Andrew Tucker, Columbus, OH

Warm-up Question

Who comes to mind when you think of your ancestors? Share a story about this person or group of people. Why are they significant to you?  

Freed From Our Past

When you think of a sloth, what do you think of? I’d bet a small, furry creature. Likely clinging to a tree with incredibly long claws. Probably munching on some leaves or flowers with a glib, goofy grin that God placed on its face through millions of years of evolution. 

Not too long ago, at least in terms of the cosmic timeline, some ancient sloth ancestors were shaped more like tanks and, apparently, huge fans of old steak. Mylodons, or Giant Ground Sloths, bumbled around on the ground and ate meat as a part of their diet. Scavengers rather than hunters, the meat Mylodons consumed as a part of their diet was likely the leftovers from ice age predators like Saber-Toothed Tigers. 

Still with long nails, fur, and we sure hope that glib, goofy smile, they were something like the sloths we know today, but they were bound to the ground, cleaning up others’ old meals. Clearly Mylodons weren’t exactly the same as their present-day counterparts. To read more about these ancestors, check out this article (https://news.yahoo.com/giant-ancestors-todays-sloths-stood-110400474.html) or read the scientific research that led to this discovery (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-97996-9). Fair warning: that second article is very dense, but for the scientists and historians among us, quite fascinating. 

Sloths are connected to their ancestors, but they’re not carbon copies. The same is true for us. We are connected to our ancestors, biological and spiritual, and that shapes who we are today. But it does not mean we’re just the same as those who came before us, nor do our ancestors absolutely determine who we will be. 

Discussion Questions

• How would you feel if you came across a present-day sloth? How about a Mylodon?
• How do their differences change your reaction?
• What other present-day animals are connected to, but also very different from, their ancient ancestors?
• How are you similar to your ancestors? How are you different? 

Reformation Day

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 B at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

It’s Reformation Sunday, where as a church we give thanks for the reform movement started by Martin Luther and others in the 16th century. One of the many themes that pops up at this time each year is freedom, often connected to these words in John: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  

It’s important for us to ask two questions: What are we set free from? What are we set free for? All too often, Reformation becomes a chance to bash on other Christians. Often Roman Catholicism becomes a target, as though our freedom has fully severed us from our church ancestors. At other times, Evangelicals draw our angst, as though our spiritual descendants have no connection to the reform movement Luther started. Whatever our freedom is from, it is not from our connections, nor our history, nor those who come after us.  

But because of Christ’s intervention, we are free for more than our ancestors could imagine or determine. Just a few verses before, some disciples wonder how they, descendants of Abraham, might still need freedom. Their confusion ultimately points to the crux of the scripture: we are connected to the legacy of our ancestors, but we are not absolutely beholden to it. Christ frees us from the worst and for the best. 

This is true biologically. Think, for instance, of someone like me with a mental illness. Thanks to my DNA ancestry, I’m biologically predisposed to a shortage of natural serotonin that leads me to battle depression and anxiety disorders. That connection lives on in me. Yet, thanks to medication and counselors, changes to diet and exercise, and adding faith practices like meditation, my future is not determined by those ancestors alone. Reform is possible in my life thanks to the influence of others, especially through medical, relational, and physical intervention. 

This is also true spiritually. Our tradition is full of profound contributions and desperate failures. The Lutheran reformation paved the way for some of the first schools for girls in Europe, robust social safety nets, and increased knowledge of religion by lay practitioners. But Luther’s writings also included terribly anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim rhetoric, as well as critiques of peasants who took political authority into their own hands. Such passages became rallying cries for racial purists in Nazi Germany, the United States, and elsewhere.  

Even in our Reformation celebrations, the goodness of our tradition is accompanied by the failures. We are not free from that tainted legacy. But, because of God’s work in Jesus Christ, we are free for reform, to make a new way that admits our connection to that past and sets a different course for the future. Our ancestors’ failures are real, as are their triumphs. But neither is certain for us at this present moment, in this new day calling for new reform. Like today’s sloths, we can climb from the ground of our ancestors to the sky of our future, reforming and evolving into the creatures God calls us to become.  

Discussion Questions

• What does it mean to you that we have been set free by Christ? 
• Why do you think it was so difficult for Jesus’s disciples to connect the freedom he offers with the legacy of their ancestry?
• As we commemorate Reformation Sunday, what kind of evolution is God calling us to consider, even as we are connected to a legacy of reform?  

