The Word

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God…” (Romans 12: 2)

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22: 36-38)
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Kyle’s Story

I turned 18 in the summer of 2008, as the race for the presidency echoed on every newsstand and network. That fall, on one rainy September afternoon, Obama’s calls for hope & change rang across my small college campus, where 26,000 gathered to watch him speak. Street corners burst with signage for national and local political leaders. I spent hours watching debates, reading articles and having conversations with my classmates, all in preparation to cast my first ballot.

As is the case with many young people, most of my voting has been done by absentee ballot as my schedule often finds me away from home on Election Day. I still feel a surge of pride when I drop my ballot in the mailbox. I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of something bigger than myself. However, voting in person provides a visceral connection to this imperative responsibility of being a citizen. We walk or drive or bike through our neighborhoods on the way to the polls, passing those affected by the policies that we elect individuals to uphold or reform. Scripture tells us that whatever we do unto the least of these, we do unto Christ himself. In this way of seeing, we immerse ourselves in a community where Christ is our neighbor. We must not look away.

Called to Renew Our Minds

We are called in faith to be active, informed participants in the communities of our lives – our churches, our neighborhoods, our country and our world. When Jesus charges his disciples to love their neighbors as themselves, he asks us to consider the neighbors that don’t look like us, or speak like us, or attend the same churches as us. The gospels constantly remind us that the community, the KINdom of God, is vaster than we allow ourselves to imagine. We are called to constantly be “transformed by the renewing of our minds”. To me, this renewing looks like a call to pray & discern, to do our research, to become informed about the issues that impact our neighbors here and abroad.

Luke, a former Lutheran Outdoor Ministries staff member and LVC volunteer, participates with Kyle and #elcayoungadults in #elcavotes by answering the question “Remember the first time you voted?”

Sarah, a YAGM alum and ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellow, participates with Kyle and #elcayoungadults in #elcavotes by answering the question “Remember the first time you voted?”

Lifting Our Voices, Lifting Our Votes

The privilege to vote is one of the most active ways we as people of faith can take our hopes and prayers for the world outside the church walls. When we open our eyes to the concerns of our communities, listen to those whose voices are marginalized by political systems and consider the way our government impacts individuals, we are striving to be the type of neighbor Jesus describes in Matthew’s Gospel. Repeatedly throughout the gospels, Jesus challenges assumptions about the disciples’ roles in community, calling to their attention the ways they can step outside their personal circles to be better servants in the world. Still today, Jesus challenges our assumptions and calls us out into the world every day.

Study, listen, pray, discern, lift your voice, and lift your vote – the world needs it.

Discussion Questions:
1. Have you taken time to listen for the Holy Spirit in your life lately?

2. How are you making space for the Holy in your daily life?

3. How are you actively engaged in your community, locally & nationally? How is your church or ministry engaged in the community outside its walls?

4. How do you understand the relationship between your faith and your vote? Why?

5. Do you have a voting plan? Make time this week to read up on your midterm ballot initiatives and candidates.

Kyle Lefler serves as the Program Coordinator at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp in Lakeside, MT. Her work at FLBC includes overseeing year round retreat programming, onsite summer camp operations & making sure all the ice cream in the canteen is fit to sell, among other things. Kyle is passionate about working with young people in God’s Creation and striving to create intentional community spaces where they are unconditionally loved & accepted, empowered & advocated for. She loves early morning lake swims, handwritten letters & the Avett Brothers.

Bryan Jaster,  Winchester, VA

Warm-up Question

What is something traumatic that happened in your life?  What did you do in response?

Beyond Death’s Stench

Mikah Meyer is on a 3 year journey to visit all 417 national parks and discover the power of healing and love.

Imagine being 19 years old and having one of your parents die.  When Mikah Meyer was 19 his father died suddenly of esophageal cancer at the age of 58 years.  He was devastated.  His father would never see him grow up and be able to celebrate life with Mikah.  The assumption that his father would live to be 80+ years old was shattered.  The realization that life isn’t infinite and that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed hit hard.

His father loved to travel and Mikah set a goal that when he was 30 years old he would hit the road and set the world record for being the youngest person to visit all the national parks while sharing along the way that life is worth living and to appreciate time and people while we have it. So, at 30 he did.

Once he started his national park tour something happened that had begun in his life as a 19 year old. That year was the first year when he met an adult who was openly gay.  Gay before that was a topic that wasn’t even spoken of.  So after meeting more people in his 20s and making public that he was a gay Christian, he began to encounter many who felt they weren’t loved by their church or by God.   He thought that sharing that part of his life during his tour of national parks would decrease financial support from congregations.  Living out of his van, he visited congregations on Sunday mornings and relied on the hospitality of friends and strangers to continue his journey.

However, he decided to share that part of his identity after being contacted via social media by a young teen who was in the closet about being gay. The teen reached out after finding out about his past work setting up “Queers for Christ” in Washington, D.C. The teen thanked Myer for letting him know he wasn’t alone and that he could accomplish his dreams, just as Meyer was accomplishing his.

