Contributed by Connor Early (10th grade student), Clive, IA
and Angie Larson, Clive, Iowa

Warm-up Question:  What would you do to help people in need? Are there limits to what you would do?

Jorge Munoz may sound like the name of a typical New Yorker, but he is much more than that. He is a school bus driver! But more importantly, Jorge Munoz, 44, has supplied over 70,000 meals to the homeless over the past four years.

Every night he pulls up in his white pickup truck and unloads as many as 140 meals with hot food, coffee, and hot chocolate. Both food and gas costs are estimated to be about $400-450 a week, which he pays for with his $700 a week paycheck. People of all backgrounds come to receive a meal, usually their first and only for the day.

Jorge says that seeing these people remind him of when he first arrived in America in the 1980’s. He was born in Columbia and his father had died when he was young. His mother had moved to Brooklyn to earn money to support him and his sister, and he soon followed. He achieved citizenship with his mother and sister in 1976. He stood on the streets not looking for work, but as an immigrant, much like the people he serves.

Jorge began his now non-profit meal program in the summer of 2004, naming it “An Angel in Queens, Inc.” His work has consumed much of his time, money, and space, but he or his sister carries the work on every night of the year. When asked why he spends so much time helping people he doesn’t even know, he replied:

“I have a stable job, my mom, my family, a house… everything I want, I have. And these guys [don’t]. So I just think, ‘OK, I have the food.’ At least for today they’re going to have a meal to eat.”

Discussion Questions

1. How is Jorge helping to make a difference in the world? What steps is he taking to reduce hunger?
2. How do you think the people feel towards Jorge’s generosity? What is something they might say to him?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, November 29, 2009. (first day of Advent)

(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.

• Jeremiah 33:14-16
• Psalm 25:1-10 (1)
• 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
• Luke 21:25-36

Scripture Reflection

In the 1st Thessalonians text, Paul writes about increasing and abounding in love. In Luke, we are reminded to not be weighed down by the worries of this life. Both texts spread news about living a life of abundance instead of a life of scarcity. Often we think that we do not have enough. We do not have enough money. We do not have enough material goods. We do not have enough of whatever it takes to fill our need or want.

The good news is that love abounds and God provides. Jesus tells us that the kingdom is near. The kingdom is within us.

In the Gospel, we are warned against things that lead to a life of scarcity. Jesus tells us to look out for those things that get in the way of living the abundant life that God has planned for our lives. When we look at life as short and precious as it is, we can adopt an attitude of gratefulness; abounding in love.

Jorge Munoz adopts this way of life. He does not let his career as a bus driver or that he’s an immigrant keep him from giving in abundance. Instead, he realizes that he has much to give from his abundance. He is not weighed down by what he lacks, but gives from what he has. We can do the same.

Discussion Questions

1. In what area of your life do you feel like you have scarcity? What is scarcity?
2. Realistically, do you think you would be like Jesus, James and John, or the other ten disciples?

Learn more about: 

• Service and mission opportunities for youth and young adults
• Justice and peace resources for youth
• Make It Simple resource about simplicity and generosity
• ELCA World Hunger 
• Just For Life ELCA Outdoor Ministry Curriculum

Activity Suggestion

Everything I have

Ask your group to write down everything that they own all over a huge piece of paper. Or do it as a huge collage of photos, pictures, and drawings.

1. Step back and look at all the things listed.
2. What’s your first impression?
3. What are your first thoughts about your life, generosity, need, decisions you make, lifestyle, and how you will live life?

Closing Prayer

Blessed Savior, thank you for serving us. Help us to remember to serve others. We know that at times we look towards power and prestige; we ask you to help us redirect ourselves during those times. Bless those who serve others with their lives. Enable us to learn and live extraordinary lives of service. In your name we pray. Amen.

Contributed by Pastor Jay Gamelin
Jay is pastor of Jacob’s Porch, an ELCA Campus Mission to The Ohio State University

Warm-up Question:  Do you worry about the end of the world? If so, what’s your worry? If not, why not?