Activity Suggestions

Spiritual Family Tree–Have students create a family tree of those forebears in faith who’ve shaped them into who they are today. This could include members of their family of origin, church members, authors, social media personalities, people from church and social history, and others. Use this as an opportunity to ask how they’ve been positively shaped by their ancestry and to consider the ways they’ve been negatively impacted by those who’ve come before.

Gravestone Etchings–To make a tangible activity of legacy, take students to a local cemetery with paper and pencils (or charcoal or pastels) to make rubbings of the grave markers. Bring paper large enough to cover a tomb stone but thin enough to follow the contours of weather-worn material. Once the names and dates are covered by the paper, rub the paper lightly to reveal the characters in more detail. This is especially powerful with stones that are difficult to read due to years of weathering. Use this as an opportunity to ask about the legacies we leave and what people will remember, as well as how bound we are to the legacies of our ancestors.  

Closing Prayer 

Transforming God, we give you thanks for the good of reformation and we confess the ways that we’ve refused to follow your continued call for reform. Free us from the things that bind us to past failures, and free us for the future of blessing all creation, to the very ends of the earth. Send your Spirit of transformation on us, today and every day, through Jesus Christ our Liberator. Amen

Kris Litman-Koon, Mount Pleasant, SC

Warm-up Questions

Have you ever given thought to an invention that should be created? If so, share your idea with others. As you think about that invention, does it strike you as having serious potential or as an amusing idea–or perhaps a combination of both?

Inventing With a Purpose

The MacArthur Foundation provides grants to individuals and nonprofit organizations around the globe to build “a more just, verdant, and peaceful world.” The foundation annually awards roughly 20 to 30 individuals with The MacArthur Fellowship, which is more commonly known as the “Genius Grant.” These individuals are selected for their “extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits.” The award comes with a $625,000 grant with no strings attached. This fellowship gives these individuals flexibility in their creative pursuits.

In late September the Foundation announced that Joshua Miele is a genius grant recipient. Miele designs adaptive technologies that allow blind and visually impaired (BVI) people to use the technologies that permeate society. For instance, Miele developed YouDescribe, which allows sighted volunteers to create audio descriptions of any video on YouTube. BVI individuals can access those descriptions to better experience the content of a video on YouTube. 

Miele has other inventions, too: a glove called WearaBraille that allows a wearer to type braille into any smart device without the need for a keyboard, and a web tool called TMAP that creates street maps, so BVI individuals can travel anywhere in the country.  The list of his inventions goes on. (A more in-depth story can be found here.)

Joshua Miele became blind at the age of 4, and at that point his mother, Isabella, became his advocate. About her Miele says, “People in general assume that a blind kid is in danger, and my mother was not interested in protecting me. She was interested in having me be as active and engaged with the world as possible.” 

After the announcement of his becoming a MacArthur Fellow, Joshua Miele said, “What I do: it’s research, invention, and activism. I am proud to be blind. I’m proud of the community I’m a part of, and I love building and imagining cool technologies for blind people.”

Discussion Questions

• Of the technologies mentioned here, which of Joshua Miele’s inventions interests you the most?
• Joshua Miele feels there is no reason for his blindness to hold him back. He enjoys life, he has a family and a community, and he is being awarded for his contributions to society. Thinking of your own traits and interests, how do you imagine your own life being full and content?

Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

Jeremiah 31:7-9

Hebrews 7:23-28

Mark 10:46-52

(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.)

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

Gospel Reflection

There are around two dozen stories in the four gospels that depict Jesus interacting with people who have some form of disability, and these stories all present Jesus healing these people. Throughout the history of the Church, an unfortunate result of these stories has been some Christians holding destructive attitudes toward disabilities, as if a disability means someone is not a whole person or  must always be woeful in their daily life.

A frustrating experience that sometimes arises for people who have a visible disability is being approached by a random Christian who wants to pray for them with the intent to heal them. Just… don’t. Resolve to never do that, and try to stop anyone who is inclined to do so. Such an act to “fix” or “repair” another human being will at best annoy the other person, and at worst it will alienate and disempower them in a social setting.

Today’s gospel lesson is about Jesus giving sight to Bartimaeus. A non-critical reading of this lesson would reinforce the idea that sight can be given to a blind individual if there is only enough faith. We get a better takeaway by considering the larger narrative of Mark’s gospel.