So now honoring his father’s life, he travels living out of a converted van as an openly Gay Christian,  performing as a contra tenor singer who sings for his supper.  He preaches at congregations about living God’s limitless, boundary-less love and proclaims that we are all children of God, worthy of love. He has been able to stay on the roads because America’s Christians have funded a gay man to set a world record.   He has currently visited 368 of the 417 national parks and will finish April 29, 2019 at the Lincoln Memorial.

Check out more of Mikah’s journey at https://www.mikahmeyer.com/

Discussion Questions

• How many national parks have you been to?  What would be a challenge to trying to see all 417?
• What is a favorite place you like to go to experience the beauty of creation?
• Mikah Meyer experienced death face-to-face when his dad died. How did he respond? What can we learn from his actions?   What big dreams do you have that God might be calling you to do?
• What is something that you feel is “off limits” to talk about at church, in school, or in your family? What is one way you can start a conversation about it and promoted loving people who may be different in some way?

All Saints Sunday

(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

“There is a stench”

Death stinks. Literally, death stinks.  Bacteria quickly break down proteins in dead bodies into cadaverine and putrescine—and the stench rises.   Death stinks too for those who mourn as the reality of loss and death of a loved one takes hold.  There is a stench in death.

Before our story begins in John 11, Jesus made mud and healed a man of blindness.  This action made “the Jews” or perhaps we could say “the religious authorities” irate.  When they ask if he is the Messiah, Jesus’ answers do not appease them.  They accuse him of blaspheming and try to arrest him.

The stench of death continues.  Jesus gets word that Lazarus, whom he loves, is ill.  Jesus says this illness will lead to God’s glory.  He waits a few days and the disciples are puzzled that he would go back to the place where he was to be stoned to death.  He goes anyway, and finds Lazarus to be dead four days. Martha says, “If you had been here my brother would not have died.”  She proclaims Jesus to be the One, and then goes back and tells Mary that Jesus is in town.

Here is where our text picks up the story, John 11:32-44.  The Jews and Mary are weeping.  Jesus is disturbed, first when seeing their pain, and then upon arriving at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus being “disturbed” in Greek is like him making the snorting sound of a horse when he encounters the stench of death in the grief of the Jews (remember they were the ones who tried to arrest and stone Jesus), Mary, and Martha.  Greatly moved by Lazarus’ death and the love for his friends is Jesus when surrounded by the stench of death.

Jesus stands at the cave and commands for the stone to be taken away.  Martha protests that “there is a stench” because Lazarus has been dead four days.  There is nothing to be done for Lazarus now and he can do nothing for himself in death.

Jesus response to the stench of death is startling:  “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”  Jesus next prays, thanking God for hearing him and hoping that the crowd might believe God sent him.

Then he shouts, “Lazarus, come out!”

With those 3 words Jesus flips the stench of death upside down and writes a new script where death is defeated by the way of resurrection, life, and love.  With the words “unbind him and let him go” we see the completion of the seventh sign in John’s gospel of Jesus’ identity.  From now on being in relationship with Jesus means we face death and pain with him.  It means learning that, in spite of the stench of death, Jesus can and will bring life.  Nothing is ever so dead that it keeps Jesus from bringing life for us.  Abundant life is always ever now.

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think Jesus delayed in going to Lazarus’ tomb? When was a time when if felt like God waited too long and then something truly good happened after all?   How can we trust that God will bring life out of death in our world?
• Abundant life is now and resurrection is now. What is one way you can share the abundant life that God gives with someone in class or your neighborhood?   Make a plan and do it!

Activity Suggestions

Find a dead, decaying animal.  Really. Find an animal that smells like death.   Be smart about handling it and smell the stench of death together.  Unlike our recent ancestors, most of us don’t come in close contact with the death of animals or human family members.   If you are adventurous, take a trip to a morgue or schedule a visit to see cadavers in a research lab.

Another option:  Duckweed or other high-protein plants emit smells like decaying flesh when decomposing.   Get some duckweed and let it rot for a week in advance.  Then smell it.

Once you have allowed your noses to recover, talk about what death smells like.
When else have you smelled something dead?

Have you had a close friend or family member die?  What was that like?   Were you sad?

When has a relationship died?  When has a relationship healed or experienced new life?

Closing Prayer

Oh God, the stench of death is real and so are your surprising ways of bringing abundant life.  Challenge us to live and love like your son Jesus today in your creation and with the people we encounter now.  Thank you for rolling away the stones in life, calling us to “come out” of our tombs, and unbinding us so that we might live again each day.  Amen.

Today’s post is by Linda Witte Henke, an artist specializing in the creation of liturgically purposed work for congregation, synod, and churchwide settings (www.lindahenke.com). This is the first of quarterly posts by Linda that will provide suggestions and templates for an expression of liturgical art.

