Today’s post is from Ben Blobaum, Program Director at the Inside Out Network in Chicago, IL.

Prisons are places where profound spiritual growth is occurring. In fact, many men and women in prison are thriving spiritually, their faith tested and forged in the crucible of incarceration. For those inmates who allow the experience to pierce their illusions of self-sufficiency, incarceration holds up a mirror, exposing one’s truest and deepest need: mercy. Many turn to Jesus with that explicit plea.

By its announcement of God’s mercy, the gospel of Jesus Christ sets the captives free. Paradoxically, some of the freest people I have ever met are currently locked in prison cells. Though physically confined, their hearts and spirits soar, weightless, into the unending expanse of the infinite God. Doxological worship is the natural expression of one who has been set free.

Who, having received of the riches of God’s grace, can keep from singing?

Worship is not only a response to freedom in Christ; it is a necessary condition for it, if freedom is to be sustained. Volunteers from local congregations can play a vital role in the life of the church “on the inside,” by leading even simple elements of worship, incorporating Scripture, prayer, and song. The principle aim is to develop a format that nearly anyone in your congregation is capable to lead. Musical instruments can be a nice touch, but they are optional (it’s easier to clear security without them anyway). Leading songs a cappella in call-and-response fashion is really quite effective, and, logistically efficient, as it eliminates the need for distribution of lyric sheets.

Many prisoners know both their deep need for mercy and the extravagant abundance of which they have received.

Experience and know-how are not essential (both will develop over time); the key imperative is a willing heart. Worship is our response (prayer and song) to God’s Word (Scripture). Music, especially, is uniquely able to invoke and elevate the human spirit, expressing what is beyond the reach of spoken words. Many prisoners know both their deep need for mercy and the extravagant abundance of which they have received. Should you have the privilege of participating in, or leading, worship with prisoners, just wait ‘til you hear them sing!

If you or others from your congregation are interested in the opportunity to lead worship in a correctional setting, or if you would like to learn more about prison ministry and visitation, please feel free to contact Ben Blobaum or Pastor Fred Nelson of Inside Out Network (ION). Inside Out Network is a congregation-based prison and re-entry ministry in Chicago that seeks to address the missed connection between “returning citizens” and the local church. Or, to connect with a prison ministry in your area, contact your synod office, or your local Prison Fellowship representative.

Drew Tucker, Radford, VA

Warm-up Question

Who has authority in your life? What are the limits to that authority?

By Whose Authority?

Eminent domain is a hot button political issue for many people. If you’re not familiar with the term, eminent domain means the government’s right to purchase private property from citizens regardless of the citizen’s desire to sell that property. In the United States, the property must be intended for public use to qualify for eminent domain. For instance, the President couldn’t just take all of your family’s land to create a private hunting reserve, but the state can make you sell a portion of the yard in front of your house if they need to widen the street for the increased amount of traffic in your neighborhood. The government has the authority of eminent domain, but it has limits and must be used properly.

That’s what the Fraternal Order of Eagles local aerie (“aerie” is the term they use for their lodges) discovered recently in Puyallup, WA. As the city continues to grow along with its neighbors Tacoma and Seattle, Puyallup is also expanding their public transportation. That new development requires the space currently owned by the Fraternal Order of the Eagles. It’s a touchy situation for aerie members, as it would likely be for church members selling a sanctuary or families selling a home. Even though they didn’t want to give up their home of nearly eight decades, the Eagles don’t view the needs of eminent domain as entirely negative.

It’s the amount offered that’s absolutely unacceptable.

Sound Transit, the public transportation authority, offered an amount well below the market value determined by a private appraiser. The Eagles hope to work out a solution with Puyallup’s city council and Sound Transit that affords them a fair price for the space and helps them locate a new building from which they can continue their philanthropic work. They haven’t necessarily challenged the government’s authority; instead, they’re arguing that they’re not using that authority well. You can read more about the Eagles hopes here (http://komonews.com/news/local/eminent-domain-cost-puyallup-eagles-their-home-now-theyre-asking-city-for-help) and see why Sound Transit wants the property here (https://www.soundtransit.org/puyallupimprovements).

While property law isn’t the most interesting subject for some, it brings up some important questions about authority.

Discussion Questions

• Do you think the government should have this authority? Why/why not?
• How would you react if you were a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Puyallup?
• Imagine you need public transit everyday from Puyallup into Seattle. How would you feel about the expansion project then?
• How can a good use of authority benefit the Eagles and public transit users?

