Contributed by Bob Chell, Brookings, SD

Warm-up Question

What would you like to be remembered for when you die?

Remembering Lloyd

To access this week’s news item click on

http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=13724&page=80

 Discussion Questions

• What question would you want to ask Lloyd about his life?
• What in Lloyd’s life sounds challenging and rewarding?
• What in Lloyd’s life sounds boring and unimportant?
• What in your life is challenging and rewarding?
• What in your life is boring and unimportant?
• What does it mean to be saved now, today?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 18, 2012 (Fourth Sunday in Lent)

Numbers 21:4-9

Ephesians 2:1-10

John 3:14-21

(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.)

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

Gospel Reflection

The first time I met Lloyd I had trouble understanding him. He talked quickly and his stroke made his words a mumble to me. I didn’t connect him with Pedro and Anna for months. Anna was a graduate student at the university. Pedro, and their son, Lwin, seemed to be walking every time I drove anywhere, to the school, to the park, to the store. When both our children won Radio Flyer wagons in the local radio station’s Christmas promotion they wanted to give one to Lwin. We delivered it to the apartment they shared with Lloyd. That’s when I made the connection.

The apartment was not small. It was tiny. It was clearly meant for one. I didn’t want to be nosy and never asked, but I suspect Lloyd  slept on the couch, while his long term guests had the bedroom. Whatever the arrangements, it was clear that with his meager income, Lloyd had welcomed a family into his life as well as his home.

Our gospel lesson is so familiar it sometimes seems to have lost it’s power to break through the routine of our lives to shape and change them. Someone once told me that anywhere the Bible says ‘believe’ you can substitute the word ‘trust.’ I like the truth that doing this reveals. I live in the Upper Midwest where an unusually warm winter has left the ice on lakes and rivers unsafe. You can stand on the shore and determine whether you believe the ice can hold your weight but it’s an entirely different matter to take the first step trusting it will sustain your weight.

Lloyd lived this truth, trusting in God’s promises, not only for him but for all people.  In trusting he took the hands of others, inviting them to join him in trusting God’s promises to undergird, support, and sustain them.

Discussion Questions

• The gospel also talks about being condemned. What does that mean for our lives now? Does it mean forever?
• Who is the Lloyd in your life, who quietly lives trust in God’s promises?
• When were you ‘Lloyd’ for another–listening, helping, or encouraging someone?
• How does your experience illustrate what Jesus meant when he said; “…those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:24)

Activity Suggestions

• Write a thank you note to the “Lloyd” in your life telling them why you see them as inspirational.
• Determine a time or place this week where you can be a “Lloyd” for someone. Give it a try and talk next week about how that experience went (and what it means if it went terribly, as some are bound to)!
• If you are reading and discussing this in a group, determine how you can be a “Lloyd” in your congregation, school or other setting

Closing Prayer

God, you have gifted us with many things and we take your greatest gifts for granted, the gifts of life and loving friends and family. Thank you for those people who “get us” and understand what it means to struggle with pain and problems. Turn us away from our own struggles so that we recognize the pain of others and reach out to them in encouraging support.  We pray in Jesus name, Amen.

Contributed by John Hougen, Melrose Park, PA

Warm-up Question

Do you believe political leaders can make a difference in the lives of people who are sick, hungry, homeless, and fearful?

Helping People in Need

As the Republican Party selects its nominee for President and President Obama makes his case for re-election, many campaign sound-bites are about “creating jobs.” We are hearing very different ideas about whether government or the private sector should take the lead. Voters must decide: who has the best ideas and experience that can be used to put people to work.

Candidates say or imply that creating jobs is the best way to help people in need. They want us to share their belief that if jobs are created people will earn salaries and have the means to feed and house their families, pay the doctors’ bills, send the kids to college, and take care of other problems.

While the debate about jobs goes on, the rising tide of human needs which will not be solved by job creation gets brief attention from the candidates, and is reported on the inside pages of newspapers, late in newscasts, and below the headlines on the internet. In the state and city where I live, the number of people relying on food banks is dramatically up and food stamp recipients have to meet new and stricter criteria to qualify. The number of people with disabilities who receive Medicaid has been cut, and the waiting list of persons with disabilities who want to be considered for Medicaid has increased by tens of thousands. Too many people are homeless or living in substandard housing. Too many people are trapped in their homes by fear of violence on the streets where they live.