When asked, most congregants would likely describe Advent as a time of “preparing for Christmas.” While this description may be technically accurate, the reality is that most people’s experience of the month of December is focused on extensive “to-do” lists that, at best, are only distantly related to the essence of Advent.

Thankfully, the lectionary texts for Advent in Year C offer stirring words and rich imagery to draw us into deeper understanding and appreciation for these precious four weeks. Advent is a time of preparing our hearts and lives for the coming of Jesus the Christ encompassing past, present, and future:

• On Advent I, Jesus speaks of “signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars” and urges us to “stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21)

• On Advent II, the voice of John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness directs us: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.” (Luke 3)

• On Advent III, the one who is coming is heralded by John the Baptist using language that calls for us to repent the brokenness of our relationships with God and one another in order that our lives may “bear fruits worthy of repentance.” (Luke 3)

• On Advent IV, Mary lifts her voice to proclaim God’s greatness in turning our up-side-down world right-side up. (Luke 1)

This post offers a way to incorporate imagery of the season into the assembly’s worship through use of a four-panel design linked to the weekly texts. The panels may be used as stand-alone designs, one per week, or as a composite that evolves from one to four panels over the course of the four-week season.

Some possibilities for utilizing the design include:

• Creating banners, using silver markers and silver paint on blue “fadeless” paper (available by the roll in craft stores or education-supply outlets) or using silver lamé and silver organza fused or stitched/appliquéd onto blue fabric
• Using a “print on demand” service to reproduce the digital design on paper or fabric
• Incorporating the digital design in the congregation’s projected worship slides
• Including the digital design in the congregation’s print and/or electronic communications

Regardless of the way(s) in which you choose to integrate the design into your congregation’s Advent journey, the effectiveness and impact of the design’s use will be enhanced by intentional references to the design throughout the season, particularly within the context of worship. For example:

• How might it feel to lift up our heads and hands in anticipation of Jesus’ coming? (Advent I)
• How might heightened awareness of the sun, moon, and stars awaken our longing for God’s coming close to reside within and among us? (Advent II)
• How might repentance of our human brokenness pave the way for faith’s fuller fruition in us? (Advent III)
• How might Mary’s song engage our more enthusiastic participation in the in-breaking reign of God’s up-side-down order? (Advent IV)

The attached PDF includes a modest-resolution image of the complete design, as well as patterns that can be enlarged to create banners in whatever scale is right for your congregation’s space. A higher-resolution image for large-scale reproduction may be downloaded from:  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x69s78odh0gqcks/AACdV0LxnzVn9BvvoRwgwaFya?dl=0.

I don’t know the whole story, but I do know what I saw and heard through my kindergarten eyes and ears. I know what I learned from adults that day. And I know that it left an indelible mark and questions without satisfying answers. I can without a doubt remember the day in kindergarten when I realized that race was a thing that mattered and that I had one.

A class mate of mine was carried out of the classroom by his hands and his feet. He had been throwing a tantrum on the dark blue rug that had the numbers of a clock around the outer edge. (I loved that rug) He was sent to the principal’s office. He never came back to class that day or any day afterwards. I don’t remember his name. I do remember that his skin was darker than the other black kids in my class. I remember thinking that I would never be subject to the same kind of discipline. I remember feeling very uncomfortable.

I was white.

I didn’t have the language of privilege at that age, but that’s what I was learning about.

I am not always good at paying attention to discomfort or heading into situations that might make me encounter it. But it’s worth the attention. It’s worth noticing. Like I told a kid who had just run his first mile before coming to church for Wednesday evening programing, “if it hurts, you have to stretch or it will hurt more.” You have to pay attention to what your body is telling you. Discomfort offers and opportunity for growth. Avoiding it does no such thing.

“This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness. Not health but healing. Not being, becoming. Not rest, but exercise. We are not what we shall be, but we are moving toward it. The process is not yet finished, but it is moving on. This is not the end, but this is the road. All does not yet gleam in the glory of God but all is being purified.” -Martin Luther

In my ministry as a parish deaconess, friends with young children and congregation members regularly ask me if I know of or have good resources for talking with their children about race. They share stories of struggling with how to raise their children to recognize and celebrate human diversity as a gift without relying on the language of “color blindness” that they, more often than not, were raised with. Mostly I listen to their stories and celebrate with them the good things they’re already doing. Their questions keep me wondering about what ways the church can partner with parents as they strive in this arena. I know we can meet communities, families, congregations, and children where they’re at and encourage healthy conversations around race where faith and grace are at the center of the conversation. I also know it’s hard to know where to start.

Younger Children & Elementary Children

·       Consider doing a resource audit and see what you notice. This is not meant to make you feel guilty, but to help provide a mirror. I recently had middle schoolers go through the children’s books on my shelf at church and put them into 2 piles: books that had persons of color in them at all and books that had mostly white characters. It was informative. We had great conversations as a result.

