Contributed by Jack Saarela, Lutheran Campus Pastor, Yale University 

Warm-up Question

It is much harder to see spelling and punctuation mistakes in something you have written than in it is to see the same mistakes in someone else’s work.  Why do you think that is? 

Blind Spots

Mark Horvath is a denizen of social media. He tells of a homeless man on Hollywood Boulevard who thought he was invisible. One day a kid handed the man a Christian pamphlet. The homeless man was shocked and amazed, “What?! You can see me? How can you see me? I’m invisible!” 

It isn’t hard to comprehend this man’s spiral into invisibility. Once on the street, people started to walk past him, ignoring him as if he didn’t exist. “It’s not that people are bad,” Horvath says, “but if we make eye contact, then we have to admit that they exist, and that we might have a basic human need to care. It’s so much easier to close our eyes and shield our hearts from their existence.” 

By way of invisible-people-tv, Horvath uses the lens of a television camera to tell the stories of homelessness and the organizations trying to help. His stated purpose is to make the invisible visible 

Discussion Questions

• When you have encountered a homeless person on the streets of the town or city where you live, have you found yourself looking the other way? Can you say why? Does Horvath’s explanation above ring a bell?
• Talk about a time when you looked at someone you thought you knew well, but at that moment, you felt as though you were seeing him or her for the very first time.
• Have you yourself ever been in a situation where you felt invisible, as if everyone was looking past you and not seeing you? Say some more about it.

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, June 6, 2010 (Second Sunday After Pentecost)

1 Kings 17:17-24 

Galatians 1:11-24 

Luke 7:11-17 

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.) 

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

Gospel Reflection

The woman in this gospel episode has at least two strikes against her, with the third one not far away. She is a widow, meaning, of course, that she has lost a husband. Now she is in a funeral procession behind the body of her only son. She has she lost two people whom she loves, and because in her society (as in many yet today), a woman is totally dependent for economic support on a male to whom she is bound (father, husband, brother-in-law, or son), she now has no means to live. 

One miracle that Jesus performs in this episode is the one identified by the heading for this text in the Oremus Bible Browser: “Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son at Nain.”  It’s true; he does, and to give new life to the dead is miracle enough. 

But what strikes me as at least as great a miracle is that out of the midst of the large crowd that came to meet Jesus and his disciples when they entered the town, Jesus should actually see this woman. To be sure, she is in a funeral procession. But in a land where death was regular visitor, a funeral procession would not be as noticeable as it is in our day. 

This woman is very ordinary, and now rendered absolutely powerless and helpless by tragedy in her life. I wonder how many in the crowd looked past her as they rushed to the town gates to see this phenom Jesus who was arriving. But Jesus brought both the crowd’s advance and the funeral procession itself to a halt by seeing the woman, taking notice of her–not only acknowledging her existence, but also addressing her grief and dire economic plight by returning to her the life of her son. 

It’s reminiscent of the New Testament story which is just about every child’s favorite.  Zaccheus climbs up into a tree in order to see Jesus, but is, as it turns out, seen by Jesus, and his life transformed as a result (Luke 19:1-10). There’s real power to heal and raise the dead in Jesus’ sight. 

Discussion Questions

• Can you think of incidents in the gospels where Jesus performs the miracle of giving sight to someone? What role do you think having sight has in the life of a disciple of Jesus? 
• Talk about a time when you were challenged to see someone else’s need in a new way. Did your insight move you to respond to that person’s need in any way? 
• Are there individuals or groups of person who may be “invisible” at your church? Who is missing? Who is there, but hardly ever noticed? 

Activity Suggestions

• Watch a story or two of homeless persons at: http://www.squidoo.com/invisiblepeopletv
•  Pause for a few minutes to reflect on that person’s story. Then write your thoughts in the comments section, or e-mail them to a friend and send them the link to the site.

Closing Prayer

Jesus, healer of our every ill, we thank you for looking upon us and seeing us in all our complexity and need. Heal our vision that we may be able to see others as you see them. Amen.

