Contributed by Angie Larson
Clive, IA

Warm-up Question: What would you do if you were to do something different with your life?

In 1990 the Cloete family decided to dramatically change their lives. Marion and Con were successful business professionals in a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. They owned a five bedroom home, swimming pool, and had many wealthy friends. After intense fighting in their country, many black children were left as orphans. Marion and Con decided to open their home to 30 children left without parents, much to the dismay of their affluent neighbors during apartheid in South Africa. They helped the children get to and from three schools until their home became a school where Marion served as the teacher.

The Cloetes were bombarded with requests for help from single mothers and other orphans as word spread of their kindness. They found themselves in personal conflict between their sense of moral responsibility and their disapproving neighbors.

In December, the Cloete family, Marion, Con, and their three daughters, Leigh, Nicole, and Shanna, decided to walk away from their affluent life and opened a community called Botshabelo, which translated means ‘place of refuge.’ They spent their life savings to buy a hundred acre farm to build a place for orphans to live and receive education. It is now home to over 1,000 people who have sought refuge and education in Botshabelo.

A documentary named, “Angels in the Dust,” was made about the Cloete family in 2007. “We face challenges, not problems, we are the custodians of this planet,” says Con Cloete. They had what many dream of having in their life in Johannesburg, but have found so much more in the care of children without parents.

Discussion Questions

• What is your initial reaction to the Cloete’s change in lifestyle?
• Do you think this kind of thing could happen in America? Why or why not?
• If you were going to give up your life for another group of people, who would you make the sacrifice for? Who do you feel particularly concerned for?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 8, 2009.
(Text links are to oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings.)

• Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
• Psalm 22:23-31 (27)
• Romans 4:13-25
• Mark 8:31-38

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

Gospel Reflection

In the gospel, Jesus tells of his own upcoming betrayal and death. Then he asks us a profound question, “for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” We work so hard to gain the whole world. We strive to be competitive, bump up our credentials and resumes; we work to get better clothes, better electronics, better jobs, more affluence. And for what? What do we gain? We are bombarded with over 3,000 advertising messages a day telling us that we need more of ‘the world’ — more stuff and prestige. The Cloete family was pressured by their neighbors not to reach out to those in need because of “how it looked.”

Jesus asks us a hard question. He wants us to look at what we are striving after; what are we are trying to gain. Are we trying to gain popularity, wealth, approval, or power? He reminds us that he has a better way. It is better for us to lose our life that we have planned out and to trust him in a radical and awesome way that suggests a very different kind of life.

Jesus can do great things with our lives if we let him take control. Try to look for Godly things, not human things, and let go of what’s preventing us from listening to Jesus in our lives. Let go of what keeps us from listening to people in need and responding with the love that God has demonstrated with us through Jesus.

Discussion Questions

• What human thing, emotion, or quality are you seeking after? What do you secretly desire or envy?
• How hard is it for you to “give it to God”; to trust God and follow? Does it depend on the situation? How?
• What can you do to proclaim Christ’s message to help the marginalized and needy in your community? In the world?

Activity Suggestion

• Play the Toby Mac song “Lose My Soul” and print off lyrics for youth. Discuss the songs lyrics and how they are taken from the gospel text.
• Learn more about Botshabelo on their Web site, www.botshabelo.org
• Watch the documentary “Angels in the Dust” about the Cloete’s life-changing project.
• Talk about the possibilities for during a year of service sometime after high school. Check out some of the ELCA volunteer opportunities for young adults.

Closing Prayer

Blessed Savior, help us to identify the ways in which we are seeking the world’s ways and not yours. Guide us in the ways you would want us to live our lives. Aid us in helping others in our world according to your loving and just will. Thank you for giving us the opportunities to serve and witness for you while on this earth. In your name we pray. Amen.

Contributed by Pastor Julie A. Kanarr
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
Port Angeles, WA

Warm-up Question: What is the hardest thing you have ever done? 

American sailor Zac Sunderland, who turned 17 in November, and British sailor Mike Perham, who will turn 17 in March, are both in the middle of sailing alone around the world, in attempts to become the youngest person to do so. By coincidence, they recently met up with each other in Cape Town, South Africa. They toured one another’s boats, shared a meal, and spoke with admiration and respect for the each other’s journey and accomplishments.

