Contributed by Bob Chell, University Lutheran Center, Brookings, SD

Warm-up Question

If God is in all places, at all times, how can God stand by while bad things happen?

Unspoken Questions

In 1862 the largest mass hanging in United States history occurred in Mankato, Minnesota. Thirty- eight Dakota men of the Santee nation were executed for taking part in what has been called “Little Crow’s War.”

The Dakota people were promised much but received little in payment for the land taken from them by the U.S. government. Unscrupulous traders and dishonest agents stole food and annuity payments until hunger and hardship drove the Santee to send out a hunting party of four in mid-August. The hunting party encountered white settlers and five settlers died. Things spun out of control and, after order was restored, President Abraham Lincoln ordered the hanging of 38 Santee men.

Jim Miller had a dream. Jim is a member of the Santee Nation. In 2008 he organized what has become an annual trek on horseback from the Crow Creek reservation of South Dakota to the riverbank where the executions took place, a distance of 330 miles.  Jim’s dream was not simply to make the trek, but to bring healing and reconciliation. The ride was commemorated in the film, Dakota 38 Engaging History.

Discussion Questions

• Does God take an active role in the world?
• To what degree are greedy Indian agents from the 1850s responsible for widespread poverty on reservations today?
• Many children of divorced families struggle. Who is to blame?
• Are retribution and reconciliation compatible?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 10, 2011 (Fifth Sunday in Lent)

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Romans 8:6-11

John 11:1-45

(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

As a campus pastor, people come to me with hard questions, questions with no easy answers.  I get a call in the middle of the night asking, “If a person commits suicide, do they go to hell?” I’m pretty sure this is more than a disinterested quest for information.  So I want to know if the caller has a term paper due at 8:00 a.m. or if, perhaps, their fiancé broke off their engagement earlier in the evening.  The asked question is theological; the unspoken one is personal.  The first is about God, the second about the person’s deepest pain.

We can ponder the source of monstrously evil people and events in the world. Think Hitler and Holocaust.  We can probe for an explanation of great tragedy arising from nature. Think earthquake and tsunami.  These are theological questions.  Martha says to Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died,” and the unspoken question is, “Why weren’t you here when I needed you most?”   That question comes to our hearts and lips when death darkens our house, when our parent’s divorce, when the person we love does not return our affection. It is a profoundly personal question.  We can discuss the former questions but often only sit in silence in the face of the latter.

I hesitated writing the last of the above discussion questions, knowing that for some it is a deeply personal question.  I kept it because the gospel is deeply personal.  Jesus didn’t come to tell bad people to be good people or to explain away deep, unrelenting pain with soothing words. Jesus did proclaim God’s promises to Martha.  Jesus did raise her brother Lazarus that day but Jesus response first response on seeing the body of his friend was to weep.  Many have memorized John 11:35 because it is the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.”   I contend it is among the most profound. It reminds us that Jesus stands with us in our pain, not over us in judgment when our lives are in turmoil.

Where is Jesus when my parent’s divorce, when a young Native American girl takes her own life, when thousands die in a tsunami or at the hand of evil tyrants? Jesus is there; weeping, standing with all in their deepest pain, their sharpest grief, their greatest regret.

Discussion Questions

• Can you identify a time in your life when you felt abandoned by God? Looking back, was God with you? If so, how was God present?
• When your pain has been deep and unrelenting, which words were helpful? Hurtful?
• Can a person be close to God and far away from God at the same time?
• Is trusting God different than believing in God?

Activity Suggestion

Make a timeline of your faith history:   Draw a line horizontally in the middle of a sheet of paper and label it with significant events in your life; your birth on one end and today on the other. Write joys and sorrows as they happened; great joys high on the page and deep sorrows near the bottom.  Connect them and you’ll see how your life has ups and downs. Now place a G when your faith was greatest, an A where your faith was absent, and an O where you weren’t thinking about God at all. Connect them and you’ll see the ups and downs of your faith journey.

Share with one other person your greatest joy and your deepest sorrow. Do the ways you felt about God’s presence at those times coincide with what you believe about God’s presence at those times now that you look back?

Closing Prayer

God, you know our deep pain, our secret shames, and the unrelenting pain which threatens us to make us despair. Help us to feel your presence in our hearts and not just in our heads. Give us confidence in your promises, so that we will trust you and cling to your promises when doubt gnaws at our faith.  Amen.

Contributed by Jay Gamelin, pastor to Jacob’s Porch, a Lutheran Campus mission to The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.

