David Delaney, Salem, VA

Warm-up Question

• Surprise! Some surprises are welcome and others are not. When was the last time you had something truly unexpected happen to you? Can you think of an example that thrilled you and another one that devastated you? Did you get an A on a test when you expected a C? Did your trip get canceled because of weather? Was there a fantastic plot twist in a movie you saw or a book you read? Did someone who you thought was a friend betray you behind your back? Ever have a surprise where you couldn’t figure out whether it was good or bad?
• We all know someone who has such a track record of making up or embellishing stories that we’re never sure whether to believe them or not. And now it sometimes seems like social media presents mostly suspicious or unconfirmed information. How do you decide whether to believe something you hear or not? Do you tend to quickly believe something that sounds sensational or are you more of the skeptical type?
• We have come to the end of the Lenten season. Did you take on any special extra faith-forming activities for Lent this year as people often do, such as depriving yourself of a certain food or treat? How has that Lenten discipline gone this year for you?

Back From the Dead

Recovering from opioid addition can be like dying and coming back to life.

Too many of us know someone who has lost a loved one to a drug overdose or whose life has been dominated by a friend’s substance addiction disease. As noted in a recent report from Spectrum Health Systems, “There’s a stigma against people who struggle with addiction that often exists because people believe it could never happen to them – but it can. Addiction is a disease that knows no boundaries, has no preconceived notions and leaves no clues as to who it will touch next.” Our prejudices also make us presume that someone who develops such an addiction is probably young and reckless.

The report then goes on to tell the story of a man named Jeffrey Born, aged 65, who seemed like a very unlikely person to develop an addiction, but who received heavy doses of painkillers while hospitalized for a life-threatening workplace injury. While still in the hospital, he developed an addiction to those medications, which he realized when the doctors tried to wean him off of them. The ongoing pain was so severe that it affected Mr. Born’s normal good judgment, and he began seeking other sources of pain management, eventually turning to heroin, the only thing that gave him some relief. His near-death experience came when he unknowingly injected himself with a much stronger drug – fentanyl – and immediately fell into a coma. His girlfriend, who was with him at the time, quickly called EMTs, who arrived in time to administer Narcan to save him, but the experience left him in a terrible dilemma.

In what he described as a turning point, Mr. Born realized how much his life had deteriorated. “By then, my life was in shambles,” he said. “I was about to be evicted and homeless. My family barely spoke to me. My life was a horror story because of drugs.” He decided that the pain of withdrawal and the work of recovery was the only choice he had to avoid dying from his addition as well as continuing to burden those around him, so he sought out a treatment program. “My life has changed so much in long-term recovery … I made amends with my family and friends, who I drove away with the lies I told to cover up my addiction. Making amends with them was the most important thing to me, especially restoring my relationship with my son.”

Discussion Questions

• Can we think of any stories or experiences of hopelessness in our own lives or in the lives of our friends? What is it like to feel like you have no good choices in a situation or that there is no future?  What was the outcome of those situations?
• The key turning point in Mr. Born’s life was realizing that he was completely unable to help himself.  Early death was his inevitable future unless he turned to someone else who could guide him to new life.  Doing this is harder than most people realize, because it’s so hard to envision new life while still in the grip of impending death.  What things to people often love or cling to that are destructive but so familiar that they can’t surrender them?
• Mr. Born’s choice to do the hard work of recovery happened because he saw others whose lives had been on a path toward death but had sought out the help needed to turn things around. In a way, he had to experience a kind of death of his old self in order to experience new life. If Lent is often thought of as “giving something up,” Easter is the celebration of a new life. How can we develop habits year-round of leaving old destructive things behind and allowing God to lead us to new life?

Resurrection of Our Lord

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings

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

Gospel Reflection

All four of the gospels have a scene with the women coming to the tomb and discovering that it is empty, but only Luke has two men in dazzling clothes who say, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”, suggesting that surely they should have known Jesus would not be there, especially since Jesus had told them long before that this would all happen. Some interpreters have suggested that “The Living One” was a very early title used by Christians to refer to Jesus. That may sound silly – surely anyone who is alive could be called “the living one.” But for these early believers, it’s as if they knew that Jesus was somehow more than alive and that even life itself was being redefined by the new, resurrected life of Jesus. That title gets repeated in Revelation 1:18, where Jesus appears to John with the reminder that Jesus’ new life is permanent and that he alone now holds authority over death.

Discussion Questions

• For an Easter day gospel, this passage has the odd feature that Jesus himself does not appear! Does that suggest that the story is just as much about us as it is about him?  Go back through the passage and take note of all the verbs and adjectives that refer to the women and the disciples. Nothing remarkable about them is said until after they realize that Jesus’ body is not there. Then they are perplexed, terrified, remembering, returning, telling, doubting and amazed. If we reflect on this episode about Jesus, that he truly died and truly lives again, we might have many of the same reactions.  What do we discover if we just pause quietly for a minute and pay attention to our own internal reactions to the claim that Jesus died, rose again, and still lives?
• Many skeptics over 2000 years have claimed that the report of Jesus’ resurrection was just the product of a group of people “in denial,” who were engaged in wishful thinking and talked themselves into a fantasy story as a way of coping with their grief. And yet, none of the gospels portray people acting this way. In fact, every single one of these early believers were suspicious at first, and some – like Thomas – very much so. They only believed in the end because they were told by someone who had either seen the vision at the empty tomb or encountered the risen Jesus himself, and then those first-hand reports were shared with others in an unbroken line down to the present day. Who are the people who have shared with you that they are convinced Jesus was raised on that first Easter? What stories have you heard from them about how they came to believe that Jesus was risen?
• Jesus and the disciples lived in a time when information provided by women was regarded with suspicion, if not quickly ignored or dismissed. Women were not allowed to testify in court or serve as witnesses to any business or legal activities. The disciples’ reaction, then, when they heard the report that these three women brought from the tomb, is not completely surprising. Peter, however, seems to have had a change of heart that led him to go and look for himself. In our own time, do we have prejudices or assumptions that would keep us from hearing God’s good news from someone we’ve been taught not to trust?  How do we, like Peter, have a change of heart so that, when God speaks in an unfamiliar way, we are able to listen? And how do we repent from those prejudices that made us mistrustful in the first place?

