Contributed by Jay McDivitt, Mequon, WI

WE HAVE HAD TECHNOLOGY ISSUES OF LATE.   APOLOGIES TO THOSE WHO WERE EAGERLY AWAITING FAITH LENS

Warm-up Question

When were you happy to be invited to a party or dance, or asked out on a date? When have you been disappointed not to be asked? [It’s okay – we’ve all been there… but if you like, you can tell a story about ‘a friend of yours’ instead.]

Homecoming… Going out? Or Coming Home?

In my corner of the country, it’s “homecoming” season. I assume that’s true most everywhere in the US.  High school or college, this is the time for parades, football games, dances, parties… and lots of expectations and pressure.

Now in my early 30s, I honestly can’t remember all the people I went to homecoming, prom, or other important dances with when I was in school. Sometimes I went with a date, sometimes a group of friends, and sometimes I didn’t go at all. I probably have pictures somewhere that could help me construct a list of my “dates” (I only remember going to a dance once with someone I was actually “dating”), but some of those might bring back faint memories at best.

I do, however, remember every one of the people I asked who turned me down. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like rejection is one of the most powerful experiences we can have. We all want to belong. Even if we take pride in being different (as I have many times in my life and still do), we like to be different together with other folks who choose not to fit in. Very few people live happy and rewarding lives being always and forever on the outside.

And yet, this world never tires of finding ways of making us feel like we don’t belong – like we’re not good enough, popular enough, rich enough, beautiful enough. This is especially true in adolescence, but [spoiler alert] it certainly doesn’t end there.

So, back to my homecoming dates or lack thereof.   I remember like it was yesterday writing a very heartfelt note [we didn’t have texting then] to a girl I really liked, asking her to homecoming. I knew she didn’t have a date yet. It was only polite that she should accept, right? But no. In front of a whole group of her very popular friends, she laughed and said, “Keep dreaming.”

In retrospect, I’m glad she said no. We now live very different lives – and I’m very happy with the life and family I have today. But in that moment, I was devastated. And although I have little interest in knowing where she is today or what would have happened if she’d said “yes,” I still remember her name, the words she said, the laughter of her friends, and the piercing hurt I felt in that moment of rejection.

I also, however, remember the life-changing feeling I felt when the person to whom I am now privileged to be married said “yes.” Yes to an invitation to coffee. Yes to dinner. Yes to a life together. Yes to being parents together.

Such little words: “yes” and “no.” But in huge and tiny ways, these words make all the difference.

Discussion Questions

•  What does it feel like to be welcomed or included? What does it feel like to be rejected or left out? Why are these such powerful feelings?
• Do you think of yourself as “popular” or “an outsider”? Have you felt both? Who or what tells you whether you’re an “insider” or “outsider”?
• When have you helped someone feel like they were welcome or included? When have you helped someone feel like they were excluded or on the outside? What does it feel like to welcome and/or exclude other people?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, October 9, 20011 (Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost)

Isaiah 25.1-9

Philippians 4.1-9

Matthew 22.1-14

(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’s gospel there is an intensity, an edge to Jesus’ ministry and teaching (think “weeping and gnashing of teeth”) which is sometimes hard to hear. The community for whom this gospel was written was at a major crossroads in its life together; believers faced lots of pressure to give up the faith. In the midst of that, Matthew’s gospel has an urgent message to those tempted to fall away, a decision that Matthew considered one of life and death seriousness. Today it takes a certain amount of massaging to hear Matthew’s uncompromising words as good news. Yet we also have to be careful of the tendency to take the edge out of this gospel, forgetting  that the Word God offers is indeed a matter of life and death.

The readings from Isaiah and Matthew are full of danger and full of promise. This week’s parable is about being invited – or not – to an important event. While it is tempting and meaningful to think of ourselves as the ones doing the inviting or feeling the rejection, flip it around and consider: What if it is Jesus who is the One who musters up the courage to ask us to the dance, to ask us to a party, and we are the ones who had better things to do than hang out with a loser like him. What if it is God who feels the sting of rejection when we decline the invitation?

