Faith Lens

Jesus, compassionate Savior, send your Holy Spirit upon us to open our eyes and hearts to you and your love and grace. May we see God the creator through you and serve you with joy. By your power let us be lights to the nations inviting all we meet to come and see you and there to find acceptance, forgiveness and hope. We ask this in your most holy name. Amen.

Dennis Sepper, Burnsville, MN

Warm-up Question

Who do you see when you look at Jesus? What words or titles do you use to describe Jesus?

Come and See…an Extremist?

April 16, 1963—Today is the Commemoration day of Martin Luther King, Jr on the Lutheran calendar (for the entire calendar see pages 15-17 in the Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal). Tomorrow is a national holiday and our country pauses to remember the life, work and words of Dr. King who fought against race segregation and for civil rights and the dignity of African Americans and all people. Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.

However, in 1963 Martin Luther King was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama for leading a non-violent protest against the direct order of city officials. While in jail, King learned that many people, including pastors, had labeled him an “extremist” for defying the authority of government representatives. In response to that label, on April 16, 1963, King wrote a letter to those pastors and the quote below (edited a bit for space) became famous. Dr. King wrote:

But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Was not Amos an extremist for justice: “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like am ever-flowing stream.” Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Was not Martin Luther an extremist: “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.” So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?

Labels and titles matter. They reveal what others see in us and how we see ourselves in the world. They also reveal what we see in others. There are a number of labels and titles for Jesus in today’s Scripture readings.

Discussion Questions

Do you agree with Martin Luther King, Jr. that Jesus, Amos, Paul and Martin Luther were extremists? Why or why not?
What are some of the labels or titles you have? Are you happy about them or not? Why?

Second Sunday after Epiphany

Isaiah 49:1-7

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

John 1:29-42

(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

Last week we entered the season of the church year when our Gospel scriptures reveal more and more about who Jesus is and what Jesus’ mission and ministry will be going forward. Today John the Baptist and Andrew share who they see Jesus to be, revealing more about Jesus’ identity. John tells his followers and us that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away to sin of the world and that Jesus is the Son of God. Andrew’s encounter with Jesus and with his brother Simon reveals that Jesus is a rabbi (teacher) and then the confession that Jesus is the Messiah.

John and Andrew arrive at these titles as they come into a relationship with Jesus. John sees Jesus walking toward him and recognizes Jesus to be the one revealed to him by God. Andrew is willing to follow Jesus and moves from calling him a teacher to realizing he is God’s Messiah. Andrew invites his brother Simon to come and see Jesus and in Simon’s encounter with Jesus Simon’s name is changed to Peter (the rock).

It is the willingness to “come and see” Jesus, to follow Jesus and discover, by the Holy Spirit, who Jesus is and what Jesus is about in the world that assists us in saying who Jesus is and what titles we give Jesus. Earlier in his Gospel the evangelist John writes “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known” (John 1:18). Then later in John’s Gospel Jesus says to the disciple Phillip, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). To “see” Jesus in the Gospels and in the other books of the New Testament is to see God, to see God’s character and characteristics.

However our mission doesn’t end there for we are to be like Andrew, willing to invite others to come and see this Jesus, to invite them to come and follow Jesus. This mission isn’t a burden but a joyful, exciting opportunity. Like Andrew we can’t wait to share the fact that we see Jesus the Messiah, the Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Martin Luther King, Jr. saw Jesus as a prophet of justice and a loving, non-violent reflection of God. King shared that vision with others and invited them to come and see Jesus and the power of his servanthood to all humanity. How Martin Luther King saw Jesus was reflected in his life and we remember him for the example he gives to us of God working through us for justice and racial equality along with compassionate service to others.

So get ready for the weeks ahead where Jesus will be revealed in the gospel texts. Be willing to come and see as the story of Jesus unfolds and be ready to be inspired to invite others to come and see Jesus.

