Contributed by Paul Henrickson, Salem, VA

Warm-up Questions

What if Jesus prayed for you?

• Would it be the same as the prayer in John 17 which he prayed for his disciples?
• Would he pray that you would be “sanctified?”
• Would Jesus pray for your PROTECTION or for your PURIFICATION or both?

Caps and Frowns

Begin by reading following online articles about job prospects for new graduates.  Note the chart “Caps and Frowns:  Job prospects for the class of 2012.”

http://www.decisionsonevidence.com/2012/02/limited-job-prospects-and-earnings-for-high-school-diploma-only-workers/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304020104577384410323391198.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

Whether you’re in high school or college, the employment outlook is not encouraging.  This raises some important questions for people of faith.

• Would God really call us to be unemployed?
• Do we need a broader understanding of “calling?”
• How do faithful people respond to the “new economic reality?”
• What is our true “vocation?”

Discussion Questions

• What do you envision as your future?
• What is your dream?
• What are you planning to do after graduation from High School/College?
• What is your calling?
• Are you looking for security or meaning?
• Do you want to be Protected or Purified?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 20, 2012 (Seventh Sunday of Easter)

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

1 John 5:9-13

John 17:6-19

(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

This is part of the “Priestly Prayer” of Jesus in the 17^th Chapter of John.  These four verses seem to sum up the core of the prayer of Jesus for his disciples – for Jesus’ disciples today:

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.^*  They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth

There are three points worth noting:

We are IN the world, not OF the world.

• We have been claimed by Christ to be those redeemed.
• We are no longer under Satan’s rule (this world), but God’s rule.

We are protected.

• “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
•  The power of evil gets too little attention from today’s Christian.
• From Luther’s Large Catechism: “If you could see how many daggers, spears, and  arrows are at every moment aimed at you, you would be glad to come to  the sacrament as often as possible.”

We are being “made holy.”

• We have been “sanctified – made holy”  from Late Latin sanctificāre, from Latin sanctus holy + facere to make

Discussion Questions

•  How would you live your life today if you really believed that God was doing His work on you to “make you holy?”
• What does it mean for you to be IN the world not OF the world?

Activity Suggestions

•  Write a prayer that Jesus might pray for you.
• Imagine a day in your life where your sanctification was a 24 hour activity.
• Read the newspaper and find places where sanctification is required.

Closing Prayer

There is no better prayer for protection and sanctification than Psalm 141.  In your group, slowly read the psalm together as a prayer, perhaps pausing briefly after each verse.  As you read, think of those who are in particular need of God’s care, and pray for them.

Contributed by Seth Moland-Kovash, Palatine, IL

Warm-up Question

Do you have someone whom you consider a close friend?

Who is Your Friend

A recent article in the May issue of The Atlantic cites research saying that, despite social media networks that keep us more connected to one another than ever before, we are really lonelier than ever. More important, this loneliness has real effects on our mental and physical health. The article is entitled “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” It cites a recent study that says up to 20% of Americans are unhappy with their lives because of loneliness.

Interestingly, the article also cites a German study about the effect of belief in God on loneliness. “Active believers who saw God as abstract and helpful rather than as a wrathful, immediate presence were less lonely.” While Lutherans might argue about the abstract part of this sentence, the core of Lutheran belief is that God is helpful (merciful) rather than wrathful.

Being physically alone and feeling lonely are not the same thing. And every person has their own priorities and needs related to alone time and personal connection. But each one of us does have a need to have connection. It seems that those connections are becoming harder and harder to make in our world.

 Discussion Questions

• What does it mean to be lonely? How would you define loneliness?
• What are the ideal traits that would make someone a close friend? Is it about trust, shared interests, personality traits?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 13, 2012 (Sixth Sunday of Easter)

Acts 10:44-48

1 John 5:1-6

John 15:9-17

(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

Jesus says that his disciples are friends. While he was speaking historically to a few select people a couple thousand years ago, we believe that he is also speaking to us. “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.”

Jesus calls us friends based on some shared understanding of what God is doing in the world. Because we know that God is in the world saving lives and restoring all of creation to wholeness, we are Jesus’ friends. That’s a very privileged position. It raises our status and our sense of what it means to be the church. We aren’t just a group of followers; we aren’t just a group of people who believe some things… we are Jesus’ friends.

