Contributed by Paul Baglyos, St. Paul, MN

Warm-up Question

Generosity: Is it just a nice idea or is it a life commitment?

Reckless Generosity

Earlier this fall blogger David Briggs, writing for the Huffington Post, noted that recent research reveals that many churchgoing Americans misrepresent the amount of money they give in charitable contributions.  Whether intentionally or not, many people reply to questions about their giving by overstating the amount they actually give.  Briggs describes the research findings as indicating a “gap between perception and reality.”  Many people think that they give more than they really do, perhaps because they are unaware of their actual giving.  They may claim that they give more than they really do because they want to be regarded as more generous than they really are.  Apparently, many people are more committed to the idea of giving than to the actual practice of it. For Briggs’ full article on the research findings, go here.

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think many people overstate the amount of money they actually give in charitable contributions?
• Do you think it is difficult to be generous?  If so, why is it difficult?
• Do you know any generous people?  Who are they?  In what ways are they generous?
• Are you a generous person?  Do you find it difficult or easy to be generous?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, November 11, 2012 (Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost)

1 Kings 17:8-16

Hebrews 9:24-28

Mark 12:38-44

(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

By commending the example of the poor widow, Jesus makes it clear that true generosity cannot be measured in money but only in attitude.  The widow’s two small copper coins, worth only a penny, count for little in comparison to the much larger sums of money given by others.  The true value of her offering is that it represents everything she has to give.  In other words, the widow is more generous than all the others because she gives everything while they give only something.

Jesus emphasizes that the widow “put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”  By any human calculation, the widow has done something reckless and foolish.  But her reckless folly mirrors the generosity of God.  Again and again in the teaching of Jesus, as in the entire Bible, God is seen to be reckless and foolish in God’s own abundant generosity.  Consider the stories that Jesus tells about the father and his two sons (Luke 15) or the laborers hired to work in the vineyard (Matthew 20).  Read what Jesus teaches in Matthew 7:25-33, and reflect upon the ways in which the poor widow has taken such teaching to heart.

By commending the generosity of the poor widow, Jesus points to the generosity of God.  The widow is a witness to the generosity of God, who gives everything and all.  Consider what Martin Luther teaches about God’s generosity in the Small Catechism, where Luther explains the Apostles’ Creed.  Scripture tells us that human beings are created in the image of God.  The poor widow shows us what it means to live as the image of the God who gives everything and all.

Discussion Questions

• How do our practices of generosity witness to the generosity of God?  How does our giving represent what we believe about God?  What does our giving teach others about God?
• What does it mean for us to be people created in the image of an abundantly generous God?  How does our generous God call us to live?

Activity Suggestions

• Have a conversation at home with your family about financial giving.  Ask how much money the people in your family give in church offerings and other charitable contributions.  What are the beliefs and attitudes that guide the giving habits in your family?  Are the people in your family willing or reluctant to talk about their giving?  How does your family teach and practice generosity?
• As a group, identify a project or a concern toward which you would like to make a collective contribution.  Make a plan about what you will do together, including the commitments that each person will make to help fulfill that plan.

Closing Prayer

Help us who have received so freely from you to give as freely in our turn, and so have the pleasure of giving as well as the happiness of receiving.*  Amen

 (*for this and other prayers)

Contributed by Sylvia Alloway, Granada Hills, CA

Warm-up Question

Suppose you got off the plane after a long vacation and saw a headline announcing your death. Someone had started this rumor and gotten others to believe it. How would you go about proving that you are still alive?

Rumors of Death…and Life!

Vulkanette / Shutterstock.com

“I don’t even remember what a headache feels like!” So declared Fidel Castro in an article published on Cubadebate, the state news website. The purpose of the article, titled “Fidel Castro Is Dying,” was to assure the Cuban people that the old revolutionary was still alive and healthy at 86. Rumors that the former dictator had suffered a severe stroke and was barely hanging on had been swirling around in the world press for days.

Photos of Castro strolling around his farm using a metal cane, taken by a visiting Venezuelan dignitary, appeared with the article. The South American politician said he talked with the notorious Communist strongman for five hours and was then escorted to his hotel by Castro in a chauffeur-driven minibus.

