Faith Lens

Dennis Sepper, Rosemont, MN

Warm-up Question

Do you ever think about the Second Coming of Jesus? What it will be like?

Basis of Hope

Colorado Springs, Colorado – Michael Martin was serving as a Mennonite youth pastor when news of the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School came as a “breaking news” story on his car radio. The news touched and troubled Pastor Martin deeply. As he went about his ministry he couldn’t shake the story and a feeling that he had to do something. A short time later Martin knew what he had to do. Pastor Martin left his ministry and, with his father, learned to blacksmith. They launched a non-profit faith based organization called Raw Tools. They collect guns—shotguns, rifles and handguns—and transform them, shaping them into gardening tools which are then donated to community gardens all over the United States.

Not only did Michael Martin take the words of Isaiah 2:4 literally, but Raw Tools paid attention to the rest of Isaiah’s words and part of their new ministry includes teaching and training people around issues such as restorative justice, conflict mediation, and active-bystander training. Martin really wants to give people hope, just like Isaiah did, that the current violence in our world is not the last word…that God will have the last word and it will be a Word of peace and justice.

Raw Tools website: www.rawtools.org

Discussion Questions

What do you think about Michael Martin’s ministry? Does it make sense to you? In what way?
Notice that there is an educational piece to Martin’s work. How does that line up with Isaiah’s words in verse 2:3? Is it important that our good works, our works of hope, be linked with some sort of instruction?
What are some other signs of hope that our personal futures and the future of the world will be a place of peace and justice?

First Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 2:1-5

Romans 13:11-14

Matthew 24:36-44

(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

December 1^st marks the beginning of the church year season of Advent. Advent is a season of hope, preparation, and anticipation of the coming of God into our world and into our lives. Advent creates this experience of preparation and anticipation by looking to the past (and remembering the coming of Jesus years ago), the present (how Christ comes to us today in Word and Sacrament and through the Holy Spirit), and the future (the promise that Jesus will come again). The readings for this season are meant to “wake us from sleep” (Romans 13:11) and help us to be attentive to what God is doing in the world today.

At first glance today’s reading from Matthew is quite troubling. Does Jesus really mean that his return will be like the flood in the time of Noah? Will it be like the coming of a thief in the night? Will suddenly some people be taken and others left behind? That doesn’t seem like the kind of thing Jesus would teach or preach. The clues to this reading are found in the first and the last verses. They emphasize that one, even Jesus doesn’t know the time of his return because God is the one in charge and two, we should be ready for Jesus’ coming in each moment.

I often say to others that I hope that when Jesus returns I will be in the midst of my morning devotions with an open Bible in front of me and not when I am watching football with a bag of Cheetos on my chest! We just do not know when that time will be. So, how do we stay awake and ready and prepared? About a month ago one of the pastors at the church I attend preached a sermon on prayer. He said that most of us learn as children to bow our heads, fold our hands and shut or eyes when we pray but he suggested a different posture for prayer which he called “praying with one eye open”…open to the concerns of others, to the needs of the communities we live in and to the needs of the world.

That’s a helpful image as we think about the return of Jesus. While we go about our daily affairs we should keep an eye open to look for ways God is working in our lives and in the world. We should look for signs of hope, at the least, and at most, join God in creating those signs of hope for others to see.

The world we live in still has many troubling elements. While we must do what we can do to address those things that harm and dehumanize people, we always remember that God is in charge. We place our trust and hope in God who entered our world in the past, is present in it now, and will come again to bring God’s loving purposes for all creation to full fruition. Such are the themes of Advent. While we might be excited by the coming of the Christmas season, we should also hear God’s call to think about and address the themes of Advent.

Discussion Questions

God and Jesus have a habit showing up in unexpected places. Have you ever experienced God or Jesus’ presence at a time you did not expect it?
Sometimes we can worry about the Second Coming of Jesus. A favorite author of mine once wrote that there is no evidence that the Jesus who returns will be any different than the Jesus we meet in the Gospels. Does that thought give you some comfort? Why or why not? What is the Jesus we meet in the Gospels like?
How can we keep and respect the themes of Advent in the midst of the pre-Christmas craziness?

