Contributed by Paul Henrickson, Salem, VA

Warm-up Questions

What if Jesus prayed for you?

• Would it be the same as the prayer in John 17 which he prayed for his disciples?
• Would he pray that you would be “sanctified?”
• Would Jesus pray for your PROTECTION or for your PURIFICATION or both?

Caps and Frowns

Begin by reading following online articles about job prospects for new graduates.  Note the chart “Caps and Frowns:  Job prospects for the class of 2012.”

http://www.decisionsonevidence.com/2012/02/limited-job-prospects-and-earnings-for-high-school-diploma-only-workers/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304020104577384410323391198.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

Whether you’re in high school or college, the employment outlook is not encouraging.  This raises some important questions for people of faith.

• Would God really call us to be unemployed?
• Do we need a broader understanding of “calling?”
• How do faithful people respond to the “new economic reality?”
• What is our true “vocation?”

Discussion Questions

• What do you envision as your future?
• What is your dream?
• What are you planning to do after graduation from High School/College?
• What is your calling?
• Are you looking for security or meaning?
• Do you want to be Protected or Purified?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 20, 2012 (Seventh Sunday of Easter)

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

1 John 5:9-13

John 17:6-19

(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

This is part of the “Priestly Prayer” of Jesus in the 17^th Chapter of John.  These four verses seem to sum up the core of the prayer of Jesus for his disciples – for Jesus’ disciples today:

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.^*  They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth

There are three points worth noting:

We are IN the world, not OF the world.

• We have been claimed by Christ to be those redeemed.
• We are no longer under Satan’s rule (this world), but God’s rule.

We are protected.

• “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
•  The power of evil gets too little attention from today’s Christian.
• From Luther’s Large Catechism: “If you could see how many daggers, spears, and  arrows are at every moment aimed at you, you would be glad to come to  the sacrament as often as possible.”

We are being “made holy.”

• We have been “sanctified – made holy”  from Late Latin sanctificāre, from Latin sanctus holy + facere to make

Discussion Questions

•  How would you live your life today if you really believed that God was doing His work on you to “make you holy?”
• What does it mean for you to be IN the world not OF the world?

Activity Suggestions

•  Write a prayer that Jesus might pray for you.
• Imagine a day in your life where your sanctification was a 24 hour activity.
• Read the newspaper and find places where sanctification is required.

Closing Prayer

There is no better prayer for protection and sanctification than Psalm 141.  In your group, slowly read the psalm together as a prayer, perhaps pausing briefly after each verse.  As you read, think of those who are in particular need of God’s care, and pray for them.

Contributed by John Hougen, Melrose Park, PA

Warm-up Question

Do you believe political leaders can make a difference in the lives of people who are sick, hungry, homeless, and fearful?

Helping People in Need

As the Republican Party selects its nominee for President and President Obama makes his case for re-election, many campaign sound-bites are about “creating jobs.” We are hearing very different ideas about whether government or the private sector should take the lead. Voters must decide: who has the best ideas and experience that can be used to put people to work.

Candidates say or imply that creating jobs is the best way to help people in need. They want us to share their belief that if jobs are created people will earn salaries and have the means to feed and house their families, pay the doctors’ bills, send the kids to college, and take care of other problems.

While the debate about jobs goes on, the rising tide of human needs which will not be solved by job creation gets brief attention from the candidates, and is reported on the inside pages of newspapers, late in newscasts, and below the headlines on the internet. In the state and city where I live, the number of people relying on food banks is dramatically up and food stamp recipients have to meet new and stricter criteria to qualify. The number of people with disabilities who receive Medicaid has been cut, and the waiting list of persons with disabilities who want to be considered for Medicaid has increased by tens of thousands. Too many people are homeless or living in substandard housing. Too many people are trapped in their homes by fear of violence on the streets where they live.

We can hope and pray that new jobs will be created and contribute to helping people in need, but there are people in need who can’t wait until new jobs are created; and there are people whose needs cry out for other kinds of help: help that will not come with better employment statistics. People of faith are called to address such problems with thoughts, words, and deeds.