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32

Philippians 2:1-13

Matthew 21:23-32

(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 B at Lectionary Readings

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

Gospel Reflection

This confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees hinges upon authority: John’s authority, Jesus’s authority, and the authority of the Pharisees. They ask a question not only to challenge John’s leadership and to scuttle Jesus’s influence. They ask in the hopes to reassert their own authority. This is because both John and Jesus challenged the control of the Pharisees in 1^st century Israel. Pharisees view authority as something of a limited commodity, a thing that they had that others shouldn’t possess.

In his famously subversive fashion, Jesus flips the script and challenges their authority, first confounding them with a simple question and then a parable. Their answer to the question reveals that the Pharisees lacked the courage to lead. They didn’t want to anger the crowds, nor did they want to enter additional conversation with Jesus. If they chose an answer, there was a risk. Option 1 means they might lose their influence over the people right away. Option 2 brings the chance of further public humiliation when confronted by Jesus. Their lack of an answer is answer enough about their own authority: they don’t have the courage to lead.

The parable pushes even deeper into the meaning of authority. We hear that authority is revealed by obedience. The father had authority over both children, but only one recognized it enough to follow the father’s will into the vineyard. In effect, Jesus tells the Pharisees that those whose lives don’t reflect the will of God don’t truly comprehend God’s authority. And if you can’t understand God’s authority, you surely can’t be trusted with much authority yourself.

Deeds of the leader (John and Jesus) and deeds of the follower (the first son) confirm true authority. That’s what makes Jesus such a unique leader. His deeds of healing the sick, forgiving sinners, feeding the hungry, and giving justice to the oppressed reveal his integrity as a leader. They reveal that he deserves authority. More than that, the obedience of those who follow him reveal the contagious nature of his leadership. His authority is recognized and actualized by those under his authority. That his disciples attempt to do his will – succeeding at times and failing epically at others – shows us that Jesus carries a unique authority, one that identifies him as more than a king, smarter than a teacher, more powerful than a magician. The authority by which Jesus does–well, everything in his life–that’s God’s authority.

Discussion Questions

• What stands out to you about this passage?
• How does Jesus’s subversive approach reveal his authority even as it confuses those who question him?
• Why were the Pharisees so challenged by the presence of teachers like John and Jesus?
• Why doesn’t Jesus tell them who gave him his authority?

Activity Suggestions

• Play “Reverse Simon (or Samantha or Sam) Says” but with a twist. Add a purpose to the game beyond winning. Perhaps have youth set the table for a meal together or put together school kits for Lutheran World Relief. Regardless, the goal isn’t to see who messes up the least. The goal is to highlight the difficulty of authority by ensuring that the person giving directions gives every direction. “Sam says walk to the table. Sam says pick up the fork with your right hand it and put it to the left of the plate.” Perhaps prompt Sam to say something silly to display the problems of displaced authority, like “fill the pitchers with thumb tacks.” Eventually, you may point out that good leadership might see someone with talent or skills and pass a level of authority on to them.
• Plan worship together as a group. Talk about the different kinds of authority we experience. The authority of scripture as the foundation for worship. The authority of the pastor to forgive sins. The authority of the hymns, songs, and prayers to shape our doctrine. Of course, remind everyone that these are all expressions of God’s authority shown through human means.

Closing Prayer

Lord God, you gave all authority on heaven and earth to your only child Jesus. He used that authority to heal, to liberate, to forgive, and to commission, all signs of your good will. Send your Holy Spirit to help us recognize your authority in all the ways that you come to us. Tune our hearts especially to those places where we don’t expect to find you. Help us to rely, not on our own authority, but on your gracious will. In the name of Jesus Christ, our savior and friend, we pray: Amen.

Today’s post is from John Michael Longworth, OEF, Pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran in Rutland, VT.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is nestled in the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains in the small city of Rutland. Just downhill from ski areas like Killington and Pico, and a short drive from beautiful glacial lakes and the southern reaches of Lake Champlain, this picturesque community is surrounded by forest, farms and an array of wildlife. I like to imagine that it’s not that different from the hilly region that Francis of Assisi called home when he was called to rejuvenate the Church.

We have the good fortune of having a beautiful sanctuary, with stained glass windows celebrating the creation story, and also a peaceful outdoor chapel with a hand cut stone altar. The back drop for this worship space is an awe inspiring vista of the western slope of the Green Mountains. For several years, this outdoor chapel has been used during the summer months for a festive alternative liturgy called “Saturday Night on the Hill”. This lively outdoor service has included folk & blues music, Taize with live accompaniment, and favorite songs from our Synod’s camp.