Activity Suggestions

We are very good at sending out Christmas cards to wish those we love a Merry Christmas and blessings for the coming year. But what about those in our communities who may need a word of hope and assurance during the festive month of December. This week’s activity seeks to give those folks a word of hope and encouragement.

Speak to your pastor and get a few names of people who are homebound or in the hospital, or perhaps you have a friend or acquaintance who you know needs some support. Take the time to create an Advent card. Think about the themes of Advent (hope, light and the fulfillment of God’s promise) to create a unique card you can send to those who need it. You may want to include a verse from Scripture such as Isaiah 9:2, John 8:12, 1 Timothy 4:10, Romans 15:13-15 or Matthew 28:20. Assure those brothers and sisters that God loves them, God is with them, God is for them and they can put their trust in God.

Part of our Advent preparation is “keeping one eye open” to what God is doing in our world and then telling others about it. That way we plant the seeds that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit will cause to grow into a garden of hope, peace and justice.

Closing Prayer

Faithful God, we look at the world around us and at times we cannot see you at work in the world. Send your Holy Spirit upon us and fill us with holy hope and the vision to see you at work in our lives, in our communities and in the world. Empower us to speak a word of peace and hope to those who need to hear it and help us to prepare for the coming of our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Scott Moore, Erfurt, Germany

Warm-up Question

When have you ever risked your own safety to help someone else?

In the Line of Duty

“Died in the line of duty.” How often have we heard these sad but somehow inspiring words? This time they were said two weeks ago about firefighter Lieutenant Jason Menard, thirty-nine year-old husband and father of three, on his last day of duty before going with them on vacation to Disney World. Doing what he was trained to do, put out fires and rescue people, he was trapped with other firefighters in a burning home in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. Responding to a distress call and hearing that others might be still in the burning house, Menard and two others went looking to make sure everyone was safe. It was reported that as things got difficult, Menard helped his two comrades get to safety. He could have rushed out on his own. He chose, instead, to risk his own life so that their lives could be saved. He made the ultimate sacrifice.

Discussion Questions

When have you ever benefited by someone else’s sacrifice of any kind?
How should we as a society honor those who make sacrifices like Lt. Menard?
When do you think firefighters should “draw the line” and not risk themselves?
What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of paid vs. volunteer firefighters?

Christ the King Sunday

Jeremiah 23:1-6

Colossians 1:11-20

Luke 23:33-43

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

Gospel Reflection

What are we doing on this festival of Christ the King, with Jesus on the cross? Isn’t that somehow totally opposite to the message of the day? It is the end of the church year, next week we are back to the beginning, with the first Sunday in Advent. We want to end things with a bang like New Year’s Eve: celebrate Jesus as king and lift him up high with a glorious crown on his head. He is the Messiah after all, which means anointed one, and the kings of Israel were all anointed when God chose them for their duty as royal leaders. The anointing with oil was a holy act that set apart these normal human beings as sons of God, (there were just kings back then, they were all men). Those chosen to lead God’s people were anointed and claimed as royal children. They, too, were messiahs (“anointed ones”), so to speak.

Early on in Luke’s Gospel (chapter 3), God tells Jesus, when he comes up out of the waters of the Jordan, “you are my beloved son.” Here, towards the end of the Gospel, Jesus’ sign on his cross says, “This is the King of the Jews”, and the religious leaders standing there mock him “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” Even one of the criminals challenges Jesus to save them and himself if he is this one anointed by God. We know how the rest of the story goes: Jesus chooses to follow the path all the way to the cross, to be humiliated like a common criminal, to suffer, and to die. Just one chapter earlier, Jesus asks his Father if he might be able to avoid having to die in the line of divine duty, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.”

Whatever his abilities might have been as healer and miracle worker, Jesus chooses to follow God’s will and experience the fullness of humanity, even to the point death. The chosen messiah, who was baptized in the Jordon, becomes the true royal Son of God lifted up high on a cross with a crown of thorns. Jesus’ line of duty leads him to the cross, the grave, and to new life. This same king who died is raised again to new life. Death and resurrection. What seems like a dead end becomes a living beginning.