That’s where we find God in these stories. God invited the chosen people to a feast to end all feasts, the party to end all parties. But, like those invited in the parable, the Chosen People found all kinds of reasons to say “no.” They had other, hotter, more popular, more alluring offers. Things like wealth, power, popularity… and the false illusion of safety and security and self-worth that those other gods seem to offer.

This hurt and angered God. Like the king in the parable, God appeared to have given up on Israel which he had promised to protect, allowing its nasty neighbors to destroy its cities. People do crazy things when they are publicly shamed and dishonored when they’re trying to be kind and gracious. And so it seemed with God.

And before we move on to the “good news,” it is important to pause and reflect on all the ways that we too ignore, refuse, and decline the gifts God ffers, all the ways we go after other gods when the Source of Life is offering us God’s own hand and heart to have and to hold. God wants to honor us with this invitation.  Too often we dishonor God by having better things to do. This invites us to confession, an honest reflection on the ways we’ve left God standing on the edge of the dance, red-faced with shame, wondering if it was a mistake to ask us to dance in the first place.

But thanks be to God, the story doesn’t end there. Isaiah and Matthew both tell us  of a God who never stops inviting, a God who musters up the courage to ask us again and again to join in the feast of life, the feast that “swallows up death forever,” the feast “for all peoples” that is overflowing with “rich food and well-aged wines.” God calls us to the feast that “wipes away all the tears on all the faces” of people who have been on the inside and the outside and know the disgrace, shame and loss that comes from saying “no” when we should have said “yes.”

The invitation goes out into the streets, where “both the good and the bad” are invited to the party. That’s right, it goes not just to the pretty perfect people, but to all the regular, average, sometimes downright stupid people like you and me. God wants everyone to share in this feast. And God gets what God wants – eventually. Thanks be to God for that. Amen.

Discussion Questions

•  How have you said “no” to God and “yes” to other gods in your life?
• What does it mean to you to be one of the “good and bad” people that God keeps inviting to the party? When have you felt that invitation?
• When do we practice giving and receiving this kind of invitation? How does the church help God invite people to the party? How has the church sometimes failed to help God welcome all people to the table?

Activity Suggestions

•  Gather craft supplies (magazines, markers/pens/crayons, glue, scissors, construction paper, etc.). Pretend you’re God [don’t do this very often, it can get a little weird]. Make invitations to the Feast of Life (the real “Home-coming” dance). Who is invited? How does God invite them? What will happen at the party? When and where will it happen?
• If you have a pastor around (or if you have a pastor who can help you do this with your group), celebrate Holy Communion. Pile the invitations on the table. Pass the bread and wine around the circle and feed each other. Say something like, “God invites you to the Feast of Life. The body of Christ, given for you.” [Leader: This should be obvious, but you may want to drive home the point that this Meal is the Feast of Life – and it is given freely and weekly to all who gather. Thanks be to God!]

Closing Prayer

God, you invite us to join you in the Feast of Life. Forgive us for the times when we find better things to do with our time. Help us to hear your word of forgiveness, grace, and constant welcome and invitation. Bring us back, always and forever, to the table of your grace and mercy. 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 Jen Krausz, Bethlehem, PA

Warm-up Question

When would you rather be last at something, rather than first?

It’s Not Fair–Thank God

My father-in-law passed away over the summer. He was only 63, and our family was not ready for a leaky heart valve which led to a lengthy hospital stay, followed by strokes which left him comatose and unable to respond.

But in the weeks before the strokes, while he sat in the hospital waiting for his kidney function to stabilize, an amazing thing happened. His heart toward God changed.

A previous church had judged his family for the behavior of another family member instead of offering help or support. This unchrist-like behavior had turned him off to churches—we thought, for good. He was a loving father, grandfather and husband. He helped many people and treated others better than they deserved in many cases. He just didn’t want to get involved with churches anymore, and held God at a distance because of the way God’s people had treated him.

But when he landed in the hospital, he started talking to our pastor. People from church, many of whom he did not know, called and visited. They became the hands and feet of God to him, and he began to see, through this caring and through talks with the pastor, that God loved him. He expressed his wishes to join the church when he recovered, not knowing that the expected recovery would not take place.

At his funeral, the pastor was able to share this story of a man who discovered God’s love and salvation at the end of his life. What an inspiration to those who heard that story!

