Janjay Innis, Tucker, GA

Warm-up Questions

• How do you define politics?
• Do you believe God can be part of the way we do politics?

Personal Faith Is Political

According to Wikipedia, politics, from the Greek politika (“affairs of the city”), is the set of activities associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. It’s jarring to see such a definition because politics is currently far from what it was intended to be.

At home we see the political parties in the United States determined to tear one another down for the sake of promoting their agendas.  Across the world dictators and greed-stricken leaders, driven by the insatiable thirst for power, disregard the well-being and humanity of their people.  Politics has lost its original meaning. Today, politics has less to do with leaders coming together to figure out how to adequately distribute resources.  It is more about how one side can portray who and what they have power over.

Because many people around the world have only seen and lived through the ugliest political economies, they truly believe that it’s simply the way things ought to be. Thus, when given the chance to lead, they often fall into the very patterns they detest. 

Discussion Questions

• Where have you seen, heard, or read about bad politics?  good politics
• Do you believe politics has the capacity to be decent? If so, how?
• Can and should Christians be involved in politics? Why or why not?
• Is it possible for Christians to NOT be involved in politics?
• What responsibility do people of faith have for the tone of political debate?

Christ the King Sunday

Jeremiah 23:1-6

Colossians 1:11-20

Luke 23:33-43

(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

Many would say faith is deeply personal, and thus has no place in politics. But as the radical feminist Carol Hanisch wrote, “the personal is political.” Jesus, who is the center of our faith, would agree. Everything Jesus did—the disciples he chose; the people he healed, fed, and engaged in dialogue—were acts of redistributing resources and status. Jesus was unapologetic about his politics.  On the cross, he publicly forgives his accusers and executioners, saying, “Father, forgive theme for they know not what they do.”  And he pardons the thief crucified beside him, saying “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”

In God’s political economy, which Jesus embodied throughout his life, there are no sides. In God’s political economy, there is no concern with upholding power which draws lines between people. In God’s political economy, the undeserving, the least of these, the poor, and the disenfranchised are forgiven and redeemed.  Jesus moves them from the margins to the center through radical love, hospitality, and inclusion. And though the Romans thought they were mocking him by calling him king, Jesus’ actions, contrary to the way kings of his day ruled, made him a true king. 

Though Jesus is no longer physically with us, we carry on God’s politics when we do as Jesus did, mirroring his life and seeking the reign of God here and now.  Our faith is always deeply political.  It reflects our values—and our values guide our actions in the world. Christ is our King, and in his kingdom there is no hierarchy.  All are welcomed and transformed.

Discussion Questions

• From the cross Jesus said “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do?” Have you been forgiven for something you were guilty of? What was that like?
• What does it feel like to forgive? Is there power in it?
• What makes Jesus’s act of forgiving guilty people like his accusers, crucifiers, and the thief controversial? Is there room today to forgive such people?
• How have you seen the reign of Christ in your community lately?

Activity Suggestions

Hats Race:

Two teams will run a relay to the hats, put a hat on and run back to their team member, who will then run down to the pile of hats for their team and put on another hat. This will continue until all the hats for each team have been put on and everyone is back on their team line. When their team is done, they will all say together JESUS CHRIST IS KING!! Teacher, make sure that there is a CROWN in your pile of “hats” to go along with today’s story!

Jesus and the Superheroes Game:

Download the printable PDF, Who is the real superhero? It contains a chart that your kids can complete to compare Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, to their favorite superheroes.  Have  your kids pick their favorite superheroes and fill out the chart.  Detailed instructions for filling the chart can be found at the website linked to the title of this activity.

Closing Prayer 

Christ, you are the sovereign of all he world, including every element of our lives.  Rule our hearts, that every  value, action, attitude, and choice may be pleasing to you.  Come, Lord Jesus, that your will may indeed be fully done on earth as it is in heaven.