·       If your congregation is in the habit of celebrating the saints (or even if it’s not), consider using a children’s sermon to highlight MLK Day, the birthday of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, or Saint Augustine. These leaders in the church were persons of color. There’s a great children’s book by Archbishop Desmond Tutu called “God’s Dream” that you could read on his birthday each year. There’s even a board book version that you could give out as a baptismal birthday gift.

·       Children love to dance and bang on drums. There are great global music songs in the ELW that you can break the ice with by inviting the little ones to dance in the aisles. Setting 7 has a great “Glory” that even a congregation unfamiliar with Latin music can get into. We can celebrate the gift of the gospel with our whole bodies.

Middle Schoolers

·       Middle schoolers are capable of deeper conversations than we sometimes give them credit for. Three days of confirmation class could be spent on race, culture, and class. ELCA World Hunger has downloadable resources on Hunger and the Catechism.

·       Middle Schoolers are busy struggling to broaden their worldview beyond their own “bubbles.” Give them the tools to be courageous by setting an example. The ELCA also has missionaries across the globe. Maybe your congregation could consider sponsoring one and your middle school Sunday School could write them letters.

·       Middle Schoolers LOVE to inform adults about things they “know more” about. What if your middle schoolers were to do a poster series on “You Could Be a Lutheran If . . . ” that explored Lutheranism in America and the world. For example, one poster could be “You Could be Lutheran if you live in Tanzania” because there are more Lutherans in Tanzania than the United States.

High Schoolers

·       ELCA Racial Justice Ministries has a number of downloadable resources that are created for adults, that I think you could adjust for conversations with high schoolers in youth group.

·       Equipping leaders and mentors to engage in conversations around identity, race, culture, class and how we attend to those conversations as persons of faith is perhaps one of the harder things to do. However, youth will want to talk about identity – it’s edgy. Maybe prep your leadership with ELCA Racial Justice Ministries resources like “One Body, Many Members.”

·       In some places Lutherans are reclaiming the practice of sharing personal faith stories and giving testimony. What might it look like to have a testimony series that intentionally asked questions around the intersection of identity, race, culture, and class? What if adults and youth shared stories that were truly vulnerable and didn’t always tie up in a neat bow?

Bio: Claire Schoepp (she/her/hers) is a parish Deaconess at two congregations in Chicago serving as Director of Child and Family Ministries at Luther Memorial Church of Chicago and Administrative Assistant at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church of Logan Square. Claire is grateful to First Immanuel Lutheran Church and Rev. Harry Therwanger for everything. Claire and her spouse, Isaac Schoepp, love living in Chicago where they take in as much theatre as possible.

As Reformation Sunday approaches and the winter months ensue, do you find yourself already daydreaming about summer? ELCA World Hunger would like to encourage that habit by offering a sneak peek into ELCA World Hunger’s newest VBS program, “Who is My Neighbor?”

Based on the Good Samaritan story, “Who is My Neighbor?” engages participants in a week of fun, laughter and play while learning about how we are called by God to love and care for our neighbors within our communities and around the world.

Each day focuses on a different character from the Good Samaritan story, with Day 1 introducing the main character—the lawyer who asks Jesus the question, “Who is my neighbor?”

This full, five-day curriculum will be free and available in print or through download. You’ll find skits, family time, games, snacks, crafts and stories that will help participants explore what it means to be a neighbor in Christ by learning about neighbors in six parts of the globe!

Please enjoy this Day 1 sample and be on the lookout for the full “Who is My Neighbor?” VBS curriculum to be available in mid-November!

We pray that the children in your VBS will see the ways God has blessed them and their neighbors—and the role they can play in God’s promise of a just world where all are fed.

Learn

If you’d like to learn more about other resources that ELCA World Hunger offers to congregations,  please visit www.elca.org/Resources/ELCA-World-Hunger.

Give

Gifts to ELCA World Hunger are acts of love towards our neighbors living with hunger and poverty both here and around the world. Together, we are creatively and courageously working toward a just world where all are fed.

Give now

Connect

Sign up here and receive news, information and the latest resources from ELCA World Hunger.

Andrew Karmann, Omaha, NE

Warm-up Question

• Have you ever felt like a slave to anything?
• What does it mean to be free?

Freedom of a Christian

When things in our lives happen to us we can often feel out of control and pushed in directions we never thought we could go. Since losing their daughter in the Aurora, Colorado shooting, Sandy and Lonnie Phillips have gone to the locations of many mass shootings. They know lots about the challenges grieving families face, and have information only people who have lost someone to a shooting can know.

In a recent radio broadcast of This American Life, Sandy and Lonnie arrived on the campus of Santa Fe High School, just outside of Houston, TX just days after the May 18, 2018 school shooting. They were wearing buttons showing a picture of their daughter Jesse as they walked up to the ten wooden crosses with red hearts for each of the students and teachers who had lost their lives in the shooting. It doesn’t take long before students and faculty begin coming up to them and opening up about their experiences.

