These reflections are a part of ELCA World Hunger’s Sermon Starter series which is published via email every Monday. You can sign up for the weekly email here on the right side of the page. Pastor Tim Brown is the writer of these reflections. Pr. Tim is a Gifts Officer and Mission Ambassador for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and a pastor and writer out of Raleigh, NC. You are invited to use the Christmas messages below for personal devotion as well as prompts for sermon writing. 

December 24th- Christmas Eve

Luke 2:1-20

My favorite Nativity scene is sitting on our end table in our living room.

It’s made out of olive wood and the pieces don’t move.  Well, except for one.

That is because it’s a depiction of the stable, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus in a manger, some shepherds, livestock scattered round and then there are the Magi traveling to see them. And in between the stable scene and the Magi is a huge wall.

It’s like a fence, but solid, and it’s smack dab in the middle of the manger scene.

I bought it from a Palestinian artist who makes these scenes as a real-life depiction of what would happen today if Magi tried to visit Bethlehem: they’d encounter the great wall in Israel that holds Palestine penned in on all sides.

But that wall means other things, too.

It’s indicative of this long spoken-of wall to be built on the southern border of the United States.

It’s indicative of all of the walls that are put up around your dinner table at your holiday gathering between family members who can’t speak to one another due to politics, old wounds, new wounds, perceived slights, real slights…we have many walls.

It’s indicative of all of the walls that the people in your assembly on this Christmas Eve have put up, or have had put up in front of them, which is why they only show up twice a year at best. The church is excellent at building walls, Beloved.

And it’s indicative of the walls of checkbooks we’ve set between us and those experiencing poverty around the world, choosing to send money rather than build relationships. Money is good and necessary; please don’t get me wrong. But relationships change minds and hearts.  And if we’re going to be a world that stops building walls between people, we need to be about building relationships.

In fact, one of the big walls that you, preacher, will have to hurdle on this Christmas Eve is the huge wall of familiarity that most in your pews have with this text!  How do you preach on the same text every year and pull something new from it?

Well, maybe we don’t have to pull something new from it, but, rather, just let it do its thing.

Because God showing up in the person of Jesus is a sign that God is not about walls, but relationships. And God will traverse the cosmos over space, time, and reality to prove it.

I mentioned that, in this Nativity set, there’s only one piece that moves…and it’s the wall.  You can pull it out and set it aside.

Because although we have put up all sorts of walls in our world, real and figurative, God is about breaking down such walls between us, between all creation and between the human and the Divine.

December 25th- Christmas Day

Titus 3:4-7

If, on Christmas Eve, you leaned into the entirety of the Gospel lesson for this festival duo, which I think you should because the majority of the people will only hear the Christmas Eve service, then Christmas Day is the perfect opportunity to do two important things: preach a shorter sermon and focus on the obscure offering from Titus that the Epistle gives us.

Because Titus, a small and largely underutilized Epistle that is shrouded in mystery, gives us a wonderful distillation of Lutheran theology on this Christmas Day.

This day, Christmas Day, is a day to highlight the oppositional nature of this whole Divine experiment that we call the Incarnation.

Human and Divine are opposites, and yet on Christmas, they are fused as one.

We have been trained by society to believe that rewards are given by merit, and yet on Christmas, and in this Titus reading, we are reassured that the gift of salvific love is not something we’ve earned but rather something just freely given.

We have been trained by our world to live off our instincts, instincts which are largely driven by fear.  It’s our evolutionary heritage.  And yet, we learn at Christmas that faith is the opposite of fear and that we need not think the shadows will overtake us because the light of the world is born to us on this day.

We have been trained by our laws that only those who are deserving receive an inheritance. And yet, on Christmas Day we hear that the inheritance of God is ours to have not because we deserved it but because we are so richly loved.

It all sounds so impossible.

As impossible as a baby saving the world.

As impossible as God showing up through the womb of an unwed mother.

As impossible as a tree growing in living rooms.

Christmas is full of impossibilities.  Christmas is full of opposites being forged together into new realities.

It is especially true that, at Christmas, we can conceive of a world where ELCA World Hunger would not be necessary. We have been taught by the world that there are “haves” and “have nots.” But in the promises and living example of a Christ who doled out healing with reckless abandon, who ate with those who couldn’t find a table in reputable society and included those who the world purposefully excluded, we’re invited to believe that just as we’re given God’s grace so freely, we can be agents of that free grace for a world in desperate need of it still today.

 

 

This advent reflection is part of ELCA World Hunger’s 2019 Advent Study. You can download the full study here. The children’s messages are a part of ELCA World Hunger’s Sermon Starter series which is published via email every Monday. You can sign up for the weekly email here on the right side of the page. 

Week 4

God is with Us

“‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us’” (Matthew 1:23).

 

 

You are loved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is the message of Advent, Christmas — the entirety of the gospel story, in fact.

 

 

 

 

 

You are loved.

 

 

 

In the baby — whose name shall be Emmanuel, which means “God is with us” — God has drawn near to humanity in familiarity, intimacy and even identity. God has become human, entering into our world and our very existence. And the message God has brought? You are loved.

Two thousand years of Christian history, and yet that basic message has not changed. God has drawn near, and the message brought to all creation is “you are loved.” Scripture is filled with stories of God speaking to God’s people. Sometimes God speaks to them directly. Moses approaches a burning bush and hears God “informing him, ‘I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt'” (Exodus 3). In the middle of the night, Samuel hears God calling his name (1 Samuel 3). At other times, God speaks through the prophets to the people.