Discussion Questions

• Read the words to the hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” Evangelical Lutheran Worship #742. What are the good things about having Jesus as a friend? Do you feel you have those things in your life?
• When Jesus calls us friends, does that come with obligations in addition to benefits? What might some of those obligations be?

Activity Suggestions

• One aspect of loneliness is the feeling of being bullied and marginalized. Create an anti-bullying pledge for your group and your lives. Publicize it within your church or school or community.
• Visit members of your church or community in the nursing home. Play a game with them, or talk about memories. Show them that you are their friend.

Closing Prayer

Good and gracious God, we thank you for sending Jesus to be our friend. Help us to feel that community and to live into the community that Jesus has created.  Amen.

Contributed by David Delaney, Salem, VA

Warm-up Questions

•  What is your favorite place to just sit and relax?  Think about a place where, once you get there, you are so comfortable that you just do not want to get up.  Is it the couch in front of your TV?  Or the inflatable float you lie on at the neighborhood pool in summer?  Or a chair that could be anywhere, but because it’s at your best friend’s house, it’s your favorite spot in the world?  Or the rock ledge on the hiking trail that overlooks the neighboring valley?  Or the bed in your own room?
• What if the answer to the question had to be a person you love to be with rather than a place you like to be?  Some people are at their most relaxed when they’re alone, but for others there are best friends who put them at ease and in whose presence they can be most completely themselves, wherever they are.
• Another way of asking the same question:  To whom do you go to be renewed in energy, or to obtain trusted and wise advice, or to share very private secrets?

All of the feelings associated with such places and people contribute to the idea of what it means to “abide” in the sense that Jesus means it in John 15.

Grapes and Vines

In early 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that California’s 2011 grape harvest was down more than 7% overall and as much as 17% in some key places like Sonoma Valley.  That may not mean much until we realize that this represents between 250,000 and 500,000 tons of grapes – not pounds, tons.  The reasons growers gave for the decreased yield were, as we might guess, things over which they had no control, primarily weather.  There were a series of unexpected freezes in the early spring and an unusual amount of rain in late spring that weighed vines down and knocked the blooms off of their vines.  That was followed by a cool summer and then more heavy rain during the harvest months of October and November, which caused entire fields of grapes to rot before they could be picked.

One has to wonder just how delicate grape branches, blossoms, and fruits are if simple changes in weather can have such a dramatic effect on whether the fruit actually gets produced or not.  Apparently they’re very delicate!

Did Jesus have this in mind when he compared us to grapevine branches?  Are we really that susceptible to being robbed of abundant life because of the changing conditions around us, things over which we have no control?  That is undoubtedly a part of the story:  For many of us, faith thrives when we are living and working in ideal conditions – a loving and gracious family, like-minded friends in school and in the church’s youth group, sturdy and lively worship with a generous dose of solid preaching, fulfilling opportunities to serve, and support during times of crisis.  Who wouldn’t thrive in such an environment?  And yet, if those factors change, are we destined to decline in our spiritual health?  Can we still bear good fruit?

There’s another side to the image of the vine and the branches.  Not all of California’s grape crop was negatively affected by the 2011 weather patterns.  Some growers of heartier varieties of grapes reported that the fruit was actually some of the best they’ve ever had!  Evidently the variety and quality of the vine make a huge difference.  There is an important lesson.  In California, some grape branches attached to more vulnerable types of vines lost their fruit-bearing capabilities and in some cases died altogether.  But those attached to more resilient varieties of vines not only survived the weather but bore better fruit than expected.

We are not like grape branches in one important sense: we can self-detach from a vine and latch on to something else that we suspect might provide a better home.  This is the reason Jesus could give the unusual instruction to his disciples to remain attached to him like a branch is connected to a vine.  He wanted to make sure we understood how vulnerable we can be to the changes and challenges going on around us.  So there is a difference between just attaching to any vine that may be out there promising to sustain us through rough weather and staying attached to Jesus, who is not just any vine, but the sturdiest and heartiest of all vines, the true life-giver.

