{"id":5088,"date":"2014-02-02T07:43:23","date_gmt":"2014-02-02T12:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=5088"},"modified":"2014-01-31T11:20:31","modified_gmt":"2014-01-31T16:20:31","slug":"february-9-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"February 9, 2014&#8211;Called to be Flavorful"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Contributed by Steve Alloway, Granada Hills, CA<\/p>\n<h3>Warm-up Question<\/h3>\n<p>Do you cook, bake, or otherwise make food for yourself or others? What are some things you can do to make an ordinary lunch more interesting?<\/p>\n<h3>Called to be Flavorful<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/02\/shutterstock_103507949edit.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-5107\" style=\"margin: 5px\" alt=\"shutterstock_103507949edit\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/02\/shutterstock_103507949edit.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>In Spain, tapas are a variety of appetizers and snacks, originally designed to be eaten with wine. But as the new exhibition, \u201cTapas: Spanish Design for Food\u201d demonstrates, they\u2019ve become much more than that over the years. The exhibition, held at the former home of the Spanish Ambassador in Washington D.C., highlights the art and creativity of food in a variety of different ways.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpain loves to play with its food, not just to eat,\u201d says Juli Capella, the curator of the exhibition. \u201cBecause we were a poor country\u2026 people celebrate the food as a special party.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTapas: Spanish Design for Food\u201d features not just food, but also place settings, and a variety of culinary gadgets. There\u2019s a coffee spoon, which has a pen on the other end of it, to sign your check. There\u2019s an \u201cOxymoron Maker,\u201d which can bake a brioche filled with ice cream without melting the ice cream. There are even tongue-in-cheek exhibits on the future of food, including food branded with logos to serve as edible advertisements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe creativity of the chef is not just in the food, but in the experience,\u201d says Capella. &#8220;Tapas: Spanish Design for Food&#8221; seeks to give visitors that creative experience.<\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Would the \u201cTapas\u201d exhibition be something you\u2019d be interested in seeing? What would you most like to see\/experience there?<\/li>\n<li>Would you eat food that had been branded with advertisements? Why or why not?<\/li>\n<li>How do you think Spain\u2019s history of being a poor country impacts its view of food as a party? How do you think their view towards food affects the rest of their lives?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday,\u00a0 February 9, 2014 (Fifth Sunday after Epiphany)<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=257852102\">Isaiah 58:1-9a [9b-12]<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=257852132\">1 Corinthians 2:1-12 [13-16]<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=257852161\">Matthew 5:13-20<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(Text links are to <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/\">Oremus Bible Browser<\/a>. 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 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elca.org\/Growing-In-Faith\/Worship\/Lectionary.aspx\">Lectionary Readings<\/a>.) For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic <a href=\"http:\/\/www.agnusday.org\/\">Agnus Day.<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Gospel Reflection<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cYou are the salt of the Earth.\u201d The expression \u201csalt of the Earth\u201d has come to mean a really good person: helpful, loyal. But what did Jesus mean when he said it?\u00a0 In ancient times, long before the days of refrigeration, salt was used to preserve food. Adding a little salt to meat would keep it from going bad. So, are we supposed to keep the Earth from spoiling? In a way.<\/p>\n<p>Verses 18-20 talk about the importance of God\u2019s law. Not a single stroke of a pen nor even the dot over an i in the law can be ignored. The holiest, most righteous people of the day were the scribes and the Pharisees; Jesus says that we need to be even more righteous than they to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.\u00a0 Who can meet such a high standard; how can anyone enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Through Christ\u2019s salvation. Christ is the perfect fulfillment of the law. We strive to live as faithfully as we can, but finally we are utterly dependent upon God\u2019s mercy revealed in Christ\u2019s \u00a0death and resurrection.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s more in this passage than just a call to be serious about keeping the law. Jesus says God wants us to be bold and distinctive in witnessing to what we have experienced in Christ. In this world, we\u2019re surrounded by sin and evil.\u00a0 Our job is to be salt, to share the gospel with the world. If we don\u2019t do that we are hiding the light which a dark world needs, we become salt without power to preserve from decay.<\/p>\n<p>Salt has another purpose: it gives things flavor. It makes them more enjoyable, better tasting. Without Christ\u2019s salvation, the world is often sad, lonely, and bitter. The joy of salvation takes that bland world and adds flavor to it. It makes life happy, exciting, and worth living. By spreading God\u2019s Word, we help to make life delicious.<\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>What would your life be like without Christ in it? In what ways does God\u2019s salvation make your day-to-day life more flavorful?<\/li>\n<li>What are some ways you can add flavor to another&#8217;s life this week?<\/li>\n<li>Sometimes hiding your light under a bushel is easier than letting it shine. Have there been times when you\u2019ve had the opportunity to share God\u2019s Word, but were afraid to?<\/li>\n<li>How does it affect us if we lose our saltiness, or hide our light under a bushel? How does it affect those around us?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Activity Suggestion<\/h3>\n<p>Sing \u201cThis Little Light of Mine.\u201d Look for songs, either sacred or secular, about salt. What messages do those songs convey? Write your own song about our role as \u201csalt of the Earth\u201d and what that entails.<\/p>\n<h3>Closing Prayer<\/h3>\n<p>Dear Lord, be with us in the coming week.