Four years ago, the local Episcopal priest was not available to offer the blessing of the animals at our county Humane Society shelter and I was invited to fill in. It was a real joy. However, the following year the responsibility went to the newly arrived rector. Our worship team decided to make use of our incredible setting and the exceptional foliage that is often present at the beginning of October to host one last Saturday Night on the Hill which included a blessing of the animals.

In addition to the fun that barks, meows and caws add to worship, this event is a great way each year to celebrate the stewardship of creation. At the same time, it is an opportunity to share about Francis of Assisi and the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans (www.oeffranciscans.org), to which I belong. Last year we expanded the celebration by hosting this worship jointly with our brothers and sisters of the Rutland United Methodist Church. Their pastor, The Rev. Hannah K. Rogers helped to lead the worship.

I firmly believe that our call to preach the Gospel extends beyond the people in our pews in a typical week. A blessing of the animals is a wonderful way to share love with our neighbors, the furred and feathered ones, and the loving families who bring them.

NOTE: This post was originally published on the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.

This has been a devastating season of hurricanes for our neighbors throughout the Caribbean and the U.S. South. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have already left a path of destruction, and at the time of this writing, Hurricane Maria has made landfall in Puerto Rico. As response efforts begin and continue, Rev. Albert Starr, Jr., director of Ethnic Specific and Multicultural Ministries and program director for African Descent Ministries for the ELCA, offers this update and call for our prayers for all our neighbors affected by the storms, including those on smaller islands often given too little attention in U.S. national news.

Beloved,

Please continue to hold our sisters and brothers throughout the Caribbean in prayer.

As efforts are being made to respond to the devastating impact of hurricane Irma in the Caribbean, plans are being made in anticipation of yet another hurricane, Maria, which made landfall in Puerto Rico September 20, 2017. Residents of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico were urged to take shelter in the available emergency centers as many private homes have already been damaged and structurally compromised by previous storms and hurricane Irma. The island of Dominica and the U.S. Virgin Islands have already been devastated by Maria, a powerful storm right on the heels of Hurricane Irma.

Communications with the islands of St. Thomas, St. John in particular, have been sporadic at best over the past week. St. Croix and Puerto Rico experienced the least impact of hurricane Irma. We have limited reporting out from the ELCA churchwide offices so as not to inadvertently add to the level of anxiety with unverified or false information.

Our Lutheran Disaster Response team here at our churchwide office in Chicago has been in direct communication with Lutheran Social Services of the Virgin Islands, with offices on the island of St. Croix and with Lutheran Social Services of Puerto Rico. For more information on the efforts of Lutheran Disaster Response, please visit the Lutheran Disaster Response blog or follow Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook.

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been on the ground but may withdraw staff and return after Hurricane Maria has passed.

Ms. Junia Stryker, director for Lutheran Social Services of the Virgin Islands has brought on an additional staff person whose work will be dedicated completely to hurricane response in the Virgin Islands. Their staff has not yet been able to make an on-the-ground assessment. Travel between the islands by both sea plane and ferry has been curtailed by continued unfavorable weather. The airport on St. Thomas was restricted to emergency and military air traffic only.  St. John does not have a commercial airport.

As of this past week here are some of the effects from Hurricane Irma:

St. Thomas and St. John

• Frederick Church sustained damages and is worshiping in the parish hall building.
• Nazareth Church on St. John island received some damage but is standing. The parsonage was destroyed. St. John is without power and running water. We have heard from Pastor Carlyle Sampson indirectly that he is well but without means of connecting and communicating with all the members across the island. This is true of the ministries and pastors on St. Thomas as well.
• The hospital on St. Thomas has been destroyed. Patients have been evacuated to St. Croix, Puerto Rico and mainland U.S.
• The main power plant on St. Thomas was destroyed. Power outages continue. Cell phone access is sporadic. When possible, texting seems to be the best opportunity for connecting.
• FEMA has set up food and water distribution centers across the island.
• An island-wide 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew is being enforced.

Please continue to hold our neighbors in prayer this season. If you would like to support the efforts of Lutheran Disaster Response, please visit their “Hurricane Relief” giving page to make a gift. 100% of gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response will be mobilized to support response and recovery efforts related to the hurricanes.

Additional Ways to Give

Checks or money orders can be sent to:
Lutheran Disaster Response
P.O. Box 1809
Merrifield, VA 22116-8009

Write “Hurricane Response” on your check memo line.
———————–
Give by phone at 800-638-3522

Each year, the United States Census Bureau updates the statistics on poverty, health care coverage, and the median income for Americans. This research gives us not only a glimpse into how the country is faring in terms of economic opportunity for a given year but also a broad view of historical trends year-over-year.