On November 13, movie theaters across the country premiered the film “2012” to fill the eyeballs of theater goers and pockets of the producers.  A big budget eye-candy movie brings to public consciousness the prediction by ancient calendars (or we should say calendar) that the world will come to an end on December 21 or 23 of 2012. Discovered in the Tabasco region of Mexico, the Olmec or Mayan calendar is based on cycles of 5,125 years, the current period to end in 2012.

Most serious scholars give very little credence to the theory, but this has not stopped a burgeoning business based on the 2012 legend. The numbers of books offering proof, theories, research, and even survival guides has exploded. Blogs are now offering proof and advice as well as others critiquing the theories. Some preachers are beginning to preach apocalyptic message and are asking parishioners to prepare for Jesus’ second coming.

It seems that the end of the world sells and we all have our theories as to what makes the world end. Apocalypse and post-apocalypse films have always been a popular theme in movie theaters this year. Terminator 4 followed the story of John Connor into an apocalypse by mutant robots. The Road, a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Cormac McCarthy, follows a man and his son through a post-nuclear holocaust world and is soon to be a motion picture released this winter. Zombieland is a comedy following road-trippers through an apocalyptic world of zombies.

It hasn’t been since 1999 and the Y2K worry that we have seen such hype over the purported end of the world. Or 1973 before that. Or 1911. Or 1844. Or 1266… or…

Discussion Questions

1. Do you think there is validity to the claim that the end comes in 2012? Why or why not?
2. Why do you think people are so interested in the end of the world? What fascinates us about this subject?
3. Do you think it is possible to predict the end of the world? Why or why not?
4. What, if anything, do you think is most likely to create an end of the world scenario? What is not likely, in your opinion, to do this?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, November 22, 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.)

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

• Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
• Psalm 93 (2)
• Revelation 1:4b-8
• John 18:33-37

Gospel Reflection

It seems there is always someone predicting the end of the world. If it isn’t cataclysmic ice storms suddenly freezing New York then it is a giant meteor flattening New York, or an infectious disease infecting New York, or a giant bomb blowing up in New York. The point is, stay out of New York. (Just kidding!)

Seriously, what people like to deal in is fear. And what is more powerful for creating and stirring up fear than the unknown? It is just like us that we want to have the very date pinned down when the world goes to heck in a handbasket. We want to sell books about it, show movies about it, read about it, convince others about it. Seriously, if the end of the world is coming, why are they selling a survival guide for $49? What are you going to do with the money?

It feels good to be able to stand on a street corner and shout, “the end is near!” and be so sure that all the signs point to biblical codes and secret texts that tell a special truth that others are not aware of. We just want to know.

Many have trusted these prophecies in the past. Over and over again, prognosticators have combed through the Bible and seen the signs in the stars and the current political climate and determined that the time of the end of the world has come. It happened throughout the first 4 centuries of Christianity. It happened after the fall of the Roman Empire. It happened when the year 1000 hit. It happened during the Crusades. It happened in 1844 when William Miller proposed he knew the end of the world, was wrong, and people formed a church about it anyway called the Seventh Day Adventists. (Note: Today’s Adventists do not believe this, it is just a part of their history.) It happened during World War 1, World War 2, during the Oil Crisis, during Y2K, and now 2012. We love to fear what we do not know, and thus we try our best to know and predict the future so that we are not caught off guard.

Usually when we read the books of Daniel and Revelation, we instantly turn on our freak-out meter. Both describe crazy animals and demons and destruction and wars. They talk about signs and seasons and desolating sacrileges and numbers and beasts. These “apocalyptic” texts, as they are called (add that to your SAT vocabulary), seem to be about pointing to perfectly knowable and predictable signs that become a road map for our understanding. But is this really what they are about? Is God that easy to understand?