Contributed by Paul Baglyos, St. Paul, MN

Warm-up Question

 Got glory?  What is glory, and how do you get it?

Number One or Being One?

At one point during the past basketball season, Syracuse University reached no. 1 in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) ranking for men’s college basketball.  The website for Syracuse University Athletics reported the achievement under the familiar boast, “We’re Number One!”

It feels good to be number one, whether in sports, artistic ability, scholarship, or any other endeavor that requires hard work, discipline and dedication.  Individuals strive to be number one.  So, too, do schools and corporations, groups and nations.  To become not just good but the best at something brings honor and recognition, distinction and acclaim.  In common understanding, this is glory.  Glory sounds like the cheer of a crowd or the applause of an audience; it looks like a trophy or other award.  Glory walks with the confident step of a winner, and savors the rewards of success.

Discussion Questions

• In what ways do people, either individually or collectively, strive to be number one?
• Describe a situation in which you were, or wanted to be, number one.  Why was that important to you? 
• Have you ever experienced glory?  Describe your experience.

 Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 16, 2010 (Seventh Sunday of Easter)

 Acts 16:16-34

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17

John 17:20-26

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

Jesus prays that his followers “may all be one,” which is different than being “number one.”  His glory consists, not in distinguishing himself from others so as to draw their cheer and applause, but in forging relationships with others so as to share their lives and include them in his life.  This is a different understanding of glory than that which boasts, “We’re number one!”

Jesus seeks to become one with others as he is one with the Father, and to draw people into a new experience of unity with him and with one another.  Sometimes the theological word “atonement” is explained as “at-one-ment,” which points to the relational character of Jesus’ work in the world.  Jesus cultivates at-one-ment with and among people, opening his life to theirs and calling them to do the same with others.  Christian discipleship involves dwelling in unity with Jesus, sharing his unity with the Father and forging unity with other people.  Glory, for Christians, is not about being better than others.  It is not about being the best, but about seeking relationships with others so as to share life together and overcome the divisions which pit people against one another in destructive competition and conflict.

Discussion Questions

• How and why is it often easier and more popular to strive to be “number one” in comparison to others than to be “one” in relationship with others?
• In what ways does the church sometimes seek to be “number one” rather than be “one” within the fellowship of faith and in relationship with the larger world?
• Why does Jesus’ understanding of glory often seem so inglorious?

Activity Suggestions

• Play, as a group, some of the games described in Best New Games, by Dale N. Le Fevre (published 2002; ISBN 0-7360-3685-7).
• Consider others who might be involved in your group but are not.  Develop a plan to include them and on your plan.

Closing Prayer

Jesus, our Savior, teach us to honor in our lives your prayer that we become one with you, those in our community of faith, and others in the world.  Amen

Contributed by Angie Larson, Clive, Iowa

Warm-up Question

What does it feel like to be protected?

Protector and Defender

On January 12, 2010 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the small country of Haiti. Among the stories of devastation are stories of hope. 

Frank and June Williams and their three daughters, Angie, Dawn and Pria; and two sons, Trevor and Mike, are Haitian residents.  Frank is one of the directors of World Vision in Haiti.  The apartment in which his family lived in Port-au-Prince collapsed, leaving June, Dawn and Pria trapped inside. Frank, who was outside, used a flashlight to frantically search for his family within the rubble. 

June recounts the earthquake this way in an e-mail to a friend, “There was a loud, deep rumble and the earth shook and shifted.  I couldn’t move my feet, I could only throw the girls down under me and under the archway.  Five stories of concrete and tile came down on us.  I looked at my hands that were covering the girl’s heads. My hands couldn’t protect them from anything. Yet, we were not crushed.  Five foot ceiling slabs came down.  Our heads were embedded with concrete. It was an absolute miracle.  I’ve determined that there must have been a great big, strong angel standing over us, and smaller pieces of rubble were being sifted through his wings and landed on us.”

