Today, we look at a Day 4 text from this year’s summer curriculum, “From Generation to Generation.”
Prayer: Mentoring God, you prepare your people to be witnesses and messengers of your redeeming love for the world. Help and equip us to take up the task of bearing this good news around us. This we pray through your Son, Jesus Christ our ascended Lord. Amen. Reading: Luke 24:45-53 (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: On the hero’s journey, there is just about always a poignant moment when the hero-in-training goes is called upon to step into the spotlight after playing second fiddle for so long. Generally, it involves the mentor/sage/instructor finally stepping aside in some way or another to allow the burgeoning hero to flourish. SPOILER ALERTS: It’s the moment when Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda go to be one with the Force, allowing Luke to fully step into his identity as a Jedi. It’s the moment that Dumbledore lays down his own life to allow Harry to step into his own heroic destiny. More recently, it’s Captain America passing his iconic shield on to Sam Wilson to take up the mantle (though the muddied waters presented by Falcon and the Winter Soldier will have to remain a topic of an entirely different devotion. Hit me up if you want that nerdy breakdown). Reaching the end of Luke’s Gospel, the same is now holding true for the disciples. Having watched their own mentor, their rabbi, their Messiah for so long, now they are being called upon to take up the mantle. Having seen Jesus’ healings, exorcisms, feeding of the masses, now the disciples are called upon to carry on the work. They have been witnesses to all of these things. They’ve been prepared, they’ve trained for this. Now, with Jesus’ ascension at the end of this gospel, it’s their turn to step into the light. Jesus’ earthly journey may have come to an end, but their journey as his disciples and missional heirs is just beginning. In fact, it will take a whole second book of the Bible to describe their journey; after all, it is the same author who chronicles those disciples’ movements in the book of Acts! But still here at the end of Luke, the author implicates those of us who are reading as well! Jesus’ words might be immediately addressed to the disciples around him, but they serve as our call to action as well! “You are witnesses of these things,” Jesus says. To those on the ground who saw these things first hand and to those who hear this gospel now, Jesus provides the reminder that this story is theirs. This story is ours. The good news of God’s redeeming love for this world is now our heritage to take up and bear into the world! It’s time to take up the torch! ~ Justin Lingenfelter
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