Faith Lens

Mary Ellen Helms, Loveland, OH

Warm-up Question

If you could relive one of your past days over and over again, which day would it be and why?

Best Day Ever

Many of us have had a day or two in our lives that we look back on and think, “Wow! That was the best day ever!” Maybe it was the perfect summer day where you spent it with friends from early in the day until late in the evening. Perhaps the “best day ever” included a lot of your favorites: foods, music, people, and more. There’s a chance your best day ever included an amazing accomplishment: passing a difficult test, achieving an athletic accomplishment, producing a school play that received rave reviews, or something equally exciting. Of course, we can’t easily recall the “best day ever. Many awesome things happen to us, but part of what makes them special is how rare they are.

A quick Google search about “Best Day Ever” provided a variety of results without much substance. There were some academic articles about happiness, some news articles about lottery wins turned bad, and a few ‘feel good’ stories. There is no one definition of “the best day ever.”

I did learn there is a Spongebob Squarepants episode of the same name. Wikipedia describes the show in detail! In the episode, our protagonist (Spongebob) sets off with plans for the BEST DAY EVER but instead, his friends keep needing big favors from him. In his kind and compassionate way, Spongebob puts his own plans on hold and comes to the aid of Sandy, Patrick, and Squidward. Feeling sorry for himself at the end of the episode, Spongebob prepares to give a speech about how his friends had taken his BEST DAY EVER and turned it on its head. Instead, his friends remind him that the perfect day may not exist, instead he spent the day helping others. Spongebob wraps up the episode singing his song, “The Best Day Ever” over and over again. When Squidward asks Mr. Krabs how long they have to keep up the performance, Mr. Krabs replies, “Just ’til his little heart gives out, Squidward. Just ’til his little heart gives out.”

Discussion Questions

How does SpongeBob Squarepants’ Best Day Ever compare with your own best day?
Have you ever had a terrible day turned good? Has there ever been a day where your expectations were turned completely in another direction?
Through serving others, we often find joy. Can you describe a time when serving others provided you with a great day?

Transfiguration of our Lord

Exodus 34:29-35

2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

Luke 9:28-36 [37-43a]

(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

I get Peter. He just says it like it is and really seems like a normal guy. In verse 33, he says to Jesus “‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”. Peter is having the BEST DAY EVER. At this point, the disciples have seen Jesus perform miracles, serve the poor, listen to the marginalized, and fulfill prophecy. Peter is wanting to capture this moment and just stay there as he is having his best day ever. After a special retreat with Jesus’ closest disciples, Peter wants to keep the miracles happening. He wants to preserve this moment forever. Of course, you may know the rest of the story – God speaks, Jesus becomes a little less “shiny”, and they eventually go down the mountain together the next day.

I am sure that many of us who have been on retreats, mission trips, discipleship tours, or to the ELCA Youth Gathering can remember wanting to hold onto the Holy Spirit moments. I remember coming back from my first Youth Gathering begging my pastor to turn every service into wild, raucous Gathering-style worship with Conga lines, hip hop, and more. My pastor was patient and reminded me, even Jesus came down the mountain. Real life is waiting for us on the other side of mountaintop experiences.

Jesus, too, had more real life work to do. In fact, the story immediately following the transfiguration is a healing of a boy who is struggling with a demon. Jesus still has lots more teaching to do before his death and resurrection.

Something that does change from this moment on is the understanding and revelation of Jesus’ power to those three disciples. Without a doubt, they remember this moment and I’m sure spent much time pondering the experience in their hearts. I imagine they had trouble talking about what an amazing experience they had shared. My own holiest moments have sometimes left me without words, too.

Discussion Questions

How do you think the disciples felt when Jesus’ appearance changed in front of their very eyes? How would you have felt?
Have you ever had a “mountaintop experience”? What was it like to experience God in fresh ways?
How can you keep experiences like retreats, mission trips, exciting once-in-a-lifetime moments alive after they happen?