The texts this week seem to be about establishing Jesus as a king. Both point to Jesus as our heavenly ruler, a king who is in charge. And again in John, Jesus continues this prediction with an unusual tete-a-tete with Pilate about kingdoms and rulers. The story here is about establishing who Jesus is and where his authority comes from… and this is good news!

Instead of focusing on trying to decipher the mystical meanings of all the stories in Revelation and Daniel, it is good to focus on the end results — the good news.

No matter what is described, in the end Jesus is king and God is victor. What is described, whether as a historical prediction or a beautiful allegory, is not a thing to be feared but a thing to wonder about and expect and rejoice in. The whole story God shows us from Genesis to Revelation is that God was there in the beginning loving us, God was there throughout history loving us, God sent a Son — Jesus — to show how loved we are, and God will come again to love us still.

We don’t need to fear the end, whatever or wherever or whenever that may be. We instead can rejoice that our king is Jesus, a Jesus who loved us while we were yet sinners, who redeemed us not when we deserved but solely out of love and grace, and who is resurrected so that we may live to love and serve God and the world freely.

As the angels said when the disciples saw the tomb rolled away, “fear not”, for this is good news.

Activity Suggestion

Surviving the Second Coming

(Note:  This activity is to be done in fun and jest. While it is not my intention to be irreligious, in an effort to shift our hearts and minds from fear of our Lord’s coming to joy, we can allow a hint of fun and laughter to dispel what could be a very scary subject. I invite you to let your hair down, or loosen the tie, or perhaps both, and have fun with this activity.)

As a group, work together on a “Surviving the Second Coming of Christ Manual”. Some things to consider:

• What are the necessary items you want with you at all times, in case Jesus should suddenly pop up? (suggestions: Bibles with every verse underlined to prove you read it, a piece of the true cross, a “Jesus is my homeboy tee”, any indulgences previously purchased, and a corroborating receipt, etc.)
• What sort of résumé and documents do you need to prove your worthiness? (suggestions: baptismal photos and certificates, confirmation certificates, number of times in church attendance documentation, any extracurricular activities within the church — remember, softball doesn’t count… etc.)
• What are some important steps to consider in preparation? (suggestions: get a letter of recommendation from a pastor or a high ranking official like a bishop or the head usher or Mel Gibson, destroy all copies of any CD from America Idol Alumni so that “we have no other idols”, keep an autotuner ready so that when you sing with the heavenly hosts you’ll be in pitch, research angel wing care, etc.)

Process:  Think of all the pictures we have in our heads already about what things “are supposed to look like.”

• Where do these images come from?
• Where do these thoughts come from?

Some images and thoughts are based in scripture, others in legend or fiction. But to be sure, if we can imagine what it will be like, it is likely that description probably still comes up short. No matter what we say or do, it is God who justifies us and makes us whole. So no matter what we do to “prepare”, in the end none of it matters to the incomparable love and redemption of Jesus. This is not just good news, it’s great news! Thanks for having fun!

Closing Prayer

God, thank you for loving us to the end. Help us to let go of our fear and anxiety and learn to watch and wait with joy. Your kingdom come! Amen.

Contributed by Rod G. Boriack
Chicago, IL

Warm-up Question: Do you ever think about the world coming to an end? How do you envision it happening?

The end is near — again — run! The movie “2012” is getting ready to open in theaters everywhere in November.

“2012” is based on the pop-theory that the end of the world is going to be on December 21, 2012. The story follows an academic researcher leading a group of people in a fight to counteract the apocalyptic events that were predicted by the ancient Mayan calendar and other historical documents, astronomy, biblical and scientific data.

There’s plenty of action, mysterious and ancient messages, destruction, earthquakes, tsunamis, narrow escapes, explosions, and more! The characters even out-run, out-drive, and out-fly the massive collapse of the entire West Coast. Yipes!

“2012” joins a long line of end of times movies:

• “Independence Day” (1996)
• “The Day After Tomorrow” (2002)
• “The Fifth Element” (1997)
• “Terminator 2” (1991)
• “Men in Black II” (2002)
• “Deep Impact” (1998)
• “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951 & 2008)
• “War of the Worlds” (1953 & 2005)
• “Left Behind: The Movie” (2001)
• “End of Days” (1991)
• and on, and on, and on.