Warm-up Question

What is the sickest you have ever been?  What did it take to get better?  If you are still feeling the effects of illness or injury, what are the steps you are taking to improve your health?

Hope and Modern Medicine

There is a correlation between an optimistic patient and the likelihood of improved health say researchers at Duke University.  Gathering data from several thousand patients undergoing cardiac diagnostic testing, they found that patients with a positive outlook for the coming 15 years were half as likely to die from heart disease as the most pessimistic patients.  Even after removing data from the most affected and depressed patients, a positive outlook still remained as a large factor in the continued health of the patients—for many as much as the medication they took to treat heart disease.

This research suggests that creating hopeful expectations for patients, even what may seem like unrealistic hope, can have a profound impact on the health of patients.  The study highlights the growing understanding of how a person’s health is not simply an equation to solve with medicine and surgery but also something impacted by mysterious forces that stem from emotional and spiritual well-being.

In other words, it takes more than medicine to provide the best care.

Discussion Questions

• Do you believe the study?  Do you think a positive attitude and hopeful outlook improve health?  Why or why not?  What evidence do you have of this in your own or in another’s life?
• How do you think a positive outlook affects your everyday life?
• What would change for you tomorrow if a miraculous event happened in your life?  How might you see the world differently if you had a tremendous amount of hope?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 3, 2011 (Fourth Sunday in Lent)

1 Samuel 16:1-13
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41

(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

The impossible is just that- not possible.  We are taught that there are immutable laws in the universe that define and govern the way we interact.  Following in the steps of Newton, Einstein, and Curie,  scientists are still working hard to discover the rules of the universe so that we can better understand how we interact with the world.

So what do we do when we encounter something that goes against these laws?  In today’s text we see four ways to reflect on outrageous hope.  The man born blind is confronted first by the disciples.  They assume that the man’s condition is a result of sin.  Next, after the man is healed, the neighbors assume that the healed man must not be the man born blind but someone else.  Third, when he is brought to the priests they assume that there is foul play involved and wish to focus on condemning the method by which the man is given vision.  All three of these find some fault, some way to explain the problem so that it makes sense in their understanding of the universe.  For them the man being blind then given vision is a problem not a solution.

Last is the man himself.  When asked he answers with sublime simplicity: “I do not know whether (Jesus) is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”(9:25)   The man does not try to answer why he can see, he simply states the obvious, he can see.

When we encounter the unbelievable hope we have in Jesus it is so easy to try and explain it, to make sense of it, to try and reason why Jesus is or perhaps is not who we say Jesus is.  But one thing is true.  A man was blind.  Many, many women and men witnessed this.  Jesus healed this man and he could see.  Many, many women and men witnessed this and even died defending what they saw.  Even his parents!  This is what we know: it really and truly happened.

Perhaps when we try to explain everything we just make it complicated.  Perhaps living in hope and faith is not knowing and explaining but simply stating “I do not know how.  One thing I do know: He was dead and now he is risen.”

May we have hope.

Quotables

Faith is, at one and the same time, absolutely necessary and altogether impossible–Stanislaw Lem

Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast– Lewis Carroll

Things are only impossible until they are not–Jean-Luc Picard

Discussion Questions

• What makes it difficult to believe impossible things?
• What is the difference between believing and knowing?
• What is the difference between us and the disciples?  How do we come to trust what others have seen?

Activity Suggestions

Faith Box:  Have a box in the room.  Put something that may seem improbable in the box.  Perhaps have a picture of Mount Rushmore and stick it in.  Or write 10 tons of rocks on a sheet of paper.  Tell the youth that Mount Rushmore or 10 tons of rocks is in the box.

• Do they believe you or not?  If they do, why?  If not, why not?
• What is one thing you believe but have no proof?  (Life in outer space perhaps?  Or the Loch Ness Monster, Sasquatch, whatever)  What causes you to believe this?
• What we believe is often determined by the trust we put in the person making an impossible claim.  Who told you about this impossible thing?  Do the students trust this teacher?  Why or why not?
• The thing in the box: do the students believe what you put in there?  Do they trust your witness?
• What does this say about whether or not we trust the disciples?  What do we trust about the teachings we have learned?  What makes it hard to trust?

(DON’T SHOW THEM WHAT WAS IN THERE.  MAKE THEM LEAVE WITHOUT GETTING THE PROOF THEY DESIRE)

Closing Prayer

Jesus, you really died.  You really rose.  Help us to trust those who have told us this impossible thing.  Amen

Contributed by Brian Hiortdahl, Resurrection Lutheran Church, Chicago, IL

Warm-up Question

What are you looking forward to?