We can hope and pray that new jobs will be created and contribute to helping people in need, but there are people in need who can’t wait until new jobs are created; and there are people whose needs cry out for other kinds of help: help that will not come with better employment statistics. People of faith are called to address such problems with thoughts, words, and deeds.

Discussion Questions

• What kinds of human needs do you see in your community? To supplement what you know firsthand, search the internet for statistics to discover the scope of the problems you see. For hunger/food insecurity, you might start with elca.org/hunger, and then see what you can find out about hunger in your city, county, or state.
• Share stories of how you or people you know respond to hunger, homelessness, and other human needs. From your examples, pick out two or three “best practices,” and talk about why these responses are effective.
• Have you supplemented personal and congregational responses to human needs with “advocacy?” Within elca.org, search for “Advocacy.” You will be led to information that begins: “ADVOCACY is how the ELCA works to overcome the effects and root causes of hunger and poverty through administrative, legislative, and judicial actions in the public sphere, as well as through corporate actions in the private sphere.”  Discuss whether you think advocacy will contribute positively to meeting human needs.

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, February 5, 2012 (Fifth Sunday After Epiphany)

Isaiah 40:21-31

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Mark 1:29-39
(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.)
For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

In the Gospel text assigned for last Sunday (January 29: Mark 1: 21 – 28), we heard Mark’s report of Jesus’ visit to the synagogue in Capernaum. There Jesus taught “with authority” and cast out “unclean spirits” (demons). Onlookers were amazed. Not only did Jesus come across as more authoritative than recognized authorities (the scribes), but an unclean spirit spoke through a man it possessed and said to Jesus, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” The onlookers believed the testimony of the spirit, for, in those days, people thought one supernatural being – such as an unclean spirit – could recognize another supernatural being – such as “the Holy One of God.” Last week’s Gospel text prepares us to see the significance of this week’s text, which immediately follows. Jesus is authoritative. Jesus is Holy and “of God.” We should pay attention.

What Jesus says and does in Mark 1: 29 – 39 provides a good model for helping people in need. He surrounds himself with trusted friends (verse 29 mentions the disciples Simon, Andrew, James, and John). Working with others is almost always more effective in meeting human needs than working alone. Next, Jesus responds to the need that is closest at hand. After Jesus enters Simon’s mother-in-law’s house, he cures her fever. We also should respond first to those in need who are close at hand. And, Mark’s narrative reveals the purpose of all healing and helping: “[Jesus] lifted her up, … and she began to serve them.” You and I and all people in need are (in God’s intentions) healed, forgiven, and helped so that we may serve others.

After Jesus heals his hostess, word spreads, and others who are sick or possessed are brought to Jesus for healing. Jesus doesn’t stop with one act of kindness; he expands his efforts to help others. However, he recognizes that he must have balance in his life, so after curing many, he suspends his helping and healing for a time. He sleeps; and “In the morning, … he went out to a deserted place and there he prayed.” He took care of himself, both physically and spiritually. Even though there were still more people to help in Capernaum, Jesus seems to be at peace with not helping everyone. Instead he moves on to other towns and synagogues beyond Capernaum, expanding his efforts to the region (both “proclaiming his message” and healing). We, too, should link proclamation and helping in our efforts. And, we could follow Jesus’ example and develop a regional (and even global) approach by cooperating with other houses of worship and participating in advocacy for more compassionate public policies.

To summarize: a good strategy for helping others is provided by Mark 1: 29 – 39:

• Surround yourself with trusted friends.
• Respond to needs that are close at hand.
• Equip those you help so they may serve others.
• Expand your efforts, helping people beyond those close at hand.
• Practice self-care: enhancing your own physical and spiritual well-being.  
• Be at peace with the fact that you cannot help everyone.
• Help others both locally and regionally (even globally). 

Discussion Questions

• Which steps in this model for helping are you confident you can do? Which steps seem most daunting?
• The other texts assigned for Feb. 5, especially Isaiah 40: 21 – 31 and Psalm 147 praise God for acting creatively and compassionately in this world.  Do you think it is possible for people to become God’s allies in some of the divine actions mentioned in Isaiah 40 and Psalm 147? Which ones? If people are able to cooperate with God in doing praiseworthy actions, what do God and people need from each other to  make the cooperative effort successful?

