and emergency room techs, artists and business owners, hard working and hardly working. Though DNA would almost certainly reveal all as multiracial they identified as African American, White, Native American and Asian American. Shooters and victims. Law breakers and law enforcement. Their stories unique, yet eerily similar.

We are weary of their stories, their sameness, their sadness. We want to celebrate Easter but looking for Jesus in our broken world seems futile. The gospel challenges us to look harder.

Discussion Questions

Each time a person of color is shot by a police officer, it’s a unique, one time situation, yet they are weirdly similar, and happen again and again. Why?
Who or what is responsible for shootings which seem unjustified? The officer who shoots? Systematic racism? Irrational fear? Poor judgement? Lack of training for those charged with a very difficult job? What other possible causes can you come up with?
Is the underlying cause unique or part of a troubling pattern?

Third Sunday of Easter

Acts 3:12-19

1 John 3:1-7

Luke 24:36b-48

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

Gospel Reflection

The disciples think they are seeing a ghost, a supernatural being of some kind. To ease their anxiety Jesus asks for food so that, seeing him eat, they will see him as their friend and not an apparition.

“The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon.” Those were the words of Darren Wilson, the police officer in Ferguson, Missouri who shot a young African American man, Michael Brown. “It looked like a demon,. So, Wilson said, “I shoot a series of shots. I don’t know how many I shot, I just know I shot it.” Not “him”, not “Michael”, not “a man”, a “person”, a “teen”, Darren, the man. Wilson said he shot “it.”

Set aside the question of guilt and innocence, right and wrong for a moment to consider the nature of what transpired. For some reason—denial, racism, PTSD, training, or lack of training— police officer Darren Wilson did not see Michael Brown. He did not a person, but a demon, not Michael, but an “it.”

I spent the last four years of my career as a pastor working with ghosts, some would say demons. Like Michael Brown, they are each “other” or “it,”something unlike you and I. Some were called monsters or demons. They were all inmate, prisoner, or con. Ghosts in khaki who walked the tiers of the South Dakota State Penitentiary. They were stripped of their humanity by the system which knew them only by their inmate number or their crime. In becoming inmates they ceased to be men and became “other.” Other than human, like Michael Brown, they became other than like me.

The disciples are“startled and terrified”, “disbelieving and …wondering.” They watch as ghost becomes man, becomes human, becomes Jesus, the friend and brother they lost only days before.

________________

It’s a mystery. I watched every Thursday night for four years as 12-15 visitors joined 100 inmates in the chapel of the penitentiary. It is jarring and anxiety producing to enter a prison, to be asked over and over again about cell phones and pocket knifes, tobacco and watches, chewing gum and shooting guns. Then the door to the sally port opens so you can enter. As the electronic gate slides shut behind you, you know what a sally port is without being told, a gate closed behind you, another closed in front of you. Then the same questions.

The gate before you slides open…through the lobby…up two flights of steps…another gate…more stairs and doors…and finally into the upper room, the chapel. You enter a world unlike that which you just transversed. The smiling men, some bearded or tattooed, some your own age or younger. Others are your dad’s age, or your grandfather’s. You remember, some came to this place at age 14. Which ones?

The men join in the opening hymn, “I saw the light.” They are all singing, not only singing but singing the way you do in a car on the way to the lake with friends, full volume and deep feeling.

The service is much the same as in your congregation, other than that singing, of course. At least until the Passing of the Peace. Then it’s pandemonium, everyone on their feet, moving around the room and greeting visitors and inmates alike. You realize, at some point, you have forgotten to be scared and are having fun, as the inmates greet you and thank you for remembering them.

Why do they thank you for remember them? “It’s because most are not remembered,” the pastor tells you. Most of the men won’t have a conversation with someone from outside the walls who isn’t paid to be there until next week’s worship. It is a different world. Prisons are full of ghosts, ghosts in khaki …until they walk through the door to the chapel. Then 34816 is transformed into Robert who you saw baptized. 74869 is David, a beloved child of God. 28482 is John, he’s in the choir.