But here …

in this manger …

in this moment …

on this night …

There is no mountain-splitting, quaking prelude like Elijah heard outside his cave (1 Kings 19). There is no opening in the heavens, no descending Spirit, no voice from the clouds (Luke 3.) The baby in the manger is God’s whispered good news: “You are loved.” In the first session of this study, we read a sampling of modern-day billboards warning us of God’s coming wrath. The writings of our biblical ancestors reflect a similar level of trepidation about the day God would draw near. What judgment might befall them when God arrived? What word might God speak?

In the manger in Bethlehem, God did show up. And the word was “love.”

As gospel people, the church proclaims this message: “You are loved.” Obviously, such a simple message doesn’t give us the directives that are to be taken in the many complex situations in which the church finds itself in daily life. Such a simple message does not give us all that we need to make the many minute decisions that organizations and individuals must make. But it does give us a clear message and identity.

Who is the church? The beloved of God.

Who is my neighbor? The beloved of God.

Who is this stranger in my midst? The beloved of God. 

To be the church, to be people of the gospel, called to spread the good news, is to ensure that every person we encounter leaves knowing they are loved. To be “evangelical” is to be sharers of the good news – and that good news is that we are loved by the very creator of the universe.

This almost seems too simple, and in some ways, it might be. But how often does the message the world sends us undermine our confidence in this message? How often are we told that we must make ourselves lovable enough, work hard enough, look good enough, decide wisely enough, or behave appropriately enough to merit the concern or consideration of others around us? The church has a different message: You are loved because the One who created you has marked you as loved. Christ-centered ministries have this message of Christ at their heart.

Rain or shine, the East Boston Community Soup Kitchen opens each Tuesday without fail, serving up nutritious fare — with an extra helping of love — from the basement of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. Volunteers offer weekly breakfast, lunch and dinner to more than a hundred guests, many of whom face the challenges of poverty and addiction. Guests can also pick up hygiene kits or a set of clean clothes and access social services.

“This space is where we all come together and treat each other with love, with that respect and dignity that we all like to receive,” says Sandra Aleman-Nijjar, the kitchen’s lead volunteer. “We give that to everyone that walks through those doors.” Eddie, one of the guests at East Boston, knows this to be the case. Having lived on the streets since he was 18, Eddie calls the ministry “my home,” a place of belonging and acceptance where his needs — physical, spiritual and emotional — are met. “He feels loved, that someone cares,” says Sandra. “You can see it in [each of] them, that sense of belonging, that sense of acceptance. That someone cares about them, that someone is watching and looking out for their well-being.”

To be “evangelical” is not merely to share the basic facts about faith but to live out a faith that assures us — and our neighbors — that we are loved. For guests at the East Boston Community Soup Kitchen, that means that every plate of food served is a form of evangelism, a way of sharing the good news that is the very message of “Emmanuel”: you are loved.

God’s love calls us to active love and service of one another. Authentic love — the love God shows through Christ — sets tables where all are welcome, calls religious and political leaders to repentance for their treatment of neighbors facing poverty or vulnerability, and testifies to new life in the face of death-dealing powers. It is not merely a word spoken but a life lived, walking with and standing by our neighbors.

This is the Promised One we have been waiting for, and this is the message we have been longing to hear. Through Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, through John the Baptist’s hours of ministry at the Jordan, through our expectant longing in Advent — this is the message we have been waiting for. And the message many of our neighbors continue to pine for.

 

You are loved.

Now, love one another.

Reflection Questions

1. When during this season have you felt loved?
2. How does your congregation share the message “you are loved” with neighbors in your community?
3. Watch ELCA World Hunger’s video “East Boston Community Soup Kitchen” at https://vimeo.com/293599869. How does the ministry in East Boston help guests feel “that sense of belonging, that sense of acceptance”?

Children’s Message

Pastor Tim Brown is the writer of this Advent children’s message. Pr. Tim is a Gifts Officer and Mission Ambassador for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and a pastor and writer out of Raleigh, NC. This Advent Children’s Message is cross-posted from ELCA World Hunger Sermon Starters. 

Set-up:

The season’s texts provide the leader with an opportunity to practice Advent anticipation, and each children’s message with grow week to week until Christmas Eve/Christmas Day.

This is the last week, and there should be a small box with a pocket mirror inside. A large yellow star should be on the outside of this small box, with the poem below printed on it.

Script:

Invite the youth to come forward.   

“Look here, folks, I have that final box here, and I can tell there are things inside of this one, too. How can I tell?  Just listen!” Shake the box “Now, remember what was inside of last week’s box? Right!  Band-Aids. And what did we do with those Band-Aids? Right, we gave them away as reminders that God invites us to heal the world.  Some of those people out there even put them on. What do you think is in this box?” Field answers as time allows “Could be any of those things! But look, on here is also a yellow star.  Ah, look, here’s a poem on the yellow star. Can someone read it?” If the youth are too young or too shy to read, go ahead and read it aloud:

“The baby is coming soon

And we’re dreaming of the child

And the night will arrive

So meek and so mild

But until then God’s dream

Is for someone else to be a life-changer

We don’t need to wait for the babe in the manger!

And just who should it be?

Open me up to see…

Should we open it and see what’s inside?” Open the box dramatically. If it has a lid, unveil it with panache. If it is sealed in wrapping paper, invite the youth to help you tear it open. Show the box with the mirror inside.

