Prayer: Dear God, while Jesus prayed you spoke. Speak to our expectations and questions as we pray. Amen
Reading: Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: The beginning of Luke chapter 3 is The Proclamation of John the Baptist. Crowds came to see and hear him. He was quite a sight and he certainly had a lot to say. What were their expectations? In the wilderness, of all places, he calls the people a brood of vipers and warns them of being thrown in the fire – probably not what they expected. So the crowds were filled with questions. I noticed it says they were all asking in their hearts if John was the Messiah; seemingly afraid to speak up out loud. But John knew and answered the one coming will be more powerful and John not even worthy to untie his sandals. Which probably led to more questions of who this may be. Expectations and questions. Jump ahead a few verses to the second part of our reading – The Baptism of Jesus. It sounds like Jesus was being baptized along with everyone else - no band, parade, flag waving or fanfare which is probably what the crowds would have expected. Then the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended and a voice spoke – unexpectedly answering all the questions and/or creating more. What are your expectations and what if what happens is not at all what you expected? What are the questions in your heart and what if you end up with more? Notice one more thing. The answers came when Jesus was praying. (Luke 3: 21) What else would you expect? Good question. --Alice Yeakel
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Authors
Anyone is welcome to contribute! If you'd like to write for us, please e-mail [email protected] Email
Get our daily devotions delivered to your e-mail box each day by signing up below:
Archives
May 2022
Subscribe |