\u00a0 Let your Word and your love shine in our lives. Let us spread that Word to those around us, like a light shining in the darkness. Make us salt that helps preserve your creation and adds flavor to an otherwise bland world. Make us bold in showing your light to the world and distinctive in our witness. In all that we do, may we be beacons of your salvation. Through your Son, Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributed by Steve Alloway, Granada Hills, CA Warm-up Question Do you cook, bake, or otherwise make food for yourself or others? What are some things you can do to make an ordinary lunch more interesting? Called to be Flavorful In Spain, tapas are a variety of appetizers and snacks, originally designed to be eaten with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"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-5088","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>February 9, 2014-Called to be Flavorful - 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\/february-9-2014\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"February 9, 2014-Called to be Flavorful - Faith Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Contributed by Steve Alloway, Granada Hills, CA Warm-up Question Do you cook, bake, or otherwise make food for yourself or others? What are some things you can do to make an ordinary lunch more interesting? Called to be Flavorful In Spain, tapas are a variety of appetizers and snacks, originally designed to be eaten with [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-02-02T12:43:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/02\/shutterstock_103507949edit.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"faithlens\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"faithlens\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/february-9-2014\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/february-9-2014\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"faithlens\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7\"},\"headline\":\"February 9, 2014&#8211;Called to be Flavorful\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-02T12:43:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/february-9-2014\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":940,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/february-9-2014\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/shutterstock_103507949edit.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Post\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/february-9-2014\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/february-9-2014\\\/\",\"name\":\"February 9, 2014-Called to be Flavorful - Faith Lens\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/february-9-2014\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/february-9-2014\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/shutterstock_103507949edit.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-02T12:43:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/february-9-2014\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/february-9-2014\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/february-9-2014\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/shutterstock_103507949edit.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/shutterstock_103507949edit.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/february-9-2014\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"February 9, 2014&#8211;Called to be Flavorful\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Lens\",\"description\":\"Weekly Bible studies that engage youth and young adults in connecting world events with the Bible, faith, and everyday life.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7\",\"name\":\"faithlens\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/53db3b51717c7bec114a3e1dd0d536804a7c8cbd5a7682c824ec5b186fe5957b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/53db3b51717c7bec114a3e1dd0d536804a7c8cbd5a7682c824ec5b186fe5957b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/53db3b51717c7bec114a3e1dd0d536804a7c8cbd5a7682c824ec5b186fe5957b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"faithlens\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/author\\\/faithlens\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"February 9, 2014-Called to be Flavorful - Faith Lens","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"February 9, 2014-Called to be Flavorful - Faith Lens","og_description":"Contributed by Steve Alloway, Granada Hills, CA Warm-up Question Do you cook, bake, or otherwise make food for yourself or others? What are some things you can do to make an ordinary lunch more interesting? Called to be Flavorful In Spain, tapas are a variety of appetizers and snacks, originally designed to be eaten with [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/","og_site_name":"Faith Lens","article_published_time":"2014-02-02T12:43:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":200,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/02\/shutterstock_103507949edit.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"faithlens","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"faithlens","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/"},"author":{"name":"faithlens","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/#\/schema\/person\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7"},"headline":"February 9, 2014&#8211;Called to be Flavorful","datePublished":"2014-02-02T12:43:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/"},"wordCount":940,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/02\/shutterstock_103507949edit.jpg","articleSection":["Post"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/","name":"February 9, 2014-Called to be Flavorful - Faith Lens","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/02\/shutterstock_103507949edit.jpg","datePublished":"2014-02-02T12:43:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/#\/schema\/person\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/02\/shutterstock_103507949edit.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/02\/shutterstock_103507949edit.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-9-2014\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"February 9, 2014&#8211;Called to be Flavorful"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/","name":"Faith Lens","description":"Weekly Bible studies that engage youth and young adults in connecting world events with the Bible, faith, and everyday life.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/#\/schema\/person\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7","name":"faithlens","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53db3b51717c7bec114a3e1dd0d536804a7c8cbd5a7682c824ec5b186fe5957b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53db3b51717c7bec114a3e1dd0d536804a7c8cbd5a7682c824ec5b186fe5957b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53db3b51717c7bec114a3e1dd0d536804a7c8cbd5a7682c824ec5b186fe5957b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"faithlens"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/author\/faithlens\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5088"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5091,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5088\/revisions\/5091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}