“Wow, a mirror. ‘But until then God’s dream/is for someone else to be a life-changer/we don’t need to wait for the babe in the manger/and just who should it be? Open me up to see…’ Who do you all see? Hold up the mirror.

“Yes!  It’s you. You are the one God is dreaming of who will start the change the world. And we can change the world by giving our gifts to help those who don’t have much, by being a good friend at school to kids who are picked on, by making meals and sharing it with our neighbors. Who else can think of a way we can start to change the world?” Field answers as time allows.

“But, there’s one more thing, come close! Make sure your mic is off “Those people out there? They need to start changing the world, too. So, I want you to go ask them a question, an important question this Christmas. Ask them how they will change the world this Christmas. Say, “How will you change the world this Christmas?”

Go ask them. And if anyone gives you an answer, come back and tell me. You can tell me now or after church. Ready? Go!”

 

This advent reflection is part of ELCA World Hunger’s 2019 Advent Study. You can download the full study here. The children’s messages are a part of ELCA World Hunger’s Sermon Starter series which is published via email every Monday. You can sign up for the weekly email here on the right side of the page. 

Week 3

Signs of the Promise

“[John the Baptist’s disciples said to Jesus,] ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them’”
(Matthew 11:3-5). 

At only 17, Dawit (not his real name) has already faced a long and harrowing journey. He was born in Eritrea, and in 2017, he and his brother escaped lifelong military service by crossing into neighboring Sudan. On the border, they were intercepted by a group of traffickers. Dawit’s brother escaped, but Dawit was held by the traffickers for almost nine months and regularly threatened and beaten while they demanded money.

Eventually, Sudanese police raided the traffickers’ camp and took Dawit to a hospital in Khartoum, where he found his brother again. During their initial journey, Dawit had broken his leg while jumping out of a car. Although he had surgery in Khartoum, it was too late to fully repair the damage to his leg, and he can no longer put any weight on it.

In 2018, Dawit arrived in Cairo, Egypt, and connected with St. Andrew’s Refugee Services (StARS), which is supported by ELCA World Hunger. StARS provided Dawit with a caseworker and helped him meet other immediate needs, such as food, hygiene supplies and, importantly, medical care. StARS also connected him to Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), which is helping provide Dawit with psychological care and support.

Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt. Dawit’s story, like many of the stories of our siblings in Christ around the world, can seem so far away from communities in North America. Even within our own geographic region, communities can seem farther apart than the miles may suggest. Maybe it is the divide between rural and urban cities, or the gulf between affluent areas and areas facing disinvestment and job loss.

Of course, the distance between our communities belies the reality that, as a global community, we share many of the same challenges. Human trafficking, such as Dawit faced, is “a global phenomenon to which no country is immune,” according to a 2018 report from the U.S. Department of State. And research reminds us that even the most affluent counties in the United States are home to people facing food insecurity and challenges with access to housing.

Yet, it is not merely our shared problems that connect us. This season of Advent, the Scripture readings remind us that, in Christ, God has drawn near to us and to our neighbors. As God draws near to us, we, too, are drawn near to each other — in hope, in faith and in our mutual need.

Seeing this is easier now than it was for the followers of John the Baptist. Jesus was, by no means, the first to be considered (or to declare himself) the Promised One sent by God. So perhaps no one should be surprised that John and his followers were a bit suspicious. “Are we to wait for another?” is the question of those who have long awaited the Messiah — and may likely have been disappointed before. This isn’t the pleading of the psalmist crying, “How long, Lord?” but the cynical question of the skeptic whose faith is sure but whose trust must be earned.

And to some extent, this is our question, too. How do we know that God has drawn near? How can we be certain that the Messiah has come? In our day, we are confronted with promises of salvation from every quarter. Commercials and mass media hold out the pursuit of wealth as the path to new life. Social media seem to suggest that our lives will be transformed once we get enough “likes” or followers. For victims of human trafficking such as Dawit, the promises are more nefarious. Many victims were first lured by their traffickers with promises of resettlement in a new, safe country. Or they were deceived by promises of stable employment.

Jesus understands the skepticism of the question. In response, he shares with John’s followers the evidence he knows will convince the Baptizer: “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” Echoing the prophecies of Isaiah, Jesus makes clear the signs of the Messiah’s coming, signs John the Baptist would seem to recognize: healing, restoration and hope. John the Baptist can trust that the one interrogated by his followers is the One sent by God because following in Jesus’ wake are those characteristics of God’s transformation of the world: healing, restoration and hope.

As we look for the promise of God in our midst, we are called to look for those signs of healing (physical and spiritual), restoration (of relationships with God and neighbor), and hope (for those who are poor or vulnerable). Our shared need for each of these is what draws us together with neighbors near and far as we long together for the transformation of the world. And make no mistake, God is with us in our need as well.

We are united in our common need with neighbors around the world. And yet, the miles are bridged by something greater — our shared participation in the promise God is unfolding in our world. The vocation to be a healing, reconciling, hopeful presence in the world is shared across the church universal in every community. United in trust that God is at work transforming the world, the church is called to participate in the signs that inspired the confidence of John and his followers — and inspires the confidence of our neighbors and ourselves today.

To share in the stories of neighbors near and far is to share in the work God is doing through them in the world. It is to seek together — and to be, together — those signs of healing, restoration and hope. In Advent, the expectant longing gives way to bold confidence that God is at work, revealing the promise that all shall be well and drawing us together in mutual need and mutual hope.

There may be much that separates us, but the promise that unites us can bridge any divide.