In Mark 8:22-26, Jesus gives sight to a man who is blind. Yet, the first attempt to give this man sight doesn’t fully work; he says, “I can see people, but they look like trees walking.” So Jesus lays his hands on the man again, and after this second attempt the man sees clearly. A couple of chapters pass by and now we have today’s story of a blind man receiving sight, only this time it takes Jesus one attempt. What’s the connection between these two stories in Mark, and why is the process for giving sight different?

Think of these two stories as bookends. What occurs in between are several interactions between Jesus and his disciples  and there is a common thread through all these stories: the disciples don’t understand. They don’t understand Jesus’ teaching that all people should be welcomed into his “kingdom of God” mission in this world, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized people in society (Mk 9:14-32, 9:38-50, 10:1-16). Running concurrently with that thread is the disciples’ misconception of greatness; they believe greatness is a result of rising to the top.  Jesus teaches that true greatness in God’s kingdom is found in humility and welcoming others (Mk 8:27-37, 9:2-10, 9:33-37, 10:17-31, 10:32-45).

When we consider that larger narrative, the two bookends and their details make more sense; they symbolize the disciples’ difficulty in comprehending the values of God’s kingdom on earth. In Mark 8:22-26, the miracle has difficulty landing, similar to how Jesus’ teachings don’t land at first with his disciples. By the time we reach the miracle with Bartimaeus in 10:46-52, the disciples begin to comprehend Jesus’ teachings about welcoming all people and that true greatness is found in humility.

Hence, that second miracle story symbolizes that the disciples are beginning to comprehend what Jesu is about. Another detail in these bookends reinforces this reading of Mark’s narrative. The man in the first bookend goes home and doesn’t follow Jesus (Mk 8:26). Bartimaeus, however, joins the disciples and Jesus on his way (Mk 10:52). Where does this “way” go? Mark 11:1 tells us it is to Jerusalem, where Jesus will take up the cross.

By this symbolic narrative of two healings Mark says  we followers of Jesus have difficulty grasping what Jesus means by “the kingdom of God” in this world. Yet Jesus calls us to welcome all people, including the most vulnerable and marginalized, and to understand  that true greatness comes in humility and recognizing God’s image in all people. These are not the values of the world.  It takes time for  us to comprehend these “kingdom of God” values of humility and radical welcome. But like Bartimaeus, we can grasp these new values and join Jesus on his way of the cross. A non-critical reading of the two bookend stories opens a door beyond  harmful attitudes regarding disabilities. However, the bigger narrative in Mark begs us to  grasp the deeper lesson: we are living in God’s kingdom when all are welcome and we value all people for who they are.

Discussion Questions

• Is “the kingdom of God,” only about heaven and the afterlife, or is it something Jesus invites us to begin experiencing in this life as well?
• God’s kingdom values, as revealed in this section of Mark’s gospel, involve welcoming all people and recognizing humility as a sign of true greatness. When, and in whom, have you witnessed these values embodied?

Activity Suggestions

There are a variety of impairments that people may have: visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive are among the most common. If time and ability allows, tour your ministry’s facilities and discuss the ways that the space itself welcomes people with disabilities and the ways that it does not welcome them. The ELCA Disability Ministries page is in the process of being updated to better provide resources for you and your community. You can contact the ministry’s coordinator, Pastor Lisa Heffernan, at Disability.Ministry@elca.org with any specific inquiries you have.

Closing Prayer

Loving God, open us to the values of your kingdom. Shape our lives to be welcoming of all people and give us appreciative hearts for the community you create through us all. Amen.

Alyssa Kaplan, Baltimore, MD

Warm-up Questions

What does it mean to have power over something or someone? Who are the people who hold power in your day-to-day life? Who are the people who hold power in the world? What are they like?

Servant Power

In the past few years there has been a movement within the US American Catholic Church to recognize Dorothy Day as a saint within their tradition. While Lutherans and Catholics have different understandings of saints and sainthood, we too, can look to these people as exemplars of the faith. 

Dorothy Day was an incredible leader, activist, mother, and theologian.  Above all she was a fierce advocate for and faithful servant to the poor. She was deeply skeptical of hierarchies and institutional power. She operated on the fringes of her faith tradition.  Throughout her life and ministry, she unequivocally made those on the margins of society the center of her work. She was an exceptional leader because she was first and foremost a servant of all. 

Dorothy Day founded the Catholic Worker Movement, which largely operated out of Catholic Worker Houses. For decades these houses have provided respite and resources for the poor and served as gathering places for justice activists. At the time of her death there were 30 such houses around the United States; as of January 2020 there were over 250. 