Around the same time, the United States Department of Agriculture releases new data on food security in the United States. These data help us see how the country is faring in terms of access to healthy, safe food for Americans.

The data for 2016 were released last week and contained few surprises. Before getting into the numbers, though, here’s a few helpful notes on the Census reports. (Many thanks to the Coalition on Human Needs, an alliance of nonprofit organizations that hosts an annual webinar on the census data.)

• The data are collected annually through two tools: the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the American Community Survey (ACS). Both provide information on similar issues, but the ACS involves a much larger sample, making it possible to get statistics for smaller datasets. For example, you can use the ACS to find the rate of poverty in your state, county or congressional district.
• The rate of poverty is calculated for the previous year based on the official poverty thresholds for households based on household size. Households with annual income below the thresholds are considered to be poor. This matters a great deal, since some means-based public support – SNAP, TANF, etc. – are based on the poverty thresholds. For 2016, the year measured by the CPS and ACS in the newest data, the thresholds are:
  • 1 person, average – $12,234
  • 1 person, below 65 years old – $12,486
  • 1 person, above 65 years old – $11,511
  • 2 people – $15,585
  • 3 people – $19,109
  • 4 people – $24,563
• In addition to the official poverty rate, the Census Bureau provides data based on the “Supplemental Poverty Measure.” The Supplemental Poverty Measure has a few key differences that make it interesting. First, it includes forms of “income” that the official measure does not, for example, Social Security income, SNAP benefits, housing assistance and tax credits. It also makes adjustments in the poverty thresholds based on housing costs in a local geographic area. This makes the SPM fascinating, since it can be used to track the effect things like SNAP benefits, Social Security and medical out-of-pocket costs have on the rate of poverty in the US. For example, we can use the SPM to see what the rate of poverty might be without a program like SNAP. Or, we could use it to estimate what the rate of poverty would be if households had no medical out-of-pocket costs.
• To be statistically significant, the poverty rate has to change by at least .2 or .3 percent. For example, a change in the poverty rate from 15.5% to 15.4% is not statistically significant. For median income, the change has to be about 1 percent to be significant. (Thanks Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities for his analysis here.)

Alright, enough notes. Here’s the numbers:

Food Security – 2016

• 3 percent of Americans – about 15.6 million households – were food insecure at some point during the year. This is down, but not significantly, from 12.7 percent in 2015. It is a significant decline from 2014, though, when 14 percent of Americans reported experiencing food insecurity in 2014.
• 9 percent of people in the US – about 6.1 million households – had very low food security in 2016, which means that their food intake was reduced and their normal eating patterns were disrupted at some point during the year. This is essentially the same rate as 2015, when 5 percent of households reported low food security.
• 5 percent of households with children experienced food insecurity in 2016. One interesting note here is that in 8.5 percent of households with children, only the adults were food-insecure. This may be due to the tendency of adults to reduce their own food intake and change their eating habits to ensure that children have enough to eat. Still, in 298,000 households, children, too, experienced disruptions in their food intake due to food insecurity.
• As you can see in the graph below, the Great Recession caused spikes in food insecurity, which have since abated. But food insecurity still hasn’t declined to what it was before the recession.

Poverty

• In 2016, 12.7 percent of Americans – about 40.6 million people – were living in poverty. This is a decline from 13.5 percent in 2015.
• While still high, the new rate reflects the biggest two-year decline in poverty in nearly 50 years. 2.5 million Americans who experienced poverty in 2015 had incomes in 2016 that were above the poverty threshold (see above.) This is a tremendous positive change.
• The number of children living in poverty continues to be high, though we did see a reduction in the number of children living in impoverished households from 2015 to 2016. In 2015, 14.5 million children were living in poverty. In 2016, the number dropped to 13.2 million.
• The Supplemental Poverty Measure demonstrates the huge impact that government programs have had on the rate of poverty in the United States. For example, Social Security helped 26 million people from experiencing poverty. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reduced the number of people in poverty by almost 3.6 million.
• Higher income may be part of the reason for the decline in poverty. For the second year, the median income for American households increased, to $59,039 in 2016. This is still lower than it was before the Great Recession ($59,992 in 2007), but it shows a positive trend, at least from 2014 to 2016.
• Interestingly, this growth is not necessarily attributable to a growth in wages. Rather, the most likely reasons seem to be higher employment and the effects this has on household income. Wage growth, unfortunately, remains slow.