Castro’s article also tore into the “imperialist propaganda” spread by the non-Communist media. The rumor was traced to a Venezuelan doctor in Miami, who claimed to have heard that the Cuban leader was near death.

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think rumors of Castro’s death spark such interest!
• How do rumors get started? Why do people believe them?
• How do you personally decide what to believe and what not to believe when you hear a rumor?
• Think about one time when you believed a rumor that wasn’t true and another time when you did not believe something and it turned out to be true. What happened? What if anything, did you learn?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, November 4, 2012 (All Saints Sunday)

Isaiah 25:6-9

Revelation 21:1-6

John 11:32-44

(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

Raising from the dead is a tough sell. Everyone knows that there’s no getting around death. It takes a lot of proof to convince any sane person that someone could conquer this greatest enemy of humankind.

There are always rumors, of course. Jesus raised several people from the dead, and word must have gotten around. But people were just as skeptical in those days as they are now. The person wasn’t really dead, they would say. Jesus is a fake, and intelligent people don’t put any stock in such foolishness.

But Lazarus was different. A whole crowd of people had been weeping over him for four days. Some of them probably helped to wrap the body in the grave clothes. His sister Martha was certain there would be a terrible stench if the grave was opened. Death was as ugly then as it is now. Even Jesus wept at the sight of it.

Wait, what it this? Open the grave? Call on God to hear? And what is this “Lazarus, come out”? What does this man think he’s doing?

Raising Lazarus from the dead.

Oh.

There was nothing especially glorious about it. A man trying to walk while stuck in a shroud was just as scary then as it is now. And cutting him free couldn’t have been very pleasant. Yet all those repellent practicalities drove home the point. This man really was raised from the dead. Those who doubted had only to look.

Word got around and is with us today:   Jesus has power over death – Lazarus’ death, his own, and finally, ours as well. Some stand and say, “Prove it!” Some sit and say, “Forget it.” Some turn away and say, “It’s just a rumor.” And some fall to their knees before Jesus Christ and say, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus has the words of eternal life, the power to conquer our most fearsome enemy, and we know we can trust in him. That is why we are called “believers.”

Discussion Questions

[Note: Talking about death is not easy. It may help students to be more comfortable, if the teacher “breaks the ice” and gives a personal answer to the first question. Be sensitive to students’ feelings.]

• Have you had any experience with death? Did your Christian hope of eternal life help you in this situation? Why or why not?
• Everyone has fears and uncertainties, especially concerning death. How can we help each other to overcome those fears?
• Look carefully at John 11:25-26 (“I am the resurrection…”). What did Jesus mean by this? What meaning does it have for us today?

Activity Suggestions

• Turn the raising of Lazarus into a play. Ask to perform it for a class of younger students.
• In groups or as a class, use a concordance or online Bible to look up verses on resurrection. Who talked about it? Why is it important? How does it fit into our faith? (Consider the Apostles’ and the Nicene creeds)

Suggested songs: He Lives, The Solid Rock

Closing Prayer

Almighty God and Conqueror of death itself, we thank and praise you for the death that gives us life – Christ’s crucifixion – and the resurrection that was his and will someday be ours. Fill us with your holy joy at this good news and help us to share it with those who are fearful and doubting. In the all-powerful name of your Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord, Amen

Contributed by Angie Larson, Clive, IA

Warm-up Question

What is your favorite use for salt?

asSALTed

The Salt Institute has discovered that there are more than 14,000 uses for salt, or to use the scientific name, sodium chloride.  Salt gets a bad reputation these days from being overused.  It’s been in the news lately because of being reduced in school lunches.  While too much salt is certainly bad for you; it is essential for our survival. Our bodies do not naturally make sodium chloride so we need to consume it in order to make blood, sweat, digestive juices, and tears.

Salt also has historical significance. Salt was used as one of the earliest forms of money and trade; at one time the value of an ounce of salt was an ounce of gold.  Roman soldiers were partly paid in salt.  It has been used as a preservative to help food stay good for longer.  Salt has been used as a flavoring agent.  Have you ever put a tablespoon of salt in a glass of chocolate milk?  It helps change the flavor of the veggie’s you might not want to eat or makes your popcorn delicious.

