Contributed by Daniel Wiessner, Tacoma, WA

Warm-up Question

To whom do you turn when you’re not sure what to do?

An (Increasingly) Open Book

Turns out everyone’s Facebook privacy is getting a lot less private all the time and, unsurprisingly, a few feathers are getting ruffled.

Ryan Singel at Wired noted the private interests which are unavoidably public via Facebook. He wrote, “I’d like to make my friend list private. Cannot. I’d like to have my profile visible only to my friends, not my boss. Cannot. I’d like to support an anti-abortion group without my mother or the world knowing. Cannot.”

The recent addition of Facebook’s new “instant personalization” is getting particular attention due to its sharing of your personal information with Pandora, Microsoft Docs, and Yelp, in order to help those sites tailor their advertisements to fit your interests. Users can opt out, but the process is apparently complicated and confusing. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), among other organizations, is rallying against Facebook with claims that “Instant personalization violates user expectations and reveals user information without the user’s consent.”

Mark Zuckerberg, the guy who started this crazy Facebook thing, stated earlier this year that  Facebook is constantly being updated “to reflect what the current social norms are.  A lot of companies would be trapped by the conventions and their legacies of what they’ve built… doing a privacy change for 350 million users is not the kind of thing that a lot of companies would do. … But we viewed that as a really important thing, to always keep a beginner’s mind and what would we do if we were starting the company now and we decided that these would be the social norms now and we just went for it.”

Main article from: http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/raw/?p=2351
Wired quote from: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/05/facebook-rogue/#ixzz0nbOC4ojY
Zuckerberg quote from: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebooks_zuckerberg_says_the_age_of_privacy_is_ov.php

Discussion Questions

• Are you on Facebook? (Show of hands, for curiosity’s sake.)
• How do you feel about these privacy changes? Does it really matter to you?
• Some people argue that Facebook is causing these shifts in social norms that Zuckerberg spoke about. Do you agree with Zuckerberg (that Facebook is just following the trend) or do you think that it is a driving force in the change? Why?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 23, 2010 (Day of Pentecost)

 Acts 2:1-21

Romans 8:14-17

John 14:8-17 [25-27]

(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

I’m afraid I can’t “tsk” Philip too harshly for his opening line in this week’s gospel lesson because, really, he and I have something in common here: We don’t always pay attention so well. Fortunately for the both of us, we have been blessed to hold the company of some very kind and very patient people who are willing to explain things to us again and again.

If you remember, Jesus is going to be leaving his disciples, Philip included.  Reading the rest of John 14 reveals pretty clearly that the disciples are uncomfortable with the idea. The disciples general response is “But-but-but.. Wait! Where are you going? We feel kind of low on definite instructions. Is there any way we could maybe text you if we have questions?”

Jesus calmly and patiently reassures his disciples that things are going to work out just fine. In fact, he even leaves them a number to call, so to speak, in case they get confused. Jesus promises another advocate, the Holy Spirit, who will “teach [them] everything, and remind [them] of all that [Jesus has] said to [them].”

In the same way, by reminding us of Jesus’s teachings and instructions, The Holy Spirit acts as our own divine guide. This is a great gift when our easily confused moral compass might mistake North for East.

With this promise of the “Spirit of truth,” Jesus closes this week’s lesson with some of the most wonderful, calming words we could ever hear from our Lord and Savior. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” Amen, Lord Jesus.

Discussion Questions

• Go back and explore the rest of John 14. Think about how the disciples felt before and after this week’s Gospel lesson. What do you think your reaction would have been?
• Looking back at the news for today, do you think that Zuckerberg’s moral compass is confused? Or is the Facebook privacy issue a moral issue at all? Explain.

Activity Suggestions

Texting Treasure Hunt:

In this exercise, there is one leader and a group of hunters. (For youth groups, I recommend there be an adult leader acting as the “leader” as well as another adult leader in the group of “hunters.”) The leader of this exercise must know the surrounding area well. To assist in delivering accurate directions, it may be helpful for the hunters to have  a GPS-enabled phone  while the leader tracks them via Google Latitude or a similar service.

The leader tells the group of hunters that he or she will be waiting for them somewhere nearby before suddenly leaving them. The hunters then petition text messages from the leader in order to help find their way. The leader may be as cryptic or simple as he or she desires.

After the hunters find the leader, they should explore how they felt during the exercise. Was it unnerving to be unaware of where they were headed? Was it reassuring to know that they could ask and receive directions whenever they needed it?