Altogether, the news from the US Census Bureau shows the positive effects of economic growth, as well as the importance of public programs like Social Security, SNAP, housing assistance and others. For a full report on the new data, see  https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty.html.

Today’s post is from Mike Woods, pastor at Prince of Peace in La Crescent, MN.

This summer we took out a couple of pews in the back of church, long wooden benches that are designed for fifty minute sitting sessions. We replaced the pews with coloring tables. They were an immediate hit. No signs were needed as to why the tables were there. Their presence just said WELCOME to a certain segment of the communion of saints.

One week later we heard Jesus’ story of this crazy farmer who threw seeds everywhere. A nine year old came to the communion table and with pride handed me her very accurate time lapse drawing of the life cycle of a seed that she wanted me to share with the congregation to make us all better people. I did.

The next week I was talking to a grown up about grown up things after church when I felt this tug my sleeve. The little one tugging was excited to show me something with such excitement that she forgot to wipe the ample supply of pumpkin bar off her hand so it now adorns my sleeve at the elbow.

She too needed to show what she had drawn during worship. We had heard Jesus’ story of the wheat and the weeds. I thought I was helpful when I said to consider that the kingdom of heaven like it is God’s holy ecosystem where weeds are necessary, like mosquitoes are necessary but in the end God knows what God is doing. Seemingly opposite things can co-exist in God’s church – sort of like Viking fans and Packer fans worshipping together.

Well she took all this in and produced a work of art that included a puppy, playing with a kitty, who was playing with a mouse who was playing with the puppy … a beloved community of play. She was probably five years old but a very good theologian. The stain would come out in the wash the next day but I am still thinking about that drawing.

That same morning I came face to face with a three year old artist and his interpreter (mom). I saw a series of colorful slashings on his eight and a half by eleven canvas. I was told the larger blue scribbles are the wheat. The contrasting green slashes are the weeds. Both sets of plants seemed to be thriving. Yup, I thought, the wheat was good seed, unimpeded by weeds. God will use the wheat to make blue bread and the green weeds God can bundle up to build the fire to bake the bread.

When I asked about the bonus picture on the back of the paper of a rhinoceros and its horn and a wheel. The interpreter just shrugged her shoulders.

I like the piece on my door where a five year old wrote: “You are God’s light” from the bottom of her paper up, so that the word “light” was like a crescendo on top of the pile of letters. It does make sense if you think about it.

Speaking of light – another five year old showed me her drawing of red clouds, a yellow sun, green grass and two stick people with skinny arms touching one another and a beam of yellow glowing between those arms. What is this yellow here I asked. She looked at me with all the confidence in the world and said, “That’s friendship!” Is not friendship the stuff of light, and necessary for life as yellow sunlight?

Then there is the toddler who makes her own kind of music every time the congregation sings a hymn. She grabs a songbook like everyone else but she only knows one song so far in her short life. So with conviction and gusto she belts out Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star every single time! Last Sunday for our last song the whole congregation, a couple hundred strong, sang in one voice, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star … because her daddy is serving in the military in Saudi Arabia and he wanted to let his daughter know it’s okay to sing her own song.

Because when churches use the word “we,” we always mean one more.

Anne Williams, Ankeny, IA

Warm-up Question

Think about Christmas; how does your family decide what “fair” is for presents? Is it the same number of presents to open? Is it the amount the presents costs? Why do you think your family does “fairness” that way?

Fairness is Relative

“When it comes to business, fairness is relative,” says banker John Norris. In a newspaper column, Norris, a banker in Birmingham, Alabama, tells the story of a friend who had done well all year and had reached his sales goal for the year by September. His boss told him that doing so meant he had also reached his cap on bonuses and commissions for the year. The boss felt that it wouldn’t be fair for Norris’ friend to earn that much more money than anyone else.   Norris’ friend was none too happy with this decision and told Norris that he wouldn’t negotiate another sale for his company until January, when he could get commission and bonuses again.

Norris’ response to his friend was to say the company was stupid to max him out with three more months to go in the year when this friend could be making more money for the company. Both Norris and his friend know and understood that in business, those contracts and sales pay for everyone’s salary, everyone’s bonuses and cover things like overhead (what it costs to run the business) and health insurance. But Norris’ friend needed an incentive. As Norris writes, “He simply didn’t want to work for free. Why would he? That wouldn’t be fair, would it?”