If it’s got you worried or wondering, remember, it’s just Hollywood smothering us in computer generated imagery (CGI) special effects and appealing to the worst of our inner fears and imagination.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you like these end of times kind of movies, or the ones that show the survivors of a world disaster or collapse? What draws you to them? Or, what do you find uninteresting about them?
2. What do you think of the predictions and theories of when and how the world will end? What do you think of the people who make them? (Like Nostradamus’ predictions, the Left Behind novels, people who interpret numbers and symbols, astrologers, self-proclaimed prophets, religious or cult leaders, etc.)

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, November 15, 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.)

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

• Daniel 12:1-3
• Psalm 16 (9)
• Hebrews 10:11-14 [15-18] 19-25
• Mark 13:1-8

Gospel Reflection

Talking about the end of the world is nothing new. We fear it, hope it doesn’t happen, can’t wait for it to happen, pray that we’ll survive it somehow, want to the know the signs of it approaching, and are sometimes shocked or depressed by the thought of it. We want the details.

(Oh yeah, and we probably want to be able to out-run any explosions, tidal waves, or earthquakes that may happen. Like in the movies.)

The end of the world, and what follows, was a hot topic in Jesus’ time, too. A lot of people thought it was going to happen any day (that was 2,000 years ago). They wanted to know if what they were experiencing in life — war, persecution, famines, earthquakes, sickness, political problems… sound familiar? — were signs that the end of the world was near.

There were plenty of people who claimed to know how and when it was going to happen. And, as throughout history, plenty of people believed and followed them: “…they will lead many astray.” Here in the book of Mark, Jesus reminds his disciples not to be drawn in by such con artists or people stirring up fear and panic in the name of God.

So, what are we to do? Act like nothing is going to happen? Forget about the present and become obsessed with the end? Run?

Jesus has another idea: actively wait. Don’t ignore the life we have right now — it’s a gift entrusted to us. Don’t run away and ignore everything. Instead, challenge each other to actions and relationships of love, compassion, and justice. Get together and encourage each other. Never let go of hope. We have been given life and set free by God’s love and forgiveness to live it fully…

“Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:23-25)

Discussion Questions

1. Imagine Jesus is sitting here with us in the room. We’re talking about all the great stuff going on in life right now and all the cool stuff we’re going to do, and Jesus interrupts: “You know, it’s all going to come to an end someday. It’s all going to be gone. I don’t know when, but it’s all going to end.” What’s your first gut reaction to his comments? Then what questions pop into your head that you want to ask Jesus?
2. What’s your interpretation of what’s meant by “actively waiting”? When you read the Bible and reflect on God’s word, what things does God seem to want us to be busy with in life? What things does God want us to be concerned about (other than the end)?
3. Where do you find hope when things seem dark, pointless, or overwhelming? What hope do you find in God’s word and promises?

Activity Suggestion

No better time than right now.

Pass out paper and something to write with. Ask each person to write down as many things as they can that they want, hope, or need to do, accomplish, or say before they die. Give the group 3 minutes or so to make their lists.

Gather back together or in small groups. Share your list of “must do” things. Give each person encouragement to actually do something that they have mentioned; encouragement to work on it right now.

If participants permit, post all of the lists on the wall and leave them up for a few weeks. Refer back to them now and then, and see if anything is happening. Give gentle encouragement and offer prayer.

Closing Prayer

God, make me brave for life: oh, braver than this.
Let me straighten after pain, as a tree straightens after the rain,
Shining and lovely again.
God, make me brave for life; much braver than this.
As the blown grass lifts, let me rise
From sorrow with quiet eyes,
Knowing your way is wise.
God, make me brave, life brings
Such blinding things.
Help me to keep my sight;
Help me to see clearly
That in darkness, you are light.
Amen.

(author unknown)