Activity Suggestions

• “Two truths and a lie” is an old familiar group game where Team 1 makes three statements to the other team about one of their members, one of which is made up, and Team 2 has to guess which one is the “lie.” A lot of times a plausible lie is harder to come up with than the true statements.  A variation on the game is for Team 1 to come up with three “lies” and Team 2 has to decide which one is the most believable. Would you have believed the women who were reporting the empty and the vision of angels?
• We often think of Easter Day as just one day, but it is a whole season of the church year lasting almost two months! In this day of mostly electronic communication, everyone loves getting something in the US Mail! Encourage your group to send weekly reminders to each other to continue celebrating the risen Lord Jesus throughout the entire season and beyond.
• Since Easter is a public holiday, we shouldn’t be surprised that its central meaning – the resurrection of Jesus from death – can get lost in the middle of all the decorations and other celebrations. Have someone in your group with a Pinterest account do a search for Easter decorations. Then, as the group looks at them, notice which ones really seem to be conveying the church’s Easter message about Jesus’ death and resurrection, the witness of the women and other disciples to each other, and the call to faith that would follow as they spread the news

Closing Prayer

Glorious God, we offer you thanks for gathering us into the power of the resurrection of Jesus.  We pray for all who celebrate the Easter festival this day, that joyful celebrations everywhere might be places of welcome for those who are in need of new life. Help us to be struck with awe once again by the story of how you shattered the earth to bring Jesus from the grave. For all those in our lives who are convinced that they are stuck in a path toward death, fill us with confident hope and bold good news for them.  In the name of the risen Lord Jesus, Amen.

Brett Davis, Washington, DC

Warm-up Question

Think about all of the places, events, and types of people who have entrance music.  What would be your entrance music?

Entrance Song

What do brides, WWE wrestlers, political candidates, and sports teams have in common?  They all have an entrance song!  Virginia Tech football fans feel their hearts beat faster as Enter Sandman begins to welcome their team.  People know to stand with the opening lines of Wagner’s Bridal Chorus (you know, “Here Comes the Bride”), to welcome the bride.  

In WWE wrestling, there has long been a tradition of entrance music for the different wrestlers.  A match between two characters can be going on, the bad guy seems to be winning, and suddenly, you hear the opening bars of . . . wait, who’s that?  A good guy comes to save the day.  Dramatic entrances are part of the excitement.

In a very different way (or is it), political candidates use music for their entrance and to set a tone at rallies.  Presidential candidates have often used theme songs for their campaigns.  However, particularly in recent years, musicians have objected to candidates using their songs either with permission or because they don’t like the candidate.  A Rolling Stone article notes that candidates on both sides of the aisle have been involved in these disputes.  Musicians object because it seems like an endorsement of the candidate and what they stand for, even subconsciously.  However, there is often little legal action that artists can take, as long as the venue has a license to play music.  The article notes that the entrance music often happens unintentionally, with a junior staffer who’s making the playlist just thinking of what songs are cool or what will pump up the crowd.

Discussion Questions

• What’s your favorite use of an entrance song?  How does entrance music affect people?  
• What do you think about the use of popular music by sports teams or political candidates?
• Should an artist be able to restrict the use of their music?

Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday

Luke 19:28-40 (Processional Gospel)

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Philippians 2:5-11

Luke 22:14-23:56

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings

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

Gospel Reflection

At most churches on Palm Sunday, people receive palm fronds, and the worship and music includes “Hosanna,” which we associate with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  But did you notice that neither appears in Luke’s version of the story?  No palms are mentioned, but people spread their cloaks on the ground in Jesus’ path, and the crowd’s excitement and shouts of joy raise the concern of the Pharisees.  

A “multitude of the disciples” shouts, “‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!’” (Luke 19:38) as Jesus enters Jerusalem.  This echoes the “multitude of the heavenly host (angels), praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’”  from Luke 2:13-14.  Some parents have a special song for their child, that they sing to them, or play for them, from birth onward.  Many families and friends have special ways of greeting each other that are specific to the person and create a bond over years.

These words of acclamation are Jesus’ entrance music.  It’s a riff on the same song that has been sung since his birth.  Crowds, both heavenly and human, have gathered to praise God, welcome Jesus as divine, and proclaim peace.  Jesus knows that this music and the praise of the crowds does not mean that his path will be easy. He knows his welcome into Jerusalem is a path to the cross.

The objection of the Pharisees is essentially, “That’s our song!  You can’t say that!”  They object to the use of these words of acclamation that they believe are reserved for the Messiah.  Like  musicians objecting to the use of their music, they object to the crowds’ calling Jesus “the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”  But there is not anything they can do to stop the crowds. Not only is the energy of a crowd a powerful force but, as Jesus says, if the people didn’t, the rocks themselves would shout.  

Palm Sunday worship and this coming Holy Week remind us that Jesus doesn’t stay at the high point of his entrance.  We know that the same crowds that laid down their cloaks for Jesus will shout “crucify!” and not risk objecting when Jesus is stripped of his clothes, humiliated, and hung on the cross.  But Jesus’ entrance song, “blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, peace to God’s people on Earth” still hangs in the air today – and is still sung in worship.  It reminds us that nothing, not even death, keeps God down, and these words tell us the end of the story.

Discussion Questions

• Do your family and friends have any long-held tradition of how you greet each other?  Does that set a tone for how you interact?
• Has anything ever been done in your name that you’re not comfortable with?
• Knowing the full story of Jesus’ birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, what do you think should be Jesus’ entrance song?  Would the artist/musician object?
• If Jesus was coming to speak at a big venue today, how would you imagine his entrance?  Humble, exuberant, or somewhere in between?

Activity Suggestions

Discuss what Jesus’ entrance song would be today.  Play or sing some of your ideas to each other.  In small groups or pairs, imagine and act out Jesus’ entrance to a crowd with fitting music. 

Closing Prayer

God of grace and power, for the sake of us and all creation, you came boldly through shouts of welcome, knowing that your cross lay ahead.  Help us to greet one another with peace, welcome you into our community, and look for you in our everyday lives.  Amen.

from the ELCA Advocacy office in Washington, D.C. – the Rev. Amy E. Reumann, director

HUNGER TIME LIMITS | CENTRAL AMERICAN TPS | GLOBAL FRAGILITY ACT | FOREIGN ASSISTANCE FUNDING | CLIMATE ACTION NOW ACT

HUNGER TIME LIMITS RULE: To date, the ELCA Advocacy office has received nearly 500 comments from Lutherans to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) opposing efforts to add additional time-limits for receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on women and men without dependents. USDA extended the comment period to April 10th, and the Administration will announce its next steps in the coming weeks. Advocates can share their opinions on adding time limits to food assistance and hunger issues at the ELCA Action Center.

CENTRAL AMERICA TPS: The Trump administration announced last year that it was ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nearly 57,000 Hondurans and almost 200,000 Salvadorans protected by the program. Earlier this month, an updated document on the effects of ending TPS for countries like El Salvador and Honduras was released. The resource, with contributions from ELCA Advocacy and other Latin America Working Group partners, highlights the repercussions of ending the program: from undermining U.S. foreign policy interests to reducing the efficacy of investments in Central America and more. If the practice announced last year is implemented by the administration, those affected will have until early 2020 to return to their native country or risk falling into undocumented status.