As I listened to the students and parents heart wrenching stories of loss and confusion, it’s easy to think that Sandy and Lonnie would have been perfectly justified to let their lives stop after learning of their daughter’s death. But the tragedy of their experience doesn’t stop there. They are subjected to people who call themselves “truthers” who proclaim that victims of these shooting never existed or are being put up by the government in a resort somewhere.

So what makes these parents relive the worst night of their lives over and over again? Five months later they were asked to visit the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. They decided they would go because all they wanted in the aftermath of their daughter’s death was someone to talk to that could understand what they were going through.

Despite the awkwardness they felt upon arriving at Sandy Hook, they recognized the pain on the other parents’ faces. It was exactly where they had been five months ago. They wanted nothing more than to help these parents acclimate to their new reality. So to help parents in these situations find each other for support they started an organization called “Survivors Empowered.”

Sandy and Lonnie felt a calling to help people experiencing what they had already been through. Their family and friends wanted desperately for them to move on and get back to normal. But something inside them just wouldn’t allow the tragedy of their daughter’s death go by unforgotten. The brokenness of their world was not going to stop them from being there for others.

Discussion Questions

• Have you ever experienced the grief of losing someone that you loved? Did anyone talk to you about a similar experience they had which made you feel a little better?
• Have you or someone you know been affected by school shootings?
• Have you talked with your friends about school shootings you’ve heard about in the news?

Reformation Sunday

(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

Today’s Gospel is a text which is heard a lot in Lutheran churches on Reformation Sunday. It starts out with Jesus telling his followers that if they just continue to follow what he’s been teaching them, that they will be set free. However, this idea of being set free didn’t seem to make too much sense to those whom Jesus was talking to, because they immediately say that they have never been slaves to anyone. So they ask what Jesus could possibly mean by saying, “they will be set free”?

Jesus goes on to say that anyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. What could that possibly mean? Does that mean that we can simply live a perfect life and not have to worry about being a slave to sin? What does Jesus even mean when he says sin? Sometimes it helps to get a little context from the things that are happening around our selected readings.

In the case of today’s gospel lesson we can move back to the beginning of chapter 8 to see what Jesus meant when he was talking about sin and how that differed from the understanding of sin that the people around him had. The chapter begins with the story of a woman caught in the act of adultery being brought before Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees then ask Jesus what he thinks should be done about this sinner, knowing that the traditional punishment is to stone the adulterer to death. Jesus says that anyone who has never sinned can go ahead and be the first one to throw a stone at her. After this everyone leaves because everyone has sinned. Jesus forgives her and tells her to go on with her life and sin no more.

This story shows us a couple of things that are relevant to today’s Gospel Lesson.

• Everyone has sinned, and is therefore a slave to sin.
• Sin isn’t limited to doing something against the laws of the scriptures, but part of the world we live in.

Martin Luther struggled with many of these same difficult questions regarding sin. He was confused by his inability to stop sinning and the idea of being able to make up for it in a satisfying way. Luckily, our Gospel doesn’t end with the statement that everybody sins. Rather it goes on to say, “So if the Son makes you free, you are free indeed.”

This tells us that because of Jesus’ death on the cross, and subsequent resurrection, we are no longer slaves to sin. Whether it is our own (as in the case of the woman who committed adultery) or a result of the broken world (as in the case of Sandy and Lonnie’s daughter’s death). Instead we are free to continue our lives. We are free to allow Christ’s light to shine through ours and the world’s brokenness.

Discussion Questions

• In light of today’s gospel reading, how would you define sin?
• What are some examples of ways we could sin ourselves?
• What are some examples of how sin is found in the broken world around us?
• What do you think it looks like to be set free by Christ?

Activity Suggestions

Gather strips of soft cloth to tie the hands and ankles as well as to make blindfolds. (Strips torn from an old sheet work nicely) You’ll need enough strips for each person to have one.

Distribute the cloth strips to kids and have them form three groups. Instruct one group to tie each other’s hands behind their backs. (You will have to help the last person.) Have another group use the strips to loosely tie each person’s ankles together. Have the remaining group use its strips as blindfolds.

Provide instructions to the youth letting them know that as you call out various actions, they are to do each one in the best way that they can.

• Shake hands
• Touch your toes
• Walk across the room
• Wave to a friend
• Take one giant step
• Sit cross-legged on the floor
• Hop on one foot
• Point to the west
• Wink at someone

Debrief with the follow questions:

1. What kinds of problems were you having? Explain.
2. What can be done to solve these problems?
3. This game has taken away some of your freedom. What kinds of things bind us or take away our freedom in real life?
4. How can we be freed from these things?

Closing Prayer

Loving  God, Thank you for this chance to come together to learn more about you and your word. Thanks, also for your amazing gift of freedom from sin. Although we often feel stuck in fear or grief we know that you call us to continue living. We know that you hear our prayers whether we shout them with joy from the mountaintops or hold them inside with sighs to deep for words. Thank you for listening.

Amen.

John Hougen, Elkins Park, PA

Warm-up Question

What are your ambitions? Name three: one ambition you have for this week, one ambition you have for this year, and one ambition you dream of fulfilling in your lifetime.