Reflection Questions

1. What experiences have reassured your faith that God is at
   work in the world?
2. Why is it important for the church, as the people of God, to
   help neighbors such as Dawit meet their needs for healing
   and care?
3. Where do you see God’s promise taking root in your
   community?

Children’s Message

Pastor Tim Brown is the writer of this Advent children’s message. Pr. Tim is a Gifts Officer and Mission Ambassador for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and a pastor and writer out of Raleigh, NC. This Advent Children’s Message is cross-posted from ELCA World Hunger Sermon Starters. 

Set-Up:

The season’s texts provide the leader with an opportunity to practice Advent anticipation, and each children’s message with grow week to week until Christmas Eve/Christmas Day.

As with last week, make sure this week’s box includes the smaller box surrounded by Band-Aids, one inside the other, like nesting dolls. 

Inside the smallest box should be a pocket mirror. Draw a large yellow star on the outside of this smallest box.  On today’s box draw a large red cross on it like an Emergency Aid kit, and tape one of the ELCA Good Gifts cards to the top.  You can find them here: http://bit.ly/33gC1kQ.

Script:

Invite the children to come forward.   

“Look here, folks, I have that other box here, and I can tell there are things inside of this one, too.  How can I tell?  Just listen!” Shake the box. “Now, remember what was inside of last week’s box?  Right!  Stickers.  And what did we do with those stickers?  Right, we gave them away as gifts of love. What do you think is in this box?” Field answers as time allows. “Could be any of those things!  But look, on here is also a red cross.  Has anyone seen anything like this before?  Where?” Field answers as time allows. “Right.  On hospitals and ambulances and first-aid kits.”

“You know, we all have built-in first-aid kits.  Want to see one?” Hold up your hands. “Yes, I know, these look just like hands.  But they’re more than that.  With hands like these we’re given the ability to help and heal others.  We can work, and through that work, we can offer help to others.  Hmmm…let me try to explain a little clearer.   Ah, look, here’s a card near this red cross. Can someone read it?”   If the youth are too young or too shy to read, go ahead and read it aloud:

“This is a card from ELCA Good Gifts, where people can buy animals, seeds, or other goods for people all around the world.  We work with our hands, and with the money we get for our work, we’re able to buy these gifts to bless others.  In this way, we help people who don’t even know to live well!  Should we open it and see what’s inside?”  Open the box dramatically.  If it has a lid, unveil it with panache.  If it is sealed in wrapping paper, invite the youth to help you tear it open. Show the box full of Band-Aids, and the other box inside.

“Wow, there’s a bunch of Band-Aids in here, along with another box.  This other box we can’t open until next week, I think, but what do we do with these Band-Aids?” Pretend to think.

“Wait, I have an idea!  Come in close.” Invite the youth forward and turn off your mic. “Go and give a Band-Aid to someone out there and say to them ‘God helps us help others.’.  Make it someone you don’t even know!  If they’re brave, they’ll even put it on today!  Go and remind them that God invites us to help others, and next week we’ll see if God has a new surprise for us in this other box.  Are you ready?  Go!”

As they give out the Band-Aids, you can make a general announcement about ELCA Good Gifts to the whole assembly and invite them to learn more by placing a bulletin insert in their hands, or point them to the ELCA World Hunger website.

 

 

This advent reflection is part of ELCA World Hunger’s 2019 Advent Study. You can download the full study here. The children’s messages are a part of ELCA World Hunger’s Sermon Starter series which is published via email every Monday. You can sign up for the weekly email here on the right side of the page. 

 

Week 2

From Good New to Bad News

“He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness, he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth” (Isaiah 11:3b-4a).

In many rural villages in Guatemala, families tend to be large, and due to poverty, cultural traditions and other factors, daughters are often given away for marriage early. At 12 to 14 years old, girls are matched with husbands who are at least twice their age and sometimes older. Pastor Karen Castillo of the Augustinian Lutheran Church of Guatemala (ILAG) knows many of the girls’ stories well. Pr. Castillo hears their frequent concerns about the lack of educational opportunities that can change the future for girls and women throughout Guatemala. Schools are often far from people’s homes, and if instruction is available, boys are often given precedence. When girls are excluded from continuing their education, they are also excluded from new opportunities, including the opportunity to make many decisions about their futures.

Holy Scripture assures us that God hears their stories, too. The promise of Isaiah, indeed the promise of many of the writings in the Old Testament, is that God has heard the people’s pleas for liberation and salvation and will deliver them (Exodus 3:7-8). God’s intimacy with the people of God is such that God is attuned to the many obstacles that undermine the people’s well-being. God’s anger is revealed most clearly in those places where injustice and inequity reign – and God’s loving concern is revealed equally clearly when the children of God are blocked from enjoying life abundantly.

In the Gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist echoes this anger when he sees a group of Pharisees and Sadducees gathered among those desiring baptism. “You brood of vipers!” he calls out. “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7). John is not the meekest character in the Gospel, but here, he’s about to get medieval before there was a medieval to be gotten. What was it that so incensed the Baptizer? We get a clue about the fault of the Pharisees and Sadducees later in Matthew, when Jesus denounces both groups: “They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others … they love to have the place of honor at banquets … [they] lock people out of the kingdom of heaven … [they make] gold sacred … [they] have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith,” and so on (23:4-23).