GLOBAL FRAGILITY ACT: A bipartisan group of representatives and senators have recently introduced the Global Fragility Act, a bill to address issues of conflict around the world. The bill seeks to improve the capacity of the United States government to identify and address threats to civilians in fragile, conflict-prone regions around the world. In the coming weeks and months, ELCA Advocacy will be working with our partners to build support of the Global Fragility Act in Congress, and we have great hope that the bill will pass if brought to the floor for a vote.

FOREIGN ASSISTANCE FUNDING: For Fiscal Year 2020, significant (at 24%) cuts have again been proposed by President Trump to the International Affairs budget compared to the Fiscal Year 2019 enacted levels. The budget proposal prioritizes defense spending while slashing funds for non-defense agencies such as the State Department, USAID, and other development-focused agencies. It proposes to cut humanitarian assistance funding by 34% despite today’s unprecedented humanitarian challenges.

On March 30th, President Trump directed the State Department to end foreign assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as the administration indicated that these countries have failed to curb immigration to the United States. ELCA Advocacy is monitoring the situation and the impact it will have on the root causes of migration. This a big concern for us. Last year when the president proposed similar drastic cuts to the International Affairs budget, Congress did not go along with that plan. We will be working with Congressional offices to ensure that these proposed cuts do not end up in the final budget bill.

CLIMATE ACTION NOW ACT: Drawing upon the support from a broad constituency including local, state, national and tribal leaders, among them business leaders, consumers, labor and health organizations, House Democrats introduced H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act (Act), on Mar. 27. The Act would prevent federal funds from being used by the Administration to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Additionally, the Act would call for the president to develop and to make public a plan for the United States to honor pollution reduction commitments made to the international community in 2015.

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by Abbigail Hull, Hunger Advocacy Fellow-Washington, D.C. 

Leave no one behind.

32 Lutheran delegates from 7 countries (Colombia, Liberia, Palestine, Peru, Switzerland, Tanzania, and the U.S.) took part in CSW63, including our author (pictured first row, 4th from left)

This was the ambitious commitment in the creation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a set of universal goals “unique in that they cover issues that affect us all. They reaffirm our international commitment to end poverty, permanently, everywhere. They are ambitious in making sure no one is left behind. These 17 goals, such as zero hunger, are for striving toward by developed and developing countries.

Leave no one behind.

This call is not just a United Nations commitment, but a biblical call for us as Christians. We leave no one behind not only because it is good for the economy, or the planet, or the “right thing to do,” but because Jesus Christ, our example, time and time again focused his love and attention on those who were forced into the margins. He cared for the people that the Pharisees and others in power had left behind, including the poor, the diseased, the widow and the prostitute.

I was a part of a Lutheran delegation during this year’s United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) held in March. The Lutheran delegation hosted worship on the event’s opening day. The Gospel chosen was Matthew 20:1-16, where Jesus reminds His disciplines in a parable: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Leave no one behind by making our most vulnerable siblings first.

For those in power, who have always been first, this can be uncomfortable. As Christians, we are called to be examples of this radical love of leaving no one behind. So, how do we do this?

The theme of this year’s CSW63 was: “Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.” When Lopa Banerjee, Director of the Civil Society Division for UN Women, addressed the Ecumenical Women at the United Nations, which the Lutheran delegation was a part of, she simply put that social protection systems such as pensions and food programs are “leaving no one behind in manifestation.” Social protections systems can manifest the biblical call to leave no one behind by putting those who are normally last, first.

Leave no one behind.

Mikka McCracken, Director of Planning and Engagement for ELCA World Hunger, presented at CSW63. She put another powerful spin to the statement: “leave no one behind.” She reminded the audience that everyone, and every institution, has a role to play in de-marginalizing those in the margins, especially the Church. The ELCA and the wider Christian community need to continue to take their seat at places such as the United Nations. Not only do we have the theological tools available and necessary to inspire communities to tackle these lofty SDGs, but also the Church has been providing social protection services and caring for the marginalized from the very beginning.

And that is why as a church we not only say “leave no one behind,” but we continue to act on it.

 

This Ministry Check-In was submitted by Neil Bullock, Stewardship Project Coordinator, Domestic Mission, ELCA

Editor’s note: Sometimes ministry cohorts arrange to go off site as part of their experience at ELCA Congregational Vitality Training Events. The workshop described below took place during the training event held at Community Lutheran Church in Las Vegas, February 6-8, 2019.

 

On Thursday, February 7, 2019, Pastor Dan Lund and Gary Nelson of the Church of the Damascus Road, Weatherford, Texas, joined Craig Whitney and me [Neil Bullock] for a workshop at Reformation Lutheran Church in Las Vegas. Craig and I represented Bethel Church, Chicago.

We were invited by Lead Pastor Jason Adams. I was in contact with Pastor Adams about three weeks before the conference about conducting a workshop on Recovery and Reentry at Reformation. There was a small group from two congregations, Reformation and The Lakes Lutheran Church (also located in Las Vegas).

I gave an introduction of the Recovery and Reentry Cohort and why we were in Las Vegas, and what we are hoping to do, going into the next Congregational Vitality Training Event, coming up in August 2019 in Baltimore, Md.

Pastor Dan shared what the Church of the Damascus Road is doing in Texas with recovery-based Bible study. Gary Nelson shared his testimony of coming out of prison in 2017 and being welcomed by his Lutheran congregation in Texas and how he has started a recovery Bible study at his congregation as an extension of the Church of the Damascus Road. He shared how it has changed his life and his whole family.

Craig Whitney shard his testimony of how he got connected to Bethel Church. He shared how Bethel welcomed him and gave him opportunities to get involved in the reentry ministry. Craig shared how important it is that he is able to be connected into the life of the congregation and not just attend worship. Craig serves on the church council at Bethel. He has recently finished his certification to become a drug and alcohol counselor with the State of Illinois. Craig is a case worker in Chicago at Breakthrough Urban Ministries, a community faith-based organization that offers services to returning citizens.

The workshop was about two hours, and then we returned to the CV Training Event for the afternoon Recovery and Reentry Cohort training track.

U.N. | CALIFORNIA | COLORADO | FLORIDA | MINNESOTA | NEW MEXICO | NORTH CAROLINA | OHIO | PENNSYLVANIA | SOUTHEASTERN SYNOD | VIRGINIA | WASHINGTON | WISCONSIN

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Lutheran Office for World Community, United Nations, New York, N.Y.

Dennis Frado, director

63^RD SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN: The 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York March 11-22. The priority theme was “Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender and the empowerment of women and girls.” CSW meets annually to discuss progress and identify gaps and challenges in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

This year, LOWC welcomed 32 Lutheran delegates from seven countries (Palestine, Tanzania, Peru, Colombia, Liberia, Switzerland and the United States). This delegation consisted of representatives from the Lutheran World Federation’s (LWF) Women in Church and Society, the LWF Waking the Giant Initiative, the ELCA (including from Global Mission, International Leaders Program, Advocacy, ELCA World Hunger, Justice for Women and Women of the ELCA).