Discussion Questions

• What kinds of human needs do you see in your community? To supplement what you know firsthand, search the internet for statistics to discover the scope of the problems you see. For hunger/food insecurity, you might start with elca.org/hunger, and then see what you can find out about hunger in your city, county, or state.
• Share stories of how you or people you know respond to hunger, homelessness, and other human needs. From your examples, pick out two or three “best practices,” and talk about why these responses are effective.
• Have you supplemented personal and congregational responses to human needs with “advocacy?” Within elca.org, search for “Advocacy.” You will be led to information that begins: “ADVOCACY is how the ELCA works to overcome the effects and root causes of hunger and poverty through administrative, legislative, and judicial actions in the public sphere, as well as through corporate actions in the private sphere.”  Discuss whether you think advocacy will contribute positively to meeting human needs.

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, February 5, 2012 (Fifth Sunday After Epiphany)

Isaiah 40:21-31

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Mark 1:29-39
(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 text assigned for last Sunday (January 29: Mark 1: 21 – 28), we heard Mark’s report of Jesus’ visit to the synagogue in Capernaum. There Jesus taught “with authority” and cast out “unclean spirits” (demons). Onlookers were amazed. Not only did Jesus come across as more authoritative than recognized authorities (the scribes), but an unclean spirit spoke through a man it possessed and said to Jesus, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” The onlookers believed the testimony of the spirit, for, in those days, people thought one supernatural being – such as an unclean spirit – could recognize another supernatural being – such as “the Holy One of God.” Last week’s Gospel text prepares us to see the significance of this week’s text, which immediately follows. Jesus is authoritative. Jesus is Holy and “of God.” We should pay attention.

What Jesus says and does in Mark 1: 29 – 39 provides a good model for helping people in need. He surrounds himself with trusted friends (verse 29 mentions the disciples Simon, Andrew, James, and John). Working with others is almost always more effective in meeting human needs than working alone. Next, Jesus responds to the need that is closest at hand. After Jesus enters Simon’s mother-in-law’s house, he cures her fever. We also should respond first to those in need who are close at hand. And, Mark’s narrative reveals the purpose of all healing and helping: “[Jesus] lifted her up, … and she began to serve them.” You and I and all people in need are (in God’s intentions) healed, forgiven, and helped so that we may serve others.

After Jesus heals his hostess, word spreads, and others who are sick or possessed are brought to Jesus for healing. Jesus doesn’t stop with one act of kindness; he expands his efforts to help others. However, he recognizes that he must have balance in his life, so after curing many, he suspends his helping and healing for a time. He sleeps; and “In the morning, … he went out to a deserted place and there he prayed.” He took care of himself, both physically and spiritually. Even though there were still more people to help in Capernaum, Jesus seems to be at peace with not helping everyone. Instead he moves on to other towns and synagogues beyond Capernaum, expanding his efforts to the region (both “proclaiming his message” and healing). We, too, should link proclamation and helping in our efforts. And, we could follow Jesus’ example and develop a regional (and even global) approach by cooperating with other houses of worship and participating in advocacy for more compassionate public policies.

To summarize: a good strategy for helping others is provided by Mark 1: 29 – 39:

• Surround yourself with trusted friends.
• Respond to needs that are close at hand.
• Equip those you help so they may serve others.
• Expand your efforts, helping people beyond those close at hand.
• Practice self-care: enhancing your own physical and spiritual well-being.  
• Be at peace with the fact that you cannot help everyone.
• Help others both locally and regionally (even globally). 

Discussion Questions

• Which steps in this model for helping are you confident you can do? Which steps seem most daunting?
• The other texts assigned for Feb. 5, especially Isaiah 40: 21 – 31 and Psalm 147 praise God for acting creatively and compassionately in this world.  Do you think it is possible for people to become God’s allies in some of the divine actions mentioned in Isaiah 40 and Psalm 147? Which ones? If people are able to cooperate with God in doing praiseworthy actions, what do God and people need from each other to  make the cooperative effort successful?