Discussion Questions

Put yourself among the crowd on the banks of the river Jordan with John the Baptist. What do you think the people made of John’s declaration that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and is the very Son of God? Did they accept his testimony or do you think they had to see Jesus with their own eyes to believe what John was saying? Why or why not?
Think about who invited you to come and see Jesus. Was it your parents? A friend? Your Pastor? How did they put out that invitation? What happened when you heard the call to come and see?
In the warm up question we asked you to think about your titles for Jesus. How have those titles guided your life and your service to others?

Activity Suggestions

Invite some people with titles (official titles or unofficial ones given them) and have them share how they came to have those titles and how those titles shaped how they see themselves. Take time to prepare some questions and interview your guests. (Author’s note: my thanks to the Augsburg Fortress resource Sundays and Seasons for suggesting this type of activity.)

Closing Prayer

Brian Hiortdahl, Overland Park, KS

Warm-up Question

Whom do you trust?

Real or Fake

The news is in the news. The president-elect has been critical of some established media, while the current president has been critical of so-called “fake news,” a phenomenon that has received a lot of recent attention, including this article (which may or may not be real):

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times suggests that fake news is not new. Andrew Tucher, a historian and journalism professor at Columbia University, notes that “Newspapers were very political in the early years of the republic,” Tucher said. “There was no understanding and no expectation that news should be impartial. News was the thing that expressed opinion.”

In our own day the problems seems to be that people have a hard time distinguishing fake news, partly because we are more likely to believe a lie if reinforces what we already believe. “If a lie is telling you something you want to hear, you’re more likely to think it is true,”says Sharon Kaye, philosophy professor at John Carroll University.

Discussion Questions

How do you determine what news sources are reliable? What are your criteria for believing a story, or for sniffing out something made up?
Is this the same or different with people who are speaking to you?
What makes someone trustworthy?

Baptism of Our Lord

Isaiah 42:1-9

Acts 10:34-43

Matthew 3:13-17

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

Gospel Reflection

Matthew wants his readers to know that Jesus is the real deal. Jewish history is full of what might be called “fake Messiahs,” and many in Matthew’s time (and since) would list Jesus in that category, because he did not match expectations. Like a determined lawyer, Matthew is intent on proving that Jesus really is the Messiah, frequently citing the Jewish Scriptures (our Old Testament) to build his case.

One major piece of Matthew’s presentation is establishing Jesus’ authority as a rabbi, or teacher (and also fulfiller) of God’s law. What makes a rabbi credible? In his book Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith, Rob Bell explains:

Different rabbis had different sets of rules, which were really different lists of what they forbade and what they permitted. A rabbi’s sets of rules and lists, which was really what that rabbi’s interpretation of how to live the Torah, was called that rabbi’s yoke….

Most rabbis taught the yoke of a well respected rabbi who had come before them….

Every once in a while, a rabbi would come along who was teaching a new yoke, a new way of interpreting the Torah. This was rare and extraordinary.

Imagine: A rabbi was claiming that he had a new way to understand the Scriptures that was closer to what God intended than the way of the rabbis who had come before him. A new take on the Scriptures.

The questions would immediately be raised: “How do we know this is truth? How do we know this rabbi isn’t crazy? One of the protections for the rabbi in this case was that two other rabbis with authority would lay hands on the rabbi and essentially validate him. They would be saying, “We believe this rabbi has authority to make new interpretations.” That’s why Jesus’ baptism was so important. John the Baptist was a powerful teacher and prophet who was saying publicly that he wasn’t worthy to carry Jesus’ sandals.

“And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” A second voice affirmed Jesus’ unique calling. The voice of God. Amazing. A Jewish audience reading Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism would pick up right away on Jesus’ getting the affirmation of two powerful voices.

If God says you’re legit, then you’re legit. Jesus is the real deal. The good news is not fake news. God doesn’t say it because it’s true; it’s true because God says it.

This is also the good news of our own baptisms, where God affirms what some pastor who can’t carry Jesus’ sandals either has said: that we also are God’s beloved children, connected to Jesus and given the same Spirit. It must be true and trustworthy. We are loved, because God says so.

Discussion Questions

Why is it hard for some people to accept that Jesus is the Messiah?
Who vouches for you? Have you ever vouched for someone else?
What authority and responsibility does your baptism give you?