The delegation actively participated in the various events throughout CSW63, including Ecumenical Women’s orientation day, a Lutheran Day at St Peter’s Church, several mission visits to UN member states and a public witness event to end gender-based violence that was organized by Ecumenical Women. Lutheran delegates were panelists in two parallel events: “‘Waking the Giant: Global Churches together for the SDGs’“ led by the Waking the Giant Initiative and a panel on “Feminist and Faith actors working together for social protection and gender equality” hosted by the Faith and Feminism Working Group. The LWF and Church of Sweden organized a side event titled “‘Leading the Way- Innovative examples of government and faith-based actors for equal access to social protection””

CSW63 concluded with the adoption of the agreed conclusions.

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California

Regina Q. Banks, Lutheran Office of Public Policy- California (LOPP-CA)                       loppca.org

LUTHERAN LOBBY DAY: LOPP-CA is pleased to announce our first Lutheran Lobby Day at the State Capitol on Wednesday, May 29. Plan to join our bishops, clergy, members, and Rev. Amy E. Reumann, ELCA Advocacy Director, as we build relationships with legislators and policy-makers and fellowship with one another. We will gather at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sacramento at 8 a.m. and will progress to the Capitol together around 10 a.m. Our goal is to have every single Assembly district represented, so we need you there.

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Residence Inn Sacramento Downtown at Capitol Park (a block from St. John’s and two blocks from the Capitol building). Mention LOPP-CA when making your reservations to get our discount. We look forward to seeing you there.

Lobby Day Registration Link: https://community.elca.org/lutheran-lobby-day-at-the-capitol

SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS: Our social media relaunches are underway! Please visit us on Facebook at Lutheran Office of Public Policy- California. We are sharing updates, articles and time-sensitive action items. Like, share and repost our content. The policy council has a goal of getting 5000 by the end of the year. You can help us meet our goal and stay up-to-date with the activities. Plans are underway for Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Watch this space!

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Colorado

Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry–Colorado                                                   lam-co.org

LEGISLATIVE SESSION: We are more than halfway through the Colorado legislative session, and several of our top advocacy priorities are awaiting key votes in committees and on the floor.

• Death penalty abolition (SB 182): The bill is awaiting debate and consideration on the Senate floor. We have an active action alert for constituents to contact their senators about this critical issue.
• Paid family leave (SB 188): The Senate Finance Committee is considering this bill and will vote during the first week of April. We are encouraging constituents to contact the five committee members.
• Eviction notice extension (HB 1118): This bill will have key Senate hearings next week after passing the House floor.
• Climate action (HB 1261): We have joined the Colorado’s Climate Future coalition to support this critical bill to reduce our state’s carbon footprint. It will have its first hearing in early April.

CONGREGATION VISITS: Thanks to the good people at King of Glory Lutheran church, Loveland, and Evergreen Lutheran church, Evergreen, for inviting LAM-CO to speak to your congregations! It is a blessing to equip the body of Christ to take up our common call to public witness and ministry.

FAITHFUL TUESDAYS: We continue to gather weekly as the faith community every Tuesday at noon inside our State Capitol rotunda. All are welcome! Learn more at www.faithfultuesdays.org.

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Florida

Russel Meyer, Florida Council of Churches

WELCOME FLORIDA COUNCIL OF CHURCHES TO ELCA STATE POLICY NETWORK: The Florida Council of Churches began its public policy efforts in February with support from the Florida-Bahamas Synod and a climate grant from ELCA Advocacy. The synod has appointed an advocacy team to help setup and advise the policy office. The state legislative 60-day session opened the first week in March and concludes the first week in May. Its one constitutional task is to pass a budget. The largest portion of state revenue is spent on education, health care, and then criminal justice, respectively. The public policy office is collaborating with other established efforts following the Jemez principles. Collaboration with other groups include:

• Faith in Public Life working on the Competitive Workforce Act,
• Real Talk Coalition for Education Equity pushing for equity scoring of education bills (with deep concerns about privatizing education and arming teachers),
• Pastors for Florida Children confronting vouchers for private education,
• The Criminal Justice Campaign/No Place for a Child advocating criminal justice reforms, (ending direct file, raising felony limits for theft, ending confiscation of driver’s license for non-driving offenses, honoring Amendment 4 rights restoration)
• Floridians Against the Death Penalty on ending the use of the death penalty
• We Are Florida campaign trying to stop anti-family immigration bills, and
• The Florida Interfaith Climate Actions Network pushing for a ban on fracking and relief for Hurricane Michael victims.

The legislature is completing its committee work and will be holding regularly sessions of the House and Senate going forward.

Plans are underway for advocacy training across the state and an advocates faith organizing retreat later in the year. The legislature will take up work again in September with committee weeks, where bills will be drafted for the 2020 session that begins in January.

This weekend (April 5-6), Rev. Dr. Russell Meyer, director, will be a co-host of the Rise Up: [Sea Level] Realities and Opportunities at a climate conference at St. Petersburg College (https://solutions.spcollege.edu/) that focuses on the impact in Tampa Bay projected by the National Climate Assessment and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

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Minnesota

Tammy Walhof, Lutheran Advocacy–Minnesota                            www.lutheranadvocacymn.org

URGENT ACTION ALERT: AFFORDABLE HOUSING: Call/email your state legislators and urge them to support the full Homes for All agenda as they weigh priorities in the omnibus finance and tax bills. (Link to that agenda).

Speak from your experience or that of your church to describe the housing crisis in your area. Committee leaders in the Minnesota House and Senate are putting together big omnibus (appropriations) bills in consultation with their leadership. We want to make sure that affordable housing is strongly positioned in this process, especially since the new committee fiscal targets are much lower than is needed.

GOVERNOR’S CLEAN ENERGY BILL: 100% CARBON-FREE ELECTRICITY GENERATION BY 2050: (HF 1956, Long). This bill includes a Clean Energy First provision (clean energy must be considered for its cost and merits, before looking to fossil fuels or other energy). It also establishes preference for local hiring and tools to guarantee a prevailing wage for those jobs. It would increase the Conservation Improvement Plan requirements from 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent year over year to improve energy efficiency, and doubles utilities’ efficiency investments ($16-20 million) in the homes of low-income Minnesotans. (Note: it is one of two 100% Clean Electricity bills. The other has benchmarks by specific dates. We support both bills. The Gov. Walz bill is more likely to have a chance of passing).

We have lots of new content on our website under Clean Energy. Soon we’ll have pictures and videos from the March events, too.