Ambition

All of us have ambitions: goals we are working toward, hopes for the future, dreams of success. Our ambitions can be good or evil, noble or crass. Ambition can lead to addressing the root causes of violence and building a better community. And, ambition can lead predators to boast of how many victims they’ve lured into bed. Ambitions can express our best selves or something less. They can contribute to the common good or fulfill our most shameful selfish desires. I knew two families who seemed to be in competition for which would adopt the most children with special needs. I admired them greatly.

In American culture today, competition is everywhere. Ambition is defined as wanting to win, to come out on top, to be the best. Children vie for their parents’ attention. Families plan everything else around youth sports schedules. Network television seems dominated by series that start with auditions and end with a winner. We each have our teams, our candidates, our favorite competitors. When we aren’t competing ourselves, we are cheering for those with whom we identify. When our side wins, we feel like we have won too. They are in the limelight and we bask in their glory.

It is a challenge for those of us who are spiritual to align our ambitions with the values of our faith. It may be harmless to indulge in the competitive games people play, but if we are true to our faith, our focus will be elsewhere. As Christians, our ambition should be to imitate Christ who revealed the God-given potential of life in this world. This does not mean we should aspire to wearing robes and performing miracles. It means we should open our minds and hearts to becoming aware of God’s presence with and within us. It means we should use our brains, muscles, and empathy to help others. It means our ambitions will include seeking and speaking the truth, offering and accepting forgiveness, peace-making, befriending the marginalized, binding up what is broken, and mending creation.

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think there are so many television shows which feature competition (such as American Idol, The Voice, and America’s Got Talent)?  If you watch any of these, what is their attraction to you?  What attributes do these shows reward?
• Would you like to be famous? If so, what do you dream of doing that would command attention and earn the admiration of others?
• Name people with ambition whom you admire, and tell why you admire them. Include some examples from your family and friends.
• Will any of your ambitions lead you toward being more like Jesus? If so, which ones? If not, why not?

Twenty-second 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

James and John were ambitious. Their ambition was to be like Jesus: to be close to God and able to pray, to speak God’s truth, heal, forgive, inspire, and lead. They knew they would never be exactly like Jesus, so the next best thing was to stay as close to him as possible. They believed that one day God would establish a great kingdom with Jesus seated on its glorious throne. In both the present and future, they wanted to be by Jesus’ side, one on his right and one on his left. So, they asked Jesus to grant them their wish. James and John hoped that when glory came to Jesus, they would be nearby, soaking up the glory that comes to a winner.

Jesus responded to their request with a question. “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?” We can know what Jesus meant in that moment by turning a few pages ahead in the Gospel of Mark. Mark 14 reports that on the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, kneeling in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed: “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” (Mark 14:36. NRSV) When Jesus asked James and John, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?” Jesus was asking whether they understood glory was not going to happen just yet. He was asking them whether, on the way to glory, they were willing to suffer and die as he would. Would they be willing to be tortured and killed for being like Jesus, eliminated when those in power would no longer put up with truth and love?

The other disciples, surely as deserving of glory as James and John, objected to their trying to claim the honor for themselves, “cutting in line” to get the best seats. Jesus then told all his disciples they were acting like politicians whose ambition for power and fame is motivated by the desire to enrich themselves and bolster their own egos. The politicians of their day (and some in our day) wanted power so they could force others to abide by their selfish whims rather than using their power for good.

Jesus teaches his disciples (and us) that those who are his most faithful followers will lose what their culture considers essential for a successful life: the ambition to gain fame, riches, power, and glory. Jesus teaches his disciples (and us) that his most faithful followers will be like him–ambitious for greatness in service, gaining the success that comes from giving away all they are and all they have to make life better for others.

Discussion Questions

• Do you think Jesus was too hard on James and John for wanting to be with him in glory?
• Is it possible to have ambition for fame or wealth and still be most focused on serving others?
• If you were to sacrifice time, energy, and money to help others, what would you gain? What would make your sacrifices worthwhile?

Activity Suggestions

There are many passages in the Bible that encourage Christians to use the gifts God has given them for the sake of others. (Read one of the following: Matthew 5: 14-16, Romans 12: 3-8, 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11) If you are meeting in a group, let each person have a turn while others in the group identify the gifts God has given her or him and how those gifts are being used or could be used to serve others. If you are by yourself, list your gifts and how they might be used to help others.

Closing Prayer

I wrote the following text to be sung at a gathering of Lutheran college and university students. Some of the lines are inspired by Scripture passages such as today’s Gospel reading which invites us to follow Jesus, and to become his presence in the world today. Other lines are inspired by passages such as Matthew 25: 34-40 which teach us that when we serve others, we are serving Jesus who is present with them in their need.

Meditate on these words in silence or by finding a simple melody to which they can be sung.

1. We are free to be – like Jesus.

We are free to be: Jesus in the world.