Activity Suggestions

Plan an amazing mountaintop adventure with your friends (even if it’s just pretend!). Talk about everything you can do to prepare (the who, what, when, where questions). How can you build in space for encountering God? How can you bring your experience home to those who will not join you?
Write thank you letters to someone who joined you on a mountaintop experience. Maybe it was another member of the youth group that left a mark on your heart or an adult guide or service partner. Give them thanks for their investment in your life and let them know what a difference that opportunity has made for you.

Closing Prayer

Most Holy God, thank you for meeting us on the mountaintops of our lives. Thank you for showing us your power and majesty in the middle of special experiences that we hold onto tightly. We ask that you would give us the chance to continue living into these opportunities. Give us memories that last and strength for when life seems like it is more valley than mountain. Help us remember that we are called to come down from the mountain and continue our lives even with renewed purpose. Amen.

Ellen Rothweiler, Des Moines, IA

Warm-up Question

What does it look like when you love your enemies? What words would you use to describe this kind of love?

Beyond Enemies

The 61^st Annual Grammy’s were held on Sunday, February 10 and Alicia Keys hosted the event. She opened the evening with a message of love and connection through music. She described music as “what we all love” and a “shared global language” and a way to “celebrate the greatness in each other”. On a night of competition, in a tough business, Keys reminded the room and all those watching of our shared humanity and that most of all we should share love. She invited other women on the stage with her, sharing the spotlight, to share what music has meant in their lives.

When the world tells us that a person or group of people are our competition, threatening our success and way of life, it is hard to love them. The nature of self-preservation is to defend what you have. In an industry of self-promotion it is essential to put oneself first to get ahead and employ others to help you do so. So, how bold and daring it is in room full of competitors for the priority set to be one of love and connection.

Discussion Questions

What dreams do you have for the future? Share two with the group.
Who or what have you been told is in the way of your success?
Who or what can help you achieve these dreams?

Seventh Sunday after Epiphany

Genesis 45:3-11, 15

1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50

Luke 6:27-38

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

Gospel Reflection

This text includes what we often call the “golden rule,” “do to others as you would have them do to you”. It also holds another nugget of morality at the beginning of verse 29, “turn the other cheek”. I don’t know about you but I have never fully understood what this means. Let people abuse you? Don’t fight back, don’t defend yourself? This may sound weak, but, in fact, it takes great strength and self-control not to respond to violence with violence.

All of the directives given by Jesus in this passage can stand alone as a way of being in the world. Each alone is difficult to follow and they are even more so when taken as a group. So, let’s just look at verses 27-28; “…love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” These two verses sum up the following verses. If you do these things, the others will follow. This is a bold and daring way of being in the world. It means seeing our “enemies” in a new way. The Message puts it this way; “To you who are ready for truth, I say this; Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.”

Discussion Questions

Where have you heard the golden rule- “ treat others how you want to be treated’ and “turn the other cheek” other than church?
How are these sayings helpful? How are they harmful?
Who is an enemy that you can pray for and how can they bring out the best in you?

Activity Suggestion

Look through your social media feeds and identify “enemies”. See them through the lens of love as described in Luke and as modeled by Alicia Keys. Pray for them and pray for the courage to love them.

Closing Prayer

Source of all love, it is so easy to demonize those who see the world differently from me, who hurt me, and who seem intent on harming those for whom I care. Help me to see the fear and pain behind the acts of those I am tempted to dismiss as my enemies. Give me the wisdom and the heart of Jesus to respond to them as he would, seeking to heal injury, bridge gaps, and transform foes into friends. Amen.

Tim Jacobsen, West Des Moines, IA

Warm-up Question

Have you ever tried to make yourself above others? Have you ever felt like you were forced below others?If Everyone Had That…If Everyone Had That…

If Everyone Had That…

Riley loved to spend the night at friends’ houses! When he and his friends were together, they would stay up late playing games, talking about life and relationships, eating food, and just having fun. This group of friends just loved these nights and would look forward to them as they would happen quite often.