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New Mexico

Ruth Hoffman, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry- New Mexico (LA-MN)     lutheranadvocacynm.org

THE 2019 SESSION OF THE NEW MEXICO STATE LEGISLATURE HAS ENDED: LAM-NM advocated for legislation that reflected the issues included on our advocacy agenda. LAM-NM also represents the New Mexico Conference of Churches. A number of the bills we supported were passed by both chambers and made their way to the governor’s desk for consideration. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has until April 5 to sign or veto legislation. Among the bills under consideration are increasing the state minimum wage to $12; protections for domestic workers under the state minimum-wage law; stricter requirements and reporting for small loans; creation of the middle-level dental profession of dental therapist which can expand access to dental care for low income New Mexicans; prohibiting trafficked minors from being charged with prostitution; prohibiting solitary confinement for children, pregnant women, and people with a serious mental illness; and increasing the state Working Families Tax Credit, which piggy-backs on the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, to 17 percent. We will let you know next month what bills the governor signed!

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North Carolina

GeoRene Jones, North Carolina Synod Social Justice & Advocacy Ministries (SJAM) Advocacy@NCLutheran.org

LUTHERANS AT THE LEGISLATURE: On March 26, the North Carolina Synod hosted its first Advocacy Day at the North Carolina General Assembly. Bishop Tim Smith welcomed legislators to a prayer breakfast and shared our concerns about the state’s lack of affordable housing, the rising rate of homelessness, and the increase of both after Hurricanes Florence and Michael ravaged 28 Eastern counties last fall. While legislators attended to committee responsibilities during the morning, ELCA members and friends gathered to learn from Sam Gunter, executive director of the North Carolina Housing Coalition, and Bill Rowe, general counsel of the North Carolina Justice Center, and from Ryan Carter, member of Christ-Providence, Charlotte, who works in advocacy and outreach for Habitat for Humanity in Mecklenberg, and Jenny Simmons, member of St. Mark’s, Asheville, who works for Homeward Bound, a non-profit dedicated to ending homelessness in the Asheville area. The Rev. Marissa Krey of Lutheran Services Carolinas covered the mechanics of making an advocacy visit. The 45 attendees then spent the afternoon meeting with elected officials and legislative staffers. Attendees, SJAM Task Force leaders and synod staff are pursuing follow-up conversations with legislators to provide additional information and strengthen their newly-formed relationships with policy makers. Special thanks are due ELCA congregations Holy Trinity and Good Shepherd, Raleigh and St. Paul’s, Durham for hosting the educational forum, providing hospitality, meals, and transportation assistance between venues.

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Ohio

Nick Bates, Hunger Network in Ohio                                                          www.hungernetohio.com

STATE BUDGET: The state budget in Ohio is in full swing! We are excited to be working in coalition with people and organizations concerned about the hungry, the widow, and the orphan throughout Ohio to guarantee that our budget reflects our values. Budgets are moral documents and set the direction for Ohioans moving forward.

ADVOCACY DAY: Our first statewide advocacy day was April with members of the House of Representatives. We will convene again on May 14 to talk with state senators.

Governor DeWine’s budget proposal lays out a priority of caring for children. His proposal joined by the “Cupp-Patterson” plan to improve school funding in Ohio will go a long way toward investing in Ohio’s future. However, without improvements to Ohio’s revenue system, we will lack the resources needed to make the important investments into affordable housing, clean water, ending hunger, and opioid treatment. Read our takeaways from the governor’s budget proposal here.

THE STATE OF OHIO: Our close partners recently wrote a report about the state of Ohio and the barriers we face.

Read the entire report here.

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Pennsylvania

Tracey DePasquale, Lutheran Advocacy – Pennsylvania (LAMPa)       lutheranadvocacypa.org

LAMPA SHARES ACTION ALERTS: Three advocacy alerts were shared with LAMPa constituents: public comment period (ended April 2) for SNAP time requirements; the 2020 Census Action Day, April 1; and General Assistance in Pennsylvania once again being threatened by HB 33.

ASHES TO GO SHARED AT CAPITOL: Staff offered prayers and imposition of ashes at the State Capitol on Ash Wednesday. Those receiving ashes expressed their sincere appreciation.

STAFF ACTIVITIES: Director Tracey DePasquale taught at Trinity Lutheran Church, in Lansdale, about the importance of the church’s voice in the public square in these divisive times. She also attended the Lower Susquehanna Synod Racial Justice Task Force meeting and participated in Civil Conversations Facilitators Training, sponsored by Interfaith Philadelphia.

DePasquale and program director Lynn Fry collected signatures from hunger ministries throughout the state for a letter to lawmakers in support of funding for the State Food Purchase Program and Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System. Staff recently attended the Keystone Research Center and Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center 2019 Budget Summit. Highlights included an overview of Governor Tom Wolf’s 2019-20 budget proposal and challenges facing Pennsylvania; a legislative panel discussion, and workshops on a variety of topics.

PLANNING CONTINUES FOR LUTHERAN DAYS IN THE CAPITAL: Sunday May 19 Come to the Welcome Table! Learn more.

Monday, May 20 — LAMPa’s traditional Lutheran Day of Advocacy — Set a Welcome Table! features keynote speaker Kathryn Lohre, assistant to the ELCA Presiding Bishop. Learn more and register.

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Southeastern Synod

Hilton Austin, director             www.elca-ses.org/advocacypolicycouncil

GEORGIA LEGISLATIVE SESSION ENDS APRIL 2:

These are a few bills we supported that have already passed.

• HB 346 Healthy Housing: This bill prohibits retaliatory eviction of tenants who complain to code enforcement about unsafe and unhealthy rental housing conditions.
• HR 164 Dedication of State Revenue: This resolution proposes an amendment to the Constitution to authorize the General Assembly to provide by general law for the dedication of revenues derived from fees or taxes to the public purpose for which were imposed.
• HB 514 Georgia Mental Health Reform and Innovation Commission: This bill creates a Mental Health Reform Commission which will perform a comprehensive review of the behavioral health system in the state.
• HB 281 Crimes and offenses; pimping and pandering; increase penalty provisions: This bill increases the penalty provisions relating to pimping and pandering.

We successfully opposed SB 221: Religious Freedom Restoration Act

MISSISSIPPI: HB 571 This bill clarifies that a minor under the age of 18 cannot be charged with the crime of prostitution

TENNESSEE: Our Tennessee advocates continue to support full Medicaid expansion.

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Virginia

Kim Bobo, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP)             virginiainterfaithcenter.org

VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY WRAP-UP: Now that the Virginia General Assembly has wrapped up, VICPP is heading around the state to discuss the outcomes of the 2019 session. We will share our big wins, challenges, and what we hope to work on in 2020.  We would love to see you there – all are welcome!