 Discussion Questions

• Do you know anyone who is “turned off” to church because of a bad experience? What do you think might change someone’s mind once they’ve had an experience like this?
• What can churches do to minister to people who have been mistreated in the past?
• Do you think it matters to God whether someone comes to faith early in life or at the end of their earthly life? Why or why not?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, September 18, 2011 (Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost)

 
Jonah 3:10-4:11

Philippians 1:21-30

Matthew 20:1-16

(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

Wouldn’t it be great to work one hour and get paid the same as people who have worked an entire day? Absolutely, it would. However, would you like to be the person who worked all day and had to watch someone who only worked an hour get paid the same as you? Not likely.

Unfortunately, people who have followed Christ for many years can take the same attitude as these day-long laborers did in this week’s scriptures. According to these verses and others (such as Jesus’ promise to the thief on the cross that he would be with Jesus in Paradise on that same day), those who come to Christ at the end of their lives are promised the same reward: eternity with God in heaven.

Is that fair? Well, Jesus cautions, we may not want to be so focused on what’s fair. After all, let’s consider that Jesus’ payment on the cross for our sins wasn’t fair to him, was it? If things were really fair, we would all be in trouble! This parable reminds us that God is in charge, and it’s up to God to decide what happens to people. If God decides to give people every opportunity to find faith and salvation, even with their dying breaths (and it seems that God has), what is that to us?

I would add that there are many blessings in following Christ here on earth, so even grumbling about fairness is not really justified. In God’s economy, glorifying God also benefits us in many ways. Go figure!

I don’t know if you grew up like I did, hearing my parents use verse 16 of this scripture as a life lesson. Whenever my sister and I clamored to be the first to get or do anything, we heard, “The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” And although we got tired of hearing these words, they were a good reminder that being first is not necessarily best in God’s eyes. God takes everything into account; even the last and least are important to God, and they should be important to God’s followers as well.

Discussion Questions

•  Do you consider yourself to be a long-time follower of Christ or a new believer—or someone who is still seeking faith?
• If you consider yourself a long-time follower, how do you feel about those who come to faith at the very end of their lives?
• What special opportunities belong to those who are last (think about being last in line, last to do something)?
• Does your view of what’s fair change when you consider that no person deserves salvation or even God’s love?

Activity Suggestions

As a group or individually, commit to visiting at least one person who is in the hospital. It could be a church member, or a non-member that someone in the class knows. The purpose of the visit is not to evangelize, but to show love and concern. Pray out loud for the hospitalized person during the visit (ask first to make sure they are open to it).

Brainstorm other ideas for how to show God’s love to others in a non-judgmental way. There are many ways for students to do this in their daily lives—sitting with someone at the lunch table who normally sits alone, offering to help carry an injured student’s books, helping a struggling student with homework, treating brothers and sisters the way they would want to be treated, etc. It is so sad that so many people miss out on church (and God) because they have not experienced the love of God’s people! We as a church need to make sure we are reversing this trend, not reinforcing it.

Closing Prayer

Holy God, you can do anything in this world, but you choose to work through flawed people. Give us strength and willingness to be your hands and feet to the people around us, especially those who are hurting and need your love. Thank you for being unfair to us and forgiving our sins when we didn’t deserve it. In Jesus’name, 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.

Contributed by John Hougen, Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Melrose Park, PA

Warm-up Question

If your house of worship had a bouncer, and the bouncer was Jesus, would he let you in? Why or why not?

Who’s In and Who’s Out

One of the common issues faced by groups of friends and organizations is deciding who’s in and who’s out. Most groups of friends form without consciously deciding why some are in and some are outside the group: it seems to “just happen.” On the other hand, fraternities and sororities vote to include or exclude each prospective member. Honor societies and professional organizations develop criteria that must be met for membership.

What about Christian congregations and ministries? A few have strict criteria for membership, but most eagerly welcome all comers. When newcomers show up, the delicate process of integrating them begins. It’s an art. It doesn’t “just happen.” Each newcomer changes the dynamics of an existing group. A newcomer with a great sense of humor and keen insights can lift the morale of an existing group. A newcomer who can’t keep a secret can change a group from one in which personal problems are shared and resolved to one in which personal problems are kept private. To bring someone from the outside into a Christian group involves negotiating differences in personalities, perspectives, preferences, beliefs, interests, and “style.”