Robert Ellsberg, who worked closely with Dorothy Day in the last years of her life, stated, “When many people think of saints, they think of people who are kind of removed from the world in some sacred way. She showed there can be a holiness of action, of engagement of the challenges of our time. She’s not someone from the past — she’s someone from the future. In some ways she’s the American counterpart of the vision Pope Francis has brought to the universal church. She isn’t encapsulated in institutionalism, not mired in clericalism. She just stands there and points the way.”

For further reading: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/13/dorothy-days-radical-faith

Discussion Questions

• Had you heard of Dorothy Day before? Can you think of other leaders who act like her?
• Day operated on the fringes of her tradition. How do you think that informed her actions?
• Have you worked with people who are unhoused or lack other basic needs? If so, how have those experiences impacted your faith?

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 53:4-12

Hebrews 5:1-10

Mark 10:35-45

(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 B at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

Throughout this section of Mark’s gospel, a pattern emerges as Jesus engages with his disciples about the hard truth of what is to come. The pattern essentially goes, 

• Step 1: Jesus tells the disciples something super hard, the reality of his coming death and suffering.
• Step 2: The disciples do not understand and respond in inappropriate ways.
• Step 3: Jesus corrects the disciples’ misunderstandings and teaches about  discipleship.

This text picks up at step 2.  Immediately before this section we read, ” [Jesus], taking the twelve aside again, began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.’”

Oof. Heavy stuff! And yet, immediately following this discourse, John and James  beg Jesus to acquiesce to their demands. What demands? Just that when Jesus enters in to “glory” they be seated at his right and left hands. Could they be further from the point? Jesus repeatedly teaches how the reign of God disrupts the status quo. Jesus clearly describes how the Messiah will come as a suffering servant of all, not as a powerful warlord to vindicate his people. 

Yet, even after hearing this message over and over again, after traveling with Jesus and watching him heal the lowly and the outcasts, after listening to him preach about God’s radical justice for the poor and oppressed, James and John are still caught in their own world–a world  radically different from what Jesus describes as God’s vision for God’s people. John and James are stuck in a world of power and control, where prestige and favor create hierarchies, where some are first and others are last…and they want to be first! 

So, on to step #3. Jesus hears their misguided question and takes the opportunity to teach them what God is all about and what kind of leadership God values. Consistent with his preaching throughout the gospels, Jesus shows how God’s kin-dom of justice and mercy operates in a radically different way than the world in which they and we live. 

Roman leaders are assessed by the kind of power they exert–the more power, the better the ruler. Jesus says that among his followers the sign of true leadership is servanthood. The sign of true strength is humility through service. Within the beloved community, loving service is the ultimate sign of true leadership and holy power. 

Discussion Questions

• What does the repetition of the ‘three step’ pattern suggest about the disciples’ understanding of Jesus?
• What motivated the questions of John and James? How does Jesus’ response relate to the particular questions they were asking?
• What do you think happened next? How do you think this conversation changed how the disciples understood leadership and their political leaders?

Activity Suggestions

• Look up the nearest Catholic Worker House to your church. Read some of the information on their website. What kinds of programming do they offer? How could your church get involved? If possible, write letters to the servants at the Catholic Worker Houses nearest you to encourage them in their mission. 
• Brainstorm simple acts of service you could share with your church community, school community or family. Think particularly of acts of service you could share in moments or times when you are in a leadership role or in a position of power. Once you’ve brainstormed a list, write them onto a calendar, challenging yourself to complete on such act of service a week for the rest of the year.
• Are there leadership roles you hold within your youth group or school community? If so, take a look at those roles, especially if they come with written descriptions. How do these leadership roles relate to Jesus’ vision of servant leadership?

Closing Prayer

Dear God, it is hard to live in the world as you wish us to live. The sinful forces in our world have influenced our visions of power and turned them into visions of control and domination. Help us to have the spirit of service and humility of your son Jesus. Help us to only grasp for more love and more justice, not more power or prestige. Thank you for your loving grace which compels us to live for others. Amen.

Grace Heimerdinger-Baake, Elkhart, IA

Warm-up Question

How much money would you need to make you completely happy? 

Can You Really Buy Anything?

A 2010 study by psychologist Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton revealed that money did have an impact on how people evaluate their lives — people with more money feel better about their lives. The study showed when individuals reached an annual salary of $75,000, more money didn’t equate to more happiness. 