Warrenton – April 1st, 5-6:30pm at St. James’ Episcopal Church

Fredericksburg – April 2nd, 3-4:30pm at Fredericksburg Baptist Church

James River/Newport News – April 3rd, 12-1:30pm at St. John’s Church of God in Christ

Charlottesville – April 4th, 6-7pm at Charlottesville Friends Meeting

Northern Virginia – April 7th, 4-6pm at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia

Northern Virginia – April 8th, 8:30-10:00am at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia

Harrisonburg – April 24th, 2-3:30pm at Muhlenberg Lutheran Church

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Washington

Paul Benz, Faith Action Network (FAN)                                                                           fanwa.org

LEGISLATIVE SESSION: The Washington state legislative session is moving quickly. The final day of session

Standing with our Muslim neighbors

is April 28.  In these final four weeks, we are still pushing for many of our bills have finally entered into budget territory: this week both the House of Representatives and Senate have released their state budget proposals. This budget will fund essential programs and services for the next two years. The success of many of the things we have been fighting for all session is contingent on how the budget is formed. Some of the bills on our legislative agenda that we continue to advocate for are:

• Keep Washington Working (SB 5497) which has been worked on for many years. It would separate state agencies such as local law enforcement from coordinating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The final hurdle is a floor vote in the House.
• Religious Zoning (HB 1377) which would give faith communities that seek to build affordable housing on their
  

  Annual Interfaith Governor’s Meeting

  property leverage with certain zoning laws. This bill needs a floor vote in the Senate.

• FINI (HB 1587), or the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive, which would increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables for those on SNAP. It has $2.5 million allocated in the House’s budget proposal and still needs to move through the Senate.
• TANF Reform (HB 1603) which needs to move through Senate fiscal committees.
• Eviction Reform (SB 5600) which would alleviate homelessness through less evictions. It is waiting for a floor vote in the House.

SOME BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS:

Hunger Advocacy Fellow Sarah Vatne speaking at the Southwestern Washington ELCA Youth Gathering

• Closing the loophole on capital gains taxes and instituting a 9.7 percent tax is in the House-proposed budget. This would increase state revenue by $1 billion each year.
• Progressive reform of our Real Estate Excise Tax is also in the House Budget proposal. This would generate $200 million each biennium to support affordable housing.

EVENTS, VIGRILS, RETREATS, AND RALLIES: We have also had a busy month of events, vigils, meetings, retreats, and rallies. We stood in solidarity with our Muslim neighbors at vigils after the horrific attacks in New Zealand. We attended the ELCA Domestic Mission staff in Chicago for a retreat. We have joined in support at labor union rallies and contract negotiations. Hunger Advocacy Fellow Sarah Vatne was the speaker at the Southwestern Washington Synod ELCA Youth Gathering, talking with the youth on the importance of advocacy and using your voice and privilege. FAN co-directors Paul Benz and Elise DeGooyer joined leaders from many of the faith communities in our network at our annual Interfaith Governor’s Meeting. They joined Governor Jay Inslee to discuss our priorities this session as people of faith.

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Wisconsin

Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin (LOPPW)                    loppw.org

Women of the ELCA presidents from the East Central, Northwest, and South Central Wisconsin synods near the microphone.

ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING, SAFE HARBOR: Nine Women of the ELCA members, a friend of Women of the ELCA, LOPPW staff, and a volunteer registered in favor of a Safe Harbor bill. A repeated request was to not only support the bill, but bring it to the floor. We are the closest as we have been to getting the bill passed.

EDUCATING COMMERCIAL DRIVERS: Women of the ELCA was also present with LOPPW staff at a hearing for another bill, that would require commercial driving schools to include curriculum on recognizing the signs of human trafficking.

STATE BUDGET: We have been involved with a coalition that shares strategies in responding to the budget throughout the budget process. As part of another coalition, People of Faith United for Justice, we are organizing an advocacy day for April 11. LOPPW will lead a workshop on water and the state budget.

CARE FOR GOD’S CREATION- WISCONSIN CLIMATE TABLE: LOPPW was part of a two-day workshop on equity and deep de-carbonization to explore how equitable we are when advocating for ways to address climate change caused by humans.

LOPPW attended two informational hearings organized by the Speaker’s Task Force on Water Quality in Wisconsin and one public hearing on a bill related to water.

SYNOD EVENTS: Walking Together combined with a youth event in the Northwest Wisconsin Synod.

 

 

Angie Larson, Clive, IA

Warm-up Question

If you found a bag full of cash, what would you do with it?

With You Always

A Washington state homeless man, Kevin Booth, was shocked to discover a  paper bag full of cash outside the Sumner Food Ban, where he was waiting in line to receive food. “At first, I was like, what the heck is that lying on the ground?” Mr. Booth said in an interview with the local newspaper, the News Tribune. “Of course, I sniffed it to see if it was real. Then I was like, do I take off or do I stay?” Mr. Booth waited another twenty minutes for the Food Bank to open and then brought it to Anita Miller, the food bank director. Inside the bag was $17,000. Anita and Kevin called the police to see if there was an outstanding reason for the bag of cash and filed a report.  

After ninety days with no claims on the cash it was decided that the $17,000 would be given to the Food Bank and a ceremony would be given for Mr. Booth.  The police remarked that “not everyone would be as honest in this situation”. The staff at the food bank worked to get Mr. Booth warm shoes and a warm jacket for the cold Washington winters, as well as some gift cards as a reward, but he refused more and has appreciated Sumner Food Bank.  The food bank was able to purchase a much-needed walk-in freezer so they could further support the needs of the community with the found gift. Ms. Miller refers to Mr. Booth as “a very honest man. For his part, Booth told the News Tribune: “There are a lot of people who would have taken it. I’m just not that person.”

Discussion Questions

• How did Kevin Booth’s actions differ from what you would do with the money?
• What do you think of how he handled the bag of cash? What do you think would be difficult about that decision?
• If Kevin Booth kept the money, how do you think his life would be the same or different?

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Isaiah 43:16-21

Philippians 3:4b-14

John 12:1-8

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings

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

Gospel Reflection

In this passage in John, Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus was his friend and the brother of Mary and Martha. They are so grateful they throw a dinner in Jesus’ honor. Martha serves the dinner and Mary takes out a jar of very expensive, fragrant ointment to pour on Jesus’ feet. She lavishes his feet with the gift and wipes it with her hair. One of the disciples, Judas, is astonished that such an expensive gift is wasted on feet. He suggests that the ointment should have been sold and the money used to go to help the poor. He does this because he is responsible for the group’s money purse. His intentions are not noble, but selfish. Jesus responds, “Leave her alone, it was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

It seems, in Judas’ eyes, that Mary is squandering the ointment by using it on Jesus’ feet; that she is somehow wasting that precious gift by using it on dirty, sandy, grimy feet. No doubt this looks like an act of love and devotion to some and a waste of precious resources to others. 

If we’re honest this Lenten season, Mary’s act looks like the crucifixion, it looks like Jesus death. Jesus uses his life up, his precious giftedness to pour out his blood in the same way the precious ointment was poured out for feet. He takes us from our dirty, sandy, grimy lives and wipes them clean with his work on the cross. He squanders his life to bless ours, to free us from death and the grave. To some, like Mary and Martha, it looks like love and devotion. To others, like Judas, who just don’t see it yet, it looks like a waste of precious resources. This story foreshadows Jesus death on the cross and our freedom in the resurrection. It also points us to the neighbor, reminding us that we have the poor now and we get to “squander” and use our resources for them. 