Zac is sailing a 33 foot cruising sailboat named Intrepid that he purchased with his own savings. After months of preparing the boat with the help of his shipwright father and the financial support of several sponsors, he set off from Marina Del Ray in southern California on June 14, 2008. Zac’s boat is equipped with a satellite phone, radios, and a laptop computer, enabling him to stay in touch with his family and friends during his journey. In addition, there are hundreds of people who are following his journey through his blog at www.zacsunderland.com .

Zac sailed west across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, with stops in Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and in ports along the coast of South Africa as he rounded the Cape of Good Hope en route to Cape Town. Along the way he battled storms, mechanical problems, and skirted areas known to be frequented by pirates. His route will now take him across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Panama Canal, and up the coast of Mexico back to his home port in California.

Upon finishing his trip, Zac will become the youngest person to sail alone around the world, a record that will stand until Mike Perham, who is a few months younger than Zac, finishes his trip.

Mike Perham departed from Portsmouth, England, November 15, 2008. He is sailing a chartered 50 foot racing sailboat named totallymoney.com in honor of one of his primary sponsors. Like Zac, Mike’s boat is equipped with an assortment of electronic gear that enables him to stay in touch through the Internet and satellite phone during his journey. Mike, who already holds the record for the youngest person to sail alone across the Atlantic Ocean (at age 14) had originally hoped to become the youngest person to sail non-stop, unassisted around the world, but a mechanical issues required him to stop for repairs in Portugal and in the Canary Islands along the way, so now he is hoping to become the youngest person to complete a solo circumnavigation. He sailed the Atlantic Ocean down to the southern tip of Africa, where he landed in Cape Town for additional repair work.

After departing Cape Town, Mike will continue sailing east, rounding the southern tip of Africa, Australia, and South America on his way back to his starting point in England. You can follow his journey through his blog at www.totallymoney.com/sailmike .

Both Mike and Zac have been tested by the challenges that are part of long-distance solo ocean sailing. Sleep often consists of taking short naps between periods of needing to tend sails, respond to changes in the wind, and keep watch for large ships, and other potentially dangerous situations. Each has navigated his boat through difficult conditions, and faced mechanical issues. These challenges have honed their skills and given them greater confidence as they move toward achieving their goals. Both have also received encouragement and support from their parents, friends, and well-wishers along the way.

Discussion Questions

• If you were to meet Zac and/or Mike, what would you ask them about their experience?
• Imagine that you are heading out on an extended journey by yourself. What kind of journey would you undertake? What do you think you would you find difficult? What do you think you would enjoy most? In what ways would you hope to grow from the experience?
• Tell about a time when you undertook a new challenge. How did it turn out? In what ways did you succeed or fail at what you tried to do? What did you gain from that experience? What did you learn about yourself in the process?
• Where do you look for strength, encouragement, or inspiration in facing challenges or in working to meet your goals?
• In what ways can challenging situations serve as a positive experience? In what ways can challenges be a negative experience? Overall, do you view challenges (and tests!) as good things or as bad things? Why?Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 1, 2009.
  (Text links are to oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings.)
  • Genesis 9:8-17
  • Psalm 25:1-10 (10)
  • 1 Peter 3:18-22
  • Mark 1:9-15

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

  Gospel Reflection

  After his baptism, the Spirit “drives” Jesus into the wilderness, where he spends forty days. Unlike Matthew and Luke’s version of this story, Mark’s gospel offers few details. Jesus is tempted. He is with the wild beasts. The angels wait on him (Mark 1:12-13). (For comparison, see Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13, which, by contrast, have an extended verbal sparring match between Jesus and Satan.)

  Mark’s sparse telling of the story invites readers to reach into their memory banks to “connect the dots” with other biblical stories. The forty days Jesus spends in the wilderness is reminiscent of the forty years that the Israelites spent in the wilderness after their rescue from Egypt. After passing through the waters of the Red Sea, where they were saved and the Egyptian army drowned, Israel spent those forty years wandering in the wilderness, facing tests and challenges. During that time, they learned about trusting in God, and discovered the consequences of failing to trust or obey. (For example, see Exodus 17:1-7).

  Being with the wild beasts may be suggestive of the kinds of dangers that accompany challenging situations, or it may suggest a fulfillment of the yearning for harmony among all creatures that was expressed through Isaiah’s poetry in speaking of the coming of the Messiah (see Isaiah 11:6-9).

  The mention of angels ministering to Jesus in the wilderness echoes the story of Elijah, who retreated to the wilderness to rest, and received food from an angel to strengthen him for a forty-day journey to Mt. Horeb (Sinai) and to the renewal of his calling to serve as God’s prophet (see 1 Kings 19:4-9). These biblical stories help us grasp the significance of wilderness as a place of encountering God, and point us toward a deeper understanding of Jesus as Messiah and prophet of God.