Activity Suggestions

• Create a scenario or two in which your group (trusted friends) follows the steps outlined above, selecting a specific need close at hand, figuring out how you would help meet it, and how you could move beyond it, practice self care, and so on.
• Follow through with one of your scenarios, checking in with the group after each step to see whether you are following the strategy suggested by Mark 1: 29 – 39, or if you have wandered off the path pioneered by Jesus.

Closing Prayer

Open our eyes, Lord, so we may see human needs which are close by. Open our hearts, Lord, so we may be filled with your gift of holy compassion. Open our hands, Lord, so we may be generous, giving of ourselves as we help others. Fill our imaginations with wisdom, and energy, so we can be creative and effective allies for you. With you and others whom you inspire, enable us to serve people in need. Amen.

Contributed by Angie Larson, Clive, IA

Warm-up Question

Would you sleep outside in a box? In the rain? In Iowa? When the weather is only 30 degrees?

Sleeping Under the Stars So Kids Can Reach Them

This past October 29^th nearly 1,000 Iowans abandoned their warm beds and homes.  They left their dinners and Halloween parties to head to Drake University’s outdoor stadium to sleep in cardboard boxes or on the ground.  Does it sound like a crazy thing to do?  Especially when the temperature neared 30 degrees and it began to rain.  Reggie’s Sleepout (www.reggiessleepout.org) began in 2001, after Reggie Kelsey died in the Des Moines River, three and a half months after he aged out of the foster care system.  During those months Reggie (who suffered disabilities) battled homelessness, stayed in shelters, and slept outside.  He was ill-equipped to live on his own.  After his tragic death, Des Moines took a hard look at itself and how it handled its over 3,000 homeless youth.  Reggie’s Sleepout was developed.  It’s not only a fundraiser for the Iowa Homeless Youth Centers but an awareness project for the community.  Participants spend one evening in the cold, raising awareness, learning, and listening to stories of youth who depend on shelters for survival in the cold Midwest.

When Mackenzie Devoto, a participant at Reggie’s Sleepout, was asked about why she chose to spend the night in a box she replied, “Helping others is part of who I am.  Learning about homelessness and the people it affects reminds me how lucky I am and also reminds me that because I’m so lucky I get to help them also.” After sleeping in the cold, participants reflect on how long the night feels when you have so little and how exhausted they are after just trying to stay warm.  It causes them to ask questions like, “What would it be like if I had to do this every day?” and “How would I be able function at work or get an education if I weren’t able to get a warm, soft night’s sleep?”

Discussion Questions

•  Have you ever spent a night in the cold?  How did you feel the next morning?
• What awareness projects are there in your community for youth homelessness?
• How would you respond to Reggie Kelsey’s death?
• At 18 years old would you be able to survive in the “real world”?  What resources would you use?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, November 20, 2011 (Christ the King Sunday)

 Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Ephesians 1:15-23

Matthew 25:31-46

(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.)

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

Gospel Reflection

In Matthew chapter 25 Jesus brings us three different views of what to expect and how we are to be:   the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, the Parable of the Talents, and today’s text, the Judgment of the Nations. The king separates the sheep from the goats.  He tells the sheep that they will “inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.”  He tells them that they clothed him, fed him, visited him, took care of him, gave him something to drink, and welcomed him.  The “sheep” are surprised and ask when they did this; surely they would have remembered serving the king.  The king responds that when they do it to anyone they do it to him. For the people who are the sheep, serving seems to be woven into the very fabric of who they are.  They serve others because they can and because they understand the importance and humanity in the service.  The giving is a reflection of their character.

At Reggie’s Sleepout the participants slept outside to better serve and understand homeless youth in their community.  They spent time, energy, and resources to provide clothing, food, visitation, welcoming, and safety for the teens.  They responded not only to learn, but to experience what it was like to be homeless; to walk in their shoes, if only for one evening.  There are many reasons why people from Des Moines participated in Reggie’s Sleepout, but for many of them it was a reflection of who they are and how they desire to help make the world a better place for others.

Discussion Questions

•  How does your group or congregation live out their faith without even knowing it?
• What are some things that you do to help others?
• Who are some people who are under-served in your community?