June, Dawn, and Pria survived.  When the quake stopped they quickly ran from the apartment building through an opening in the outer wall.  A second tremor brought down the rest of the building as they were running for a mountainside. They took refuge under a tree.  A Canadian man helped them down and took them to his house, where he cared for them with a first-aid kit.  The three settled their thoughts on hope until they were reunited with their father, older brothers and sister.

Discussion Questions

• Would you lean towards hope or despair in this situation?
• Do you consider June a heroine?  Why or why not?
• How were June and her daughters protected?
• What would you say to the families of those who did not survive the earthquake?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 25, 2010 (Fourth Sunday of Easter)

Acts 9:36-43

Revelation 7:9-17

John 10:22-30

(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

In the gospel lesson for this week Jesus is defending his identity.  The Pharisees gather around Jesus like journalists trying to entrap a corrupt senator.  They question who he is, hoping that he will claim his identity as the Messiah. If Jesus claims this identity, they will likely stone him for blasphemy.  They desire to accuse and discredit him and also incriminate his disciples.  They have seen his miraculous actions but still refuse to believe who he is.

Jesus says his disciples are different.  In contrast to the Pharisees, who are trying to avoid the evidence in front of their eyes, Jesus’ followers enjoy a special and blessed relationship to God. He gives them a sense of belonging and identity.  They are his and he knows them intimately.  Not only does he know them, but he gives them protection and eternal life.  In me, says Jesus, my disciples know the love and care of the Father.

This gift is for us too.  Tragedy will come and shake our lives. We will lose people we love.  We will be tempted to despair.  Some days the challenges will seem overwhelming. Jesus tells us that no one will snatch us out of his hand.  He gives us his protection and defense.  His actions are even louder than his words.  June Williams placed her body over her daughters during the Haitian earthquake.  With her parental love, she protected her daughters.  So too did Jesus offer his body as a sign of his love for us.  Jesus assures us that he will hold us in his hands.  Following Jesus doesn’t mean difficulty won’t befall us, but it does mean God will hold us when it does.

Discussion Questions

• How does Jesus’ protection give you hope?
• What are some ways that Jesus’ actions spoke louder than his words?
• Jesus keeps his followers from being snatched up.  What in our world can snatch up people?  How can Jesus protect us from those things?  What can we do to follow him?

Activity Suggestions

• Do a fundraiser for Haitian relief. 
• Look on the ELCA website for stories of Haitian relief effort. www.elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action.aspx
• Draw a bulls-eye for the students:  five concentric circles, each bigger than the previous one.  Ask them to label the center circle with someone whom they protect, (for example, children they care for or the homeless). Ask them to label the next circle with their name.  Ask them to think of someone who protects them to label in the third circle, (for example, parents or teachers).  In the final circle ask them to write in “Jesus.”  Have them process what it means to be a protector and to be protected.

Closing Prayer

Blessed Savior, thank you for knowing and choosing us.   It feels so good to be chosen, Lord.  Thank you for your protection.  Please help us to protect those people whom you have entrusted to our care that, through our actions, they may see you.  Open our eyes to see the ways we question your claim on our lives and help us to remember that you have chosen as your beloved children and disciples.  In your name we pray, Amen.

Contributed by Joycelyn Breeland, Fairfax, VA.

Warm-up Question

How much do the adults in your life trust you?

I Spy

The FBI is investigating the claim of 16-year-old Blake Robbins that his high school illegally spied on him using the webcam in his school-issued computer.

Robbins says his school’s assistant principal accused him of selling drugs and popping pills in his bedroom. He says she backed up the accusation with a photograph taken by the laptop’s built-in webcam.  Blake denies dealing or using illicit drugs.  He says the images show him eating candy. 

The Lower Merion School District issued laptop computers, equipped with webcams, to all of the approximately 2,300 high school students in the district.  School officials deny any wrong doing.  They say they are not spying on students and only activate the webcams to help locate missing laptops.

Discussion Questions

• Is it OK for the school district to use webcams to locate school property?
• Why would it be a problem for the school to activate the webcams on laptops they own?
• Does it matter how the school got the evidence if Robbins was engaged in illegal activity?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 14, 2010 (Fourth Sunday in Lent)

(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.