Matthew Killingsworth created an app to track individual happiness to investigate what makes life worth living. His research showed similar results from the 2010 study — both life satisfaction and experience well-being increased with income. However, the 2021 study concluded that high incomes have the potential to improve people’s day to day well being rather than reaching a potential. 

Discussion Questions

• Do you think money can buy real happiness? What about life satisfaction? What is the difference between happiness and satisfaction? 
• When it comes to your money and possessions, how do you make your decision about how much you give and to whom?
• Other than wealth and possessions, what are other things that make you truly happy?

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15

Hebrews 4:12-16

Mark 10:17-31

(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 B at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

In Mark 10, as Jesus makes his journey to Jerusalem, he encounters a rich, young, ruler. The rich man questions Jesus concerning what he must do to inherit eternal life, saying he has kept all the commandments. The writer of Mark indicates that Jesus truly loves the man.  Jesus tells the man he lacks one thing; he must go and sell everything he owns and give the money to the poor. When the man hears Jesus’ response, he goes away in shock and grief. 

The rich man truly believes he is morally and spiritually good. He is following the commandments, but when Jesus asks him to abandon his wealth and possession to fully follow Jesus, he can’t fathom that sacrifice. 

Every day, we encounter advertisements which try to persuade us to purchase the latest iPhone, sign up for the latest diet, and lease the newest car. The advertisements try to convince us that we need these things and that having them will make us happier. Jesus warns us about how wealth can separate us from God and tells the disciples, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” If you have threaded a needle you know how difficult it can be to get even thread to go through the eye of a needle. 

Although our wealth, possessions, and greed can separate us from God, Jesus says there is hope for us all. With God, all things are possible; nothing can separate us from God’s love.  

This reading from Mark challenges us to remember that Jesus wants to be at the center of our lives and calls us to share what we have with others. 

Discussion Questions

• What do you think the rich man did after Jesus told him to go sell everything and give the money to the poor? The text says he was shocked and went away grieving. Do you think he sold everything and gave the money to the poor? 

• Is Jesus really asking us to sell everything? What are ways you can use your wealth to serve others in your community and across the world? 

• Share a time when someone’s generosity has helped you. 

• How does wealth empower your faith community to share the good news? 

Activity Suggestions

• Using Play-Doh, create models of items that separate you or distract you from Jesus and serving others. Talk about how these items may distract or separate you from following Jesus, but also talk about how these items can help serve others.

• Have the group think of populations of people who may be easily forgotten. Brainstorm ways you could share your wealth. Suggestions could include children or adults at the hospital, residents at a nursing home or rehabilitation center.
• Separate your class into two separate groups and have a race to see what group can thread their needles the fastest.

Closing Prayer

Gracious God, there is so much that separates us from you: our actions, our stuff, our wealth. Forgive us for all the times we put ourselves and our needs about our neighbors near and far. Help us to be glad and generous with everything we have. Amen.  

Tuhina Verma Rasche, San Carlos, CA

Warm-up Questions

• When you hear the words “All are welcome,” does that describe the faith space where you’re a part? How so? If you don’t feel a part, what makes you feel apart?
• Would you consider yourself to be an insider or an outsider? What are the situations that bring you to your answer?
• What makes a person and communities vulnerable?

Are All *Really* Welcome?

Ever since I’ve been a part of the church, I’ve often wondered, “Do I even belong here?” More often than not, I’m the only person of color in progressive church spaces. I’ve been told that my ideas of God in the world and how we are to be followers of Jesus are “too radical.” Even though many churches proclaim, “All are welcome,” I’ve wondered if there are unspoken exceptions.  Shouldn’t it say instead, “You’re welcome here if you look and behave a certain way that makes everyone else comfortable”? I feel hurt when a community says “all are welcome,” and it’s not actually true. I feel like I’m an outsider.

At our core as human beings, we’re created to be in community with one another. With that comes wanting to belong, which makes us keenly aware that there are “in” groups and “out” groups. The division between being an insider and an outsider is painful  when we want to be seen, acknowledged, and loved as God created us. It’s especially painful in friend groups and faith communities. 

Why are there insiders and outsiders? Who gets to determine who is included  or excluded in a community? Jesus calls the excluded “the least of these.” Those on the outside were welcome if they met certain requirements, like cleanliness, a change in social ranking, and access to power and popularity. Jesus accepts them as they are.  He includes “the least of these” in the greater community.  He proclaims that all (regardless of popularity, wealth, social status, cleanliness) are not just accepted, but also centered in God’s heart. 