Discussion Questions

• How would you react if you saw someone using something expensive in what seemed like a wasteful way?
• What are some ways we waste our resources instead of helping the poor?
• Are there ways in which we can look at our lives and make changes to help the poor?

Activity Suggestions

Squander something. What is something you’ve been saving for a special occasion? Use that something to bless someone else. 

Closing Prayer

Blessed Savior, We thank you that you gave your whole life for us so that we can be free and to help our neighbors. Help us to see ways to bring your kingdom to earth in service of our neighbors. Forgive us when we err and guide us to care for the least, the lost, the lowest, and the lonely in our communities. Direct us to use our resources for others. In your name we pray, amen.

Today’s post is by Virginia Cover, Senior Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

Have you ever noticed that attendance of families with young children tends to be sparse on Good Friday? As a pastor, I have certainly noticed this, especially in our congregation where these same families readily attend worship. I have a few guesses for this absence. For starters, the Three Days has only recently been recovered and has not been talked about frequently where I serve. But there was more. I asked a few young parents why they stayed away from Good Friday in particular. They told me about services with loud crashing sounds, extended periods of silence (at 7:30p.m. with an over-tired child), and detailed and gory depictions of the crucifixion. One of them told me how they tried to read the story of Jesus’ death from the children’s bible to their young son and he wouldn’t let Dad finish. He physically retreated from the book—the book he normally longs to read from. No parent wants nightmare-central on Easter weekend, and no worshipping community avoids confronting death either. What to do?

As a parent of two young children myself, I began to consider a Good Friday service especially for kids. Another congregation in town was doing a “footsteps of Jesus” kid-friendly event on Good Friday, so why couldn’t we? But the more I planned a Good Friday for kids, the more I rediscovered that nothing is as powerful as the church’s own ancient way of enacting the Three Days: washing feet, eating the meal, stripping the altar, adoring the cross, praying for others, lighting a fire, inscribing a candle, sprinkling water, singing psalms, reading from scripture.

There’s power in the Three Days when we hold them together. Children cannot hold the empty tomb in their minds while singing “how pale thou art in anguish/in sore abuse and scorn” in complete darkness. The adults weren’t holding it together either because the Three Days were so new, and they didn’t yet realize that missing one service meant leaving a hole in the story fabric.

We now have a service every year on Good Friday designed especially for children, yet it involves adults, too, and holds the Three Days together. We lay out a “highway” story map with items representing the high points of the church’s liturgy around the Three Days, telling the biblical story and the liturgical story together as we place each piece on the roadway. Then we spend some time floating through stations that go deeper into each day’s elements: a play dough mat connects the Last Supper to other special meals, a Good Friday sad touch and feel table (nails, rough hewn cross, crown of thorns) with a reflection sheet and coloring page of the Inside Out(Pixar, 2015) character Sad, an art project that when finished reveals a surprise (like the women discovered when they came to the tomb), and so on. One station is dedicated to putting the story in sequence to take home and tell again, either in the form of “story eggs” or watercolor paintings. We close with a taste of Easter in song, scripture and food—we eat “resurrection rolls” put together earlier at one of the stations—a sweet, Alleluia ending to our Three Day exploration. You can read more about the service here.

What I have loved the most about this experience is how the children teach us the important things. To date, the most popular stations are not play dough or art projects but the foot washing. The children know what to do by heart: hold the heel, pour the water, wipe the feet—and they wash and are washed with eagerness and joy every year.

This Maundy Thursday our congregation will be getting out the tubs and towels for the first time together in our main sanctuary. Someone asked if I was nervous about how it would go, since we have never had foot washing in the service before. “Nope!” I replied, “Because the children know what to do. They can teach us!”

Photo above from the Spark Story Bible (Augsburg Fortress: Minneapolis, 2009), 476-477. Illustrations by Peter Grosshauser and Ed Temple

Bryan Jaster, Winchester, VA

Warm-up Question

When was the last time you were at a party?   Why was it happening?  

Party Time!

In the beginning of November 2018, fires devastated many communities in California.  More acres burned than had ever been recorded due to the wild fires.  On November 8^th, Paradise, California, was entirely destroyed, with 15,000 homes burned and 85 people killed.  It will take decades to recover.  

The Ballejos family, from Paradise, fled the fires and lost track of their dog, Kingston.  He is a 12-year-old Akita, and during the evacuation became frightened and ran away.  The conditions were too dangerous for his family to go after him.  

However, the family is quoted as saying that they never, ever lost hope in Kingston returning home safely one day.  Thankfully, after 101 days on Thursday February 21^st, they were reunited!  Even though Kingston smells a little like skunk he likely ate to survive, they are celebrating being together again. 

Discussion Questions

• View the video of the family reuniting with Kingston.  Would you have given up hope?    Act out your reaction if a family pet would have gone missing for 101 days.  
• What is something you have lost that is valuable?  Did you find it?  If not, do you think you ever will? 

Fourth Sunday in Lent

Joshua 5:9-12

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-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 C at Lectionary Readings

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

Gospel Reflection

Who will join the Father’s party?

Our story from Luke’s gospel story starts with the scum of society (tax collectors and sinners) coming to listen to Jesus.   The religious leaders (Pharisees and scribes) grumble and mumble about Jesus eating with such scandalous types.  They don’t like the shady company Jesus interacts and eats with.  They don’t like Jesus’ kind of party. 

I get them a little.  In a world where we are judged by who we hang with, they judge Jesus by who he eats with and knows. 

The reality for Jesus is that God is throwing a party for outsiders like these.   So Jesus tells a three stories; our lesson includes the third in Luke 15.)

Jesus tells about a father (God perhaps) who is despised by his son. When the younger son asks for his share of what will belong him as an inheritance, he is saying, in essence, that he wishes his father was DEAD!  A dead father equals inheritance now.  The father complies with the request of his son.  He just freely gives away half of what was his to his demanding son.  Crazy.  Perhaps Jesus is saying God the Father is willing to be identified as a hated and seemingly unwise father.  The son takes the money and flees.

Obviously, it doesn’t go well for the younger son away from home.  I mean, have you ever thought pig slop looked tasty?!?!?  

In a moment of desperation, he begins to understand his actions have brought him to a situation (knee deep in pig slop!) from which he cannot free himself.  He returns, planning to admit his sin, not be called son, and become a hired hand.  While he is far off the father runs up and embraces him.  It appears the father was sleepless while watching, waiting, and fearing his son was dead, but yet hoping for his return.  God the Father waits with compassion to embrace the lost and resurrect the dead now.  

The son says he has sinned and is not worthy to be called son. Before he can continue, the father launches into full blown party mode, with robe, ring, sandals and fatted calf summoned to signal to all that “this is my son and I accept him.”  The son, by passing the “hired hand” status jumps from dead/lost to found/son!  Party time!  

