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Green Blades Preaching Roundtable

2nd Sunday in Lent

Year B
February 25, 2024
Pastor Karen Behling (she/her)

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Psalm 22:23-31
Romans 4:13-25
Mark 8:31-38

Here are three threads one might choose to explore:

FRUITFUL LIVING

God’s words to Abraham and Sarah call to mind creation with God’s promise to make them exceedingly fruitful. In the Genesis 1 creation account, by the time we get to verse 28 with God’s instructions to “be fruitful and multiply”, we have already been told about plants yielding seed and trees bearing fruit as well as swarms of living creatures and multiple kinds of birds and animals. Life is already abundant and fruitful when God charges humankind to “be fruitful and multiply”. Within such a context, fruitfulness seems to be about so much more than many human children and descendants.

When God promises that Abraham and Sarah will be exceedingly fruitful, God is inviting them and us to envision a future full of life for all of creation that has been declared by God to be good. Fruitfulness is about our shared quality of life.

Questions to ponder for life in today’s world:

●     What does a fruitful life look like?

●     What does a fruitful world look like?

●     Who benefits from the fruitfulness? Some or all? Humans only or all of creation?

Galatians 5:22 offers a helpful list for fruits that are abundant in a healthy world - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Where and how do we see these qualities at work in today’s world? And where are they in short supply?

 

TURN TO GOD’S VISION

The gospel speaks of Jesus turning and looking at his disciples. The rebuke of Peter is about calling Peter to turn and reorient his life according to God’s ways.

The psalmist celebrates that “all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD.” (v. 27)

This would be a great Sunday to give close attention to the Gospel Acclamation text “Return to the Lord your God. . . .” How are we involved in turning and returning our lives to align more fully with God’s vision for life together on this planet?

Through household and congregational practices to Reduce - Reuse - Recycle, we have incorporated intentional, on-going practices into our lives, and in so doing, our lives have become reoriented.

 

LIFE ON THE ROAD

Abram and Sarai have been on the road. And in many ways, their journey is less about destination as a place and much more about the process of living into God’s vision for their lives in relationship with the world around them.

Jesus has set his face toward the cross, and he is on the road toward Jerusalem. Jesus has a clear purpose and destination in mind, and yet, the more he speaks of it, the more ignorant the disciples seem to the larger mission.

In speaking of our own lives - filled with change and transitions - we often use the image of a journey to emphasize the process more so than the destination. To journey through life is to encounter others along the way. Through such encounters on the road through life. . .

●     When have we gained greater clarity or deeper insight?

●     How have chance encounters shaped us for the better?

●     What surprises have we discovered along the way?

 

Pastor Karen Behling (she/her)
Pastor Karen Behling (she/her)
Chippewa Falls, WI

Since moving to Wisconsin five years ago, Pastor Karen Behling (she/her) has been transforming their lawn into more and more pollinator habitat. Such a glorious front lawn has sparked many meaningful conversations with neighbors of all ages. Living in the heart of Chippewa Falls and within a mile from Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Chippewa Falls, WI allows for walking to be Karen’s primary mode of transportation most days. Previous calls over these past 34 years have been in Minnesota, Iowa, and North Dakota in congregations small, medium and large.

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