Joshua 5:9-12

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Gospel Reflection

Today’s Gospel is a well-known story. The generous father reminds us that God’s love is extravagant to the point of seeming  reckless.  We go astray.  But no matter how far we go, how unworthy our behavior, God longs to welcome us back into the fold. 

The waiting father models how we are called to behave toward each other.  We pray, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” but our forgiveness is often grudging.  In contrast, the father clearly yearns to welcome his son back home.  He sees the boy while he is far away and runs to him.  The son can not even get out his well-rehearsed apology before the party is on.  Following the father’s example, we strive to forgive absolutely, rejoicing at the restoration of a relationship with someone who has wronged us. 

Sometimes we are like the younger son, striking out on our own, overly confident in our abilities.  We forget how much we need the father.  This inevitably leads to trouble.  When that happens, we, like the prodigal, need to remember that our father is merciful and compassionate.  No matter how far we go down destructive paths, we can find our way home.  Mistakes are painful and costly.  Our poor decisions cause a lot of suffering. The certainty of God’s care is no excuse for failing to weigh our choices carefully.  Still, when we find ourselves staring at a dead end, Jesus reminds us that the long journey we begin with repentance in the pig sty ends with a welcome, a ring, and a fatted calf.

Discussion Questions

• If the father in the story represents God, what is the inheritance we might each expect? 
• The family in today’s Gospel is clearly wealthy.  What could have motivated the son to leave this comfort in the first place? 
• Verse 17 says the younger son came to his senses.  What does this mean?  Has this happened to you? 
• Can you identify with the older son’s reaction in verses 28 ­– 30? 
• What does the father’s answer to his older son say to us about God’s love?

 Activity Suggestion

Design a t-shirt which communicates your understanding of this week’s lesson.  Think beyond simply picturing a scene from the biblical story.  Use words and graphics which would grab the attention of folks in your school.

Closing Prayer

Loving and forgiving Father God, we thank you for the rich inheritance you offer each of us.  Help us not to squander your gifts, remembering that all we have and are comes from you.  Call to us when we stray and bring us quickly back to our senses.  In the name of Jesus, whose sacrifice has secured for us eternal life and a home with you, Amen.

Contributed by Bill King, Blacksburg, VA

Warm-up Question

Think about the person with whom you most enjoy spending time.  What makes that person’s company so pleasant?

Being Benny Blowhard

Are you a “Chatty Cathy” or a “Benny Blowhard”?  Everyone knows somebody who is long-winded and we usually regard such people as boring and self-absorbed.  But according to Marty Nemko, Kiplinger.com columnist, you could be that person and not know it.  He offers a few questions you can ask yourself to determine whether others are secretly looking for an open window to jump out of when they see you coming:

• Do my pronouncements routinely exceed one minute?
• Do I wander off on tangents?
• Do my listeners often show signs of lack of interest?
• Have my friends ever called me oblivious, egocentric, or selfish?
• Do I blather on about details which interest me but are of little interest to my listener?
• Do others avoid making eye contact when they pass me for fear of getting into a long conversation? 

Nemko says you pay a high price when people perceive you as a big mouth.  You will be held in low esteem and are likely to have fewer friends.  But all is not lost; there are things you can do to remedy the situation:  Be concise.  Be alert to your listener’s non-verbal clues.  Periodically pause and ask a question (“What do you think?”).  Nemko suggests that you adopt the “traffic light rule.”  For the first thirty seconds assume the light is green and the listener is probably not bored.  In the next thirty seconds the light turns yellow and the risk of boring increases.  After sixty seconds, think red and realize that running the light with that favorite story is dangerous. 

“Remember,” says Nemko, “If you care about other people, you’ll make them part of the conversation… Think of it this way: Big talkers learn little. Good listeners learn a lot.” 

