Prayer: Gracious God, you entered a world that seemed to have no room for you, but you built an expansive table from which to share your love. Help us to gather close to the places you set for us, that we may in turn invite the world to witness the love you have in store. Amen.
Reading: Luke 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: And Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (Luke 2:7). It seems strange to begin our Lenten journey with a reminder of the Christmas story, but sometimes you have to remember from whence you came. In this case, though, that origin seems more than a bit . . . out of place. The origin story of Jesus that we receive from Luke’s Gospel reminds us that when God’s presence enters into this world, the world had no room for it. It seems outlandish to us that Jesus’ arrival is marked with displacement by a world that seemed like it couldn’t even accommodate his existence. Which is maybe why Jesus spent so much time ensuring that there was always a place for God’s people. Over and over again Jesus, the fullness of God’s presence, made space for all. For the poor. For the sick. For the possessed. For the disenfranchised. For the oppressed. For the rejected. For the overlooked. And now, here in Luke’s Holy Week text, there was even space at Jesus’ table for his own betrayer. Here, in the midst of the climactic drama of Holy Week, Jesus even makes space at his table for the same Judas who will hand him over to arrest and execution. Here, at the table of God’s outpouring love -- through Jesus’ own death and resurrection -- God’s people find their place, whether they thought they had one or not. So, if you feel as if you don’t belong, as if there couldn’t possibly be a place for you in God’s narrative of redemption and love, know that Jesus has made plenty enough space for you at the table. ~ Justin Lingenfelter
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