Activity Suggestions

•  Brainstorm ideas for your group to clothe, feed, visit, care for, or welcome someone in your community.  Implement that idea.
• Host your own “Homeless Night Out.” Start by visiting a homeless shelter in your area, discover what their needs are and learn about the people they serve.  If you get the chance, visit with the homeless that use that shelter, get to know their stories.  Next develop your plan for your “Homeless Night Out.”
• Listen to Ben Harper’s “Picture of Jesus” while looking at pictures of people in your community.

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you for blessing us with this time together.  Open our hearts to your scriptures and our eyes to your people in need around us. Help giving and servanthood to become part of the fabric of who we are as people, so that when we respond, we continue to see the face of Jesus in all who surround us. Please use us Lord for your kingdom. Amen.

Contributed by John Wertz, Blacksburg, VA

Warm-up Question

What is your favorite animal?  Why?

Blessing of the Animals

According to the Humane Society, there are over 164.6 million cats and dogs living as household pets in the United States. For many, pets are a beloved member of the family.  Today, on the Sunday closest to October 4, churches around the country will hold Blessing of the Animals services as a way for Christians to give thanks to God for the joy and love that pets bring to the lives of their owners.

The love of pets and animals is neither new nor exclusive to the United States.  People have loved and cared for animals as a part of God’s creation for centuries.  One of the most famous animal lovers was St. Francis of Assisi who referred to the animals as his brothers and sisters.  Once, according tradition, Francis was once traveling with some companions and they happened upon a place in the road where birds filled the trees on either side. Francis told his companions, “Wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters the birds.”   On another occasion, Francis supposedly persuaded a wolf to stop attacking some locals if they agreed to feed the wolf. Given Francis’ connection to animals and the fact that the church commemorates (remembers) Francis of Assisi on October 4, the Sunday closest to October 4 seems like a perfect time to celebrate the Blessing of the Animals.

In addition to his love of animals and all of creation, Francis was known for his devotion to the poor.  Though born into a wealthy family, he gave up his inheritance to serve the poor and founded the Franciscans, a monastic order. Francis believed that it was important for his faith to bear fruit in the world, so he took a vow of poverty, worked with lepers, acted as a peacemaker, and inspired others to adopt a way of life focused on serving God and others.

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think people participate in a Blessing of the Animals Service?  What do you think a Blessing of the Animals Service says about our relationship to creation?
• Francis of Assisi famously said, “Go and preach the Gospel.  Use words if necessary.”  Can you think of a time when you or someone else shared the Gospel—the good news about God’s love for the world in Jesus Christ—without using words?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, October 2, 2011 (Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost)

Isaiah 5:1-7

Philippians 3:4b-14

Matthew 21:33-46

(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.)

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

Gospel Reflection

For Francis of Assisi, it wasn’t enough to study about God.  He wanted to bear the fruit of God’s love by living out his faith through his actions in the world.  Francis took seriously the call to serve others.  He devoted his life to caring for the sick and those in need.  He rejected the world’s obsession with stuff and chose a path of simplicity and poverty.  He cared about creation and loved the world around him.  “Go and preach the Gospel.  Use words if necessary.” was not simply a slogan, it was a way of life.

For some people, there is a disconnect between what they say that they believe and how they act in their daily lives.  They may speak about the importance of loving their neighbor, but when their neighbor is in need, they turn their back.  They may talk about following Jesus’ example, but somehow they never manage to move beyond fulfilling their own selfish desires.  According to our reading from Matthew, the chief priests and the Pharisees are just this type of person.  They know the story of God’s relationship with God’s people, but it doesn’t seem to influence how they treat others and the world around them.  They appear to be more concerned about themselves than about bearing the fruit of God’s love in the world.

In an effort to help the chief priests and the Pharisees understand the gap between what God does for them and their actions, Jesus shares this parable of the vineyard.  In the parable, the tenants disobey their Lord, murder his messengers, and ultimately reject and kill his son.  Upon hearing the story, the Chief Priests and Pharisees are enraged.  How could anyone act this way toward their master?  They quickly declare that these disobedient tenants should be punished and that the punishment should be death. As Jesus continues to speak, the Chief Priests and the Pharisees begin to understand that this is not a random story, but a story about them and the way they are living as God’s people in the world.

Now, in fairness to the chief priests and the Pharisees, I imagine that they truly believed that they were acting faithfully and that Jesus was the one being unfaithful to God.   As we look back, however, it appears that these men failed to grasp that they, like all of God’s children, are caretakers of the gifts God has given us, and that we are all called to use those gifts in God’s service in the world, not simply to hoard them for themselves.