Closing Prayer

Dearest Jesus, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us along your pathways. Thank you for the reassurance you give us every day, through the remembrance of your great sacrifice, that we need never let our hearts be troubled. 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 Steven Alloway, Granada Hills, CA

Warm-up Question

How do you feel after you do something you’re not supposed to do? Do you worry about whether or not someone will find out? Do you worry about what kind of trouble you’ll get into?

Faking It and Forgiveness

Tatiana Khan of Los Angeles, CA paid an art restorer $1,000 to make a forgery of Pablo Picasso’s 1902 painting, The Woman in the Blue Hat. She then turned around and sold it for $2 million.

Then the FBI got involved. Khan first told the authorities that she had gotten the painting from someone else and didn’t know it was a fake. She also told the painter of the forgery to lie to the FBI, to claim he only does restoration work, not copying. But the truth soon came to light. Khan is scheduled to plead guilty next month to felony charges of witness tampering and making false statements to the FBI. Her crimes carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, but a plea bargain, based on her cooperation, recommends a maximum sentence of only 21 months.

Discussion Questions

• Why do you suppose Khan tried to sell a phony Picasso? Why do you think the art dealer went along with it?
• Considering that the charges Khan now faces do not concern the painting itself but her subsequent dealings with the FBI, why do you think she lied and tried so hard to cover her tracks, when she knew she was caught?
• If you were the judge, how would you sentence Tatiana Khan? Which sentence do you think is more appropriate for her crimes, 21 months or 25 years?  What sentence should the forger/art dealer receive?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 9, 2010 (Sixth Sunday of Easter)

Acts 16:9-15

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

John 14:23-29

(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

“Those who love me will keep my Word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” Familiar words from a familiar verse. But upon closer inspection, the interpretation becomes a little more daunting.

“…and my Father will love them.” But what if we don’t keep God’s word? Won’t he still love us? Because, try as we might, none of us can keep God’s word all the time. And what about the next verse? “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” But we do love Christ! We may mess up.  We fail to keep his words the way we should. We may even flat out deny our relationship with Jesus, as Peter did. But that didn’t mean Peter loved Jesus any less, nor do we. Though we love him, we are prone to sin. So what can we do?

Well, Jesus covers that too. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.” God sent us the Holy Spirit to help us in our spiritual lives. He will keep us on the right track, be our help in times of trouble, and guide us when we stray from the path. Everyone strays from God’s word sometimes. The Holy Spirit is our advocate—someone who intercedes on our behalf when we fail to measure up, a reminder that God still loves us, even when we sin.

Jesus also gives us something else: Peace. When we sin, it can weigh heavily on our conscience and tear us up inside.  We worry about what we’ve done and wonder what others will think of us if they find out. But Jesus gives us his peace, so that our hearts need not be troubled. Knowing we are forgiven, that God still loves us, we can rest easy. But we do more than just rest. With the Holy Spirit to guide us and Christ’s peace to comfort us, we can get back on the right path, seeking to love God and keep his Word.

Discussion Questions

• Since we know that we’re forgiven and God still loves us, even when we sin, does that give us a free pass to sin whenever we want? Why? How would that attitude reflect on our love for God?
• What are some ways the Holy Spirit has guided you back to God’s path when you strayed?
• How is our situation like Tatiana Khan’s? How is it different? Do you think the FBI cut her a deal for a reduced sentence out of forgiveness or for some other reason?

 Activity Suggestion

Look in the Bible for other mentions of the Holy Spirit (The Spirit, Comforter, Advocate, etc.). Write about how the Holy Spirit is active in our lives.

Closing Prayer

Holy Spirit, watch over me in all that I do and keep me on the right path.  When I stray, lead me back to you. Give me your peace, so that my heart may not be troubled.  Help me always to love you more and more, that I may keep your Word. 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 Bob Chell, Lutheran Campus Ministry at South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota

Warm-up Question

As children, we sometimes misconstrue reality because we misinterpret what we see:  “Dad took me to watch firefighters train on an abandoned house. For years I thought firefighters drove around looking for run-down houses to burn and was scared they would burn down our house.”  

Sometimes we are mislead:  “When I was little, my Dad told me that the tune played by the ice cream van was the ice cream man letting everyone know that he’d run out of ice cream.”

What have you believed which turned out to be untrue?