Wedding Hopes

Much of the world buzzes in anticipation of the upcoming wedding of Great Britain’s Prince William to Kate Middleton.  The Internet and international media are saturated with reports, rumors, photographs, debating blogs and detailed background about royal wedding protocol, precedent and etiquette.  What’s the big deal?

An article from the Associated Press  suggests that there is a lot of hope riding on this upcoming marriage.  The royal family and the nation of England hope in varying degrees for a restoration of royal reputation and economic recovery, for new honor and a new heir to the throne, for the glories of the past to be projected forward into a better future.  There is great pressure on Kate and William to make not only their elaborate wedding day but also their marriage a success.  Their personal relationship bears an enormous weight of many political and cultural implications.

Discussion Questions

• How much does this upcoming royal wedding interest you?  Why do you feel about it the way you do?
• What do you think should be the couple’s first priority in their first year of marriage?
• What aspects of Prince William and Kate’s relationship are fair game for public knowledge, and what should be private?  Why?
• In what ways might any one couple’s marriage effect other people?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 27, 2011 (Third Sunday in Lent)

Exodus 17:1-7

Romans 5:1-11

John 4:5-42

(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

Some Bible scholars have identified the pattern of a prenuptial story in Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well.  Several important men in Israel’s history, including  Jacob and Moses, met their wives at a well.  The story of Rebekah (read Genesis 24), who married Jacob’s father Isaac, is so strikingly similar to the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman that it appears that the 4th chapter of John is at least partly patterned on the 24th chapter of Genesis.

If this is true, the British press would have quite a field day with the woman Jesus has “engaged” in conversation!  She admits to living with a man who is not her husband after five previous husbands.  She comes to the well at noon, during the heat of the day, which may mean either that she has too many mouths to provide for or that she seeks to avoid the other women in the village who come early or late, at cooler times.  She is also intelligent–and presumptuous for a woman in a patriarchal society where women ought not be seen speaking with men in public–and she has no problem expressing an opinion.  John’s story brims with questionable details that would be more than enough to titillate the tabloids and to make a respectable Jewish man–especially a rabbi–steer clear of this particular woman.

The most scandalous detail, however, is that she is a Samaritan.  Samaritans were loathed and avoided by Jews because they were considered unclean, impure, even traitorous.  They were the racially mixed descendants of Jewish parents who disobeyed God’s commands by marrying foreigners.  Many Jews wouldn’t even travel through Samaria in righteous protest.  That Jesus speaks so freely with her, as if they were social equals, is shocking.  That he speaks with her at a well really turns heads.

It would be easy (too easy) for us to speculate here about whether Jesus had romantic intentions, but that would be unfair to our storyteller, John, who has already written a story about a wedding without even mentioning the bride!  (John 2:1-11).  John always writes with multiple deeper meanings in mind.  This encounter at the well is really about the greater romance between God and God’s people, and about Jesus (elsewhere identified in Christian tradition as “the Bridegroom”) as the one in whom God makes an unbreakable, faithful commitment to humanity.  This union of love will be both humanly tested and divinely consummated at the cross, where Jesus “will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32-33).

The Samaritan woman both illustrates and discusses with Jesus the extent of his loving, life-giving reach.  Her layered unrighteousness (as a Samaritan and an impertinent woman) is dramatic backdrop for a conversation in which she shines as thoughtful, witty, and well-versed in religious history and theological discourse.  Jesus tells her that “the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem … true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”  Because of Jesus, human access to God will no longer be limited to external factors such as place, time, history, nationality or circumstance; the well is no longer necessary because living water will gush from within us, and our chronic human problem of thirst (not just for water, but for true life) will be solved by this one who will die thirsting on the cross.

On this encounter at Jacob’s well hangs the hope that Samaritans, women, sinners, and all people, especially those pushed to the fringes of the human story, will be restored to their rightful glory and united with God in love forever.  There’s a lot of hope riding on this wedding story!

Discussion Questions

• Compare Genesis 24 and John 4.  What similarities and differences do you see?  How do you account for the differences?
• Where do you go to encounter God?  Where has God shown up and surprised you?
• Whom is Jesus approaching today?  Who has been unfairly judged, rejected and marginalized by present-day religious or cultural authorities?
• What are the public implications of God’s love for us in Jesus?  How does our union with God in Christ offer hope to the world?