Discussion Questions

• What do you think about salaries that are based on bonuses and commissions? Would you want a job like that?
• Who’s right, the boss who thinks bonuses above the goal is unfair or Norris who thinks his friend shouldn’t work for “free”?
• Does fairness seem difficult to nail down in this situation? Is it relative? Is it always relative? Is there objective fairness in the world?

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

(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 B at Lectionary Readings

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

Gospel Reflection

In this parable, Jesus tells us a story about the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s like a man who owns a vineyard who hires workers for that vineyard at three hour intervals during the day and then pays them all a full day’s wage at the end of the work day.

Here’s your fun fact for the day: a day’s wage, in the ancient world, was enough money to a family to eat for a day. Think about that: earning just enough money each day to buy the food you needed to keep you and your family alive. It’s called subsistence living (Google Dictionary definition of Subsistence: “the action or fact of maintaining or supporting oneself at a minimum level”).

Now here’s where things get sticky, could the workers who were chosen at 5:00 expect a full days wage? Were they dreaming of that, but trying to limit their expectations to something less? Can you imagine the surprise and maybe even confusion of the workers who got a full day’s wage even after working just one hour?

What about the anger from the other workers who had also been paid the usual daily wage? How would they feel? Here’s what the landlord has to say for himself (verses 12 – 15)

[The workers grumbled], “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”

The best part is that Jesus says only this by way of explanation: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Fairness doesn’t always look the same in every situation. It’s not about being first or last, it’s situational.  In this case, fairness in the Kingdom of Heaven looks like everyone having work enough to feed their families. Now by our definition it’s not at all fair that enough work looks like all day for some and one hour for others. The words Jesus gives the God character in this story, the landlord, reflect fairness rules that are pretty foreign to us: It’s more important that everyone have enough to eat than to be fair about work hours, for example. It also implies that fairness has something to do with our values and morals. What’s fair in the Kingdom is that everyone eats rather than everyone being paid hour by hour for their work.

Discussion Questions

• Since we don’t yet live fully in the Kingdom of God, but we really want to, whose fairness rules should we be living by?
• What would it be like to live like God was our landlord?
• What motivates your sense of fairness? What values or morals do you think about when you think about fairness?
• Jesus seems to think that generosity is more important than what we usually regard as absolute fairness. Can you think of cases where you would agree?

Activity Suggestion

Fairness exercise: hide a bunch of candy around the space you’re meeting in (Keep a full sized bar out of sight). When all of the students have found all the candy, give the “prize” to the person with the least candy. Debrief the exercise with questions like, does this feel fair? How does it make you feel that the prize went to the person with the least?

Closing Prayer

God of all things, you command us to love one another and to love you. Help us to show that love in our actions and how we share with others. Remind us that fairness should be looked at from your point of view, not ours and that you make the last first and first last. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Issue 54 of Administration Matters

500th Anniversary of the Reformation

The 500th anniversary of the Reformation is just over 60 days away! Hopefully, you’ve been able to host an anniversary activity. If not, it’s not too late. Consider hosting a “With New Voices” Small Catechism study, a showing of the latest Martin Luther documentary or host a livestream of the ELCA’s Oct. 31 anniversary commemoration. You can access all the resources needed at ELCA500.org and stay up-to-date on what’s happening in congregations and synods around the country (and world!) on Facebook and Twitter. So, connect today to share photos of what your congregation and synod is up to for #ELCA500.

Lutheran Disaster Response is here to help

September is Disaster Preparedness month. And what a devastating month it’s been, with many disasters wreaking havoc and destruction, not only in the U.S., but around the world. Several years ago, Lutheran Disaster Response produced a Congregational Disaster Preparedness Guide to help congregations prepare for and respond to a disaster. The free guide can be downloaded as a whole or in three parts. The first section addresses congregational preparedness, the second congregational response and the third section has worksheets congregations can use as they address this work. To save on printing costs, it is only available by download at ELCA.org/Resources/Lutheran-Disaster-Response#General.To help with the response go to: http://www.elca.org/ldr.

Congregational Audit Guide

An audit should be conducted periodically to review compliance with regulations, ensure the effective operation of the congregation, maintain or enhance its reputation in the community and instill a sense of confidence that all is functioning well.>More

Electricity: powerful tool – lethal hazard

Electricity is a powerful tool. It can also be a lethal hazard. Better safety standards have reduced electrical problems that cause deaths, injuries and property damage, but good safety habits are still the best prevention against electrical accidents. >More

ELCA group tax exemption

Most ELCA organizations are included in the ELCA group exemption filing with the IRS. A certification letter may be requested when you apply for a bulk mailing permit, state sales tax exemption, to receive grant or matching funds, estate settlement or simply for proof of tax exempt status. >More

Today’s post from Craig Mueller, pastor at Holy Trinity in Chicago, IL.