A great deal has changed in the centuries since Jesus first shared this parable, but the call for God’s people remains to build our lives on the cornerstone of Jesus, to bear fruit, to live out our faith in daily life, and to do God’s work with our hands.   What will the fruit you bear look like? Only you can know the answer to that question, but God has given you a variety of gifts and the key is to claim the gifts God has given you and to look for ways to use those gifts to help others know the good news of God’s love.

Discussion Questions

• How do you think the chief priests and the Pharisees felt when Jesus finished sharing the parable?
• Instead of learning from Jesus and admitting their mistake, the chief priests and the Pharisees get more angry and more upset with Jesus.  Why do you think they refused to learn and change?
• What is a cornerstone?  What does it mean to have Jesus as a cornerstone in our lives?
• Name one gift or talent God has given you.  How can you use that gift in God’s service in the world?

Activity Suggestions

• Invite the group to identify two gifts or talents that God has given each person who is present.  Work together to discover ways that those talents can be used to bear the fruit of God’s love in the world.
• Make a banner or art display that depicts a tree bearing fruit.  Give each worshiper (or participant in your group) a slip of paper shaped like a piece of fruit and invite them to identify one gift or talent God has given them and write it on their fruit.  Collect all the ‘fruits’ and hang them on the tree.
• As a group, volunteer at a local animal shelter.

Closing Prayer

Loving God, through your teaching you help us to understand more fully how you want us to live as your people in the world.  Inspire us to claim the gifts and talents you have given us and to use those blessings to bear the fruit of your love through our words and our actions.  Amen.

Contributed by Jack Saarela, Interim campus pastor, Indiana University-PA

Warm-up Question

In your daily life, what are the offenses you find hardest to forgive?  Why?

Rage, Debts, and Forgiveness

This Sunday marks the tenth anniversary of 9/11 – the morning when four commercial airliners were taken over by members of the terrorist faction Al-Qaeda. Many readers can remember exactly where they were and what they were feeling when two planes brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York

Phyllis Rodriguez certainly can. She was returning from a morning walk along the Bronx River when the porter in her building told her there was a fire at the World Trade Center, where her son Greg worked. When she reached  her apartment, she saw, to her relief, that Greg had left a voice message, saying that there had been a horrible accident at the south tower, but that he was safe in the north tower. When she turned on the TV, she saw to her horror that a plane hit the north tower – and she knew this was no accident. She never heard from Greg again.

Phyllis was devastated. But what made everything worse for her was the strong suspicion that, given the ferocious anger and profound sense of having been violated among the American people, the United States government would use her son’s name, along with that of 3,000 others, to take vengeful military action in Afghanistan.

Two months later, a Moroccan immigrant in France, Aicha el-Wafi, was also devastated to see on a TV news clip that her son, Zacarias Moussaoui, had been  indicted on charges of conspiring to plan the attack that killed Greg Rodriguez and so many others.

In 2002, Aicha came to New York for the trial of her son. Phyllis Rodriguez was invited by the government to attend the trial. She went to the federal courthouse, but not to see Moussaoui convicted.  She went, not to “get revenge” or “reach some closure”, but because she knew that another mother, Aicha, would be there.  Phyllis wanted to reach out to a fellow sufferer who was also losing a dear son.

When Aicha arrived at the courthouse, her eyes fell on Phyllis immediately, almost as if drawn by some emotional magnet. The two women  fell into each other’s arms and wept uncontrollably for a long time. Each felt the other’s heart beating as her own.

“When Greg was killed, I thought, I will never forgive the people who murdered my son.” Phyllis says. “But the day I met Aicha changed my life. I have come to see forgiveness as a difficult process. I haven’t forgiven the act, but I have been learning to forgive Aicha’s son because I love her, and I can’t hate someone she loves.”

 Discussion Questions

• Does it seem unnatural for a mother to forgive the perpetrators of her son’s murder? Wouldn’t it have been more natural for her to want to get some “payback” and “her due” instead?  What do you think helped Phyllis go beyond what might be “natural?”
• If you witnessed the events of 9/11 on TV as they were happening, or since, what emotions were you feeling, and how are you feeling towards the terrorists now?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, September 11, 2011 (Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost)

 
 Genesis 50:15-21 

Romans 14:1-12

Matthew 18:21-35

(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.)