The Pharisees often get a bad rap in the Gospels. They serve as foils for Jesus and the disciples so often that the reader might think “brood of vipers” is John the Baptist’s way of going easy on them. In reality, the Pharisees were one of several Jewish groups at the time and, in some ways, weren’t quite as bad as they might seem. They understood the life of faith as a life focused on obedience to the Law, so they rigorously held themselves to its high standards. The problem was, they held others to those standards, too, even when the Law seemed unclear or when the literal, traditional punishments for violations were downright deadly. For the Pharisees, being faithful meant obeying the Law and tradition, no matter what the consequences were.

Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels present a different understanding of faith. For Jesus and his followers, a relationship with God is not meant to be a burden. In fact, quite the opposite: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Isaiah, whom John the Baptist quotes in Matthew, describes what true righteousness looks like for God’s people: justice and equity, particularly for “the poor [and] the meek,” those without the social or economic status to demand these things for themselves.

As God draws near through the One prophesied by Isaiah and John the Baptist, the bad news of exclusion is transformed into the good news of hospitality, and the bad news of judgment is transformed into the good news of justice — for them and for the community. It is from among these people, whose lives are so circumscribed by legalism, tradition and inequity, that Jesus will draw both followers and leaders.

In Guatemala, where poverty, traditions and sexism prevent communities from benefiting from the gifts and skills of girls, the ILAG is helping provide new opportunities. Opened in 2018 at the Augustinian Lutheran Center in Guatemala City, the MILAGRO (“miracle”) Women’s Education Center is a place for young women from these rural communities to continue their secondary education, faith formation and development of vocational and life skills that will help them be financially independent in the future. With support from ELCA World Hunger and ILAG, the young women at MILAGRO Women’s Education Center are part of the work God is doing in their communities, proclaiming the good news of justice, equity and life abundant for all.

Reflection Questions

1. What does it mean for God to hear the cries of people who face oppression, exclusion or injustice?
2. How does the church listen attentively to the voices of people facing poverty or hunger in the community today?
3. What is the difference between seeing faith as obedience to God and seeing faith as liberation?

Children’s Message

Pastor Tim Brown is the writer of this Advent children’s message. Pr. Tim is a Gifts Officer and Mission Ambassador for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and a pastor and writer out of Raleigh, NC. This Advent Children’s Message is cross-posted from ELCA World Hunger Sermon Starters. 

Set up:

The season’s texts provide the leader with an opportunity to practice Advent anticipation, and each children’s message with grow week-to-week until Christmas Eve/Christmas Day.

Bring in a large wrapped box. Inside the box make sure to include two smaller boxes, one inside the other, like nesting dolls.

Inside the smallest box put a pocket mirror. Draw a large yellow star on the outside of this smallest box.  Inside the second-largest box put the smallest box along with a bunch of new Band-Aids and draw a large red cross on it like an emergency first aid kit. And inside the largest box, put the other boxes along with a bunch of stickers. On the outside of this larger box, put a picture of a stump with a stem springing forth. On the tree you’ll write the riddle below. Invite the children to come forward.

Script:

“Look here, folks, I have this box here, and I can tell there are things inside of it. How can I tell? Just listen!” Shake the box. “What do you think is in here?” Field answers as time allows. “Could be any of those things!  But look, on here is also a tree stump with this little twig coming out of it. It reminds me of what the prophet Isaiah said today that sometimes, out of things that don’t look alive anymore, new things can spring. And look, it has writing on it!  Can someone read it?   If the children are too young or too shy to read, go ahead and read it aloud:

At Christmas God does something new

And we can do something, too!

With each day comes the chance

To make another heart sing and dance!

Do something kind without pay

Go and make someone’s day!

“Huh, I wonder what that means. Should we open it and see what’s inside?” Open the box dramatically.  If it has a lid, unveil it with panache. If it is sealed in wrapping paper, invite the children to help you tear it open. Show the box full of stickers, and the other box inside.

“Wow, there’s a bunch of stickers in here, along with some other boxes. This other box we can’t open until next week, I think, but what do we do with these stickers?” Pretend to think.

“Wait, I have an idea!  Come in close.” Invite the youth forward and turn off your mic. “The riddle invited us to go and make someone’s day, so I think you should go out there to the people in the pews and stick a sticker on someone. Make it someone you don’t even know! Put it on their hand, their shirt, or even their forehead! Go and spread some love today with this new thing in church, and next week we’ll see if God has a new surprise for us in these boxes. Are you ready? Go!”

 

It’s hard to believe that it’s time to start planning for 2020 already, but ELCA World Hunger’s new Vacation Bible School program for 2020 is now here! “On Earth As in Heaven” invites children of all ages to learn about God’s world by diving deeply into the Lord’s Prayer. This full, five-day VBS is free and available for download and order (coming soon.)

 

“On Earth As in Heaven” explores the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer for our world today, using one petition each day to explore faith, justice and the work to which God is calling us. The program this year is unique in that each day focuses on one petition from the prayer and ties the petition to one of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals in easily accessible ways.

“On Earth As in Heaven” VBS

In the Large Catechism, Martin Luther reminds us that prayer is something “great and precious.” To pray is to give voice to our needs and our trust in God, who meets them.

But to pray is much more than this too. In thanksgiving, prayer gives voice to the things that bring us together. In lament, prayer gives voice to the things that rend us apart. Theologian Karl Barth is believed to have said that “to clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.” To pray is to lay bare the pain of the world and to trust God to transform it — and to strengthen us to be part of this transformation.

“On Earth As in Heaven” invites children and adults to (re-)experience the Lord’s Prayer and to see the connections between prayer and service in the world. As the church prays and plays together, we also serve together and walk together toward a just world where all are fed. The stories for each day lift up churches and communities around the world who are prayerfully and powerfully doing their part in this work, while celebrating the diversity with which God has gifted the world.