With cremation growing more common, so are memorial services. For many people today, having a body present for a funeral is considered unnecessary. Families may want some time with the body of the deceased immediately after death, but then they want the body taken away so they don’t have to deal with it anymore.

Most people today feel that the “soul” is the essence of a person, making the body of no significance after death. Yet the bodies of the faithful are washed in baptism. Bodies receive the laying on of hands at confirmation and anointing with oil in rites of healing. And most importantly, the eucharist is a meal which involves bodily eating and drinking.

I sense an absence when at a memorial liturgy that has neither the body or the ashes of the deceased present. To say the words of commendation—“Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant, Jane”—to the air suggests that it is a soul, not an embodied person that we are commending to God.

I would highly recommend a significant book on funeral practices by Thomas Long: Accompany Them With Singing: The Christian Funeral (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009). Long acknowledges there are plenty of situations in which a body, coffin, or ashes cannot be present for a memorial liturgy and that Christians can certainly “raise the resurrection song,” but questions this as the new norm. Despite a biblical anthropology that does not divide body and soul, Long wonders whether a body seems of lesser importance at a funeral because “we esteem the spirituality of the mind over the materialism of the body.”

Even though we talk about the body as a “shell,” we go to great lengths to recover a body or even some of the remains when someone is lost at sea or crushed in the World Trade Center disaster, for example. By paying attention to these deep human responses to death we might rethink why the presence of a body, or at least the ashes from cremation, should be present at a Christian funeral or memorial service (Long, pp. 33-44).

Though a pastoral case for the presence of the body at worship is going against the grain of societal practice, I urge religious leaders to have these important conversations: not necessarily when a family has already decided what they want to do following the death of a loved one, but in less anxious contexts such as sermons, classes, and other congregational settings. For example, I would encourage a family to have the ashes of the deceased present at a funeral—perhaps along with photographs—to emphasize the importance of the body of their loved one.

Pastor Mueller’s recently released book, Any Body There? Worship and Being Human in a Digital Age, includes further reflection on the importance of the body in worship. For further resources on funeral planning, see the newly released In Sure and Certain Hope: A Funeral Sourcebook.

Ginger Litman-Koon, Chapin, SC

Warm-up Question

Many relationships, personal and professional, are based on a system of credit and debt. People invest in others with the hope of receiving something in return; employees show up to work with the intention to be compensated later; ER doctors provides treatment with the expectation the cost will be covered. Does a credit/debt system promote the good of all involved? What happens when a debt is forgiven?

Debts Forgiven

For much of history, unpaid debts were legally punishable with prison time. Only fairly recently in history has the use of so-called “debtors’ prisons” been outlawed as a penalty for unpaid debts or fines. Nevertheless, in some states and municipalities, laws still allow for individuals to be jailed for “willful refusal” to pay what they owe. Consider the story of Edward Brown reported on NPR:

On a night last week when the temperature dropped to 17 degrees, Edward Brown, who’s 62 and homeless, slept at the bus stop in front of the Jennings, Mo., city hall in St. Louis County… Brown’s troubles started when he tried to fight the city of Jennings, and his story shows how court fines and fees can grow, turning an impoverished person’s life upside down. The city wanted to condemn his small, crumbling house, where he had lived for 25 years. Officials sent him a citation for letting the grass grow too high. Brown stayed in the house after it was condemned, and received a citation for trespassing. Brown had been bedridden from injuring his back, and was unable to push a lawnmower. He was ticketed, too, for not getting a rabies vaccine for his dog, Matrix. Altogether Brown owed the city $464. But Brown lives on a $488 Social Security check and food stamps, so he didn’t pay his fines. “I went to jail for that,” he says. Since 2009, he’s been jailed several times — once for 30 days, another time for 20 days.

In the case of Mr. Brown, he was jailed because of “willful refusal” to pay his fines, even though he was disabled and unable to work. Others like him have been jailed for defiance of the court because they know they’re be unable to pay, have health problems, have limited access to transportation, or are unable to get the time off from work or child care necessary to go and appear in front of a judge.

While these practices may be legal, they often effectively punish people for being poor, to add indignity to poverty, and to introduce added instability into the lives of those who may already be struggling to get by. One advocacy group that has taken up this cause defines the “human costs” of debtors’ prisons in this way: “Debtors’ prisons waste taxpayer money and resources by jailing people who may never be able to pay their debts [and create a system] in which the poor receive harsher, longer punishments for committing the same crimes as the rich, simply because they are poor.” Advocacy and legal teams have been working in recent years to tackle this injustice on a case-by-case system in the municipalities around the country.