There was one friend’s house that Riley loved in particular, Jordan had a great house for sleepovers. Jordan’s parents had many big TVs with sound systems, a pool, hot tub, game room, a huge selection of movies, and games to play. One night over some really good food, Jordan asked Riley when their parents were going to host a party.

Riley’s heart sank and tried to get their mom to say no. But Riley’s mom was so excited to host! In the weeks leading up to when the friend group was going to be over Riley was trying to get their parents to buy a bigger TV and have more things to make a night over even better, like at Jordan’s. Riley’s parents were ok with some additions, but not all of them. As Riley was arguing, Riley’s mom had the most mom comment, “If everyone had the same things and lived the same, we would live in a boring world, wouldn’t we?”. Ugh…not the answer that Riley was hoping for…

Discussion Questions

Are there ways you can relate to Riley’s story? Jordan’s?
Have you heard the phrase, if everyone had ____ or was the same, the world would be boring? What are your thoughts/feelings?
What are some things that need to be more equal in our world? What do you think that would that look like? Do you see any problems?

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

Jeremiah 17:5-10

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Luke 6:17-26

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

Gospel Reflection

“That’s not fair!”, I would say, and my dad would respond with, “well the fair is in August.”. What a comeback that is, I plan to use that comeback with my own children. It’s just so perfect in so many ways. First off, how many things in our life do we say aren’t fair? Yes, there is the unfairness of a sibling getting the bigger piece of cake or friend getting something better than you. But zoom out and look at the bigger things in our world that don’t seem fair. Yes, these occurrences seem too big for us to fix on our own or do anything about. So, what are we to do?

The task may seem daunting, and in many cases it is. When something seems unfair, we need to remember that there are two sides. One side may feel the situation is fair because they benefit, so why level the playing field so that fairness would prevail? It’s so easy to want all or none, but the real work comes in the task of compromise.

Jesus is talking about just this in a really long (his longest, in fact) sermon. This sermon is called the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, but in Luke this sermon occurs on a level place. We aren’t completely sure where the sermon occurred, but the message still prevails. This is not just a sermon to the haves and have nots which is full of shame for the ones who have.

This is a sermon that addresses emotional and physical realties. Those who are poor, lack food, or weep, will inherit the Kingdom of God, be given food, and have joy. Yet, those who have money, fed, and like, will be poor, hungry, and hated. This seems backwards, and it kind of is. The issue is not having money, food, or being liked. The issue Luke is addressing is a heart issue. Those who have money, food, and joy shouldn’t just keep that to themselves. We are called to share our blessings and gifts with others.

If we were all the same and had the same way of living, I don’t think the world would be boring. Even with a leveled playing field, we still would live in a broken world. In this world people would still long to hold power over others or have more than others. I encourage you to do as Jesus is saying in Luke: Look at your heart and ask how you can use what you have (money, time, strength, knowledge) to serve your neighbor.

Discussion Questions

How do the “blessed be’s” make you feel? What about the “woe’s”?
Can you relate to who Jesus is talking about?
This sermon seems so upside down, why is that?
Does Jesus’ message still apply today?
Upon reflection what needs to change in your heart, or intentions about how you use what you are blessed with?

Activity Suggestions

Write Your Own Story: We have our own lens and see different things in our world/community. If you were to write your own sermon on the mount type sermon, what would you say?
Bridge Building: What are some ways that your group can reach out to other communities? As you reach out to these communities, look for what you can learn from them as you build relationships. As you are building relationships, be looking for ways that your group may be able to meet this groups needs.

Closing Prayer

Good and Gracious God, we thank you for your presence with us and love that you have for us. We ask that you open our eyes to those around us who need to feel your love. Work through us as we go out to be your hands and feet. We have been blessed with much and long for much, help us to be content and willing to share our blessings with others. Amen

Scott Mims, Virginia Beach, VA

Warm-up Question

Who are some of the people who have had a positive influence on your life? What was it about them that was so meaningful to you?