2. We are free to see – like Jesus.

We are free to see: Jesus in the world.

3. We are free to serve – like Jesus.

We are free to serve: Jesus in the world.

4. We are free to love – like Jesus.

We are free to love: Jesus in the world.

5. We are free to heal – like Jesus.

We are free to heal: Jesus in the world.

6. God has set us free – like Jesus.

God calls us to be: Jesus in the world.

…and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. (John 8:32)

The timing of the debate about appointing Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court after the hearing with Dr. Ford strikes me as ironic. This hotly contested debate unfolded as the country was observing the national holiday still known by most as Columbus Day. For some years now some have been campaigning to change it to National Indigenous People’s Day. In fact my I-phone calendar noted that October 8 was Columbus Day (regional holiday) and Indigenous People’s Day, with the note, “This is not a nation-wide holiday; it may not be observed in our region.”

The story of our country includes the narrative that our European ancestors came here to escape the tyranny of a hierarchy of royalty and high-ranking church leaders. When the Europeans settled here they essentially recreated that hierarchy with different labels. Though we do not have monarchs with numerous layers of aristocracy, we very much have a system in which a few thrive far more than most.

Prestige and Privilege

The elite are often sent off to expensive private schools where they are encouraged to believe they are special, above the rules that govern others, and born to lead by virtue of their family and social connections. Our founding documents about liberty and justice for all only applied to Caucasian men who owned property. That property, originally occupied by indigenous people, was often obtained by ignoring or discrediting the rights of the people here long before Columbus landed on the shores of the Americas.

These assumptions are changing. Change causes anxiety. Anxiety often produces angry outbursts such as we’ve witnessed lately as the #MeToo movement has exposed the dark underbelly of previously unchallenged privileges among some. Though we no longer publically claim that women are the property of men, we often have enforced behaviors that allow women to be treated as such.

A Social Revolution

We appear to be in the midst of a civil war as potentially destructive as the Civil War of the 1800’s. The class system that has evolved over the past four hundred years is hurting a large portion of our population. Growing numbers refuse to suffer in silence.

Today when we acknowledge Christopher Columbus and his explorations we also tell a more accurate account of what happened then. We are starting to talk about the abuses and oppression Columbus and other European explorers inflicted on the people already here. We are slowly, and very painfully, coming to terms with the fallout from the re-creation of a class system that rewards some and excludes most. Not until I started doing extensive research for an upcoming book set in the 1600’s did I learn that Europeans were capturing Native Americans and hauling them back to Europe to sell as slaves. But fessing up to our past injustice does not come naturally. Some textbooks are being rewritten to portray slavery as a wave of immigration from Africa, as though the slaves asked to be brought here in chains. The travesty of the Trail of Tears is being written as some friendly land swap agreement between the Native Americans of the Southwest and the Europeans who needed land to expand. Some are trying to white wash our history by brainwashing our children.

Who Speaks the Truth?

The issue today seems to be whether we will believe people when they tell us this lopsided system is hurting them. If we believe the victims of abuse and injustice, we must work together to render aid and change the system.  What kind of a nation have we become when a woman has to move twice to protect her family because she goes public about a night of personal horror? What kind of people are we when a Senator calling for more time to process the situation also receives death threats? What kind of people are we when we encourage crowds to chant about locking people up for voicing their opinions? What kind of people are we when we justify tearing terrorized toddlers from their mothers’ arms because they didn’t cross into our geography according to our nearly-impossible-to-navigate entry process?

When we promote and favor the few but discredit the many hurt by this system of elitism, we are clearly telling those who suffer that we either do not believe them or we do not care about their plight. I once interviewed a Holocaust survivor. He told me that of all the atrocities he suffered and witnessed, the worse part was when he managed to track down a few surviving relatives. They asked him, “Why are you making up those lies? That never could have happened.”

I Do See Progress

I am a glass half-full sort of person. I see progress. I see more women and minorities in places they certainly would not have been a few decades ago. For example, today nearly one third of our sixty-six ELCA Lutheran bishops are women. I also see more and more men stepping up to address these issues of inequality. I am grateful and encouraged for this progress. I pray it continues.

My grandmother lived in Cleveland when her father was dying in Zanesville, a hundred and fifty miles away. She took a train to be with him, and according to the story told to me, spent the night in the train station. No one would rent a room to a married woman travelling alone in first decades of the 1900’s.

My mother managed our family of three children alone for months at a time when our civil engineer father was out of the country on a project. During one of his trips the bank deducted his paycheck from their account, rather than add it. This of course put the account in the red and caused multiple checks to bounce. The bank would not deal with my mother because she was a woman. She had to get her father, a Federal Reserve banker, to intervene to straighten out the mess.

ONE Nation?

I wonder how many members of the elite have dealt with such issues. We are in the midst of a cultural revolution. Future generations will no doubt have some name for these shifts in power and privilege we’re seeing unfold. For now we are re-thinking our collective assumptions about how we should live and work together as ONE nation, under a God of mercy and compassion, that truly ensures liberty and justice for all people – not just the privileged few.