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

Gospel Reflection

Peter asks Jesus a question about forgiving someone in the community who wrongs him. Jesus answers Peter’s question with a few pointed words, but then illustrates his answer with a great story.

In the process of settling his accounts, a king writes off a rather large debt owed by one of his servants. But then this particular servant runs into another who is indebted to him for a relatively small amount. But because the latter can’t come up with all the money owed on the spot, the one whose debt had been forgiven by the king proceeds to have the guy put in jail for failure to pay. Not exactly doing unto others as another has done unto you, is it?

The servant owed the king ten thousand “talents” (a form of currency, not something that gets you on a television reality show.) It would take a typical servant of this man’s station fifteen years to earn just one talent. So, do the math: the king in the story is owed about 150,000 years worth of the servant’s income! Has this servant maxed out his credit, or what?

How about the other servant’s debt? He owes 100 denarii. A denarius was roughly the daily wage of a servant. One talent is equal to 5,475 denarii. Again, use the calculator on your phone, and you’ll see that the debt that the king forgave the first servant (5,475 times 10,000) was over 54 million denarii! And he can’t forgive the other servant a debt of a mere 100 denarii? What’s wrong with this picture?

But, you ask, what kind of king would loan a servant a ridiculously exorbitant sum equal to 150,000 years’ wages? The answer, of course, is no king worth his salt would, unless he’s wackier than George III. Jesus is deliberately exaggerating here, just as he does with Peter when he tells him that it isn’t enough to forgive someone who has wronged you seven times, but rather seventy-seven times. The man’s debt is unthinkable, and for him to repay such a debt is utterly impossible. So is forgiving someone even seven times, not to mention seventy-seven.

Phyllis Rodriguez, you remember, had thought it impossible to forgive the terrorists who murdered his son and 3,000 others. There’s at least one hurt in my life that I can think of right now that I find virtually impossible to forgive. I’ve been trying, but whenever I visualize the person who administered the hurt to me, I feel the knot in my stomach, and my thoughts about this person are not generous.

Every now and then, I remember to pray to God for strength to do what I cannot do on my own. Peter must have been utterly disheartened when Jesus put before him the impossible instruction to forgive someone who has hurt him not just once, or seven times, but seventy-seven times (i.e. endlessly). He could not have known at the time that 10,000 talents and plenty more was the size of the human debt God would soon forgive through Jesus’ death on the cross. All the sin, of all people, in all the world, through all of time. Huge!

We gain strength sometimes to extend love and forgiveness even when we ourselves feel unable, because the forgiving king wants to love and forgive through us.

Discussion Questions

• Can you think of other instances in the gospels where Jesus uses hyperbole and exaggeration to get our attention?
•  Is it just me, or do you also get the impression that when we talk about “justice” in our legal system, we really mean revenge? Don’t we assume in our culture that each person has a right to retaliate, “get our due” and enjoy “payback time”?  DOES everyone have that right; why or why not?
•  (This one is for you to contemplate privately.) Is there an unresolved hurt in your life? A wrong inflicted on you by someone that you can’t get past? A person, or a group. who causes your stomach to tie in a knot? Someone you just can’t forgive? Then take a silent moment to name that hurt to God, to name that person or group. Then ask God for healing of the hurt and the strength to move toward forgiving. And remember God’s unbounded forgiveness of you, and trust that healing and strength will come.

Activity Suggestions

• To see and hear Phyllis Rodriguez and Aicha el-Wafi talk about their friendship based on forgiveness, go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKQA614BA7o or type “Phyllis Rodriguez” in the in Search box.
• Another excruciating tragedy was the killing of five Amish schoolgirls in Lancaster County, PA on October 2, 2006. But the Amish Christians soon turned it into a story about the power of forgiveness. The movies Amish Grace and The Power of Forgiveness tell the story. For a brief and inspiring snapshot, go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUuXbHRHbdU or type “Amish Forgiveness in the Search box.

Closing Prayer

God,  it’s just not natural to forgive those who hurt us deeply.  But I am slowly realizing that holding hate just eats me up from within.  It was not natural for you to love a creation which rejected you–but you did.  Make me less natural and more like you, Jesus my Lord, in whose name I pray.  Amen.