Discussion Questions

• What does it mean to “bear fruit”?  What kind of fruit are we, the branches of the vine, expected to bear?
• Outside of this section, the word “fruit” only occurs twice in the Gospel of John, but students of scripture over the centuries have often connected this passage with one from another New Testament writer, Paul, who speaks of “the fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-23.  What do we learn from that passage that helps us understand the experience that Jesus intends for us?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 6, 2012 (Fifth Sunday of Easter)

 Acts 8:26-40

1 John 4:7-21

John 15:1-8

(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

Whenever we come across passages of scripture that set up scenarios of success and failure in the life of faith, we always run the risk of turning the good news of God’s saving love for us back into a law that discourages and depresses us or a system that supposedly lays out a formula for making God happy and assuring our salvation.  In this passage that tendency is enhanced by the starkness with which the consequences of failing to abide are described:  “He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit … Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers;  such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

It sounds rather judgmental and threatening.  If we are of a fearful conscience, this verse can leave us in terror that we will do it wrong and end up discarded.  If on the other hand we trust in our own righteousness, the task of abiding just becomes one more goal that we check off our list of things we do to make God like us.  In fact, however, this passage allows neither of those conclusions.

To abide means to remain connected to Jesus over time.  It is being in relationship with him.  It is not a matter of doing it right or wrong, but just being aware of how dearly he, the vine, is holding onto us, the branches.  Furthermore, we must remember that the life that is promised does not flow from branches to the vine, but the other way – from the vine (Jesus) to the branches (us).  All of these words about abiding in the vine do not describe a hoop we must jump through or a spiritual state for which we must strive, but a reality that is already true as he declares it – “you have already been cleansed (or pruned) by the word that I have spoken to you.”  Perhaps we need to hang on to our list of synonyms for “abide” that was suggested above – “relax with me,” “dwell with me,” “remain with me,”  “be still with me” – as a way of hearing the good news in this passage.

Discussion Questions

•  Try to think of some words that could mean the same thing as “abide.”  Some possibilities:  remain, stay, live, relax, dwell, connect, rely on, stay close to, and others.  So how does one “abide” in the Christ the vine?  What faith practices do you engage in that help keep that relationship alive and flowing?
• What does Jesus mean by verse 7? – “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”  That sounds like a pretty outlandish promise, given that I could wish for all kinds of crazy things.  But this is the second time he has said it (see 14:13-14)!  How does this work then?  Can it be that if we are abiding in Jesus, our lives and words, including our very wishes and desires, are so completely transformed by him that we can indeed ask for whatever we wish because our wishes will at that point be so aligned with his own?
• In chapters 13 and 14, the disciples interrupt Jesus quite a bit with their questions.  What question would you ask Jesus if you could interrupt him in the middle of this chapter?
• This instruction of Jesus to his disciples comes in the very middle of a much longer conversation during The Last Supper that runs all the way from chapter 13 through chapter 17, covers a huge number of topics and even includes a lengthy prayer.  If you skim through those five chapters (and it helps if you have a Bible with paragraph titles!), what sorts of themes do you see?  What kinds of things are repeated several times?  How do they relate to each other?
• John 15:1 is part of a set of “I am” sayings in the gospel – 6:35;  8:12;  10:9;  10:11;  11:25;  14:6;  and 15:1.  Each one says something different about who Jesus is and they culminate in one more instance of “I am” later in the gospel, 18:5.  As you look at each of these passages and the titles that Jesus gives himself, which of them strikes you as the most important for your life of faith?  What dimension of Jesus’ connection to his followers resonates the most with your life right now?

Activity Suggestions

•  Locate a piece of dried grape vine and, depending on the size, start adding names of people in your congregation or youth group, either to the leaves if they are still attached, or even on pieces of paper.  Then put the vine somewhere where it can serve as a reminder of your constant connection to Christ and your common connection to others.
• In response to verse 7, use index cards to write things down that someone abiding in the vine of Christ might ask of him.  If it’s true that someone who is so connected to Jesus will find their desires for themselves and the world closely aligned with Jesus’ desires for them and the world, what would those things be?  Use these cards as the content of your closing prayer for your study session.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your life giving and life sustaining call to abide in you.  Even as you reassure us day by day that our connection to you remains strong through your grace, feed us also on the life you give so that we may indeed bear good fruit in this world and so become your disciples.  In your holy name we pray, Amen.

Contributed by Aaron Matson, location Toronto, SD

Warm-up Questions

What do you know about sheep and shepherds? What images and thoughts come to mind when you hear those words?