One of the miracles and mysteries of St. Dysmas* (The ELCA congregations located behind the walls of the South Dakota State Penitentiary) is a first time visitor’s realization, “they’re just like us!” They ARE us. We are ‘us.’ There is only one us, one kind of people, lots of variety but we are all alike when it’s all said and done. None of us is defined by the worst thing we’ve ever done. Everyone who comes through the sally port the first time, inmates and officers, visitors and pastors, imagine they are different from them. Whoever they imagine the them to be.

________________

In the seven Sundays of Easter Jesus repeatedly appears to disciples who fail to recognize him, who are filled with fear and confusion, with joy and disbelieving. What can you glean from Jesus’ appearance to his disciples?

You are not a ghost, a child of a broken home, an irritant to your family, or a hopeless case. You are a beloved child of God. God has had an eye on you from before the beginning. God loves you and will never stop loving you—even if you dress in khaki one day.

God knows and God loves you, period. You may not feel lovable, and the truth is that sometimes we aren’t very loving to each other, or even to ourselves. But God sees through all that. God knows us and God loves us.

Jesus came to forgive. Jesus came to heal. Jesus came to raise us up from the deadness of our battered and broken lives, to breathe life into our despair. Just as Jesus gathered broken people to become his disciples, God calls to you and speaks the same blessing, “Peace be with you.”

Discussion Questions

When have you been seen as “other.” How did it feel? Has anyone first seen you as other and come to know you as a person?
Have you heard or seen people acting or implying as if other people we somehow “less than” or “other?” Did you say or do anything? Why or why not? Do you wish you had responded differently?

Activity Suggestions

This week watch for times of “othering”—in your home, at school, in church and with your friends. How Does Jesus appearance to his disciples encourage you to respond?

Closing Prayer

Jesus, help us to recognize those unlike ourselves as sisters and brothers. Break down our hesitancy and awkwardness in unfamiliar situations. Inspire us to make connections and build bridges when your people are divided. Amen.

CeCee Mills, Greensboro, NC

Warm-up Questions

What is your greatest motivation?
What gets you going in the morning or through a challenge?
What gives you the greatest energy?

Finding Hope

A year ago, we were all adjusting to an interruption. We expected that things would soon go back to normal. None of us imagined the loss of so many big milestones in the lives of students across the country. In-person school went away. Spring break went away. Proms went away. Graduations went away. Sports went away. So much that was a part of everyday life just went away.

The pandemic hit us so fast and so hard, we were initially just waiting for it to go away. But it did not go away. It still has not gone away.

The way we will get through the rest of the pandemic is by looking for the glimpses of hope. I search for evidence of God’s resilience and love. It helps me. Hearing about acts of kindness, seeing God’s creation, noticing small miracles, and marking progress of any kind are beacons of hope and light for me. Sometimes it is a random picture of a puppy or a powerful scripture. Maybe it’s an inspiring quote or the voice of a friend. I thank God for these daily reminders of God’s wonderful abiding presence.

Discussion Questions

What new habits have you or your friends began to help deal with life in a pandemic?
How can you create new habits to help you see God’s presence every day?

Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 4:32-35

1 John 1:1—2:2

John 20:19-31

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

Gospel Reflection

In the Gospel reading, we see the new reality the disciples face with Jesus’ absence. They are afraid and in hiding. The life that took them to strange lands with a teacher who performed miracles and spoke with true authority is over. Like us in this pandemic, they hope this scary time will end. The disciples hope that those who killed Jesus are not looking for them anymore. They want to stop feeling anxious everyday and worried about dying. They want their Rabbi back.

Then Jesus comes into their midst and lets them explore his wounds. Jesus relates to his disciples through the evidence of his suffering – it is their confirmation that he is the risen Christ. He breathes on them and gives them a new dose of hope. They do not return to the life they had with Jesus or the life they had before following him – they enter a new season. It is a post-resurrection season where they continue God’s mission without Jesus’ physical presence.