Activity Suggestions

• Interview a long-married couple in your congregation or community.  Where do they see God’s hand at work in their relationship?  What are the secrets to their successful marriage?  How does their love for each other spill over their little bucket to bless the wider world?
• Join and support the Lutheran ONE campaign  or another organization which works to dig wells and bring water and tangible hope to the poor and vulnerable, especially in Africa.

Closing Prayer

Loving God, our living water,  find us, fill us to overflowing with your life, and spill out of us as blessing and hope for the world that you so loved that you gave your only Son, Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen

Contributed by Jen Krausz, Bethlehem, PA

Warm-up Question

Have you ever passed out party invitations at school? What was the reaction?

Conflict at the Corner of Church and State

The Alliance Defense Fund, an organization devoted to promoting religious liberty, has filed a lawsuit against Pocono Mountain School district in Pennsylvania for discriminating against a fifth grade student.

The elementary school girl was told by the district superintendent that she could not hand out invitations for her church’s Christmas party at school, even though school policy permits students to hand out flyers and invitations for non-religious parties and other events.

The suit contends that the school district’s policies prohibit student speech simply because it is religious. According to the suit, the school district permitted other students to distribute fliers for Halloween parties, Valentine’s dances, bowling clubs and sports leagues. The suit states that what the girl, a student at Barrett Elementary Center in Cresco, wanted to hand out was an invitation to a Christmas party at her church that featured face painting, snacks, ping-pong, foosball, and “cup-stacking,”

David Cortman, a  lawyer for the ADF, commented, “It’s another example where schools need to be educated about the first amendment. The policies that are at the heart of this lawsuit are unconstitutional…In this case, because it was [affiliated with a church], it was denied.”
Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/school-districts-ban-on-5th-grader-s-christmas-party-invitation-lands-in-federal-court-1.1115720#ixzz1G75IMAEn

Discussion Questions

• What does “separation of church and state” mean to you? Do you agree that schools should ban religious “speech”? Why or why not?
• Why do you think a school might not want students to “promote Christianity” in school?
• Do you think that inviting friends to a church event is promoting Christianity?
• If you were judging this lawsuit, how would you rule? Was this student discriminated against because of her religion?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 20 (Second Sunday of Lent)

Genesis 12:1-4a

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

John 3:1-17

(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

The term “born again” is almost a cliché in today’s society. People who call themselves “born again Christians” are often ridiculed and looked at as simplistic or overly zealous about their faith. Abortion clinic bombers and military funeral protesters sometimes call themselves “born again Christians,” which does not help anyone understand what that term really means.

In these verses, Jesus explains to Nicodemus that everyone who wants to see God’s kingdom has to be born again. The word “again” can also be translated “from above.” This is a spiritual birth, the beginning of a relationship with God through Christ that is meant to develop throughout our lives. It’s not some kind of one-time decision for Christ, after which we can elevate ourselves above all the “non-believers.” Like every label, it’s been twisted, sometimes by the media and sometimes by those who call themselves “born again.”

These verses also contain probably the most familiar Bible verse of all Christianity, John 3:16. This is the gospel message in about 20 words (depending on the version you read). God loved us even though not one of us was worthy of it, and Jesus was sent by God to make things right between us and God, if we will accept the free gift of forgiveness.

Discussion Questions

• What is your perception of the term “born again”? Did reading these verses help you gain a different understanding of this term? Do you consider yourself “born again”?
• Are you confident that you have “everlasting life” through faith in Jesus? If so, what makes you confident? If not, what needs to happen for you to have that confidence?
• Do you think the media unfairly labels “born again Christians” (such as only portraying them as abortion clinic bombers or military funeral protesters)?  If you could have a meeting with reporters and editors, what would you say to them?
• If you could meet with the superintendent of the Pocono Mountain School District, what would you say?

Activity Suggestions

Create a skit where a meeting such as those described in the above discussion questions takes place. Try to create as convincing a conversation as possible, one that respects the complexity of the issues and involves speaking the truth in love rather than engaging in angry confrontation.  (This could involve many different speakers, rather than simply a one-on-one conversation). If permissible, perform the skit at one of your church services or for the entire youth group during a gathering.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, we know that you did not spread your message with anger and condemnation. Help us to reflect your bold yet gentle spirit and to communicate the gospel message in a world that doesn’t always welcome it. In your holy name, amen.

Contributed by Jack Saarela, Lutheran Campus Ministry, Yale University

Warm-up Question

Look at the picture below.  What would you substitute for “especially bookstores”?