Daily Themes

 

 

Each day includes:

• An opening to introduce the prayer petition and the topic for the day, including a skit;
• Small-group times;
• Stories from projects around the world supported by gifts to ELCA World Hunger;
• Snacks and crafts from the countries and regions featured in the stories;
• Games for different age groups;
• Simulation Stations to help children dive deeply into the topics of the day; and
• Large-group closing suggestions

This year, we are also excited to include an appendix of handouts to send home, so that parents and caregivers can continue the conversation with children at the end of each day.

Coming Soon

More materials are on their way, including hard copies of “On Earth As in Heaven,” posters and a supplement media kit with logos and pictures you can print, post or put on t-shirts and other promo items!

Look for Us at the E!

ELCA World Hunger will once again be at the ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s Extravaganza in 2020! We will have hard copies of “On Earth As in Heaven,” sample posters and lots of information to help you plan your VBS.

“God’s Good Creation” and “Who Is My Neighbor?” VBS Still Available!

ELCA World Hunger’s VBS programs from previous years are still available! Visit ELCA World Hunger’s resources page to find “God’s Good Creation” VBS and “Who Is My Neighbor?” VBS  – and lots of other resources for children, youth and adults!

For more information about “On Earth As in Heaven” and other ELCA World Hunger resources, please contact Ryan Cumming, program director of hunger education for ELCA World Hunger, at Ryan.Cumming@ELCA.org.

 

 

From the story of Pentecost – the coming of the Holy Spirit – as told in Acts 2: 17:

“In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your songs and daughters shall prophesy, and your young shall see visions, and your old shall dream dreams.”

 

The walk to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-25) is a fairly “well-trodden” path for many Christians. It’s a story we hear once a year in the lectionary cycle – a story that comes together so well for me at the end when Jesus has vanished from the disciple’s sight – and yet, they “see” in a new and different way.

“Were not out hearts burning within us?” the disciples say to each other. Through the walking and talking, they caught a glimpse of God’s dream for a reconciled world – perhaps such a glimpse that the whole world might never look the same.

October 16, was World Food Day, a day that also occurs once a year to commemorate the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945.

On World Food Day this year, ELCA World Hunger announced our upcoming Big Dream grant ministry partners – a group of four ministries that exemplify innovation and best practices in the pursuit of a just world where all are fed.

At the same time, 14 people gathered to discern and award the 2020 Domestic Hunger grants. Domestic Hunger Grants walk with congregations and their ministry partners as they seek to love and serve their communities in transformative, holistic and integrated ways. The awards are for up to 3 years and up to $10,000 per year, for a possible total award of $30,000. During this process, staff like me are notetakers. My role is to listen and record (a true gift!)

And on days like this, as we walk together in conversation, you hear many things. But the one that stays with me today is from one of our decision makers at the table who said, “I will need some help deciding on award amounts. I am 17 years old. It’s hard for me to imagine $30,000. I have never seen that much money in my life!”

The group gathered chuckled a bit, but then … we paused.

Think about it.

When was the first time you could conceptualize or understand what $30,000 really meant? When did you first “see” that kind of money? Or, have you ever??

Around the room, people said, “when I went to college,” “when we bought a house,” “when I got a car,” or “when I saw a medical bill.” For many, the first time we had “seen” $30,000 was as debt.

And yet, others reflected, “Living on $30,000 a year isn’t easy, either.”

Though it is can be difficult to live on $30,0000 in a context like the United States, an annual income of $30,000 (USD) puts a person in the top 1.23% of richest people in the world (Global Rich List). $30,000 is an amount that many or even most of our global neighbors may never actually see.

And for our high school senior-aged award table member, if all goes according to her plan and she completes college, she may join the ranks of the 45 million people in this country carrying a total of $1.5 trillion in student loan debt (more than what Americans owe in credit card and auto loan debt combined.)

And in that moment, through the community gathered, I saw things differently.

Faith formation and leadership development are intentional, experiential moments found and honed in and with community – like the one gathered together on October 16.

What would it be like if most youth and young people in this church, the ELCA, first “see” or try to conceptualize $30,000 represented by the hopes and dreams and plans of program budgets put forth by courageous, creative congregations seeking to love and serve their neighbors and neighborhoods through anti-hunger work? And not as debt— which is what the world will almost surely present without the alternative.

What type of leaders would be in our midst if more leaders – of all ages – can catch these glimpses that may essentially change the way we see the world around us? How might not only our expectations change, but our communities, relationships and stewardship change too?

At that table gathered, $30,000 looked like a ministry working with neighbors toward equitable access to food through community gardening and land ownership or like community-led advocacy and capacity building to improve access to safe water in a region dealing with lead pipe infrastructure issues.

God creates and gifts diversely and abundantly – and we are freed by grace through faith to boldly discover and wonder what God is up to and how we can be part of that in service with our neighbors and neighborhoods. Faith is a living daring confidence in God’s grace.

As people of faith, we are called to see things differently because of who God is – and to help others catch a glimpse of it too.

God’s gracious abundance opens our eyes to the presence of God among us, freeing us to see visions and dream dreams. And by being church together – through the Spirit – those visions and dreams set our hearts on fire.

“Were not our hearts burning within us while [Jesus] was talking to us on the road?” (Luke 24: 23)

 

Mikka McCracken is Director, Strategy and Engagement for ELCA World Hunger.