Activity Suggestions

• Create a scenario or two in which your group (trusted friends) follows the steps outlined above, selecting a specific need close at hand, figuring out how you would help meet it, and how you could move beyond it, practice self care, and so on.
• Follow through with one of your scenarios, checking in with the group after each step to see whether you are following the strategy suggested by Mark 1: 29 – 39, or if you have wandered off the path pioneered by Jesus.

Closing Prayer

Open our eyes, Lord, so we may see human needs which are close by. Open our hearts, Lord, so we may be filled with your gift of holy compassion. Open our hands, Lord, so we may be generous, giving of ourselves as we help others. Fill our imaginations with wisdom, and energy, so we can be creative and effective allies for you. With you and others whom you inspire, enable us to serve people in need. Amen.

Contributed by Brian Hiortdahl, Chicago, IL

Warm-up Question

Who do you admire and why?

What Makes Success?

The recent death of visionary Apple, Inc. co-founder, chairman and CEO Steve Jobs has spawned a national wave of mourning and reflection, not to mention iPhone sales. Consultant Carmine Gallo has identified “seven secrets” to Jobs’ success, summarized in an article from ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/steve-jobs-secrets-success/story?id=14692969

1. Do what you love no matter what it happens to be.
2. Put a dent in the universe.
3. Say no to 1000 things.
4. Kick start your brain by doing something new.
5. Sell dreams not products
6. Create insanely great experiences
7. Master the message.

It is natural and common for us as mortal human beings to reflect at times of death on the significance and meaning of life, whether one individual’s story or the collective experience.  Deaths of public figures enlarge the conversation, especially figures who are young and creative–who appear full of life, making their death feel like a surprise, even though we know that, ready or not, death will come at an undisclosed time for us all.   For some, the dread and certainty of death provides motivation for living life to its fullest and/or chasing after success while there is still time.

Discussion Questions

• How do you define success?
• Which of Jobs’ “seven secrets” most resonates with you?  Which one would you like to emulate more, and why?
• Have you experienced the death of someone significant in your life?  How did you and others react?  What meaning did you make of their life?
• What do you hope will be written about you after you die?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, November 6, 2011 (Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost)

 
Amos 5:18-24

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Matthew 25:1-13

(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 parable in this week’s gospel looks forward to a decisive ending.  Jesus changes his standard introduction “the kingdom of heaven is like…” to “then the kingdom of heaven will be like…” so that the disciples gathered around him will know that now he is talking future, not present.

The story focuses on readiness for the coming of the bridegroom, which the disciples would recognize as a symbol for God’s Messiah, the one for whose arrival Israel waited eagerly.  By presenting ten bridesmaids instead of one, Jesus shifts the focus from the community as a whole to individuals, who might (and do) prepare and respond differently.  Five bring extra oil along with their lamps, five do not.  The bridegroom is so delayed that all of them fall asleep.  A shout comes at midnight that the bridegroom is coming, so everyone scurries to light their lamps.  The five without oil ask for help from the five with oil, but all they get is bad advice:  “go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.”  In the frenzy of excitement, nobody stops to consider that the streets are dark and the dealers are probably closed, so the five “foolish” bridesmaids miss the bridegroom on their frantic wild goose chase for unavailable oil.

The first three of Steve Jobs’ seven secrets give us an interesting lens through which to look at the success or failure of our bridesmaids.  A heart (and a vision) clearly set on the bridegroom, even if not prepared with extra oil, would not settle for chasing after supplies or anything else when what it most truly wants is at hand.  And it is the wise bridesmaids, not the foolish ones, who say, “no.”  They are the ones who are ready for the “insanely great experience” of the wedding banquet, the kingdom come.

Yet this story doesn’t only teach us about ourselves, but also about the bridegroom for whom we wait and hope.  For one thing, our bridegroom doesn’t come on our terms or timetable.  Jesus is certainly taking his sweet time to return and end the human story, and most Christians in history will see death before they see Him.  With such a long wait, even the wisest of us fall asleep.  The story ends with a true warning that “you know neither the day nor the hour” (there are so many things we don’t get to know!), but it does give us a valuable clue about Jesus’ arrival.  The bridegroom comes at midnight, an hour of darkness when it is nearly impossible to see.  Two weeks from now, we will experience another story from Matthew 25 in which Jesus is hidden from view, and neither of its two groups (sheep nor goats) see him hidden in “the least of these.”  Could it be that the bridesmaids need the oil not so that they will see him, because they won’t, but so that he will see them?  (Notice how the foolish bridesmaids know the bridegroom, but he says he doesn’t know them…even though they were invited!)  Could it be that our hope is ultimately not in our hands, but in Christ’s eyes?