  Although we often think of Jesus’ time in the wilderness as a time of “temptation,” the word that Mark’s gospel uses also means “to test.” Jesus is tested — he is challenged. Testing has an important function. It is part of Jesus’ preparation for the mission that lies ahead. Testing is a process of probing for weaknesses, so that they can be eliminated before they lead to catastrophic failure. Testing is a process of determining what is genuine and trustworthy. Testing is process of distinguishing truth from falsehood. Advance testing determines reliability during actual crisis situations. At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus is tested. As he faces those unnamed challenges in the wilderness, he is strengthened for what lies ahead, so that he will be able to withstand the tests that he will face during his ministry, including the opposition that ultimately leads him to the cross.

  Mark’s sparse telling of the story also leaves room for all who read this text to find themselves within it. By not being specific about the kind of testing or temptation that Jesus faces, each of us can recognize that Jesus shares in our own experiences of being tested and tempted, and we can draw strength, comfort, encouragement, and inspiration from him as we face our own times of trial and challenge.

  Discussion Questions

  • Share your thoughts about Jesus’ experience of being tested/tempted. Do you think it would have been easy or difficult for him? Why? What do you think would have been the most challenging part of that experience?
  • Do you think that testing/temptation was a necessary part of Jesus’ life experience? Why or why not?
  • Do you think that testing/temptation is an important or necessary part of your life? Why or why not? What do you think your life and faith would be like if you never had to face a test, challenge, or temptation?
  • In the traditional version of the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “lead us not into temptation.” In the modern version, we pray “save us from the time of trial.” What does the difference in language between these two versions mean for you? Which one do you prefer as an expression of your needs in prayer? Why?
  • Spend a few moments reflecting on the kinds of tests, challenges, and temptations that you experience in your faith and life. (If you feel comfortable doing so, you may wish to share with your group). In what ways can you draw strength, encouragement, or inspiration from Jesus as you face your own experiences of testing, challenge, and/or temptation?

  Activity Suggestion

  Make plans and arrangements to go to a challenge ropes course at a nearby outdoor ministry, college, or other place that offers supervised and facilitated challenge course activities. Process the experience with attention to:

  • How do we face and deal with challenges and tests? As an individual? As a group or community?
  • What are the advantages of being part of a community? (large or small)
  • How do we help each other face and move through texts and temptations?
  • What strengths, qualities, assets, or skills do you bring to a group? What are your weak areas?Closing Prayer

    (Pray the Lord’s Prayer or the following prayer.)

    Lord God, you have called us, your servants, to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths that have not yet been traveled through challenges unknown. Give us faith to move through each day of life with courage, often not knowing where we go, but only that your Spirit is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Nebraska law meant to allow parents to legally abandon newborns at hospitals has instead led parents to drop off over a dozen teenagers since its passage in July. To date, 20 of the 33 children dropped off at Nebraska hospitals have been teens, including a now-missing 17 year old girl who fled after being dropped off with her younger brother. Eight more children dropped off were 11 or 12 years of age.

Lawmakers are set to convene this week to rewrite the law, excluding all children except infants up to 3 days old from being legally abandoned. Since lawmakers announced plans to rewrite the law, the rate of teen drop-offs has increased as desperate parents sense their time running out.

Safe haven laws exist in every state to prevent prosecution of parents who abandon newborns outside safe public places like hospitals, but Nebraska is the only state without an age limit. Lawmakers could not agree on an age limit when writing the law, so it was passed with just the word “child.”

One mother of an 18 year old stated that she thought her daughter would receive help if she turned her over to the state. The daughter had a mental health condition and had been cutting school, stealing, fighting, and sleeping around. Because of her age, however, the teen had to return home with her mother.

“These are largely families at a point of incredible desperation,” said Wayne Sensor, chief executive of Alegent Health hospitals, where 14 children have been left. “They aren’t bad parents or bad kids. They simply don’t know what services are available out there.”

Discussion Questions

• Do you think parents should be able to give their kids to the state if they can’t handle them (or think they can’t)? What arguments for and against this can you think of. What types of behaviors do you think might warrant government intervention in a young person’s life?
• What kind of help might a high school age youth get from a government agency that they can’t get from their parents?
• What would be your advice to a parent whose child is in serious trouble? What would you suggest they do?
• Do you think God keeps track of what we do, our motivations, our good deeds, or our sins?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, November 23, 2008.
(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 A at Lectionary Readings.)

• Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
• Psalm 95:1-7a (7)
• Ephesians 1:15-23
• Matthew 25:31-46

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

Gospel Reflection

When I read this passage the first time, I didn’t understand it. After all, Jesus seemed to be saying that we had to minister to the poor and needy (“the least of these”) in order to get into heaven. This seemed to conflict with other scriptures stating that the only thing necessary to have eternal life was to accept Jesus and believed in him. It was “faith verses works,” if you’ve heard that talked about before. God’s grace saves us through our faith, not through anything we do. We can’t work our way into heaven.

Feeling confused, I looked up a commentary on these verses to get an “expert” opinion. What I read gave me an entirely different perspective on these verses.

I assumed, and probably had heard preached before, that the “least of these” that Jesus talked about only referred to the poor. But the commentary said that when Jesus says “the least of these,” he was talking about the treatment of his disciples and all the messengers of his good news in the world. In other words, how people treat the messengers of the good news and how they receive the gospel determines how God will judge them.

Our salvation is definitely a free gift — not something we have to work for or accomplish. A gift does need to be accepted or received though. If we accept that gift, we experience the blessings of God’s kingdom — a kingdom that begins here on earth, right now.

The gospel certainly calls for us to care for people living in poverty or hunger, people being treated unjustly, and others in need. The Bible talks about how necessary service and ministry are to have at the center of our lives, and that it is a responsibility of the church and all people; it’s just not our ticket to heaven. Jesus has done that already, and there’s nothing else we need to do other than accept his gift of love and forgiveness… and start living it in relationship with other people right now.

Discussion Questions

• Have you ever done a good deed thinking it would win you favor or points with God? What was it you did?
• When someone tries to talk to you about Jesus and the gift of salvation, how do you respond or feel?
• How do you feel about talking to other people about Jesus and the gift of salvation? What do think is important to say, and to demonstrate with your actions and behavior?

Activity Suggestions

Find someone in your church who is a “messenger of the gospel.” This could be your pastor, choir director, youth leader, a Sunday school teacher, young person, old person, or a layperson involved in mission work, for example.

Choose one of the following:

• Interview your chosen person about his or her experiences with sharing the gospel of Jesus. How has she or he been received and treated? What makes that ministry most difficult? What are the joys involved? As a group, write an article about this person. Publish your article online, in the church newsletter, or in a worship bulletin.
  
• Ask what your group can do to support the ministry of your chosen person. Perhaps you can help with preparations for a Sunday school class or for youth group time, put together care packages with a mission worker, or prepare a skit or song to reinforce a pastor’s Sunday morning message.

Closing Prayer

O Lord our God, we pray that you would strengthen all your messengers across the world who share the gospel of Jesus with others. We thank you for their service to you and we pray that they would be treated well and provided for. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.


Contributed by Jennifer Krausz
Bethlehem, PA

In Vietnam, a reporter is allowed to report on what they see, unless it embarrasses the government that is. The jailed reporter, Nguyen Viet Chien, almost three years ago helped expose a case against the transportation department, where officials used monies to gamble on European soccer matches and on luxurious living. The reporting was backed up by tapes and confessions and many officials were arrested and jailed for the abuse.

How is the reporter rewarded for his hard work? He is sentenced to jail for 2 years. When given a chance to apologize for his reporting for the way it embarrassed the country, Chien refused to do what another reporter working on the same case had done and did not recant the exposé citing the truth as his defense.

U.S. officials condemn the action and in an official statement stated, “These results are particularly worrisome in light of the serious corruption issues that their earlier investigations had brought to light… The United States has repeatedly called for full freedom of the media in Vietnam and urges the government of Vietnam to support these freedoms, which are so critical to combating social scourges such as corruption and abuse of power, and to the further economic development of Vietnam.”

Discussion Questions

• Is there a time when you think telling the truth is not a good idea?
• If you found out something very important that would embarrass someone you highly respect, say a teacher or pastor or political leader, would you divulge this information online or to the press? What would be reasons you would? What reasons would prevent you from revealing the information?
• If someone knew something about you that was true but embarrassing, would it be OK for them to share this with other people?
• If you had done something embarrassing or that you were ashamed of, how easy would it be for you to admit this to someone you love and respect? What would you expect or ask for in return (e.g., confidentiality, understanding, forgiveness, not to let it hurt your relationship, etc.)