Photo Credit: Cheri Johnson

 

Announcing ELCA World Hunger’s Big Dream Grant Awards

This World Food Day, ELCA World Hunger is pleased to announce four ministries that have been awarded Big Dream Grants. ELCA World Hunger’s Big Dream Grants, one-time gifts of $10,000 to $75,000, support domestic ministries as they pursue innovative and sustainable approaches to ending hunger. As we reflect on the meaning behind World Food Day and our shared commitment to address hunger until all are fed, we celebrate the big dreams of these ministries and their commitment to excellence.

New this year, ELCA World Hunger’s Big Dream Grant recipients were identified in part based on the contributions of their work toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. The SDGs are intended to focus sustainable development toward overcoming poverty, inequality and environmental degradation. ELCA World Hunger is pleased to partner with the Lutheran World Federation as part of its “Waking the Giant” initiative. “Waking the Giant” is a global ecumenical effort which aims to build the capacity of churches to contribute effectively to the SDGs. Churches and partners are focusing on five of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – Goals 3, 4, 5, 10 and 16 – and the ELCA has an additional focus on Goal 2.

Ministries receiving ELCA World Hunger Big Dream Grants are:

IntegrArte, a ministry hosted in an ELCA congregation in Dorado, Puerto Rico, works with people of all ages to address mental health in a community where mental health services are otherwise inaccessible to many who need them, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. IntegrArte is building connections between church and community by expanding mental health services within the greater community. IntegrArte is preparing to realize its long-term dream of expanding into a community center that will host programming for older adults, a Montessori school and an emergency shelter.

Through its McClintock Partners In Education (McPIE) ministry, a partnership with the local middle school and community, Christ Lutheran Church in Charlotte, North Carolina fosters an environment where families have the opportunity to thrive through meals, clubs, camps and courses that open up pathways for both youth and parents. Christ Lutheran is increasing the ministry’s capacity to support the economic success of under-served populations in Charlotte through a commitment to bilingual support and the creation of the McClintock Innovation Lab & Library, which will focus on STEM programming.

The Table: A 1st Century Style Community in the 21st Century is a worshipping community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reducing barriers to food. The Table provides a place where families can learn to grow the food that they want to eat and fosters learning and entrepreneurial opportunities for community members. Looking ahead, The Table will further drive economic development and empowerment through expanding programming and a longer growing season made possible by new greenhouses.

End Hunger in Calvert County, based in a rural area in Maryland, is a coalition of local churches and other organizations working together to end hunger in the community. End Hunger Calvert County connects food-insecure communities with hunger relief options and works to reduce systemic poverty through a robust workforce program. Now, the organization is blazing new trails as it develops a mobile app to connect low-income families to comprehensive services.

We celebrate the work of these ministries and thank you for your support of ELCA World Hunger as we work together to fight hunger and poverty in the United States and 60 other countries around the world. To learn more about ELCA World Hunger’s approach, visit ELCA.org/hunger.

At the global level, the “Waking the Giant” initiative provides churches and church-related actors with tools and training to relate their on-going work to the SDGs. At the national level, churches and ecumenical partners set up implementation mechanisms for taking stock of their existing work in relation to the SDGs and engage in joint planning for direct action and advocacy. “Waking the Giant” is currently focused on four target countries: Colombia, Liberia, Tanzania and the United States. The ELCA is hosting and funding the initiative in the United States. To learn more, watch the video below or visit wakingthegiant.lutheranworld.org.

 

 

Please join ELCA World Hunger in welcoming Domonique Griffin to the team!

Hello! My name is Domonique Griffin, and I am the newest member of the ELCA World Hunger Domestic Hunger Strategy Team. I am originally from Buffalo, New York, where I have spent the last few years honing my research and evaluation skills. Focusing my formal urban planning training in neighborhood planning and community development afforded me the opportunity to work in both the private and public sector, supporting projects that combine research, evaluation, and community engagement to promote community development.

As a project leader at The University at Buffalo’s Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab, I worked with team members to evaluate the Local Food Systems Grant that was administered by The United Way of Buffalo & Erie County. The goal of this grant was to strengthen the food system by promoting food equity and food sovereignty in the city of Buffalo. I have witnessed how research can influence policy, strengthen organizations, and inform development strategies that foster more stable communities. ELCA World Hunger’s commitment to systemic change through the lens of the gospel is what compelled me to join the Domestic Hunger Strategy Team. I am excited that I can continue the work of increasing equity within food systems as a Program Associate for the Domestic Hunger Strategy team. I will primarily be working with Daily Bread Matching grants and comprehensive impact reporting.

 

“Peace and the end of conflicts are fundamental in the battle against hunger.” – Jose Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

For those of us old enough to remember, it is hard to imagine that nearly twenty years have passed since the World Trade Center towers graced the New York City skyline. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 brought into striking relief for Americans and neighbors the world over the vulnerability under which we live – and the threat posed by those who would exploit that vulnerability. 9/11 made clear that terrorism was a threat that could not be ignored, no matter how strong the walls or wide the oceans that might seem to offer protection from it.

In the days after, it became clear that the US and its allies would soon be at war, though few knew just how long the conflicts following 9/11 would last. As military preparations began and continued for more than a decade after, it also became clear that renewed energy for peace-building was also needed, to establish a just peace that strengthened institutions against violence and corruption, protected communities from terrorism, and fostered resilience to conflict.

Against this background, the member nations of the UN laid out the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – a framework for encouraging development toward peace and prosperity for people and the planet. SDG 16 – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions – directly addresses the need for equal access to justice and protection of rights for all people. The goal makes clear what many have already known – without justice, there is no peace.