In our baptism, we are also made children of God. In our service of holy baptism, we can hear the words:

“In baptism our gracious heavenly Father frees us from sin and death by joining us to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are born children of a fallen humanity; by water and the Holy Spirit we are reborn children of God and made members of the church, the body of Christ. Living with Christ and in the communion of saints, we grow in faith, love, and obedience to the will of God.” (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, “Service of Holy Baptism”)

Through water and God’s word, through the laying on of hands and anointing with oil, we join Jesus in his royal mission as a child of God. We die and are raised again. We are made little anointed ones, little messiahs, little Christs. We are invited and encouraged to follow Jesus on God’s path of healing and justice, hope and reconciliation. We walk hand and hand with the one who is willing to give himself for the whole world, Jesus Christ the King.

Discussion Questions

When was the last time you felt you did something really special?
When do you ever feel like you want to give of yourself for others?
What do you think about when you see someone else get baptized?
What is your favorite part of the baptismal service?
Jesus tells one of the thieves on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” What do you think paradise is like?

Activity Suggestions

Discuss the image of “king” (or “queen”). In the Bible, we find many images for Jesus and God (shepherd, mother hen, father, suckling mother, to name a few). What is suggested by calling Christ the king; what are we trying to say about Jesus by using royal imagery?
How has the meaning of the kingly image changed over the centuries; do you think it is still a good metaphor for God and Christ? Why?
Out of all the biblical possibilities, the gospel text for this week in the lectionary is from the crucifixion; why do you think that is? How does that change how we understand what a king is?

Closing Prayer

Gracious God, creator of the universe, you have made kings and queens out of average people. In holy baptism, you wash us with water and you anoint us with your Holy Spirit. Lift our chins when we are down, so we may look into your eyes and see in them how much you love us. Strengthen our love of you, our love of ourselves, and our love of the world. Lead us as your royal children on the path you have set before us, so that the world around us may touched by the grace and love we know from you. We ask this in the name of the one lifted on the cross for us, Jesus Christ the King. Amen.

Ellen Rothweiler, Des Moines, IA

Warm-up Question

Do you worry about the end of the world?

End of the World as We Know it

A lot of television and film media use the end of the world as a setting or plot point to tell a story. The Day After Tomorrow details the end of the world with the onset of a second ice age, while Seeking a Friend for the End of the World follows two characters who are spending their last days on earth before an asteroid hits, finding what really matters in the end. Other post-apocalyptic media tackle what life is like if you happen to survive some cataclysmic event. The Walking Dead tells this tale using a zombie apocalypse as a catalyst while The Hunger Games examines how power can corrupt and consume life while desperately attempting to preserve it.

These and countless more books, movies, and television shows speculate on what the end may be like. Why the fascination? An article in Good Houskeeping listing the top 20 end of the world movies, offers that “world ending movies are a mirror that reflect societies biggest paranoias back at us.” Are we hoping to prepare ourselves for what’s to come or just playing out our greatest fears to somehow diminish the power they hold over us?

Discussion Questions

Do you enjoy “end of the world” media? If so, why? If not, why not?
Does thinking about the end scare you or make you uncomfortable? Why or why not?
If you knew the world would end tomorrow what would you be sure to do today?
An R.E.M song includes the refrain,”It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.” What does that suggest about how change can be both daunting and welcome? Can you think of a time in your life when change was painful but ultimately positive?

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

Malachi 4:1-2a

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Luke 21:5-19

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

Gospel Reflection

This part of the Gospel of Luke is pretty scary stuff!, especially when we see many, if not most, of the events listed are happening in our world today. This seems to be a road map for the end of the world. Jesus says these things will happen and then, but not immediately, the end will follow. We are not the first generation to see in these words an eerie similarity to unfolding events; many have peered into this passage for a clue regarding when the end will come.

If scripture tells us what leads to the end of the world, why do we still spend so much time guessing and imagining? Because it is still uncertain. Jesus warns that many will come saying “I am he!” and “The time is near!” but we need not follow them. The passage begins with people asking for answers. When? How? We still ask these questions today and fill in our own answers.

Where is the Good News? In the midst of these things we will endure. Christ will be with us offering wisdom. We need not have the answers, for Christ will provide the words we need. Part of being a Christian in the midst of a scary and uncertain world is trusting that God holds the future–and that is enough. We can find peace knowing that these things are not for us to know or understand. This truth does not sound terribly comforting when we see suffering. Yet, if we spread love in the world as we find tragedy, we are offer the comfort others need. We are not in control and we cannot fix or prevent bad things. It is enough to know that God is with us and that we will endure.