Dave Delaney, Salem, VA

Warm-up Questions

• 1. What’s the most impressive building you’ve ever seen or visited in person? What was the effect on you? Why do societies build such big, solid, expensive, and ornate buildings? 
• What’s the giveaway signal that someone is trying to sell you a dubious story  – a politician or a sales spokesperson or even a teacher? Why are some people drawn to believe fantastic claims that really should raise people’s suspicions? When do know to trust rather than doubt what someone is saying?
• How worried or confident are you about the security of your own future? Many young adults are hesitant to get married and start families because they believe that the future of humanity and even the earth itself is uncertain. What is your outlook on life for the next 50 or 75 years?

  Apocalypse Now?

President Putin of Russia has recently claimed that he will not employ nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but even clear-headed analysts are not completely convinced. Furthermore, our own President Biden has said that we are closer to nuclear war than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. 

All of this, in turn, has elevated the anxieties of the American public to a point that has become noticeable by people who study these things. Peter Kuznick, a history professor and director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University, also compared the present situation to that tense standoff almost exactly 60 years ago between the United States and Soviet Union, when the latter country’s leaders secretly placed nuclear warheads in Cuba. Kuznick observes, “And that was short-lived. This has gone on for months now.” 

A Reuters-Ipsos poll conducted on October 10^th concluded that “58 percent of respondents said they fear the United States is headed toward nuclear war.” Furthermore, the Spring 2022 “Stress in America” survey by the American Psychological Association and the Harris Poll found that 69 percent of respondents believed they were watching the beginning of World War III. 

This recent escalation of nuclear rhetoric has gotten the attention of scientists who maintain the so-called “Doomsday Clock” – a symbolic “clock” that since 1947 has represented an estimate of how close humanity is to extinction from its own actions. 

How serious is this phenomenon of worry in the United States? Amir Afkhami, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the George Washington University, notes that older adults have enough historical experience and perspective to put it all in context, but also adds that his patients actually seem more concerned about midterm elections and the economy than the specter of nuclear conflict. “We have a new generation that has never experienced that potential for Armageddon.” So it seems that if nuclear war doesn’t destroy us, politics and economic catastrophe will – or at least that’s how it seems to a growing segment of younger Americans. 

Discussion Questions

• What do you think of people in our own day who use “apocalyptic” language to describe the possibility of something devastating, like climate change, economic collapse, or World War III? Are they just using extreme language to get people’s attention for political purposes, or are they really speaking the truth?
• Where are the positive or uplifting messages coming from in our society today? What signs are there that people inspired by love and respect for each other can work to reduce the fear that so many people experience?
• There is a story about Martin Luther – probably just a legend, but it fits with his views – that when asked what he would do if he knew the world would be ending tomorrow, he said “I would plant an apple tree.” Knowing that Jesus tells his followers that in the face of certain doom, “This will give you an opportunity to testify,” what signs would *you* give that you trust in God’s care for how everything ends?

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

Malachi 4:1-2a

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Luke 21:5-19

(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

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all have sections where Jesus makes dramatic predictions about things that will happen in the future. Because these things seem to be hidden from general knowledge and are being revealed as special information to Jesus’ followers, they are called “apocalyptic” sayings. These terms “apocalypse” and “apocalyptic” are Greek words meaning “uncovering” or “revealing.”

The way they get used now, they often imply mass destruction or catastrophic changes in the world (like large-scale nuclear war), mainly because the Book of Revelation (“Apocalypse”) in the Bible contains such scenes of cosmic devastation. These sections of the gospels are often called “Little Apocalypses” because they are much shorter than the whole book of Revelation, but still match its tone, depicting sometimes terrifying events, in contrast to much of the rest of Jesus’ teachings.

The bottom line of the Bible’s apocalyptic passages is not just a call to be alert to big powerful changes on earth and in heaven, and certainly not to wield private information as if it were a tool to use against those we consider unfaithful.  Rather, they provide all people with promises of hope, justice, and God’s steady presence in the face of frightening historical events. 