SDG 16 doesn’t stand alone, however. The need for justice and peace is closely tied to SDG 2 – Zero Hunger. Without justice, there is no peace. And without a just peace, there will always be hunger.

Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) bear this out. After decades of decline, global hunger has been on the rise since 2014, driven by conflict within countries in the developing world. The FAO found that in 2017, 489 million of the 815 million undernourished people around the world lived in countries facing conflict, violence and/or fragility. The growth in global hunger also correlated with a growth in non-state violence, which increased 125% between 2010 and 2017.

To be fair, the FAO understands “conflict” broadly, but terrorism is not without ties to hunger and poverty, too. Studies about these ties often look in one direction, trying to see if poverty and hunger are drivers of terrorism. But more recently, the research has started to look the other way, too, identifying the ways that terrorism and other forms of violence can make people more vulnerable to hunger and poverty. In a study of northern Nigeria, for example, researchers found that Boko Haram, a terrorist organization known for its kidnapping of schoolgirls in 2014, significantly disrupted markets through a series of attacks. As one respondent put it,

“People are afraid of coming to the market, me too am afraid. This market have been attacked many times, while perishable goods left wasted each time of attack causing many traders into incurring debt (sic).”

Attacks along roads to markets have also made it harder to exchange goods between markets. Threats of violence have significantly reduced access to food and left traders, particularly farmers selling their produce, vulnerable to debt and poverty. The recent debate over funding for health care expenses for rescue workers in the US following 9/11 highlights yet another way that terrorism and violence can leave individuals and families vulnerable to financial insecurity. Getting treatment for injuries and illnesses incurred as a result of the attacks left many workers and their families saddled with medical bills and lost income still felt today, 18 years later.

Terrorism isn’t the only type of violence that can increase food insecurity. Conflicts in places like Syria and Yemen, for example, have forced people from their homes and livelihoods, leaving them especially vulnerable to hunger. Interpersonal violence, too, particularly violence against women and children, is another significant cause of hunger. Often, violence or the threat of violence is used against women to prevent them from defending their rights or pursuing their vocations, as a 2004 study in the Journal of Poverty found. This is one of the many ties between SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and another of the SDGs, SDG 5 – Gender Equality.

The ELCA, through ELCA World Hunger, is working with fellow member churches of the Lutheran World Federation toward these Sustainable Development Goals as part of the “Waking the Giant” initiative. Together, we are lifting up the ways that churches and communities around the world are addressing the complex causes and effects of hunger, violence, and injustice and encouraging one another to deepen our efforts. We know that achieving any one of the SDGs will require a holistic response that addresses the other goals. If we want to end hunger, we must work for peace. If we desire a just peace, we must work for equality.

Certainly, as the refrain goes, we can “never forget” 9/11. But we should add to this the active commitment to “be ever mindful,” particularly of the ways that violence continues to threaten communities around the world, sometimes in the starkness of violent attacks but often in the pernicious effects of fear, instability, insecurity and hunger.

The pervasiveness of sin renders the world God has created a threatening place for us and our neighbors. The tragedy of violent attacks and the tribulation of undernourishment are painful, powerful reminders of how far we yet remain from the world which God has intended and promised for us. And yet, the hope enlivened by individual acts of courage and collective movements toward resilience reminds us that in the world as it is, too, God remains present – mourning as we mourn, and ever inviting us to share in the work of reconciliation and restoration.

We lift our voices in prayer, as lamentation for those who have been lost to violence and as invocation of hope in the transformative power of God to fill our needs – for food, for safety, for community. As a church, we pray for peace. We pray for justice. We pray for an end to hunger. And we pray knowing that each of these petitions is tied together in one single, holy plea to God for a just world where all may experience well-being and security amid the goodness of God’s creation.

Or, in other words, a world where all may be fed.

 

by: Sophia Behrens

The ELCA Youth Gathering is an excellent resource for youth to explore their vocations. After attending the 2018 Gathering, I had a better understanding of how big our church was. I also realized that youth can have an empowering opinion about their faith life and how to carry that voice out through our vocations. The Gathering gave me a space to further explore my vocational call of social justice.

I’ve been involved in social justice issues since middle school, beginning with learning about women’s rights and later expanding horizons to be more involved with social justice issues relating to world hunger and diverse representation. The Gathering aided me in finding a way to better connect these issues to my faith life. During my Interactive Learning day, I was able to explore and talk with different organizations and ministries of the ELCA in the social justice space from immigration law to advocating for a better life for farmers across the globe. Along with my peers, I learned how I can get involved with these organizations. 

For me, the speakers at Mass Gathering emphasized the importance of faith communities and the support they give in relation to an individual’s vocation. We heard from strong speakers about a range of subjects, but the one that still sticks out to me over a year later is Maria Rose Belding. Maria founded and directs MEANS database, which helps distribute food across the country. Her words about the struggles of being a teenager and finding a way to fix and advocate for a unique problem inspired and reminded me of my vocation and how to find parallels with faith life and vocation instead of keeping them separate. 

While these were the areas of the Gathering that inspired me personally, there were countless other activities and speakers that could speak to other youth which is what creates the vast outreach of the Gathering.

 

Sophia Behrens is a freshman at Valparasio University. Throughout high school, Sophia was active in the ELCA Youth Core Leadership Team, her home congregation, and supporting ELCA World Hunger. Sophia was also a part of the 2021 Theme Discernment team for the ELCA Youth Gathering.