Discussion Questions

• Discuss Bible stories in which Jesus welcomed a newcomer into his group of followers. How did Jesus practice the art of welcoming?
• Think about the congregation or ministry group to which you belong. Are there formal requirements for membership or participation? What are the unwritten “requirements” a newcomer must follow to fit in?
• Can you remember a time when your congregation or ministry group made adjustments in its usual way of doing things to make newcomers feel welcome?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 15, 2011 (Fourth Sunday of Easter)

Acts 2:42–47

Psalm 23

1 Peter 2:19–25

John 10:1–10

(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

Read John 10: 1 – 10 slowly. This is one of those Bible passages that can be very confusing. Commentaries reveal that knowing Greek (the original language of the text) and examining early manuscripts will not make the text more understandable. In verse one, we might think Jesus is the gate. That is confirmed in both verses seven and nine where Jesus is quoted as saying “I am the gate.” But, in verse two, we might conclude Jesus is the shepherd. And, sure enough, in verse eleven of John 10, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.” However, if Jesus is the gate and / or the shepherd, then who is the gatekeeper? And, what about those thieves and bandits? Who are they? Also, it is not clear whether the point of this passage is that Christians should follow Jesus out into the world or if those who enter the Kingdom must rely on Jesus to get in. In verses three through five, the sheep are being led out of the sheepfold. Verse 9 refers to sheep which “come in and go out.”

Is Jesus the gate, the gatekeeper, the shepherd, or all three? Are the sheep going out or in or both? Whew! A lot of questions come up in this short passage. It is reassuring to read that we are not the only ones to wonder what this means. Verse 6 says, “Jesus used this figure of speech…, but (his hearers) did not understand what he was saying to them.”

Let’s find our place in the text and go from there. You and I are among the sheep. That’s clear. It also is clear that the sheep will be safe with their shepherd but not with thieves and bandits. The Good Shepherd is Jesus (or perhaps a faithful follower of Jesus in a leadership position). Thieves and bandits are those who lead the sheep away from Jesus. This text and other Bible passages point to these conclusions: e.g. John 10: 11ff, Jeremiah 23: 1-4, 1 Peter 2:19–25, and the  Psalm 23.

Among the “thieves and bandits” who might lead us astray are those who try to convince us that we’re not good enough to be part of Jesus’ flock. Sometimes such “thieves and bandits” are self-righteous people of faith who look down on us because we don’t meet their standards for “true believers.” Sometimes authority figures, such as parents and teachers, crush our sense of self-worth. And, some of us have done really bad things. No matter how often we hear that God forgives us, we can’t forgive ourselves and, in effect, decide that God’s love for sinners does not apply in our specific case.

But, in this passage, Jesus says it is not the quality of the sheep but rather the inclusiveness of the Shepherd / gatekeeper that decides who is in the flock. Verse 9: “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” Later in the chapter, Jesus’ inclusiveness is underscored when he says, (verse 16) “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Even if we feel we don’t belong to Jesus, Jesus reaches out to us and promises inclusion.

Discussion Questions

• If Jesus includes you and me, who is excluded?
• Do you know anyone who feels they are not good enough to be one of Jesus’ followers? How could you demonstrate or explain to such a person that Jesus wants to include them?
• Do you think people from faith traditions that are not Christian are among those who will become “one flock” (John 10: 16)? If so, should we try to convince them to become Christians? Should we trust that Jesus loves and accepts them as they are? Should we believe that, eventually, Jesus will, in His own way, bring them to Himself?

Activity Suggestions

• With others in your congregation or ministry group, recall times when you were newcomers. Ask: what obstacles were experienced as you tried to become part of a group? And, what made you feel most welcome? Develop a strategy for welcoming newcomers that incorporates insights from your discussion.
• Bring together representatives from several religious traditions and compare how new members are integrated into your respective communities.

Closing Prayer

Good Shepherd, help us to trust that you include us in your flock. Call us in to safety and out for nourishment and service. Give us generous hearts, open minds, and holy wisdom so that we might integrate into our communities all whom you send our way. Amen.