Life Out of Doubt

A young woman lay dead; nearby, an abandoned truck was stuck in the mud.  The investigation was quick.  Within hours, police had suspects and by evening Greg Taylor and Johnny Beck were in jail, charged with murder.  Both were crack addicts who admitted they were only looking for their next high.  Johnny Beck was released before trial for reasons which are unclear. Greg Taylor was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.  That was sixteen years ago.  A month ago Greg Taylor was released from prison upon the recommendation of a special innocence panel which found “clear and convincing evidence” that Gregory F. Taylor was innocent and had been convicted based on flawed evidence and unreliable testimony.

Source:  (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/us/18innocent.html)

Discussion Questions

• Had this been you or someone you love, would you be grateful or bitter upon release after sixteen years?  How would you reconcile the two feelings?
• Have you ever had first-hand knowledge of a news story that didn’t match what you heard in the media?
• Have you passed on a story you later learned was untrue? What were the consequences for the person in the untrue story you passed on?  For you?
• Did you take any action upon learning the story was untrue?  What was the result? 

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 11, 20110 (Second Sunday of Easter)

Acts 5:27-32

Revelation 1:4-8

John 20:19-31

(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

Thomas stands in a long line of doubters stretching back to the beginning of the faith.  Abraham was skeptical that God could deliver on the promise of a son while Sarah, his wife, laughed in God’s face.  Moses doubted he could accomplish what God called him to do.  Gideon demanded proof.  Elijah ran away.  Jeremiah and Job—even Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane before his arrest and crucifixion—struggled with doubt.  One theologian notes that the only people in scripture who are certain of God’s will stone the prophets and crucify Jesus.

Doubt is not an enemy, but a friend.  Doubt keeps us from being a sucker for every get-rich, get-beautiful, get-saved scheme that comes along.  The danger is that, surrounded by pop-up ads and bogus invitations to wealth and intimacy, we will become cynical and cease to believe anything.

Yet, it is doubt that pushes us forward in life and faith.  Doubt is a way of life for high school and college students:  Doubting your major, doubting your current romance, doubting there will ever be a romance, doubting your career plans, doubting your faith.

Doubt is useful when it pushes us beyond the superficial to the substantive, when it pushes us to ask hard questions and look at life, and ourselves, with clear and open eyes.

Doubt is at the heart of education.  It drives the scientific method.  How does this work…what would happen if…can I prove…?

In our personal life doubt keeps us awake at night and commands our attention. It is unpleasant but useful, drawing us to attend to those things most important in our lives.  Doubt pushes us to change and grow.  It forces us to ask hard questions about faith, family, and vocation, the things which define who we are.

Doubt is not the end but the beginning.  Most of us, when plagued by doubt, try harder to figure it out, to think it through, to discern the truth—and we should.  Whom we choose as a life partner, the career we choose, the faith we embrace will shape and change the rest of our lives.

Easter isn’t about happy endings, Jesus springing up three days later so we can have Easter eggs, a new outfit and time off from school or work.  Easter is about a God who stands with us, suffers with us, even dies with us.

The poet Gerhard Frost once wrote: “Doubt gnaws at faith but faith gnaws back, and faith has better teeth.”  God’s promise is that Jesus can and will break through the locked and shut doors of our lives, the prison of doubt we live in.  Jesus comes through the wall, breaks in, and speaks “Peace be with you.”  God’s peace isn’t a promise that there will be no doubt, pain, struggle, indecision, or any of the other things which are part of being human, part of being in relationships. God’s peace is a promise to walk with us, to strengthen us, to sustain us, to forgive us, to challenge us.

The time for hunting Easter eggs is over, but if we are hunting for God working in our lives, we need only look where we doubt.  There we will find God’s Spirit moving us to growth and faith.

Discussion Questions

• Recall a time when you thought you would never be happy again.  Was God at work in you and others?
• How do we discern when doubt is useful and when it is useless?
• If doubt is a good thing, can we be certain about anything?

Activity Suggestions

• Ask several persons you love and trust if there was ever a time when they wanted to run away and leave their life behind because they were embarrassed, ashamed or in deep pain.  Ask what enabled them to survive that time and, looking back, how they see that God was at work in their lives during that time.
•  Reflect on a time when you were so unhappy you wanted to quit, give up, move, and get away from doubt and pain.  What enabled you to survive?  Is there a learning there for your faith?  for your future?

Closing Prayer

God of grace and mercy, we want to believe and trust your promises.  Give us courage and perseverance to confront the doubt and pain and brokenness in our lives.  Give us, also, the wisdom to know when to let go of broken dreams and move on.  Move our hearts to forgive others and ourselves, so we may live with Easter joy.  Amen.