They have to let go of the yearning to go backwards and look at what lies ahead. It must have been amazingly hard to let go. It must have been amazingly wonderful to see Jesus again and witness the signs. It must have felt like confirmation of their call to be disciples. Jesus gives them the hope they need to complete their journey.

Jesus still does that for us. He fully recognizes the likelihood that we will hide our faith if we think it will offend or attract unwanted attention. He knows this and allows us seasons like Lent to focus on the wounds of Christ, so that we understand the cost. Yet that season is followed by the resurrection joy of Easter, which reminds us that by those stripes we were healed for a new day. We journey into the future, fully aware of the shadows, but expecting the illuminating light. We know God knows our questions and doubts.

Jesus acknowledges the disciples fears as he accommodates Thomas’ need to touch the wound. And God knows your questions and doubts. They do not surprise God because God knows the full story. God knows the hope you need to keep you on your journey.

Discussion Questions

How does God confirm who God is with you? Is it a song? Or a feeling? Is it by words or images?
Once you get that confirmation, how can you share that experience with others?
How can you help others to see how God provides confirmation for them?

Activity Suggestion

Pay attention to how you experience, witness, or feel hope during this pandemic in the next week. Share that hope with two people who are close to you and one who is not so close. Begin to imagine why God keeps you hopeful. How do you see God using you at this time to share the hope of Christ? Create a tangible object or picture that can be a reminder of the hope God provides. Put it in a place that is most helpful for you to see it and be reminded.

Closing Prayer

Dear God, you are so patient with us, even when we have lost patience ourselves. Thank you for abiding with us at all times and giving us hope in you. Help us be aware of the ways you reveal yourself and the ways you are present with us. Help us to share that with others. Amen

Steve Peterson, Moorhead, MN

Warm-up Question

Have you ever been so fired up about something you were doing that you lost all track of time. You lost any sense of being self-conscious about how you were being seen by others, just getting lost in doing something you believed in, found joy in doing? Can you describe what you were doing and what that experience was like for you?

Living Your Passion

Who do we think of as influential people, people who make a difference in the world, communities, or among family and friends? What qualities do we think of when we think of influential people? TIME magazine in early March of this year published a double issue featuring brief articles about those chosen as the 100 next most influential people. Many of the articles were written by previous Time 100 alumni.

For example, Greta Thunberg, TIME’s 2019 Person of the Year, writes about Vanessa Nakate, a 24-year-old climate justice champion from Uganda. Her African country is one the regions of the world most exposed to the adverse effects of the climate crisis. Nakate is making a difference through her Rise Up movement. She started the Green Schools Project to transition schools in Uganda to solar energy and champions education and empowerment for girls and youth women. She is a powerful example of what one young woman with passion for something she believes in can do.

The rest of the TIME’s 100 Next list includes, “doctors and scientists fighting COVID-19, advocates pushing for equality and justice, journalists standing up for truth, and artists sharing their visions of present and future.” Altogether, TIME describes these Next 100 Influential people as being characterized by, in the words of composer, lyricist and actor Manuel Mirander, “clear-eyed hope.”

Discussion Questions

What do you think motivates people who have a great positive influence on the world, their communities, and their friends and families?
What do you think either blocks or encourages people from “reaching for the stars” in terms of following their beliefs and passions and using their gifts in influencing positive change in the world?

Resurrection of Our Lord

Acts 10:34-43

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Mark 16:1-8

John 20:1-18

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

Gospel Reflection

Of the four gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) Mark’s resurrection story might seem the least fun and satisfying. Beyond a few common details, it feels like there is more going on in the other gospel’s. More conversation, more angel intrigue, more dramatic action. We get the sense in the other gospels that we can linger a bit in satisfaction and delight. We feel a little more like celebrating after reading the other gospel accounts of the resurrection.

In Mark, it’s just the facts: He’s not dead anymore, he has been raised, tell the disciples, you can see him back home in Galilee, he’s not here. That seems to be the point in Mark; he is risen, get going and meet him in Galilee! So, they flee in terror and amazement, afraid to tell anyone. Full stop. What is this all going to mean for them?