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

In seeking a thought-provoking picture about temptation to kick off this devotion, I noted that they were almost all one of two general types: (a) photos of women being tempted by food, especially chocolate; and (b) seductive, revealing photos of young, buxom female beauties, presumably representing the most common and compelling temptation for men.

But there are temptations other than overindulging in rich food or engaging in illicit, casual, uncommitted sex. I should wear a shirt like the one in this photo. No matter how many unread books are already on my shelf, no matter the state of our family budget, lure me into a bookstore, and you can be sure I won’t walk out without at least one more book to add to my library.  It’s not exactly “shop ‘til you drop”, but more like, “There’s always room for one more on my shelf”, and “I’ll read it later.”

Discussion Questions

• We pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” What do you think of when you hear that phrase?
• What are the temptations that follow you around like your shadow which you can only acknowledge to yourself?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 13, 201 (First Sunday in Lent)

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

Romans 5:12-19

Matthew 4:1-11

(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

Matthew tells us that “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Don’t you think that rather strange? The same Spirit that descended and alighted on him in his baptism just a few verses earlier, now seemingly leading Jesus into temptation? What happened to “Lead us not into temptation”?

It’s interesting that the Greek word used by Matthew can mean either “temptation” or “test”. One commentator remarks, “Apparently, Satan tempts, but God tests.”

About what is Jesus being tested by God? God’s voice had been heard at Jesus’ baptism saying, “This is My Son, the Beloved . . .” In announcing Jesus’ birth, the angel had quoted the prophet who said the name of the young woman would be “Emmanuel, which means God with us.” So, how ready is Jesus to be God’s Beloved, to take on the mission given to him of being the very presence of God in the world? What means would he use to fulfill that mission?

Satan prefaced each temptation with, “If you are the Son of God . . .” How much would Jesus really trust the voice from heaven that proclaimed him the Son? Would he base his life on his God-given identity as the Beloved, or would he try to forge his own identity as a wonder-worker or oriental despot?

Matthew doesn’t describe the struggle that Jesus surely must have experienced in hearing Satan’s temptations. Is something really a temptation if it isn’t somehow within our grasp for the taking, and if it doesn’t involve a sacrifice to deny it?

But in the end, Jesus turned Satan down. He would live out his identity as the Beloved and fulfill his mission, not by pulling out the “God card” as Satan counseled. Instead, he would do the opposite. To be God with us, he had to become human before God, just like us. Paul writes to the Philippians that “though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God a something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in human likeness.” He wasn’t going to jump from the parapet of the temple, because flesh and blood doesn’t survive such a jump.

Don’t you find hope in Jesus’ victory over temptation and his passing God’s test? Son of God though he was, Jesus was no different in this respect from you and me. Temptation was as strong, as real, for him as for anyone of us. And being in human form, his power to resist was no greater than ours. Temptation strips all, including even Jesus, of any power of our own to save ourselves. Why else would Jesus teach us to pray for God to deliver us from evil?

Jesus relied on his God-given identity as the Beloved, and on all of God’s promises in Scripture, to pass the test and resist Satan’s tempting offers. All alone out there in the wilderness with Satan, that’s all Jesus had to rely on.

When we face our own temptations, whatever they are, that’s all we have to rely on too. But it will be enough.

Discussion Questions

• High school students interviewed in an episode of Real Faith TV list drinking, drugs, sex before you’re ready, and cheating on test as the Big Four temptations in their lives, and the lives of their peers (http://realfaithtv.com/realfaithtv/09-10_episodes.html) Do you agree?
• Do you think there’s always something deeper going on when we are tempted? That is, some dissatisfaction with out lives as they are that makes us particularly vulnerable to temptation?
• Not many of us consider ourselves “rich”. But by the standards of our world, most of us are quite comfortable. I would argue that the greatest temptation for us in our society is to rely on our affluence for our security. See I Timothy 6:6-10.  What do you think?

Activity Suggestions

Watch the “Marshmallow Test” and have a good laugh! See yourself in it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMkn4J_l9uU

Participants might also discuss whether they would eat or wait–and why.

Closing Prayer

Loving God, in the desert you called our Lord to the way of trust and service, rather than of presumption and power.  You  promised Him your sustaining presence.  Strengthen us in all our temptations, preserving us most of all from despair.  You, who know our weakness, forgive our failings and renew us daily, that our lives may be signs of your care for all creation.  We make our prayer in the name of Him who has walked the way of temptation before us, Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.