Discussion Questions

• Jesus’ disciples speak for us all when they ask for some advance warning when the strong and familiar structures they’ve relied  on are about to come tumbling down, whether they be buildings or governments or other social systems. In response, Jesus warns against trusting in anything but God’s solid protection, and especially against trusting anyone who claims to know exactly when things will be disrupted. Who are the people in your life whom you trust to remind you of the good news of the gospel when the temptation to panic is strong?
• Notice how quickly Jesus turns people’s observations about the beauty of the Jerusalem temple into, first, a warning about a coming destruction, and then into a comment about maintaining a witness when our faith is challenged. He says not to worry in advance about what you will say, because when persecution or ridicule happens, the right words will come to you. This suggests that he has so fully prepared his followers that words of love, justice, and forgiveness, and trust in God will flow naturally from what they have heard and internalized. What regular practices do you have (memorizing scripture, singing Christian songs, praying for your enemies, watching for God’s inbreaking activity all around you, etc.) that are so much a part of you that they would just naturally emerge when you are confronted?
• Being “hated by all because of [Jesus’] name” in our own day can mean supporting those who have been isolated or ridiculed or bullied or denied justice because they are vulnerable or different. Sometimes young people suffer because their family identity or sexual identity doesn’t match the majority, which makes them easy targets for those seeking power or popularity. Would you, in the name of Jesus, befriend such a person, even if it cost you your own safety or status? Befriending someone who is hated by others, and then being ridiculed for it, will, in Jesus’ words, “give you an opportunity to testify.” What promises and teachings of Jesus would you draw on for support in such times?

Activity Suggestions

• Jesus frequently uses physical images and objects to guide his disciples into a deeper understanding of God’s grace and love (sheep, buildings, coins, water, bread, salt, etc.). Challenge each other to think of how any object in the room you’re in can be used to represent or describe the reign of God. Use your imagination!
• Invite a senior member of your congregation (someone perhaps 70 or older) to visit with your class and describe what it was like to live with the fear of nuclear war in the 1960s, and especially ask for how their faith in God helped them stay resilient and have hope for the future.
• Look in the topical index in the back of your congregation’s hymnal for hymns about “Hope.” Are any of them familiar? Invite each person to select one hymn and note what phrases or verses are especially comforting when we as Jesus’ followers begin to worry about the state of the world or potential disasters.

If the class is ambitious, check out other “apocalyptic” passage in the Bible. Some examples are Isaiah 24-27, Ezekiel 38-39, Zechariah 12-14, Daniel 7-12, Matthew 24-25, II Thessalonians 2, Jude vss. 14-15, and Revelation 4-22. These passages are characterized by vivid symbolic imagery, the presence of heavenly beings, catastrophic predictions, and conflict between good and evil on a cosmic scale. How does studying such passages help strengthen our faith?

Closing Prayer

God of hope and history, we rejoice and find peace that you hold all things in your care, including the future. Bless each of us as we strive to be good witnesses to your love in the face of opposition and let your Spirit calm the hearts of those whose worries threaten to disrupt their lives. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Emily Edenfield, Irmo, SC

Warm-up Questions

• Who do you consider to be an enemy? 
• For whom do you usually pray?

Across the Divides

Open any news website and you’ll see a world divided into groups. Some people have what they need and others don’t. There are wars and political parties. Some live in cities while others are in the country. There are generational, racial, and religious divides. 

Some divides are natural.  Some are made or exaggerated by those who use conflict to gain power or money. In an election season, we see parties and candidates sharpening the divides among voters, trying to gain as much support as they can for their cause. 

I’ve lived in both cities and in the country–and in a few different states. There are commonalities among people everywhere I’ve lived. Most people want the best for themselves, their families, and the world.  But we disagree on what that looks like and how we can bring it about. 

Discussion Questions

• What different groups do you experience in your life? 
• Where do you see people agreeing, despite other differences?
• What is worth disagreeing about? 
• What is worth dividing a group over?