They knew what he was like before rising from the dead… stirring up all kinds of good trouble, holy trouble. Healing the sick, feeding the hungry, breaking down barriers between people which some powerful people don’t want broken down. He brought hope to the broken-hearted and release to all kinds of people, including some people not everyone wanted freed. He brought the Kingdom of God that he talked about. If that was what Jesus was like before, they must have wondered, what kind of good trouble will he get into now that he had risen from the dead? And they are supposed to meet him back in the neighborhood! Maybe that’s part of their terror and amazement, wondering what more might happen!

Maybe this gospel’s resurrection story is pretty exciting after all! Like the disciples, we are told to meet Jesus in our neighborhoods! Jesus has risen! He is meeting us in our neighborhoods, calling us to live his resurrection life with him. We are not alone. He is meeting us there; giving us the passion and gifts to make a difference in the world—feeding the hungry, healing the sick, telling the truth, tearing down walls between people by proclaiming and living Jesus’ love for all people, and giving “clear-eyed hope.” Jesus is risen, and he is calling us to live his resurrection hope and be an influence for his hope in our world today.

Discussion Questions

How might Jesus be present now in your neighborhood, school, community, and church?
Where might you meet Jesus in your neighborhood? What are some examples of what that might look like, how that might happen?
How might Jesus use your gifts, talents, and passions to be his presence in your neighborhood and in the world today?

Activity Suggestions

Ask an adult where they see Jesus in your neighborhood and what they think Jesus is doing or would like to do in the neighborhood. Take a walk or bike ride around your neighborhood. Where do you see Jesus? Where do you imagine Jesus’ resurrected presence might offer someone “clear-eyed hope” and love? Imagine other neighborhoods you have seen or heard of, anywhere in the world…imagine Jesus in those places…

Closing Prayer

Risen Jesus, thank you for showing us your power over death and all that brings death, sadness, hurt and suffering in the world. Make us instruments of your resurrection love and power in the world. Help us to live your resurrection hope in our neighborhoods. Amen

Leslie Weber, Chesapeake, VA

Warm-up Questions

Have participants talk about what their experience of Holy Week has been in the past. Possible conversation starter questions include:

Does the congregation you attend “celebrate” Palm Sunday on its own or combine it with Passion Sunday?
What ritual actions are meaningful to you on Palm/Passion Sunday? (waving palms, being part of procession, having a real live donkey, hearing the whole passion story, etc.)
Have you ever attended a Maundy Thursday worship service? What do you remember?
Have you ever attended a Good Friday worship service? What do you remember?
Have you ever attended an Easter Vigil worship service? What do you remember?
If you haven’t ever attended a worship service during Holy Week (Maundy Thursday/Good Friday/Easter Vigil), why not?

Provocative Palms

Recently, the Miami Beach City Commission approved an urban forestry master plan. The goal of the plan is to reduce the proportion of the city’s canopy made up of palm trees to 25% by 2050. By increasing the number and percentage of other trees that provide more shade in the city, they hope to extra comfort for residents and visitors, while also helping to “reduce urban warming, improve air quality, and absorb more carbon and rainwater.”

The master plan was passed unanimously, but now one city commissioner is speaking out against how the plan is being implemented. He and his staff are encouraging residents to oppose removal of palm trees as part of construction projects around the city. He is worried that as the prominence of palm trees diminishes in the city’s overall canopy, the city’s “historic, cultural, and economic brand” will suffer. The city commissioner’s aide commented “if this plan goes forward, they might as well remove the palm from our City’s official logo.”

The city’s environmental and sustainability director is speaking out in opposition to the city commissioner’s concerns, saying that the “city is not going around chopping down palm trees” and that at 25% of the total canopy, “palms will continue to be a focal point along the city’s roads, greenspaces, and parks,” even while shade trees are planted as a faster rate in order to “maximize the environmental, social, and economic benefits of trees.”

Full article: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article249432995.html

Discussion Questions

What are the pros/cons of Miami Beach’s plan to reduce the percentage of palm trees in the city’s canopy over the coming decades? (This is a great chance to practice considering all sides of an argument.)
List all the ways that you benefit from trees.
What are you, your household, your congregation, and your local government doing in response to or in an effort to slow climate change?