Discussion Questions

•  Where, when, and how do you see Christ?  How does Christ see you?
• Do you see other connections between Steve Jobs’ secrets for success and the behavior of the ten bridesmaids?
• To what requests and suggestions should you say “no”?
•  How does thinking about the fact that life and history will have an end make a difference for your life in the world right now?

Activity Suggestions

•  Ask a signficant, trusted older adult in your life (a parent, a grandparent, etc.) to share with you about preparations they have made for their death.  Have they written a will?  Have they made arrangements for a funeral?  Who and what have they identified as important after they die, and why?
• Write your own epitaph.  Assume that your gravestone is small, so your epitaph will have to fit in a Twitter post!

Closing Prayer

Come, Lord Jesus.  Focus us on what is most important, prepare us for your appearance, find us wherever we are, look upon us with compassion and understanding, and bring us at last into your joy.  Amen

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

Warm-up Question: Share a time when something happened that was just not fair, that you had no control over. For instance, a car wreck, getting blamed for something you didn’t do, etc.

It seems all we hear about is news about the economy these days. When we hear all the news, we hope that somehow the biggest fallout will pass us by. We hope we will keep our jobs as long as we keep working hard, keep our heads down, and hang on. But for 1,100 Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler dealerships, suddenly they are no longer hanging on but have become a part of the growing statistic of pink-slipped people.

After filing for bankruptcy, Chrysler has been waiting for the results of the government’s plan to help the automaker recover. The decisions are not Chrysler’s, they can only wait and see what recommendations come through. The government put into place one recommendation asking for 1,100 dealerships to close by the end of the month. With the potential of 40,000 jobs lost, many people are in fear for their financial lives. The news comes in the mail this week via letter to the dealerships. Perhaps a mail carrier has never been watched more closely at a Chrysler dealership than on May 15.

Many men and women around the country are also watching their mailboxes, in-boxes, e-mail, and inter-office memos closely waiting to see if they are the next people cut in the continued need to trim budgets in a weakening economy. Tension runs high in many places as people worry, “will I be the next to receive the luck, or perhaps bad luck, of the draw?”

Discussion Questions

• Do you know anyone who has lost a job or had to accept a cut in salary, pay, or work hours because of the economy? How are they dealing with the change?
• What if this situation happened to you? How would you feel? Would you be angry? Frustrated? Relieved? What sort of changes do you think you or your family would need to make to cope?
• Do you believe in luck? Why or why not?
• Why do you think good things keep happening to some people and bad to others? Is there a greater design to it that some are given blessings and others are not — on purpose?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 24, 2009.

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

• Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
• Psalm 1
• 1 John 5:9-13
• John 17:6-19

Gospel Reflection

Reading the Gospel lesson again, I am reminded that I have always felt bad for Barsabbas. I mean seriously, the poor guy is obviously someone who has followed Jesus for a long time if he is to be considered a choice to be apostle. He is named “Son of the Sabbath” which is a really cool name, and here he is passed over because he drew the short straw. Man, that just stinks for him. Now he is not an apostle simply because of luck?

Perhaps, but also perhaps the world spins on its own and God chooses moments to intersect the kingdom of heaven with the kingdom of earth in actions like healings, tremendous coincidences, visions, and prophecy, to name a few. We call them miracles because, well, they do not happen all the time, right? It seems that God does intervene sometimes, but not in others. How then does God choose when and how? Why are some healed and some not? Why do good things happen to some and others, well, seem to “draw the short straw”? What happens? Is it luck, a choice, or God’s action?