All Saints Sunday

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18

Ephesians 1:11-23

Luke 6:20-31

(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

One of the hardest things that Jesus teaches about is the change that God’s kingdom brings about in this world. The ones who seem blessed will have a downturn. The ones who seem distressed will have good things come their way. And the ones that we least want to deal with are the same people that we’re supposed to pray for. 

The Beatitudes is one name for Jesus’ teaching about what it means to be blessed. In Luke, the Beatitudes are like a roller coaster ride: what goes up must come down and what goes down is bound to come back up. We don’t need to be too worried about where we are now, because we know that God is with us on every hillside and valley of the ride.

God knows that this world isn’t the way God made it to be. God loves all people and wants us to care for each other. And yet, we are divided in a hundred ways.  Sometimes it’s by culture or distance, sometimes by our own choice—or someone else’s choice to separate from us. Jesus calls us to resist efforts to divide us and  care for one another across the divides.

Discussion Questions

• When in your life has something bad led to something good?
• How did God work through or around the bad thing? 
• What did you learn from the situation?
• Have you ever had an enemy? How did that happen? What did you do about it?
• Resilience is the trait we develop by overcoming challenges. How does our faith in God help us be resilient?

Activity Suggestions

• Play a game where participants are divided up by different categories. Have everyone who likes sweets move to one side of the room and everyone who likes salty snacks move to the other. Or people with brothers and people with sisters move to opposite sides. See if you can find a category where everyone agrees. (People who are baptized, people who go to a certain church or school, people who like/don’t like the communion wine…)
• Brainstorm together times when we might expect change to be right around the corner. (Graduation, moves, breakups/new relationships…) How does our faith help ground us when everything seems up in the air?

Closing Prayer

God, you made all people in your image. Help us to see our common places with other people and to know that you are always with us. Amen. 

Josh Kestner, Clemson, SC

Warm-up Question

• Who are some people that you look up to in your life? What have they done to make you respect them?
• Tell about a time when your faith and values did not line up with your experience of reality. How did you feel? What did you do?

Resilient Women

I am in awe of the Muslim women involved in protests surrounding the wearing of the hijab. They are heroes who are showing strength and resilience in the midst of persistent pushback.

One of the things that has struck me is that there is no one, universal stance. Women are asking for the power to choose how to live out their faith. There are women in Iran who refuse to be forced to wear a hijab. And at the same time there are women in India who wear their hijabs despite being banned from doing so. While justice may look different in both of these societies, the message is clear: stand up for yourself and for others when change needs to happen. These women are putting their lives at risk to defy the way things are and the way things have always been. 

What gives these women the confidence and courage that they need to demand change in their communities?

I often wonder what motivates someone to join or lead a protest. Do they have a loved one in their life who has acted as a role model? Perhaps these women have mothers who have also shown strength in different ways. Or have they learned about heroes from other moments in history? They’re merely waiting for their own opportunities to act and fight. Whatever the answer, God bless these women and others who sacrifice their time and energy to make a difference in the world – not only for themselves but for many generations to come.

Discussion Questions

• What are some examples of big changes that have happened in the history of the world? What did people do to make them happen?
• Name a change that you’d like to see in the world? What is something that you’re passionate about – something that you’ve spent time educating yourself about and that you feel comfortable talking about with other people?
• Have you ever participated in a protest? Or have you ever known someone who has? What was it like?
• What are some ways besides a public protest that you might be able to make change happen in your own community?

Reformation Sunday

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Romans 3:19-28

John 8:31-36

(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 gospel for this week is chosen to help celebrate the Reformation. The Reformation is the period of history when Martin Luther and many other people helped to work for change in the greater Church. The changes helped make it so people (ordinary people like you and me) could develop a more personal and relational sense of faith in their lives.