Activity Suggestions

Write a letter to your godparents.
As a group, create a fake news story. Go around the circle, with each person adding one new sentence to the last. Edit and refine. Is your story believable? Why or why not? Was the process fun? In what ways can you see this possibility being abused?
As a group, gather around a baptismal font or a bowl of water. Dip in your fingers and mark one another’s forehead with the sign of the cross. Speak a blessing: “This is God’s son/daughter, the beloved, with whom God is well pleased!”

Closing Prayer

Voice of heaven, speak your love into our lives. Teach us to trust you. Help us to discern true from fake, in ourselves and in others. Renew us in the covenant and calling of baptism, that we may please and serve you in all we do, in the name of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

John Hougen, Elkins Park, PA

Warm-up Question

Have you ever changed your opinion of someone after you got to know them? If so, was it because you found out the person had more or less in common with you?

Compassion For Our Own Kind

Recently, I was on a retreat where the leader combined two different meanings of “kind” to make the point that compassionate attitudes and actions can be motivated by a recognition of what we have in common with someone who, at first, seems “different” from us.

Kind (as an adjective) is defined as: “The quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.” But, kind (as a noun) means: “A group of people or things having similar characteristics.” When we recognize that we “have similar characteristics” with someone who appears different, we are more likely to become “friendly, generous, and considerate” of them.

Today’s reading from Hebrews teaches us that as members of the human family, we all are brothers and sisters. We are “of the same kind,” and Jesus shares our “human-kindness.”

Hebrews 2: 14 -18 – “¹⁴Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he (Jesus, the “pioneer of their salvation” vs 10) himself likewise shared the same things…. ¹⁶For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. ¹⁷Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters^[^f^] in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.”

Jesus’ compassion, according to this passage, was due in part to his becoming human, becoming one of us, able to identify with those who needed his healing, his teaching, his saving grace. In Matthew 25: 31 – 46, Jesus teaches us that when we feed, clothe, or visit someone in need, we are feeding, clothing, and visiting him—further emphasizing his identity as one of us: one who loves, suffers, finds courage, feels pain. He is part of the human family. Both today’s reading from Hebrews and verses 8 – 9 from the first reading (Isaiah 63) make God’s ability to identify with and relate to humanity the basis for God’s compassion and mercy towards us. Perhaps it is our ability to empathize, to identify with other people, that enables us to act compassionately toward them.

Discussion Questions

Do you believe that all members of the human family (all of humankind) are sufficiently alike that you can have compassion for them when they are in need? Or, are some people just too different to understand, too different to be treated with compassion? What differences, if any, disqualify someone from receiving your compassion?

First Sunday of Christmas

Isaiah 63:7-9

Hebrews 2:10-18

Matthew 2:13-23

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

Gospel Reflection

The Massacre of the Innocents Pacecco de Rosa. Purchased with the John D. McIlhenny Fund, 1973; The Philadelphia Museum of Art, www.philamuseum.org

Baby Jesus was a refugee.

Jesus was born into a part of the world plagued by terrorism: it still is. Matthew 2: 16 – 18 (from today’s Gospel reading) reports events that are paralleled in the same region of the world today.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a small town in Israel. The king of Israel, Herod, heard that a newborn was being called the “King of Israel.” Herod was afraid this child would grow up to be a threat to him and his royal family. When the Wise Men refused to identify this infant destined to be king (see Matthew 2: 1 – 15), King Herod ordered all the infants in and around Bethlehem to be killed. For the king, no atrocity was out of the question if it would save his throne, his power and his privilege.

Aleppo, Syria is only 330 miles north of Bethlehem, less than the distance from New York to Richmond or from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Children in Aleppo are being slaughtered by bombs and troops sent by infuriated despots eager to stamp out threats to their power. The Bible story and today’s news are horribly similar.

