Overview Week One: Come and See Week Two: Hearing God's Voice Week Three: Living by Grace Week Four: Gathered at the Table Week Five: Sent into the World Week Six: Walking the Way

Read Luke 24:13-35.

  • Jesus says to the two disciples: “How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets declared.” Notice, that Jesus is implying not that these two disciples are unfamiliar with the prophets’ teachings, but that they are simply slow to believe (i.e. trust) in what they promise. The struggle of discipleship is not so much knowledge of Scripture as it is to trust that the news it has for us is truly as good as it sounds. To wrestle with this doubt is a normal part of discipleship. Has there been a promise you’ve read in the Bible that has been hard to trust? What questions did that raise for you?
  • For these two disciples, the thing that made the words and presence of Jesus “click” for them was his heart-stirring explanations and his breaking of the bread. Imagine you are talking to Jesus about your own doubts or sadness or confusion. What would be the thing Jesus would do for you that would break through to you?

Read The Epitome of the Formula of Concord, Preface, 1-2, 8

When we Lutherans say “The Word,” we could be talking about one of four things:

  • The Word Incarnate – Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word, made flesh. This is the ultimate and preferred definition for what (rather who) we reference when we say “Word of God.”
  • The Written Word – the canonical Scriptures that give testimony to God’s Word (i.e. the Bible)
  • The Proclaimed Word – faithful preaching and teaching of the good news found in Scripture.
  • The Sacramental Word – God’s words of promise joined to physical elements (e.g. Baptism, Communion, Confession & Absolution)

The 16th century reformers did not break with the way Christians for the first 1,500 years approached the Bible. The Bible contained the Word of God, but it was not the Word of God in a literal or exclusionary sense. They, like our Roman Catholic and Orthodox siblings, upheld the longstanding notion that the Word was ultimately the person of Jesus himself (see John 1). Jesus’ words of promise and presence are also encountered in our relationship with him, in the hearing of preaching, and in the sacraments.

What our Lutheran ancestors did clarify was the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. You may have heard that translated as “Scripture alone.” Over the years, the concept of Sola Scriptura has been regrettably warped to mean the Bible is our only source for encountering God’s Word to us or that we need only read the Bible ourselves to come to conclusions about God and can safely disregard the discernment of our fellow Christians, good biblical scholarship, the sacraments, or the lived experiences of others. This was not the 16th century reformers’ purpose. Sola in Latin can just as easily mean “primarily” or “upmost” as it does “alone” or “solitary.” The reformers put great value in biblical scholarship, debate, discernment of the church, creeds, and sacraments to help guide disciples closer to Jesus, but they insisted that the Bible was our upmost authority, not our only avenue our source. All our other sources for encountering God’s Word to us should be judged against the reliable revelation found in Scripture. Furthermore, they insisted that all of Scripture should be interpreted with Christ at the center. Ultimately, Scripture is the best witness we have to the Word…that Word being Jesus. So even when we read parts of the Bible that aren’t the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), we should be thinking: “How do I understand this in a way that is consistent with who Jesus is?”

The Bible is our guide, our norm, our central “gut-check.” To misunderstand Sola Scripture as a bar on all the other ways we come to know God is to strip our spiritual lives of the great diversity with which Jesus, the Word Made Flesh, comes to dwell with us and in our hearts.

Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina means “Divine Reading.” It is an ancient Christian spiritual practice that invites the disciple to hear God’s Word to him/her personally in a Bible passage rather than trying to interpret it or overanalyze it. You will read the same Bible passage multiple times, each time with a different prompt for meditation.

  1. Find a quiet comfortable spot. Take a few moments to settle in and take deep breaths. When you’re ready, find Psalm 25:1-9 in your Bible.
  2. Read the passage slowly for the first time. Notice a single word, phrase, or image that stood out to you. Simply hold that word/phrase/image in your mind for a few moments in silence.
  3. Read the passage slowly for the second time, this time, paying close attention to your chosen word/phrase/image. Notice if it is bringing up something for you—an emotion, a thought, a memory. Don’t analyze just yet; just take a few moments to notice what this is bringing up for you.
  4. Read the passage slowly for the fourth time. This time, take a few moments to meditate on this question: “What might God be saying to me through this passage?”
  5. Read the passage slowly for the fifth and final time. This time, just let the words wash over you…no task…just listen again.
  6. Conclude with some silence or respond to God. What do you want to say back to God?

Haiku Psalm

The Bible has inspired some of humanity’s greatest works of art, music, story, poetry, and theater. In addition to being God’s most reliable revelation to us Christians, we disciples can simply appreciate the Bible for its artistic genius! So, have some fun with the Bible this week:

  • Take the Psalm you read for your Lectio practice—Psalm 25:1-9
  • The Psalms are all forms of ancient Hebrew poetry, but it’s hard to recognize because ancient Hebrew poetry didn’t operate the same way modern poetry does.
  • So, try rewriting Psalm 25:1-9 in a form of simple poetry you may know, a Haiku!
  • A Haiku, is a non-rhyming poem that consists of three lines. The first line must have 5 syllables; the second line has 7 syllables; and the third line has 5 syllables. Below is a famous example:

The light of a candle
Is transferred to another candle
Spring Twilight
(“The Light of a Candle” by Yosa Buson)

You’ll notice that a Haiku is short. That means you will have to discern what message or image from Psalm 25 is most important to you and then express it in only 17 evocative syllables! Try to use your own words. Don’t feel like you need to simply cut out words from the Psalm and rearrange them into a Haiku. This exercise allows you to really get at the heart of the Psalm for you and then to creatively retell it in your own poetic words. Have fun!

New Revised Standard Version (updated edition) Bible online - this is the Bible translation used in worship in ELCA congregations and is the most widely accepted English translation by scholars. 

The Bible Project - an excellent site full of study guides and videos that will teach you about individual books of the bible and biblical themes and concepts. 

The Revised Common Lectionary - this is the schedule of Bible readings that Lutheran (as well as most other historic Christian denominations) follow each Sunday. If you ever want to look ahead at what we are reading on a Sunday, you can look it up here.