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think Jesus wanted to include the excluded? What ways do you practice inclusion and exclusion in your friend groups?
• In what ways do you want to be recognized for the entirety of who God created you to be?   Are there parts of yourself you are not sure would be welcome in your social or religious community?
• Why do communities use the words “all are welcome,” if they don’t actually mean it?  How does that happen?

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Genesis 2:18-24

Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12

Mark 10:2-16

(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.)

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

Gospel Reflection

There are times where it would be easy to skip over a Bible passage and pretend it doesn’t exist. This is one of those times. Yet, if we were to skip over it, what would keep us from skipping over other parts of the Bible when we struggle with the message? Jesus often gives hard words to the disciples (and us). This week is no exception. 

The Gospel begins with a difficult conversation on divorce. For many people, divorce is still hard to talk about because it radically changes the lives of, not just those ending the marriage, but also family members, friends, and communities. 

We need to keep in mind that divorce in Jesus’ time and divorce in our time are very different. In Jesus’ time.  If a woman were divorced from her husband, she would be incredibly vulnerable. The world wasn’t (and still isn’t) built to protect vulnerable women and femmes. He answers the question from the religious authorities forcefully because vulnerable people are being hurt and it makes him mad. 

In asking them how a man may divorce his wife according to the Law, Jesus is talking about what people currently know and understand. There are structures in place to protect vulnerable populations.  Yet structures created by people with good intentions often don’t go far enough. Divorce, says Jesus, is an unfortunate concession to the fact that we do not always live with love and respect in marriage.  Instead of having people trapped in situations where they were powerless and unhappy, divorce may happen, but it not God’s intention for marriage. 

Jesus tells us to protect the most vulnerable among us. It seems that the disciples didn’t get the memo, because immediately after the conversation on divorce, they try to keep children from Jesus’s presence. Jesus speaks in support of both divorced women and the little children, people who don’t have power, both then and now. Jesus is all about being with and empowering the weakest and most vulnerable in society. The Beloved Community is for all people, especially those who are made vulnerable by the sometimes well-intentioned but always faulty power structures of this world. 

The disciples, as close as they are to Jesus, don’t understand him. In preventing people from bringing children to Jesus so that he may bless them, the disciples assume authority over who is in and who is out.  Jesus turns them around to a new way of being. 

Jesus welcomes those on the outside, those who are vulnerable. That welcome challenges our notions of who belongs in the realm of God and who is the greatest. Those whom world calls outsiders, Jesus calls insiders and welcomes them in the entirety of who they are. Jesus continually challenges our expectations and reminds us that inclusion is incredibly radical.

Discussion Questions

• Have you invited a friend to your faith community? Did they come with you? Has something prevented you from inviting others to come with you to your faith community? Have a conversation to how your faith community is and can be a more welcoming place. 
• Talk about a time where you felt like you belonged to a community and a time where you felt like you were on the outside of a community. How do these feelings feel similar? How do they contrast?
• How do you feel when another person notices a quality or attribute about you? What does it feel like to be fully recognized for who God created you to be? 

Activity Suggestions

• Martin Luther wrote in the Large Catechism, ‘But I am baptized! And if I have been baptized, I have the promise that I shall be saved and have eternal life, both in soul and body ….’ ” Baptism means inclusion in the body of Christ. When do you encounter water? Doing dishes, watering plants, washing your hands? Record how many times a day you encounter water. Anytime you encounter water, take a moment to remember that you are beloved by God and to think about God’s promises made in baptism. 
• There are many members of our community who are vulnerable and on the outside. If your faith community has a visitation ministry, a food pantry ministry, or a similar ministry, make cards with encouraging messages for these ministries.
• Find smooth rocks, markers, and acrylic paint. Draw words of encouragement on the rocks and leave them outside where people can find them for a source of surprise encouragement and acceptance.   

Closing Prayer

God of inclusion, you came to us in ways that were meant to be excluded. You came as a poor, Brown, Jewish Galilean man in the midst of an empire that thought it was all powerful. In the person of Jesus, you show us just how radical inclusion can be, and that you want to include all into your community. May we extend radical invitations so that those who feel on the outside are on the inside and that those who feel excluded are included for who God created them to be. Remind us that we are loved by you. Amen.