Just as millions of Syrians have fled the civil war which has taken the lives of so many in their country, so too, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fled the “Massacre of the Infants” ordered by King Herod. Matthew 2: 13 – 15 tells how the infant Jesus escaped King Herod’s slaughter: Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, was warned in a dream to flee to Egypt. He did, taking Mary and the Christ child to safety. In the first months of Jesus’ life, he became a refugee, finding safety in a foreign country. In our times, this scenario is echoed in the news day after day, year after year: refugees from one conflict after another seek safety in foreign lands.

Discussion Questions

Do you know anyone who has been or is a refugee? From their experience or the experience of others you have heard about, share what you know of the challenges refugees face: in the homeland they left, during the journey to their new homes, and as they adjust to living in a strange land.
Do you think welcoming refugees into your community is risky? Discuss; then go online to find: Infographic: The Screening Process for Refugee Entry into the United States. This website outlines what is done to reduce the risk to your community. Is this information surprising to you?

Activity Suggestions

Find out about an effort to resettle refugees in your area, and ask how you can help.

Closing Prayer

God – the Compassionate and Merciful: Give us the mind of Jesus, who did not count equality with You a thing to be exploited, but left his heavenly throne to become one of us.* As we, like Jesus, recognize our common humanity with those who seem different, turn our compassionate thoughts and feelings into actions. Give us a Jesus-like capacity to identify with those in need. Give us Jesus-like motivation and courage to reach out to them as we would like to be helped if we were in their shoes. In the name of Jesus, who became Someone like us … and like them. Amen.

*See Philippians 2: 4 – 11

There is no Faith Lens this week.

Seth Moland-Kovash, Palatine, IL

Warm-up Question

How many times per week, would you estimate, that you make a choice of what to do or what not to do based on fear?

What Makes You Afraid?

Fear can be a highly powerful motivator. We can be afraid of consequences (from parents, teachers, coaches, school administrators) or we can be afraid of what happened last time we did that (a small child touching a hot stove). Some of us have phobias – fear of the dark, of spiders, of snakes (to name a few). Did you know that there is even a name for the fear of Santa Claus? Not surprisingly, it’s Clausophobia.

Sometimes fear motivates us in ways we’d rather not talk about. Sometimes we avoid doing something we’d otherwise do for fear of what our peers might think or say. Sometimes we avoid trying something new for fear of failure.

For some people, these fears can be crippling. PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) and some phobias keep people from acting because of the strong painful memories and fears often associated with past experiences. Researchers in the United Kingdom and in Japan are working on techniques that might allow people to “re-wire” their brains and overcome those fear-filled memories.

Even if our fears are not extremely strong and limiting, fear affects all of us to some degree and can keep us from engaging in life to the fullness that’s intended for us.

Discussion Questions

What kinds of fears do you have? What are you afraid of? Can you isolate why? Was there a specific experience that made you afraid?
What are things you wish you could do but are afraid to try?

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 7:10-16

Romans 1:1-7

Matthew 1:18-25

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

Gospel Reflection

Joseph was afraid. He was afraid to take Mary as his wife, because she was having a baby that wasn’t his. He was afraid of what it would mean for him; he was afraid of what others might think. But he also was afraid to publicly accuse her of infidelity, so he wanted to send her away quietly. But the angel knew what was going on and told him not to be afraid.

Not only did the angel command Joseph not to be afraid but he told Joseph to name the child something that could combat fear. Emmanuel means “God is with us.” God is with us. We are not alone. Perhaps knowing this and trusting this can help to combat the fears that are inside all of us.

Discussion Questions

When do you need a reminder that God is with you?
Who do you know who might need a reminder that God is with them?

Activity Suggestions

Make an Emmanuel rock. This can be as simple as taking a small stone and painting a cross (or other symbol) on it. Carry the Emmanuel rock in your pocket. It can remind you that Emmanuel – God is with you. Make tw0 Emmanuel rocks – keep one for yourself and give one away.

Closing Prayer

Good and gracious God, come into our world as Emmanuel. Come into our world and banish fear. Come into our world and banish darkness. Amen.

January 15, 2017–Come and See…an Extremist?

January 8, 2016–Real or Fake

January 1, 2017–Compassion For Our Own Kind

Christmas Day

There is no Faith Lens this week.

December 18, 2016–What Makes You Afraid?