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July 11-18, 2007

Looking for answers at the edge of
the known world

Warm-up Question:

Imagine you heard of an investment. If it worked out you would increase your money 10 times in a few months, but there is a 55% chance of losing everything. Would you take the investment? Why or why not?

  

It’s two different missions in places that could not be more different, but for all intents and purposes, they are the same. Robots on the surface of Mars and in the Arctic Ocean are going to places humanity has never seen before in search of answers.

The Mars rover “Discovery” has served for three years on the surface of Mars transmitting information and pictures back to earth. Recently the handlers of the rover have decided to send the rover into a nearby crater. The mission is dangerous for the rover, as it is unsure how it will handle the terrain and may fall the 200-250 feet to the bottom of the crater. The program has cost $900 million since its inception and the rover has cost $25 million a year to continue, but the information is worth the risks, say scientists.

The crater, named the Victoria Crater, is a geological window back in time to the early days of Mars’ formation. Believed to have been created 2 billion years ago, the crater is deep enough to see back into the days when Mars was moving and perhaps covered with water.

At the same time, two robot probes Puma and Jaguar are moving into uncharted waters along the American and Eurasian fault in the Arctic Ocean. In order to observe this terrain, the unmanned submersibles must travel under the ice pack covering the Northern Pole and sink to a depth of 5,000 meters before taking samples and sending back information concerning this previously unobserved piece of the ocean floor.

The scientists compare this with going to the moon: they have known it’s there but have had no idea what might be there. They also acknowledge that there is a strong likelihood that they may lose one if not both of the $450,000 submersibles, but the risk is worth the knowledge they may gain.

 

Discussion Questions

  1. Do you think it is a good idea to send the Mars rover over the edge of the crater? If you had to make the decision, what would you do?
  2. Do you think knowledge is worth the money we spend on it? What do you think would be “too expensive” in the pursuit of knowledge? Money? Time? Human life?
  3. How would you describe your room to someone who has never seen it? How would they believe you?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, July 15, 2007.
(Text links are to oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Psalm 25:1-10
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37
 

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection
It seems overconfident of us now. We have gone to extreme lengths and great cost to answer questions about the universe in which we live. We sent the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit to take remarkably clear pictures of space to answer deep burning questions about the universe. But for every answer we discover, it spawns 10 new questions. We send Mars probes over cliffs and submarine robots into the depths, but we can still only get a small sliver of understanding. Ultimate understanding seems to always be just out of reach.

Sometimes when we think of God, we think of how utterly unknowable God can be. It seems like God is such a mystery. Why did God create us? Why do bad things happen? Why is there suffering? Why do people die at all? Trying to know God is like trying to put a rover onto a distant planet hoping that it will answer questions only to find out that the information creates a wealth of new questions. Or to send a submersible to the depths of the sea just to discover that we can only see a very small part of the whole picture.

“Who will go into the heavens to teach us?” cries the writer in Deuteronomy. “Who will go to the depths of the sea to help us to understand God?” We are reminded that God is not distant from us; the God we know has dwelled among us, living and breathing in the life of Jesus. God knows what it feels like to live, breathe, eat, feel pain, cry, laugh, love, sing, get angry, and more. Heaven is not far away; God has come close in Jesus.

And to take this one step further, we see this Jesus within us, in our churches, in the lives we live, even in the stranger. In Colossians, Paul is encouraged by the faith and life he has heard and witnessed in these church members. He sees God in the ways their lives have changed in the life of faith. In the Gospel, Jesus describes how God is visible in a Samaritan as he shows mercy to a stranger.

In all these things, we do get glimpses of God. God is not far away but is right here and dwelling with us. Look around now, where do you see God today?

Quotables

Discussion Questions

  1. Imagine you are talking to a space alien who has never heard of God. How would you describe God? What stories would you use? What adjectives? How would you respond if the alien described a similar but very different history and understanding of God in their world?
  2. What do you think a life that is full of God might look like? What does this tell you about who God is and what God desires?
  3. Where did you see God this week? Who did you see acting like you imagine God may act?

Activity Suggestions

WHY?
Two-year-olds know how to play this game really well. This is a simple game that helps students realize that knowledge never has an end.

Start with someone making a statement. If they need help, start with “What is your favorite movie?” or “What is your favorite band?” Let that person make the statement but then at the end of each statement ask, “Why?” As they answer that question, ask “Why?” or whatever question best leads the next answer, but try to stick to “why” whenever possible. Keep going until the person answering is stumped, frustrated, or plain-ole pooped out.

“Why?” is a question that gets to purpose rather than function. Think about the threads of thoughts. You probably began with your favorite movie and ended with philosophical questions about beauty or joy or humor. For instance, you may start with Pirates of the Caribbean, but when asked why you like it may be that you like Johnny Depp, and why Depp may be the way he acts, and this may be how he seems real and funny, and how real and funny makes you laugh, which makes you feel better, etc.  

Process: All streams of knowledge eventually end in mystery and what we don’t understand. This is the same for space, the sea, and even God. There is something mysterious about God; just as we can glimpse into space or the sea and not know everything about it, we can also experience the same with God. We will not get to the end of every “why,” but we can still know in our hearts that Pirates of the Caribbean is a great movie. We can still know and believe that God is great and present.


  Closing Prayer
God you are right here beside us and sometimes we don’t even know it. Help us to open our eyes to your presence in the faces of our friends, in the life of the church, in the witness of the poor and suffering, and in the witness of those who care for these. Help us to trust in you and not in knowledge alone. We pray this in your son’s name. Jesus Christ. Amen
 

Contributed by Pastor Jay Gamelin
Jay is pastor at Jacob’s Porch, a campus mission to The Ohio State University
 

Permission to reproduce for local use. Copyright © 2007 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. ELCA Youth Ministries. 1-800-638-3522, ext. 2447. To offer your comments or responses to Faith Lens, e-mail:  rod.boriack@elca.org.

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