Feeling a Little Sheepish

The images of God (and Jesus) as a good shepherd and God’s people as sheep are fairly common in the Bible. Because sheep and shepherds were so common in the ancient world, this imagery painted a vivid picture of God’s relationship with God’s people to the early audiences of the Bible.

Because sheep and shepherds aren’t a large part of our culture, we can have a hard time understanding what it means to say we are sheep and that Jesus is our good shepherd. Maybe the only image of sheep you have is of cute, fluffy creatures which you count when you can’t sleep. Maybe you think shepherding would be a nice, peaceful life, watching cute creatures do cute things.

The thing is, sheep are smelly, stubborn animals and shepherding is a dirty, hard job.  Sheep are herd animals, and unquestioningly follow the herd where it goes. They are easily influenced, and “led astray” by a dominant member of the herd. They hate being sheared, even though it’s necessary for their own health. Shepherding means shearing the sheep, even though they hate it.  If their wool gets too heavy, they fall over, can not get back up, and eventually die.  Left unguarded they are easy prey for predators.  Sheep require constant attention and care–or they wander off, get into food that is bad for them, and fall victim to wolves or coyotes.

Discussion Questions

• How do you feel about being called a sheep now?
• What does it mean to be called a sheep?
• What does it mean to call Jesus a shepherd?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 29, 2012 (Fourth Sunday of Easter)

 Acts 4:5-12

1 John 3:16-24

John 10:11-18

(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

After learning about sheep, we might not like being called sheep very much. But we can be like sheep sometimes, can’t we? We can be pretty stubborn. We can follow along with the rest of the “herd” without question, whether or not the herd is going the right way. We often resist doing the things that are good for us if they seem unpleasant. Without people who care for us, we may fall into doing things that are bad for us and fall victim to predators who take advantage of us. We are too much like sheep for comfort.

The good news is that we have a Good Shepherd in Jesus Christ to watch over us and protect us. Jesus loved us, his sheep, so much that he gave up his life for us on the cross, and then rose again to conquer death for us once and for all.  

And we, who have been made the Good Shepherd’s sheep, recognize our shepherd’s voice. There is a lot of static and noise in the world. There are a lot of distractions, worries, and troubles, and a lot of other voices which shout at us to gain our attention and loyalty. There are a lot of things in the world which try to be our shepherd. But we have the promise from Jesus that through all of the noise we will know his voice. Not because we are smart enough, pure enough, or good enough to tell which voice is his, but because Jesus is our shepherd.

In those times when you are lost (and I’m sorry to say, there will be times in your life, when no matter how much love and support you are surrounded by, you will be truly lost), remember that you are the sheep of a Good Shepherd. We are the sheep of a shepherd who loves us, no matter how stubborn or smelly we are, or how lost we are.   Our shepherd isl always  with us, calling to us, offering us peace, forgiveness, and new life. Nothing–not heights nor depths, not despair or heartbreak, not angels or demons, not even death itself—can separate you from the love of your Good Shepherd.

Discussion Questions

•  What are some of those voices that compete for our attention and want us to follow them instead of Jesus?
•  How can we help each other listen for our Shepherd’s voice?

Activity Suggestions

• See how many references you can find in the Bible to God or Jesus as a “shepherd” and the people as “sheep.”
• Look at your congregation’s hymnals and see how many hymns talk about us as “sheep” and God or Jesus as a “shepherd.” If possible, sing one of them.
• Invite someone who raises sheep to come and speak to your group about what it’s like to raise sheep. If a member of your group has experience raising sheep, have them talk about it. If you can’t find someone who raises sheep, it might also work to invite someone who raises other kinds of livestock to talk about how much time and effort it takes.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Good Shepherd. Continue to guide us so that we might not go astray, and watch over us and protect us from all harm and evil. Help us to show your love and care to others, that all may know you as their Good Shepherd. Amen.

Contributed by John Wertz, Blacksburg, VA

Warm-up Question

Can you think of something that you would describe as a miracle?

 It’s a Miracle!

On Good Friday, a Navy fighter jet lifted off from a base in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  The jet suffered a severe mechanical.  The pilots tried to return to the base, but it quickly became apparent that they were in trouble.  After a short flight, the jet crashed into an apartment complex and destroyed over 40 units.  Amazingly, no one was killed.