Fines and fees are put in place in order to accomplish certain goals: to deter people from violating laws, to maintain the legal boundaries of municipalities and to raise revenue for the enforcement of laws. Their intent is, at its core, a good thing. However, as we see, the burden of fines and fees on those who live in poverty can become overwhelming and detrimental. Christians are called through our baptisms to be a voice for the voiceless – in this case, for those who wield little political power due to their socioeconomic status. One way we can do that is through advocacy – promoting the rights of the poor and speaking out against unjust policies. The ELCA Advocacy Office makes speaking up for those living in poverty a priority. You can become an advocate by learning more about the laws in your town, by writing a letter to your local officials, by learning more about ELCA Advocacy, or by simply remembering this issue in your prayers and in the work of your church.

Discussion Questions

• What do you think of Mr. Brown’s situation? What parts of his story surprised you or made you think?
• What is prison like? Do you think temporary imprisonment an effective way to get people to pay their debts? Why or why not?
• Many states maintain jail time as a permissible punishment for those who fail to pay owed Child Support. What do you think about that?

Fifteenth 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 B at Lectionary Readings

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

Gospel Reflection

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus teaches about forgiveness. He tells his disciples that they should not only forgive, but they should be prepared to forgive (almost) infinitely. Jesus then goes on to tell a story about the slave of a king who was forgiven a seemingly infinite debt. Ten thousand talents was an unimaginable amount for a slave to try to repay. By telling this story, Jesus is comparing us to the indebted slave and God to the merciful king. God has and will forgive all our sins, as infinite as they may seem, and he will continue to do so. Therefore, we are called, not just to forgive, but to become forgiving people – that is, to make it our business to regularly practice forgiveness, just as God regularly forgives us.

However, in this story, the slave who has been infinitely forgiven turns around and does the opposite. He goes to one who owes him a debt and refuses to forgive him. And on top of that, he turns violent and demands that he be jailed as recompense. In prison, not only would that slave have to suffer harsh and inhumane conditions, but he would also miss out on the opportunity to return to work and to provide for his family.

We see two kinds of poverty in this story. The second slave is impoverished financially. He has no money to repay the debt that he owes. He has to work, not only to please his master the king, but also to repay the debt he has accrued by borrowing from another slave. He is at the bottom of this social hierarchy, and he faces further suffering at the hand of a fellow slave. On the other hand, the first slave in the story is impoverished spiritually. He is morally bankrupt, because he is unable to show mercy, even after being shown an incredible amount of mercy by the master himself.

What about us? If we recognize the tremendous mercy that was shown to us – to the point of God sending his own Son to suffer and die for our sake – do we ourselves show mercy? Do we repay the never-ending forgiveness of our loving God by forgiving others? Or do our hearts harbor grudges, judgment, or resentment for those we feel have wronged us, knowingly or unknowingly? And do we use the gifts given to us to provide for the needs of others? Do we use the voices given to us to speak out for those in need? Do we use the faith given to us to bring others to faith?

As Christians, we are rich. No matter what kind of income our families bring home, we are rich because of the love God pours out on us in Christ. God’s love enriches us with an over-abundance of love, forgiveness, mercy, and generosity to share with others. When we use these riches, we are truly living out our baptismal covenants with the God who so richly blesses and loves us.

Discussion Questions

• What are the debts you owe to others…that are owed to you?  Remember this is about more than money.
• The first slave is blind to the absurdity of his being so harsh to a fellow slave on the heels of having received a massive gift from  his master.  Why do you think it is easy for us to take blessings as our right instead of seeing them as tools to help others?

Activity Suggestions

Option A: Forgiveness takes practice. The more we forgive, the more we train our hearts to forgive. Write a short letter thanking God for specific things you have been forgiven of. Then write a letter to someone that you need to forgive. Specify what they did, how it made you feel, and how you are going to move on from it. You don’t have to send the letter, but commit yourself to truly letting go of the grudge/resentment/hate and ask God to free you from that burden. 

Option B: Play the SPENT money challenge and poverty simulator at www.playspent.org

Closing Prayer

Giving God, you provide everything that we need, and you bless us richly with our time, talent, treasures, and your never-failing mercy. Give us grateful hearts for the forgiveness you give us every day and make us generous in giving and forgiving.