Discussion Questions

How many of the events listed in the text can you see happening in our world today?
Do you seek answers when bad things happen? What questions do you ask?
What would you want God to say in reply to those questions?

Activity Suggestions

Watch all or part of one of the 20 Greatest End of World Movies and discuss what it has to say about human endurance in the face of tragedy.

Closing Prayer

God of mercy and power, sometimes it seems that our world is spinning out of control, that suffering is all around us and chaos near at hand. In turbulent times give us confidence to entrust ourselves to you, bear witness to your never failing love, and strive to be instruments of your purposes in all times.

Herb Wounded Head, Brookings, SD

Warm-up Question

Describe your family. Is it a traditional family with two parents and siblings? Perhaps it’s a blended family.

It’s a Trap!

Marriage is a complicated thing. Some families come from traditional marriages and others are blended. Marriage takes a lot of commitment, work and faithfulness. There are also many reasons to get married, but the primary reason, according to an article from Pew Research, is to marry for love. 88% cited love as an important reason to get married. Other reasons listed are commitment, companionship and to have children.

As a recent radio show noted, the traditional view of marriage we have is a relatively new thing. Throughout most of history, marriage has been a political/economic decision made between two families for the betterment of both parties involved. Marriage was a way of sharing resources. It wasn’t about our emotional feelings towards one another.

Discussion Questions

What are your thoughts on marriage?
Why would you get married?

Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

Job 19:23-27a

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

Luke 20:27-38

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

Gospel Reflection

Jesus gets asked by the Sadducees about marriage. It’s interesting to note that the Sadducees don’t believe in the resurrection, so they pose a question to Jesus only hoping to get him caught up in a trap about the life hereafter. They seek to discredit Jesus and his ministry. But, according to Luke, Jesus turns the question upside-down and answers so well that they don’t dare ask any more questions of Jesus.

Jesus avoids their trap in two ways. First, he demonstrates their failure to understand the resurrection, which is different from the here and now. Second, he demonstrates their failure to understand Scriptures by using the story of Moses’ encounter with God in the burning bush and the revelation of God’s holy name — that Jesus takes to establish the validity, indeed certainty, of life after death.

So, we are certain of life after death, Jesus promises that it is so. But what does resurrection look like? We aren’t quite sure, but we do believe and trust in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Discussion Questions

What does resurrection look like to you?
Do you believe in life after death or is death merely the end?

Activity Suggestions

Talk about the time where you experienced a funeral. What sort of things did the pastor do to proclaim Christ’s resurrection to those gathered? What in the service reminds you of the Gospel for us?
Look at the funeral liturgy in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Why are various elements of the service included; what does each suggest about the Christian attitude toward death?

Closing Praye

Gracious and everlasting God, You equip us with faith to believe and follow You through Your Holy Spirit. Keep us steadfast in the faith so that we may continue to grow closer to You and Your Son, Jesus. Help us in our doubts, affirm our faith and give us grace to meet each day with the trust in the resurrection of all Your people. Amen.

Anne Williams, Ankeny, IA

Warm-up Question

What do you think it would take to turn a life around? To recover from addiction or homelessness?

Homeless to Feeding the Homeless

If you have the ability, watch the video interview on Now This: https://nowthisnews.com/videos/news/social-entrepreneur-mark-brand-helps-feed-the-hungry. You can also find it on Facebook by searching, “Now This Mark Brand.”

Mark Brand, of Vancouver, Canada works in what is called the poorest postal code (like a ZIP code) in all of Canada, where drugs are sold openly on the streets. Mark used to live there, use there, and was then homeless there. He shares a story of the one restaurant he felt comfortable going to and how a $3.50 burger plate would actually fill him up. Mark reflects on that time in his life: “When you live like that, even if it’s briefly, it affects you forever… cause when you are in that, it’s the loneliest place on the world.”

After recovering from addiction and homelessness, Mark became a successful chef and business man, opening restaurants. Even as his businesses thrived, he realized he wanted to do more. So he began exploring how to feed those in need. He did something ingenious.