There is no perfect answer to this question, but we can take reassurance in one interesting thought: for every person healed or raised from the dead or freed from slavery, all of them still suffered the ultimate end, death. Yes, we glimpsed the kingdom when Lazarus was raised from the dead, but he eventually died anyway. Yes, Jairus’ daughter was raised from the dead and all wondered and praised God, but she died eventually too. I have known friends who have recovered from cancer and yet in their old age they still moved on into death. It seems that no matter what little thing befalls us in this life, the good and the ill, in the end we all have our ticket punched and none of us live forever. (Just ask Voldemort.)

How is this good news?

These glimpses of the kingdom, these tiny, infrequent moments, are not rewards for people who have been good or bad, they are signposts for what God wants to do in total. We can see that if God wants to raise one of these from the dead, this is a sign that God can do this for all of us. Ultimately we know this through Jesus who was raised from the dead so that while we know death we will not have fear. We are all blessed to receive the miracle of Jesus’ grace. For all that luck or blessing or miracle or curse or whatever we may call it on this side, in the end we are all victorious. We are all blessed. We are all given the gift of new life.

I am not sure I believe in luck. I am not even sure that God played a hand in picking Matthias over Barsabbas. Maybe it just was, for good or bad. Or maybe this was the hand of God in this small instance, a miracle, picking the right one for the job. I just don’t know. Instead, rather than seeing the small picture, I choose to see the big picture. Remember that we are all chosen, straws or not, to be God’s children. This isn’t luck. It’s a blessing.

 Or was it luck? It seems that the text wants us to consider that God had a hand in how this drama unfolded, that the true apostle would be picked by divine providence and the right one would become the apostle. But does God work this way? Is God really the one pulling all the little strings of every moment of every action?

Discussion Questions

• How do you think it would have felt to be Barsabbas? What do you think you would have done? Been mad and left? Stuck around? Accepted the decision? Been bitter?
• The good and the bad that happen to you… do you think they all come from God?Do you tend to call good things luck and bad things God — or vice versa? Why?
• Is God is at work in every little thing? Why or why not? Do you think God works to bless some people in special ways? Do you think God tries to challenge, maybe you’d even say curse, others?
• What do you think when you ask God for an A on a test, or a good job evaluation, or a faster solution to a problem and it doesn’t happen? Who do you blame? God? Do you think it’s life, luck, blessing, or curse?
• What do we do when we pray for healing for someone and it doesn’t happen? Is this God? Life, luck, blessing, or curse? Does healing occur sometimes in a way that we don’t think of or ask for? How?

Quotables

• “We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?”  Jean Cocteau (1889-1963)
• “It is bad luck to be superstitious.”  Andrew W. Mathis
• “Luck favors the prepared, darling.”  Edna Mode in The Incredibles
• “I have a lot of luck, it’s just not always good luck.”  Carter Terry
• “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”  Seneca, Roman dramatist
• “Shallow [people] believe in luck, believe in circumstances. Real [people] believe in cause and effect.”(ed. “men”)  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Activity Suggestion

Lucky Straw

This is a wishing game. It is a simple test, for good or ill. Everyone think of a hope for the coming week, a wish, so to speak. They can be as simple (“I want to be really happy”) or as complex (“I want to grow wings and shoot fireballs from my eyes”) as they wish, but it has to come true this week.

Give people a chance to consider their hope, then write it down on a slip of paper. Give everyone a few minutes to look at the slip of paper, concentrating really hard, REALLY wanting it to happen. Now throw all the slips of paper into a hat or container. Mix them all up telling them that whatever they draw out will come true. Have each person pull one out and read it out loud.

Discuss:

• Do you think it is going to happen? Why or why not?
• Is this a trustworthy process? Why or why not?
• Come back the following week and discuss whether the wish came true. Why do you think it did or didn’t?
• Do you think God or luck played a hand in this?

Closing Prayer

Holy God, for all the good and bad that comes in the world, I know that no matter what, you are our Father, and of you we will have hope that we will rest eternally in you. Thank you for whatever blessings we have been given, forgive us for ascribing good or ill to you that is not yours, and give us confidence to follow you, for good or ill. Amen.