But wait, the older son has been around the whole time.  He, the practical, faithful and serious older son, is angry and does not approve.  Maybe he refuses to recognize that he has only been going through the motions of being alive.  The younger brother was off with prostitutes (he assumes) and he never even got a young goat for time with friends.  Imagine the look on the older son’s face when the younger gets a fatted calf, whole community party with dancing and music. 

Discussion Questions

• Do you see yourself more as the younger or older son?  Why?  
• How does hearing about God acting unwisely, being hated, and throwing wild parties impact your understanding of who God is or what God does?  
• Can you imagine a teenage or young adult son wishing his father dead?  How would your father act if you asked today for half of all your family possesses?  
• What kind of parties does your church throw when someone who has hurting and lost has been found?   Do these parties offend anyone?

Activity Suggestions

• As a group, think of someone you haven’t seen in a while.  Maybe it’s a friend or someone who can’t leave home easily.  Make a plan to drop by their house with cake, ice cream, candles, music and anything party like.  Make a colorful banner with their name on it and a message of love.  Go!
• Write a note to your parent(s) or a trusted adult.  Talk about how glad you are to be a daughter or son.  Express thanksgiving, regret or whatever you might say trusting that their love for you reflects the Father’s love who would throw a party for you in a moment.  Be sure to give it to them!

Closing Prayer

God our party throwing Father!  Thank you for giving us the younger and older son characters all that you give us each day.  Help us to share you joy with all shady characters of the world and not withhold dancing, music and food.  Thank you for finding us when we are lost and bringing us life when we are dead.  Help us to join the party!  Amen. 

 

A Reflection on Reading The Cross and the Lynching Tree

I am a preacher. Like so many others I have been long convinced that Christ crucified is at the heart of authentic Christian preaching. So, when I first learned of The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone, I was interested. I remembered the ominous words I had heard in graduate school about Cone’s “radical” critique of traditional Christian teaching (or rather, as I have since learned, what it was thought to be from a certain privileged perspective). Nonetheless I still thought I would learn something new about Christ crucified from a perspective that is not my own. So, I put it on my mental list of books to read … where it remained for several years.

Ironically what revived my intention last spring was news of death. A new memorial and museum of lynching and its legacy in the United States — the National Memorial for Peace and Justice — opened in Montgomery, Alabama. And then, just days later, I saw a report of Cone’s death.

Cone wrote that his book was a continuation of his earlier writing, all of it “motivated by a central question: how to reconcile the gospel message of liberation with the reality of black oppression.”  I’m not qualified to judge whether he was successful in that effort, and I don’t know that I gained the kind of insight into Christ’s crucifixion that I anticipated.

As is often the case, something else happened.  As I read, I began to realize how little I knew about lynching beyond what I had allowed myself to acknowledge — the bare facts of its existence and its brutality. I began to learn about the circumstances of actual lynchings, the real people killed, and the real people who protested at the risk of being lynched themselves. I learned about the horrific lynching of Henry Smith in Paris, Texas, and the courageous public advocacy of Ida Wells. When I discovered the county-by-county data about lynchings in the United States collected by the Equal Justice Initiative, I investigated what had happened in the counties where I grew up, starting with Anderson County, Texas, where I was born.

And then I learned about the Slocum Massacre. It was an appalling event. Over the course of two days in July, 1910, mobs of white people in Anderson County hunted and killed African-Americans. Newspapers initially reported 8 to 22 African-American victims, but later investigations discovered numerous bodies in swamps and other remote areas of the county. Estimates range up to 200 victims, all of them African-American. As happened later in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Rosewood, Florida, a thriving community of small businesses was destroyed and hundreds of African Americans who survived fled the area, abandoning their property and businesses, which were then claimed by white people.

Learning about the Slocum Massacre helped me to realize the result of the way I held the knowledge I had of these and far too many similar incidents of violence against African Americans in the United States. I thought of them as isolated incidents, horrific and inexplicable in their horror except as outbreaks of demonic evil. How can such inexplicable outbreaks be anticipated and prevented?

But I already knew that in Jesus’ day crucifixion was not inexplicable. Far from it. It had a very deliberate purpose. Occasionally I hear that if Jesus had been executed in our day, the symbol of our faith would be an electric chair or syringe, not a cross, and I know there are racial inequities in the administration of capital punishment in the United States. But the public spectacle, the false pretense of avenging some fabricated wrong, the obscenely brutal torture, and the deliberate humiliation of a targeted victim as a way of intimidating and keeping an entire community in a subjugated place — what lynching did to African-Americans and other persons of color is everything that I knew crucifixion was intended to do two millennia ago.

Paying attention to the full reality of lynching, both in detail and in broad scope, helped me to begin to recognize how lynching was not so mysteriously inexplicable. And I began to recognize how it fits with other realities I was aware of but held as isolated pieces of information. I see more clearly now how lynching is part of a seamless history of violence against African Americans in the United States that continues today. After the massive crime of slavery was outlawed, lynching was used to enforce the Jim Crow regime that kept African Americans in subjection. In turn the illegal practice of lynching was replaced by abusive practices with a thin veneer of legality but still powerfully oppressive and violent — a racially targeted “war on drugs,” the racial bias in our criminal justice system most evident in mass incarceration of persons of color, and legalized practices of predatory lending that systematically rob economically vulnerable descendants of slaves from what little wealth they have been able to accumulate. Today restrictive voting laws target the African Americans who were promised full and equal voting rights. It is all one interwoven fabric.

Two decades ago, when I was watching the last episode of “The Civil War” by Ken Burns on PBS, historian Barbara Fields caught my attention with these words: “You can say there’s no such thing as slavery anymore, we’re all citizens. But if we’re all citizens, then we have a task to do to make sure that that, too, is not a joke. If some citizens live in houses and others live on the street, the Civil War is still going on. It’s still to be fought, and regrettably, it can still be lost.”

I am a preacher, and I’ve promised to tell the truth about Jesus, who was crucified and raised from the dead. One part of the truth is that while we may think the Civil War is over, that lynching is a thing of the past, it is not. The same hateful violence that crucified Jesus is still at work among us today. The other part of the truth is that those who have been joined to Jesus Christ in his cross and resurrection have a new life of freedom and the Spirit’s power. In that life, in Jesus’ name, there is healing, reconciling, liberating, life-giving work to do in service of our neighbors, especially those who continue to experience the regime of violent hatred that crucified Jesus.

To learn more about the work of the Equal Justice Iniative, visit eji.org.

 

Marcus Kunz is an ELCA pastor who serves part-time with the churchwide organization as Executive for Discernment of Contextual and Theological Issues and part-time in interim ministries, currently at Grue and Peace Lutheran Churches of Ashby, Minnesota.  He lives in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, with his spouse, Pastor Martha Halls.  They are the parents of two adult sons