The original Pledge of Alliance read, “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” This version was amended by Congress in 1954 to: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Francis Bellamy, a socialist, wrote the original version in 1892. A socialist wrote our Pledge of Allegiance.

I pray calm, wise, and compassionate leaders can guide us out of this contentious corner into which we’ve backed ourselves. We’ve come a long way, but we certainly have a long way to go until we truly are a one nation that provides liberty and justice to all our people.

Bio

Kathryn Haueisen is a retired ELCA pastor, a consultant with the Mission Investment Fund’s Capital Campaign Services, and an author who blogs about people and places that offer help and hope at www.HowWiseThen.com. She has written devotions, curriculum, and articles for numerous Lutheran publications as well as other consumer and faith-based publications. Her book, A Ready Hope: Effective Disaster Response for Congregations (Alban Institute 2009) prepares communities and volunteers for the long term recovery process that unfolds following a natural disaster.

Amy Martinell, Sioux Falls, SD

Warm-up Question

What would you do if you want millions of dollars in the lottery?

Valuing Things and People

On September 28th an earthquake and tsunami rocked Indonesia.  The 7.5-magnitude quake struck just off the central island of Sulawesi, setting off a tsunami that engulfed the coastal city of Palu. The death toll has now risen to 1,347( as of October 2nd) and there is fear there are still more people trapped underneath the mud and rubble.

In the midst of this horrible situation, there is little running water, power, food, or drinking water. People are desperate as they try to meet their family’s basic needs and looting has become a problem.  At first, officers were lenient to those taking basic goods, but people have now been arrested for stealing computers and cash.  Police report they find themselves in a difficult situation as they try to protect the stores but still provide the people with what they desperately need.   Looters have also hindered relief efforts as survivors have blocked trucks carrying supplies to raid the contents.  Relief trucks are now being escorted by soldiers and the police.

For more information:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45716915

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/01/653268266/indonesian-tsunami-death-toll-hits-1-200-survivors-desperate-for-aid

Discussion Questions

• How do you feel when you hear of a natural disaster that is so far away from us? Helpless?  Removed?  Eager to find a way to help?
• Mr. Rogers recommended looking for the helpers in scary and desperate situations. Where do you see people helping the survivors in Indonesia?
• As people struggle to survive, is there a moral line they shouldn’t cross? Is looting okay when it is to meet basic needs?  What about when the supplies are going to help others?   Have there been time in your own life when you have had to resort to “desperate measures for desperate times.”

Twenty-first 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

“Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me…How hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

This is a hard story to hear.  Jesus tells us our wealth and possessions can stand between us and eternal life.  The solution is to give away all we have, something that doesn’t sound too appealing to most of us. Often, to make ourselves feel better, we reassure ourselves we aren’t the people Jesus is talking about.  We aren’t wealthy; we don’t have that much stuff.  Yet, when we see reports of the earthquake survivors in Indonesia struggling just to meet their basic needs we are reminded of how much we have.

Jesus warns us about wealth because it can insulate us from others and from God.  When we are able to meet all of our own needs we don’t reach out to others for help.  We may forget to live as a community where members care for and support each other.  We can value the things we have more than the people around us.

We do hear a word of hope: What is impossible for us mortals is not impossible for God.  Even our wealth, our possessions, and our greed cannot separate from God’s love.

Whether it is money and possessions or activities and friends, we often put other things before God, but this text challenges us to remember that Jesus wants to be the center of our life and we are called to share what we have with those in need.

Discussion Questions

• Do you think wealth separates us from other people? From God?  What separates you from God in your life of faith?
• We don’t hear what happens to the young man after he goes away from Jesus in mourning, what do you think he does next.
• Share a time when your generosity helped others. When someone’s generosity helped you.
• Do you think the amount of money we have can affect how we follow Jesus?

Activity Suggestions

• Plan a fundraiser to help the earthquake victims in Indonesia or a local charity you would like to help.
• Use play-do to make a model of something that you are tempted to put ahead of Jesus.  Maybe your cell phone, homework, or sports.  Pray for forgiveness and than smash that false idol.  Discuss together ways you can keep faith at the center of your life.

Closing Prayer

Gracious God, we know that so much separates us from you: our actions, our possessions, our wealth.  Forgive us for all the times we put ourselves and our needs above others and above You. Give us glad and generous hearts to serve you and help our neighbors. Amen.

Last year, at an indoor farmers market we host, I was asked with some amount of disbelief, “Wait a second—is this still a real church?” (I replied with an emphatic “yes!”) But I’ll admit that there have been more than a few Sunday mornings when I’ve arrived to worship in a sanctuary that looks more exhausted than sacred. First, I gently remind myself that I don’t always look so good, either—and I remember that in our worship, our hearing of God’s Word, our praying, and our singing, not only are we renewed to serve our community, but so is this Common Room. For that, I give extra thanks and praise.