He tackled the question of why people don’t give money to hungry street-entrenched people. The answer he got (which might be an answer we could give) is that folks are afraid their money will go to drugs or alcohol. So, working with the restaurant, he used to eat at when he was homeless, he created a token system. People can buy the tokens and give them to the hungry, who can redeem them for a sandwich. Mark’s comments about these tokens are really very interesting. He says, “What I was most excited about is that you would hand it to somebody. So yes, I’m excited that you’re gonna get a sandwich. Great. You’re hungry, you have a place of inclusion you can go to, that’s really cool… I’m way more excited that you’re going to talk to somebody who’s feeling super isolated and street entrenched.”

Mark seems much more interested in relationships, even quick ones like saying “Hi, here’s a token, go get a sandwich,” than just sandwiches. What homeless people need is food yes, but also someone to look at them and see them.

Discussion Questions

What do you think Mark knows about pain in life?
What do you think Mark knows about blessings?
What would you do if a token program like Mark’s came to your town? Would you buy them? Would you give them out?
What do you think about Mark’s statement: “I’m way more excited that you’re going to talk to somebody who’s feeling super isolated and street entrenched?”
Which is more important: feeding people or connecting with people?

All Saints Sunday

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18

Ephesians 1:11-23

Luke 6:20-31

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

Gospel Reflection

The blessings and the woes that Jesus describes in this passage (specifically verses 20 to 26), often called the Sermon on the Plain, speaks of reversal. Those who suffer now will be blessed in the coming Kingdom. And those who are currently feeling blessed will have to experience some suffering.

I think there are (at least) two reasons why we find this passage uncomfortable.

First, we really don’t want anyone to suffer. We think it’s a punishment for something. Here’s the deal: Suffering, whether because we are sick, or lonely, or grieving, or just plain different from others around us is part of life. It is not a punishment. Most of us never do anything to earn our suffering (kind of like we don’t earn our salvation)! God did not promise no suffering. God promised to be with us in the suffering.

Second, I think we think these reversals are somehow permanent. That in the kingdom, those who have been oppressed will have all the power and those who were gluttons will now starve… does that sound like the kingdom of God? Not to me! If the Kingdom of God is going to be what we think it will be, then everyone will have enough food, and no one will hoard it or be without it.

I think that one of the ways we can read this passage is that Jesus is trying to get at the idea that there will be times when our lives will be good, and full of blessing, and times when our lives will be harder, where we will feel empty, and broken, and will cry out to God. Suffering and blessing can co-exist in one lifetime, sometimes one after the other, sometimes both at the same time. I think it is Jesus’ way of hinting that the Kingdom we experience now, the in-between, now-but-not-yet Kingdom that we only catch a glimpse of, is full of broken people who experience suffering and woe and who know fullness and richness and blessing too, at the same time. It’s a foretaste of the feast to come – the real Kingdom, where God will be all in all and all people will be whole and full.

Discussion Questions

Can you relate to the idea that blessing and wore can co-exist in one lifetime? How do you think Mark Brand would answer this question?
If we’re going to experience both suffering and blessing, how do we make sense of them in our own lives?
Where are there examples of the now-but-not-yet Kingdom in your town? i.e. places and groups that bring hope and healing?

Activity Suggestions

Contact your local Ronald McDonald House and see if you can bring them a meal, or snacks or treats. Make the food during class. Gather a small number of them to transport and deliver it.
Call your local shelter and see what kind of meal you can bring them – casseroles are easy to make and freeze for easy transport.
If you’re being really bold, visit a homeless shelter.
Ask someone who is living sober with addiction to speak to the class, or even someone who’s cancer is in remission or been cured.
Make cards for the homebound and hospitalized. Give to your pastor to distribute.

Closing Prayer

Giver of all good gifts, grant that this day we may offer both our material goods and ourselves to those who need, that all may have a foretaste of the feast to come, when your will is perfectly done and all know the abundance of your love.

December 1, 2019–Basis of Hope

November 24, 2019–In the Line of Duty

November 17, 2019–End of the World as We Know it

November 10, 2019–It’s a Trap!

November 3, 2019–Homeless to Feeding the Homeless