Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Adult and Small Child

Read: Luke 6:17-26

Reflect: Jesus came down to find himself in the midst of this great crowd of his disciples. There, he stood on a level place with them. He spoke with them and healed them. Imagine this grace as you kiss your child’s scraped knee or catch your toddler stumbling through her first steps. Practice being on a level place with your little one as Christ was when he offered these blessings and woes. When do you find yourself coming down to your child? What happens when you are both on a level place?

Respond: Practice praying with your little one up and down. Pray up to God way above your heads, reaching your arms way up high as you share with God your prayers. At other times, bow your heads and pray down to God. Wonder if God hears us best way up high or down low. Notice if you pray for different things looking up or down. Expand your prayers to notice birds in the sky and framed pictures on the mantle that are way up high, just as you pay extra attention to the worms in the ground and the lost lego on the floor. Ask what God cares for most.

- Elsa Cook

Adult and Elementary

Read: Luke 6:17-26

Reflect: In this story, Jesus comes down to talk with his friends and others who want to hear what he has to say. Jesus tells them several things, beginning each sentence saying, “Blessed are you …� and then describing something that we might think of as sad or something that hurts. But right after that, Jesus ends each of those sentences saying that you will be the opposite of what he just said. One example is “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.� The first might sound sad to us, but last part we think of as very happy. In this story, Jesus is using opposites to teach us something about faith. Just because something appears to be a certain way, doesn’t mean it is or always will be. Jesus is also telling us that some of the things we think of as being bad, are actually important parts of life and being a person. Sometimes it is hard to feel that way when we are experiencing something sad or that hurts, or when we see someone else who is sad or hurting. That is why Jesus reminds us with these sentences. The opposites help us remember, so that we can have faith and be faithful people. Jesus also uses opposites beginning with “woe to you,� and in these sentences Jesus wants us to pause, to think, and to be careful.

Respond: Use a coin or other object that has two opposite sides. Imagine one side is positive and the other side is negative. You can go through Jesus’ sentences while flipping the coin or object as well. What does it mean to you that the positive and the negative are both part of the same coin or object, even though they are opposites? Can you think of other things or feelings that seem like they are opposite, but can both be true at the same time?

- April Caballero

What do you think when you see #blessed?

Adult and Youth

Read: Luke 6:17-26

Reflect: This is one of the most famous passages of the New Testament scriptures – one of those moments when Jesus goes full tilt into his message that God’s love has no boundaries, has no room for cliques, no room for social ladders or exclusions. The story begins with these words “And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.� By this point Jesus has become a bit of a celebrity, a sensation, and the crowds are clamoring to get close to him. They want some of what he has. Some want to be healed, but they also want some of his power and popularity to rub off on them. Have you ever seen something like that before? People trying to be friends with other people because they think their popularity or talent will transfer to them somehow, just by being close to them? What is it that Jesus says to this crowd? How does he challenge their desire for power or popularity? Who does he bless?

Respond: In this passage we see Jesus using his platform to elevate those who are usually left at the bottom – those who are often left-out, ignored, mocked, and marginalized. Work together to rewrite this passage to represent your neighborhood, your school, or your church. Name those people – the awkward kids, those without homes, the single parents, - who you feel are the ones who are unseen, unnoticed. Then pin this list somewhere in your house where you will see it daily, and pray this blessing each morning over the next month. How does it change you? How does it change how you live? If you need some inspiration watch this short video:

- Jerusalem Greer

Adult and Adults

Read: Jeremiah 17:5-10

Reflect: I love trees. I love wandering in the woods, stopping to listen to the wind moving among the branches, marveling at the roots of trees that have toppled in storms. The trails I use are near a National Historic Park marking sites from the Revolutionary War, and there are moments I wonder about what these tall, tall trees have witnessed. Did Alexander Hamilton or George Washington ride nearby?

Jeremiah reminds us that those who trust in the Lord are like trees planted near water, with deep roots, green leaves and bearing plenty of fruit, which makes me wonder: If I trust in the Lord, what might I witness in the world? If I trust in the Lord, if I anchor myself with roots that seek God’s life-giving water of life, could that mean I will see & experience more love? Would that mean I could see & experience an ebb in the seemingly endless flood of injustice?

Respond: What is the change you most need to experience in your life? Take a moment to visualize how trusting in God and being rooted in his love can help that change to happen.

- Reginia Heater

Download a printable copy of this weeks reflections HERE.