Source:  http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2007/04/nemko.html 

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think some people talk so much, even to the point of not realizing they bore their listeners?
• How might the “traffic light rule” apply to Facebook, texting, and IM?
• What is the best way, both effective and kind, to tell someone that he or she talks too much?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, January 31, 2010 (Fourth Sunday After Epiphany)

(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. 

Jeremiah 1:4-10

I Corinthians 13:1-13

Luke 4:21-30

Bible Reflection

He could have stopped while he was ahead.  The home town boy had come home to great acclaim.  “Yes sir,” they were saying, “that Jesus has turned out to be quite a preacher—knows his Bible backwards and forward.”  The text he’d picked from Isaiah was always a crowd pleaser.  Those words about release to the captives, sight to the blind, and liberty for the oppressed—that sounded great to people who lived every day with their noses rubbed in their insignificance to the empire which ruled them.  Despite all appearances they were important.  God had not forgotten them; someday there would be a reckoning.  The world would see how special they were.  Just hearing the prophet’s words read gave the whole congregation a warm feeling.  All Jesus had to do to end the day very well-liked was to stop talking. 

But being popular was never a high priority for Jesus.  So he reminds the congregation of an inconvenient truth:  God seems to care about everyone, Jew and Gentile.  There were plenty of hungry Jewish widows when God sent Elijah to Sidon.  Even more offensive to those who assumed God’s love was only for Israel, Jesus points out that God directed Elisha to heal a foreign conqueror when there were plenty of pious lepers among the Chosen People.  In an instant Jesus went from hometown hero to outsider on the lam. 

Theologian Elton Trueblood observed that “the world is equally shocked at hearing Christianity criticized and seeing it practiced.”  We hear about God’s love and get a warm feeling.  It’s good to know that nothing we can do will separate us from God.  We gather with the community in Christ, sing happy songs, and take comfort from the support which surrounds us.  Nothing wrong with that.  But then Jesus has the audacity to suggest that he might love the folks who are not like us.  He might care about those who practice other religions, live in countries at war with our own, have a different colored skin, or have a lifestyle we find offensive.  Even more appalling, he seems to want us to love them too.  Then we are not so sure we like this God after all.  

Unconditional, expansive love is fine in the abstract—but, Jesus, I was really thinking it meant that you love folks fundamentally like me and mine.  You mean it includes precisely those I find most offensive?  Lord, if you think I am going to do that, there is the cliff I’d like you take a step off of… 

Sometimes we get in trouble for talking too much.  The question is whether people find us offensive because we are not saying anything worth hearing or because what we are saying is so filled with God’s Word that it is hard to hear and remain unchanged.

Discussion Questions

• Who are the outsiders beyond your community which you resist including in God’s care?
• Can you remember a time when expressing God’s love for all people caused you to be excluded or rejected?
• Many persons say the church is losing members because it is like a boring speaker who talks too much and never listens?  Do you think that is true?  How could the church listen to those beyond its fellowship?

Activity Suggestions

• Have your group role play the scene at the synagogue described in Luke 4.  In order to capture the full drama you will need to expand the gospel reading to include verses 16-20.  Invite the group to imagine how the mood in the synagogue would have changed as Jesus read and then offered an expansive interpretation of the text from Isaiah.  You might want to cast the scene to include Jesus’ family, the leader of the synagogue, older folks who had known Jesus as a boy, some of his peers growing up, and members of the Jewish community. 
•  Place a chalice and paten in the center of the meeting space.  Give participants a number of small slips of paper printed with “The body and blood of Christ are given for_________.”  Ask participants to write in the name of those persons or groups they find hardest to love.  Invite them to consider both large categories and the individuals with whom they interact daily.  When all have filled out as many slips as they wish, put all the slips on the paten or in the chalice.  Talk about why it is hard to love some people and how imagining them at the Lord’s table might change our attitude toward them.  End with the prayer below.

Closing Prayer

Lord, who always listened to the longings of those you met, open our ears, that we may compassionately  hear the hurts and needs of all whom we encounter this week.  May no person, through our words or deeds, feel excluded from your love.  In the name of Him who broke down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, we make our prayer.  Amen.