Because of its roots in the Reformation, I think that one of the most important traits of the Lutheran church is that it should always be open to change. Lutherans balance tradition and innovation fairly evenly. So, when there is a shift in the world they are ready to adapt. That doesn’t mean that pastors and bishops are always right. We are too often slow to move in the right direction. But when we are wrong, we are committed to holding ourselves accountable and following the Holy Spirit wherever it leads. (Take a look at the ELCA’s Declaration to People of African Descent from 2019 as an example of an act of reformation and reconciliation.)

It can be easy to get stuck in the flow of how things are and how they’ve always been. John 8:31-36 references descendants of Abraham who believe that their history and lineage has earned them some kind of future reward. They are not eager to do what Jesus is asking of them. 

Reading the gospel with the Reformation in mind encourages us to be proactive when it comes to change. While some of us may feel comfortable and affirmed in our current realities, there are countless others who are struggling with poverty, grief, violence, oppression, and other calamities in their lives. Our work is not done until all of God’s children are taken care of.

How do we do it? Like Martin Luther, and so many other people who have demanded change in the world, we have to listen. We have to listen to the people around us who are crying out for help. We have to listen to the voices of folks who are usually ignored. And we have to listen to the rustling of the wind of the Holy Spirit to see where God is already at work.

Discussion Questions

• What have you learned about the Reformation at church or in school?
• How has your own congregation changed in response to the pandemic in the last couple of years?
• What is one change that you would suggest to your pastor about your worship services?

Activity Suggestions

• Tell the story about how Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to a church door in Wittenberg Germany 500+ years ago. Read a few of the 95 Theses and talk about why Martin Luther did it. 
• Find a door (or a few doors) in the church building that is close to where your group is gathering. Give each individual a handful of Post-It notes (make sure you’ve got several different colors). Ask them to write down their hopes and dreams on the Post-It notes: changes they want to see in their own lives, changes they want to see in the church, changes they want to see in the world, etc. Stick each note on the door(s) and then have students spend some time reading what other folks have written (keep them anonymous if you’d like).

Closing Prayer

God of grace, we are always in awe of the ways that your love shows up in the world. We are especially grateful for the ways that your love shows up in our own lives. While your love continues to transform us and transform your whole creation, empower us to be a part of that change. Humble us. Give us courage. And send us out with your Spirit to do your work. Amen.

Steve Peterson, Saulk Rapids, MN

Warm-up Question

Has there been a time in your life when you longed for someone, or God, to have a little mercy on you?  

Lord Have Mercy

Sometimes we experience a tension in life.  We want to see ourselves in a position of superiority, thinking of ourselves as better than “other kinds of people”.  But we also feel a pull toward humility and a stance of shared humanity with all people.  Resentment may come into play.  We are tempted to dehumanize those we resent, maybe even punish them. We think ourselves justified in considering them “less than.” We want to punish them because of behavior we see as unacceptable.  Perhaps we simply put “bad people” out of our consciousness, relegating them to permanent insignificance and inferiority.  We do this as individuals and as a society.

For example, in a September 27 article in Scientific American  Sara Novak writes that 

dementia in prison is turning into an epidemic.  The number of older inmates has increased 200% in the last 20 years and will make up a third of the prison population in a decade.  Many of these older inmates will develop dementia, which makes them difficult to care for and more vulnerable to victimization in a number of ways.   

Prison staff often are ill-trained and equipped, or simply not inclined, to provide humane and appropriate care.  Only a small number of prisons are experimenting with humane and caring ways to address this need.  One way to address this growing crisis is compassionate release, sometimes called “geriatric parole” but this option is very much underutilized.    

Prison is a place where human beings live, yet it may be hard for us to look at a prison and the people who live there in that way.  Mass incarceration in the United States seems to indicate we want to lock up the people we consider bad and forget about them.  Even when some are released, we may permanently label theless than human beings who deserve to be given every opportunity to thrive.  Maybe we as a society could be a little more just and merciful in our approach to incarceration, rehabilitation, and end of life compassion for those in prison.