Sunday of the Passion/ Palm Sunday

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Philippians 2:5-11

Mark 14:1—15:47

Mark 15:1-39 [40-47] (alternate)

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

Gospel Reflection

Even if you don’t read any of the optional parts (Mark 14 and 15:40-47), this Sunday’s gospel reading is long. You may be familiar with the basic story, but the details vary across the four Gospel accounts. It is easy to overlook some parts during Holy Week. This is why it is helpful to hear the story as a whole on Palm/Passion Sunday, and then break it up into shorter texts. During Holy Week we hear short parts of the story, paired with ritual actions (Palm/Passion Sunday—procession with palms; Maundy Thursday—foot washing, Holy Communion, stripping of the altar; Good Friday—procession and adoration of the cross).

It is undeniable that this story is full of people and groups who have different expectations, hopes, and either a readiness or reluctance to change. Just in Mark 15:1-39, we get a glimpse of various people’s values/priorities:

The Jewish Leadership (chief priests, scribes, elders, whole council) is in search of a way to get rid of Jesus and keep their position as the religious authority (Mark 14:1).
Pilate is amazed by Jesus’ answers (and lack thereof) to the charges brought against him (Mark 15:5) but also wants to keep the crowd calm (Mark 5:15).
Jesus Is committed to in-breaking the kin-dom of God. Although he would prefer an easier way, he is committed to doing what needs to be done (Mark 14:36).
Barabbas and rebels are willing to kill in order to change the status quo (Mark 15:7).
The Centurion sees and confesses that Jesus is “God’s Son,” despite his position and background.

Throughout Jesus’ life, we see God working to turn the world upside down, to reorient people’s priorities, to make our world and lives look a bit more like God’s original intention for a creation where no one lacks anything.

God was never confined to the temple in Jerusalem. We confess that Jesus is God incarnate, in-fleshed, but the tearing of the temple curtain at the moment of Jesus’ death is a sign. It wasn’t torn from bottom to top (as it would have been if torn by human hands), but “was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Mark 15:38), as if today God has left the building. Today God moves among and through each of us to enact all that for which Jesus preached, worked, and ultimately died and was raised.

Discussion Questions

Read the text. What parts of the story jumped out to you as you listened this time?
Were there any parts that you did not remember or remembered differently? (Having a synopsis or parallel edition of the four Gospels would aid in comparing the details between the accounts.)
With which character in the story do you most identify and why? How do their values/priorities compare to your values/priorities?
How do you feel about change? Is there is something in your life, congregation, community that might need to end/die in order for something new/better to be established and flourish?

Activity Suggestions

Find a creative way to hear and experience the whole Holy Week story. Examples: there are YouTube videos of the Stations of the Cross, you can a buy or make a set of “resurrection eggs,” or (if it safe to gather and weather permits) walk around the church property or neighborhood, reading a different part of the story in a different location.
Make space for everyone to reflect on the story of Jesus’ Passion. Provide art supplies for doodling, offer paper and pencils for journaling, set up a prayer labyrinth, or any other means of personal or group reflection that your group would find helpful.
Palms
- If you congregation is supplying palms this year, learn about your congregation’s palms:
  - From what company do you order them?
  - Where are they grown?
  - Are they sustainably raised? (think about the environment and labor practices)
- If your congregation isn’t supplying palms this year, use construction paper (or other craft supplies) to make your own palms to use during the service. You can search the internet for ideas about how to do this, but an easy one is to trace your hand on green paper, cuts out 5 or so “copies” and then glue them onto a popsicle stick.

Closing Prayer

Redeeming God, thank you for all that you have given us, especially the gift of eternal, abundant life. Help us to know and work for your intentions in our lives and our world. Amen.

April 25, 2021-Sacred Vocations

April 18, 2021–Seeing the Other

April 11, 2021–Finding Hope

April 4, 2021–Living Your Passion

March 28, 2021–Provocative Palms