A Time for Leadership

On Friday, January 25, President Trump signed a bill temporarily re-opening the federal government after a partial shutdown. The 35-day shutdown – the longest yet in U.S. history – not only dominated recent news headlines but has negatively impacted the lives of many in our country, most especially the 800,000 federal workers who were either furloughed or required to work without being paid. Initial estimates by the Congressional Budget Office indicate that the permanent cost to the U.S. Economy will be around $3 billion.

Leadership will figure heavily in the days ahead when it comes to how, or if, this issue will be resolved. Congressional leaders have until February 15 to reach a compromise on the Republicans request billions of dollars to be allocated for a border wall which, up until this point, Democrats have refused to fund. Failure on the part of these leaders to work together to successfully navigate competing priorities and the current political landscape could potentially lead to another shutdown.

Discussion Questions

What is leadership? How do you define it?
Who would you say are some of the greatest leaders in modern history? Why?
When it comes to choosing who to follow, what qualities do you look for in a leader?
Who inspires you?

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

Isaiah 6:1-8 [9-13]

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Luke 5:1-11

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

Gospel Reflection

Recently, my wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. Like most everyone we know, we had no idea exactly what we were getting into when we said, “I do.” We only knew that from that moment on our lives would never be the same. There would be new demands and challenges, new joys and surprises, and a journey together filled with moments we’d never even dreamed of. I wonder if, somehow, Simon Peter and the other fishermen-turned-disciples of Jesus didn’t also feel the same.

We are by the Lake of Gennesaret this week, also known as the Sea of Galilee. Jesus’ teaching, preaching, and acts of power have begun to draw large crowds. People are pressing in on him, so, making the most of the geography and the water’s effect of providing natural amplification, Jesus has a couple of local fishermen, including one Simon, take him out in their boat. What did Jesus say to the crowd? Were the fishermen hanging on his every word? Luke doesn’t say. Yet, whatever their experience of Jesus, it must have made an impression because, despite their knowing better, they follow his next request to put out into the deep water and let their nets down for a catch.

Now just imagine the scene. Simon Peter is initially reluctant to even bother because he knows that this isn’t the right time of day for fishing. Not only that, but, when Jesus first showed up, they were right in the middle of cleaning their equipment after a long, fruitless night of catching nothing. What Jesus’ asks seems pointless, but perhaps we are meant to hear echoes of other stories Luke has already told about the intersection of human impossibility and divine power, stories like that of Mary and of Zechariah and Elizabeth. For, in their obedience to Jesus’ word, Simon and his partners find themselves knee deep in such a huge catch of fish that their boats begin to sink.

It is clear this is no ordinary moment. Shocked and amazed by what he has just experienced, Simon Peter’s response to being in the presence of the Holy is to beg Jesus to leave him, for he knows that he is not worthy. Yet the good news for Simon Peter, and for us, is that his lack of holiness does not disqualify him. For the same power that brought him to his knees now lifts him and the other fishermen up. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus says to them, “from now on you will be catching people.”

In the end, Peter and his companions leave everything to follow Jesus. Their lives will never be the same. They have no idea where this journey will lead. They only know that, if Jesus isn’t worth following, then nobody is!

Discussion Questions

Read through this passage again. Along with the miraculous catch of fish, one of the big surprises is who Jesus calls to be his disciples – uneducated fishermen. What are some of the other surprises that you see?
How do you feel about Simon Peter and his companions’ response? Why do you think these men dropped everything to follow Jesus?
What do you think it means to follow Jesus today? What does it look like to be a disciple? Is it difficult to follow Jesus? Why/why not? What might we need to leave behind?
When it comes to “catching people,” what do you think the church/your congregation/your small group needs to be doing at this point in time?

Activity Suggestions

Video: For further discussion on the sheer grace of being called to follow Jesus, watch Rob Bell’s short video, Dust (Nooma series). Though not specifically about this passage, he presents a great take on what being called by a rabbi to “follow me” meant in Jesus’ day, and how Jesus’ invitation to Peter, James, John, and the rest would have been most unusual. Talk together about what it means that Jesus calls us to be his followers. What does it mean to you that Jesus believes in you? Does this change the way you see yourself as a disciple?