Discussion Questions

• We all have a tendency to think of  certain persons or kinds of people as less than fully human.   Are there people or groups of people whom you see being treated this way?
• What can you and people you know do to humanize people relegated to a lesser status and treated as less than God’s precious children?

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

Luke 18:9-14

(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

What I like about Jesus’ story of the Pharisee and the tax collector is that it gives me the chance to feel superior.   I may not be the best God follower, but at least I am a much better prayer than the Pharisee!  I am much better in my humility than he is. Or, at least now that I know that is what Jesus wants, I can try to be better than the Pharisee, so Jesus will approve of me more.  You see what I am doing here, right?  This story so easily becomes a trap for us.  

In feeling superior to the Pharisee who feels superior, we ourselves are like him..  We miss what Jesus really wants us to get out of this story, that God loves everyone. Everyone.  And that love is never dependent on how good we manage to be.  We share a common humanity; each of us is a treasure of God’s creation, even as we struggle to live as God intends,  in ways that are most life-giving for ourselves and others.   God loves us all, all the time, even when our behavior is less than we or God would wish.  God is full of grace and mercy and wants us to know the joy of being bathed in God’s love, no matter what.

Americana singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier in her book, Saved By A Song, The Art and Healing of Songwriting, writes about the process she went through in writing “A Little Mercy Now.”  It started out as a song about her father, as he lay fragile at the end of his troubled life, and ended up also being a song about her troubled brother and all people and a whole world in need of mercy.  A few lines from Mary Gauthier’s song “A Little Mercy Now”:

My father could use a little mercy now
The fruits of his labor fall and rot slowly on the ground
His work is almost over it won’t be long, he won’t be around
I love my father, he could use some mercy now

My brother could use a little mercy now
He’s a stranger to freedom, he’s shackled to his fear and his doubt
The pain that he lives in it’s almost more than living will allow
I love my brother, he could use a little mercy now

My church and my country could use a little mercy now…
Every living thing could use a little mercy now…
Yeah, we all could use a little mercy now
I know we don’t deserve it but we need it anyhow

And every single one of us could use a little mercy now…

In writing about how this song came to be created, Gauthier remembers an encounter with her AA sponsor.  She describes sharing with him her anger in response to a record label that was not treating her in a way she felt like she deserved to be treated.  Her sponsor’s response was to laugh and say with a smile in his voice, “Given some of the behaviors you’ve exhibited in your life, you should thank God each and every day for NOT getting what you truly deserve.”

That is true for us all.  It’s Jesus’s point in this story about the Pharisee and the tax collector.  What good news!  God’s mercy is big enough for us all.  May we embrace that relief and joy for ourselves and for all of humanity!

Discussion Questions

• Do you ever feel superior to others?  Do you every feel like you are at least not as bad as that person, those kinds of people?  Do you every thank God for that?  If so, how do you feel about that in light of this story about the Pharisee and the tax collector?
• Are there times you would like to put limits on God’s mercy?  What would those limits be?
• How does it make you feel to know that God looks upon you and all people with grace and mercy?  That God places no limits on God’s grace and mercy?

Activity Suggestions

• Make a list of people or situations in need of God’s mercy, trying to be as broad and deep in your list as you think God might be in light of this story told by Jesus.  Talk about this list with someone else.   Pray this list, imagining each of these people and situations bathed in the light and warmth of God’s mercy, God’s unbounded love.
• Now make a list of all the ways you are unworthy of God’s love.  Pray this prayer, “Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”.  Prayer it over and over with your breathing.  Feel God’s merciful response of mercy and love deep in your bones.

Closing Prayer

Gracious God, we thank you for your love and mercy for each one of us, for all of us.   Please give us the humility and courage to see ourselves and others honestly, warts and all, and then to see ourselves and others as you see us, with spectacular and unlimited favor and delight.  Help us to trust that this is true and to live humbly and boldly in your love.    Amen.