{"id":10590,"date":"2025-01-15T08:50:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T13:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=10590"},"modified":"2025-01-15T08:50:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T13:50:08","slug":"january-19-2025-an-urgent-answer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/january-19-2025-an-urgent-answer\/","title":{"rendered":"January 19, 2025\u2013An Urgent Answer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: left\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Catalyst Question<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Share about a time when someone stepped in to help you face a sudden, unexpected problem. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">An Urgent Answer<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">As wildfires continue to threaten countless people in Los Angeles, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/los-angeles-wildfires-community-donations-volunteers-step-up-rcna187495\">community organizations are stepping up to help<\/a>. Some provide food and shelter to the newly houseless. Others assist pets separated from families in the rush to find safety. All God\u2019s creatures, great and small, need support in times of tragedy like these. And God shows up in all sorts of ways, through local organizations like those above and through international efforts like our own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elca.org\/our-work\/relief-and-development\/lutheran-disaster-response\/our-impact\/us-wildfires\">Lutheran Disaster Response<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: right\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/01\/charity-1299988_1280.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10592 size-thumbnail alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/01\/charity-1299988_1280-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>In Sunday\u2019s reading from John 2:1-12, a very different sort of urgent need appears. It is certainly not life or death to run out of wine at a wedding reception. The only thing at risk, it seems, is the social standing of the party thrower, whose lack of resources just might disappoint the party goers. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">And still Jesus steps in. Without fanfare, Jesus preserves the relationships of the attendees with the bridegroom by ensuring there\u2019s wine to spare. Not only does Jesus turn water into wine, but into excellent wine. When Jesus offers help, even in relatively minor situations, it\u2019s not simply adequate. It\u2019s extravagant, extending from great to small. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">These are certainly different situations, natural disasters and party supplies. Still, in the times of urgent need, God steps in because God cares about us. As followers of Christ, so too we are called to step in. Perhaps this is through a gift to Lutheran Disaster Response\u2019s efforts to immediately address the crisis. Perhaps it\u2019s by providing housing to someone displaced by the fires until they\u2019re able to return home. Certainly it\u2019s through prayer. The example of Jesus is clear: when a crisis arises, Christians are called to provide relief. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Ask Yourself<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">What are some different ways you could intervene to provide relief to wildfire victims or others experiencing an urgent need? Pray and ask God for the wisdom to respond faithfully. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Ask a Friend<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">Who is someone that provided relief to you in a time of crisis, whether minor or major? How did they show Christ to you through their support?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Catalyst Question Share about a time when someone stepped in to help you face a sudden, unexpected problem. An Urgent Answer As wildfires continue to threaten countless people in Los Angeles, community organizations are stepping up to help. Some provide food and shelter to the newly houseless. Others assist pets separated from families in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":301,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>January 19, 2025\u2013An Urgent Answer - Faith Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/january-19-2025-an-urgent-answer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"January 19, 2025\u2013An Urgent Answer - Faith Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Catalyst Question Share about a time when someone stepped in to help you face a sudden, unexpected problem. 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