According to witnesses and experts, several factors combined to prevent a larger tragedy.  The pilots managed to dump fuel which helped prevent a larger fire.  They waited until the last possible moment to eject from the plane so they could try and guide the plane as long as possible.  The plane hit an empty courtyard and because the accident occurred in the middle of the day, most people were not home at the time of the crash.  After the accident, people on the ground were able to pull the pilots away from the flames to prevent them from suffering further injury.  A total of seven people were hurt, but all of them were out of the hospital within two days.

The response from leaders in the area was clear.  According to the Associate Press article “Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms took to Twitter on Saturday to celebrate the fact no lives were lost, calling it a “Good Friday miracle.” Adm. John C. Harvey, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces, said he was “quite surprised, to be honest”, that no one had died, calling it an “amazing miracle.”  Gov. Bob McDonnell told The Virginian-Pilot newspaper that the lack of loss of human life was “an act of divine providence.”

Discussion Questions

• The leaders in the area clearly viewed the fact that no one was killed as a miracle.  Do you agree?  Why or why not?
• How would you define a miracle?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 22, 2012 (Third Sunday of Easter)

 Acts 3:12-19

1 John 3:1-7

Luke 24:36b-48

(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

Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women returned and announced the good news.  The tomb was empty.  Jesus had risen from the dead.  Peter ran to see the empty tomb for himself, but he didn’t see the angels or risen Lord.  The disciples on the road to Emmaus returned and shared their encounter with Jesus, but hearing about something miraculous is not the same as experiencing it yourself.  So when Jesus appeared to the disciples, it should be no surprise that the disciples were startled and terrified—or that they initially believed that Jesus is a ghost.

The disciples are trying to make sense of this miraculous event.  Trying to understand how the horrible death they witnessed on Friday night could be overcome.  Trying to understand how God could accomplish something so miraculous.  Encountering Jesus’ ghost would be a little easier to believe, but after touching and seeing his wounds and sharing a meal with him, the disciples are convinced that Jesus has risen from the dead.  It’s a miracle!  Christ’s presence moves them from fear to acceptance, from confusion to clarity.

Miracles, by definition, are occurrences that defy a rational explanation, but for the disciples, the miracle of the Resurrection offered clarity and brought understanding.  Jesus’ resurrection makes it clear that God’s power is greater than the power of death.  Jesus’ resurrection makes it clear that God, through Jesus, is on a mission to love, bless and forgive the whole world.  Jesus’ resurrection makes it clear that as “witnesses of these things”(Lk 24:48), the disciples are called to go and share this miraculous good news with the world.

In this Easter season, we, like the disciples, hear the amazing, miraculous news of the Resurrection.  Like them, we may have moments of doubt and uncertainty.  This truly is an amazing story and although you and I may not be able to touch Jesus’ wounds or watch him eat a piece of fish in person, we can still encounter the risen Jesus today.  We encounter Jesus through the story of what God has done and is doing for God’s people.  We encounter Jesus as we experience God’s presence through the bread and wine of communion and as we are surrounded by the community of God’s people.  We encounter Jesus as we hear God’s Word through the story of the scriptures.  As we, like the disciples, encounter Jesus we can believe the miracle of the tomb empty, receive forgiveness of sin, and rejoice in the hope that thanks to the resurrection we have the promise of eternal life with God.

Discussion Questions

•  How do you think you would have reacted if you had been in the room with the disciples?
• What is the first question you would have asked Jesus?  How do you think he would have responded?
• How can you be a witness to the resurrection in the world today?

Activity Suggestions

Jesus calls us to be witnesses to the good news of the resurrection.  Try one of the following activities this week or develop one that fits your particular community.

• Create favorite scripture passage posters and place them around the church.
• Look in the “Contact” list in your phone and text one person who doesn’t have a church home to invite them to worship or a church event
• Write a handwritten note to someone in the congregation or community who is not able to come to worship
• Give time to a service project as a way of sharing God’s love.

Closing Prayer

Loving God, we give you thanks for the empty tomb and the risen Jesus.  Fill us with the joy of your love, help us to know your presence in our lives, and inspire us to be your witnesses, sharing the story of the resurrection and your unbreakable love with those around us.  Amen.