{"id":5276,"date":"2014-04-22T07:45:28","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T12:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=5276"},"modified":"2014-04-14T12:25:37","modified_gmt":"2014-04-14T17:25:37","slug":"5276","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/5276\/","title":{"rendered":"April 27, 2014&#8211;Confused, Scared, and Depressed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Contributed by Brian Hiortdahl, Overland Park, KS<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Warm-up Question<\/h3>\n<p>What scares you?<\/p>\n<h3>Confused, Scared, and Depressed<\/h3>\n<p>Alex Hribal, a sophomore at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, sits in custody after a recent rampage during which he stabbed multiple people at his school with kitchen knives.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/gma.yahoo.com\/suspect-school-stabbing-spree-confused-scared-depressed-115319444--abc-news-topstories.html?vp=1\">Hribal\u2019s attorney describes him as \u201cconfused, scared, and depressed<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Do you feel any sympathy for Alex?\u00a0 Why or why not?<\/li>\n<li>What do you think is the best strategy for keeping schools safe from violence?\u00a0 What role do students play in school safety?<\/li>\n<li>Could something unthinkable like this happen in a church youth group setting?\u00a0 Why or why not?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 27, 2014 (Second Sunday of Easter)<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=264494738\">Acts 2:14a, 22-32<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=264494769\">1 Peter 1:3-9<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=264494801\">John 20:19-31<\/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>.)<\/p>\n<p>For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic <a href=\"http:\/\/www.agnusday.org\/\">Agnus Day.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Gospel Reflection<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/04\/shutterstock_58639987edit.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-5297\" style=\"margin: 5px\" alt=\"shutterstock_58639987edit\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/04\/shutterstock_58639987edit.jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/04\/shutterstock_58639987edit.jpg 400w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/04\/shutterstock_58639987edit-228x300.jpg 228w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/a>The gospel writer John presents the disciples looking just like Alex Hribal:\u00a0 confused, scared, and depressed. \u00a0Their doors are locked in fear.\u00a0 No doubt the authorities know that they are tied to Jesus, a criminal perceived to be so dangerous that he had to receive the death penalty.\u00a0 As his known accomplices, the disciples are likely targets of some form of crackdown, especially now that a rumor is going around that Jesus <i>has risen from the dead and is alive again.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>\u00a0<\/i>They also have reason to fear Jesus himself.\u00a0 Most of them had denied him if not also betrayed him, running away and abandoning him in his darkest hour.\u00a0 Will he confront them with their failure?\u00a0 Will they have to answer to him for their terrible moment of disloyalty and cowardice?<\/p>\n<p>The stone door of the tomb couldn\u2019t keep Jesus in, and the locks on the disciples\u2019 doors couldn\u2019t keep him out.\u00a0 He did confront them&#8230;with words of surprising grace.\u00a0 <i>Peace be with you, <\/i>he said.\u00a0 Then he showed them where he himself had been stabbed.<\/p>\n<p>After this, he gave them his Spirit and a new mission:\u00a0 forgiveness.\u00a0 They were given the responsibility of giving to the world exactly what he had given them.\u00a0 He is essentially reframing his commandment to <i>love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. <\/i>One characteristic of this complete love is that it<i> casts out fear.\u00a0 <\/i>(See John 13:34 and 1 John 4:18.)\u00a0 Forgiveness banishes all of the brokenness in relationships (guilt, shame, distrust, fear, isolation), making those relationships safe enough that love can be possible and complete again, and hearts can live in peace.<\/p>\n<p>This mission is tested immediately with Thomas, who was not present for the meeting.\u00a0 Would they retaliate against him because he did not trust them?\u00a0 Would they punish Thomas somehow for failing to believe their (rather unbelievable) news about seeing Jesus?\u00a0 Or would they forgive him and include him in sharing the gift of peace they have just received from Christ\u2019s open, wounded hands?<\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Can Alex Hribal be forgiven by his victims?\u00a0 Should he be?\u00a0 What do you think Jesus would say to him?<\/li>\n<li>Do people fear Jesus and\/or His church?\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 What can be done about it?<\/li>\n<li>Who is missing from your groups\u2014at church, at school, at parties?\u00a0 How can you break through their isolation with good news and include them?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Activity Suggestions<\/h3>\n<p>Identify someone you know who appears misunderstood, someone who seems to need more love and peace and compassion.\u00a0 Pray for them.\u00a0 Befriend them.\u00a0 Invite them to accompany you at youth group or another social gathering.<\/p>\n<h3>Closing Prayer<\/h3>\n<p>God of second chances, we praise you for the resurrection of Jesus and his appearance to his frightened disciples.\u00a0 Visit us with your peace and power.\u00a0 Forgive us the ways in which we have wronged you and strengthen us to forgive others.\u00a0 Replace our fears with faith and love and joy.\u00a0 Bring all this bleeding world from death to life, in Jesus\u2019 name. Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributed by Brian Hiortdahl, Overland Park, KS &nbsp; Warm-up Question What scares you? Confused, Scared, and Depressed Alex Hribal, a sophomore at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, sits in custody after a recent rampage during which he stabbed multiple people at his school with kitchen knives.\u00a0 Hribal\u2019s attorney describes him as \u201cconfused, scared, [&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":[13672,13673,378,483,397,13671,358,331,418],"class_list":["post-5276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post","tag-confused","tag-depressed","tag-forgiveness","tag-hope","tag-obedience","tag-scared","tag-service","tag-witness","tag-witnessing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>April 27, 2014-Confused, Scared, and Depressed - 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\/5276\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"April 27, 2014-Confused, Scared, and Depressed - Faith Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Contributed by Brian Hiortdahl, Overland Park, KS &nbsp; Warm-up Question What scares you? 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