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, November 16, 2008.
(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 A at Lectionary Readings.)

• Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18
• Psalm 90:1-8 [9-11] 12
• 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
• Matthew 25:14-30

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

Gospel Reflection

It’s pretty easy to believe and respected the servant who buried the talent in this story. First of all, he admits to his master, someone whom he loves but someone who is also “harsh” and steals (reaping where he does not sow), that he did not do what he was asked. He did not take the money (a talent being a unit of measurement equaling around one year’s wages), money that may have been unjustly gotten by the master, and invested it as the others had done. Perhaps this would have made him an accomplice! Perhaps he did not want to deal with the dirty money. Perhaps he was a patsy, a do-gooder, who did not do what he was asked out of a sense of justice and was punished. And on top of it all, he did not hem and haw and make up stories; he told the truth. He said straight out that he hid the money. Perhaps he said this with some pride, accusing the master of his own crimes.

But perhaps the master was righteous. Perhaps what he sowed and reaped he did to feed the hungry. Perhaps he was a powerful man who performed actions that seemed disreputable, but may have been for a good cause (sort of like Robin Hood). Maybe the servant was ashamed and scared of the master’s power.

In a story, it is easy to make things out to be black and white, cut and dried truths. We can decry the “lazy slave” for not doing what his master had done just as we can decry the Vietnamese government for suppressing the truth. But perhaps they did so out of a love for their country. Perhaps they doubted the reporting. Perhaps they believed they were the arbiters of justice. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps… When “truth” seems so obvious to one and not to another, how do you know which is truth?

We all else seems up fro grabs, know this to be the truth: Jesus Christ has died for us. It is signed and sealed by the reporting of many witnesses who had nothing to gain by this proclamation but death and loss. The resurrection was true because it was witnessed by many. They all reported this truth and it was greeted with skepticism, the greatest may be Paul. Paul persecuted the church but was later visited by the resurrected Christ. As proof this was true and not false was the way he kept to his story despite beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, poverty, and worse (2 Corinthians 11:23ff). Paul was willing to go to jail and even die for the truth. Just like Nguyen Viet Chien, the truth could no be denied.

In a time of doubt and faith, of wondering what is true, we remember that what can be seen as true is often understood by what comes to light (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5); how the person speaking the truth clings to what they believe. This witness is what we can believe is true, and in this witness we are called to believe. While we may not have been on-the-scene witnesses, we can believe what we have been told just as we can believe the reporter who reports the corruption by his jailing.
Live clinging to this truth. Invest in the gift of this confession. Live out your calling to serve a good and honest master — Jesus Christ — one who loves and adores you, and trusts you with this gift.

Discussion Questions

• How do you know when someone is speaking the truth? How are you convinced? In what ways does technology help or complicate sorting out what is true? (Internet, Youtube, email, TV, Photoshop, digital photos, Twitter, cell phones, social networks, Second Life, avatars, blogs, etc.)
• What are the things that make believing God difficult?
• If the story is true — Jesus Christ is truly the son of God, died and risen to love the world into relationship with God — how would this change the way you see the world? Setting aside all doubt, what would this mean about the way you live in the world? How would it change your relationships? How would it change the decisions you make?
• What if it is true? What if it is true?

Activity Suggestions

Defend a lie

Find a student who loves something so much that they are sort of obsessed by it. Perhaps it is a sports team, a high school musical, or a favorite band, actor, or other celebrity or famous person. Now ask them to defend NOT liking this thing or person or team. Give them a moment to collect their thoughts, then allow them a 30 second argument of why whatever it is we know they love is something they do not love. After they try to convince us they do not love this, allow others to question them, trying to discover the truth.

• Was it difficult to defend what you know is not true?
• How did it feel trying to pretend you did not like what everyone else there knows you love?
• Would you be willing to die to convince us of this truth? Why or why not?

Share this parting thought: if the disciples KNEW it was a lie, why would they all be willing to die for it? Why would all the witnesses be willing to endure persecution if they knew Jesus was not resurrected? Why would they all be beaten, chased, jailed, starved, poisoned, and killed if they truly knew it was a lie?

Closing Prayer

Jesus, forgive us for our doubts, but it can be so difficult to believe. Help us to trust your witnesses and to live out loud on behalf of the truth that you are our savior and Lord. Amen

Contributed by Jay Gamelin, pastor of Jacob’s Porch, Lutheran Campus Ministry to The Ohio State University