Remember Your Baptism: As part of your concluding prayer this session, invite participants to remember their baptisms as a connection to the calling we receive to be followers and disciples of Jesus. This could be as simple as having a small bowl of water in which you invite them to dip a finger and make the sign of the cross on their own forehead. Or perhaps have them bless one another. Especially instructive are these words from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (pg. 227) with which the presiding minister addresses the assembly during a baptism:

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.

Closing Prayer

Gracious and loving God, before we could even think to seek you, you have come seeking us. As your Son was revealed to Simon Peter and the others through a miraculous catch of fish, help us to see the many ways that you act in our lives, and to praise you for the grace that you give to us day by day. Empower us by your Spirit to follow, lead us to be living signs of your love, and give us the courage to invite others. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

Herb Wounded Head, Brookings SD

Warm-up Question

Would you consider yourself an honest person? Would you say that your friends are honest people?

Who Are You?

A young man was caught using Alexa to cheat on his homework. The mother caught him using Alexa to do his math homework and posted a video on social media to show what he was doing. The boy simply asked Alexa, “What is 5 minus 3?” The boy seemed unaware that he was doing anything wrong. He was simply using a tool with which he was very familiar. The incident raises the deeper questions of how we learn right from wrong and where we are to draw the line between cheating and simply using a new technology well.

A lot of this has to do with our sense of identity and integrity. Identity is your understanding of who you are and what you’re about. Integrity is that you do what you say you’re going to do. It’s important for us to know who we are in order to have a sense of what’s right and wrong. Usually, we are taught at a young age our sense of ethic and the difference between right and wrong.

When we get older, we often have to re-evaluate what this sense of ethic is depending on circumstances and depending on the situation we find ourselves in. If we don’t constantly evaluate our sense of right and wrong, we may do things that are unethical, even though they may seem harmless decisions, they can change our sense of identity and integrity. So we have to ask ourselves who we are and whose we are from time to time in order to enter our baptismal lives with a sense of integrity and a solid sense of identity.

Discussion Questions

Have you ever cheated at anything? What was it? Did you get caught?
How did you feel after cheating?

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Jeremiah 1:4-10

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Luke 4:21-30

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

Gospel Reflection

Oh how things can change when we’re honest and prophetic with people. Jesus starts out in this passage in a positive light and ends the passage with the people willing to throw him off a cliff. All because he interpreted scripture for them in light of revealing his own identity to them. Jesus knows his prophetic and honest words to them will be met with rejection. Jesus has a very clear sense of who he is and how expansive his ministry will be. Jesus is rejected because he announces that his ministry is meant for outsiders, not those who feel a sense of entitlement or privilege just for being on the inside.

This isn’t an anti-Semitic message, the congregation in the synagogue is not unique in feeling entitled to special favor from God. Rather, this is also a message for us who are on the inside: the baptized and the churched. We need to understand and grasp that ministry is for those who have been shut outside the church’s walls and ignored and cast out by society. Jesus is with the widow and the leper, bringing them healing and wholeness and it’s our calling to bring healing and wholeness of God’s grace in Christ to the world outside.

Discussion Questions

Why do you think Jesus’ says his ministry is for outsiders?
When have you felt like an outsider?
What word of God’s grace have you heard today?
Who are the outsiders in our world, the ones we are tempted to forget, treat as invisible, or place beyond the circle of God’s concern and care?

Activity Suggestions

Needs: A roll of toilet paper

Ask people to remove as many tissues as they think they will need (don’t tell them why) After everyone has finished, have them count the number of squares they have taken. Have them share as many fun facts about themselves as squares they have taken.

Closing Prayer

Holy and gracious God, you come to us new, each and everyday. Help us to see your face in the outcast, the downtrodden, the lonely, the poor and the sick. Give us faith to see and ears to hear your word of grace and love in our lives. Amen.

March 3, 2019–Best Day Ever

February 24, 2019–Beyond Enemies

February 17, 2019–If Everyone Had That…

February 10, 2019–A Time for Leadership

February 3, 2019–Who Are You?