Salt can be used as a cleaner.  You can use salt to clean your bathroom or polish tarnished brass or copper.  Salt has healing properties.  You can use it as a mouthwash to clear up canker sores or as an antiseptic.  Salt keeps us safe.  Salt is spread on icy roads and highways to keep our feet and cars from slipping.  It is used to soften our water, removing chemicals that we don’t want in our water.  Salt can also put out grease fires, drive away ants, kill poison ivy, and deodorize your shoes.  The Bible mentions salt a number of times, but what exactly does that mean?  It has so many different uses.

Discussion Questions

• What was a new use of salt that you didn’t previously know?
• If you were one of the italicized uses for salt, what would you be?
• How has your perception of salt changed after looking into it more deeply?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, September 30, 2012  (Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost)

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29

James 5:13-20

Mark 9:38-50

(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

What is it about salt?  Though salt is timeless and used in the Bible, like water and wine, it is not commonly used in our worship services.  Jesus calls us salt. In the text for today, John warns Jesus that someone outside their small band of disciples is casting out demons in Jesus’ name.  John is concerned that there are people who are against the work which Jesus and the disciples are doing.  That is a valid worry; some were against Jesus.  However, Jesus offers up a positive judgment, “if they are not against us, then they are for us.”

Jesus then tells the disciples to look at temptations to sin.  He says it is better to remove the part of you that is sinful then to let the whole be spoiled.  Salt, as we looked at before, can be used as a preserving agent in meats to keep them fresh for long periods of time.  If the salt ceases to do its job the whole slab of meat may spoil.  It is better to remove the poorly salted portion which has gone bad than to lose the whole piece.

Jesus says, “Have salt in yourself”.  What does this mean?  Salt has many uses.  Can we be a preserver of others or of ourselves by standing firm in the gospel?  Maybe we are called to cleanse ourselves from that which we know draws us to sin?  Perhaps we can be flavor, being creative, adding interest and depth to the world.  Maybe we are healers; reminding others of what Jesus has done for them.  Maybe we keep people and ourselves safe, by recognizing what is not good with the world, working to avoid it in ourselves, and fixing it if we can.  Jesus says, “Salt is good… and to have salt in yourself.”

Discussion Questions

• When Jesus says to “have salt in yourself” what property of salt do you think that applies to?
• Having read the Scripture text, what do you think was the disciples’ original reaction?
• How can you serve as ‘salt’ to another person?
• In what ways do you need to preserve yourself?

Activity Suggestions

• Play with some salt. Get a couple of different kinds, sea salt, table salt, rock salt.  Have students create art using the salt, paper, and glue.
• Eat some salt.  Offer some salty snacks such as pretzels, chips, or even pancakes.
• Experiment with some salt.  Get an old fashioned ice cream maker and have the students make ice cream throughout the class.  Watch how the salt, combined with the ice, makes the cream freeze.
• Spread the salt.  Give your students a little bag of salt with a reminder to ‘Have Salt in themselves and be at peace with one another. Mark 9:50”

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you for blessing us with this time together.  We are salt and salt is good.  Help us to see your activity in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  Help us to see our many uses and the variety of ways we can be of service to you and to others. Please use us Lord for your kingdom. Amen.

Contributed by Scott Mims, Virginia Beach, VA

Warm-up Question

•   (Activity) Give each person some Play-Doh or similar material and have them create a sculpture or a symbol that represents or relates to their faith.  After a few minutes, have everyone share their creation and what it symbolizes.  Take note of how many people incorporate a cross in their sculpture.
• Do you think it is easy or hard to be a Christian today?  Why?
• If you had to create a single text message that shares the gospel with someone, what would it say?

Take Up Your Cross

Should a person be fired for wearing a cross, especially when co-workers of other faiths are allowed to wear items symbolic of their beliefs?  Is it appropriate for Christians to refuse to provide services to homosexual couples if doing so conflicts with their personal religious convictions?  These are the issues underlying what some are calling “a watershed moment” in Great Britain.

Four Christians in England, who each claim to have lost their jobs because of discrimination against their Christian beliefs, have recently been granted a hearing by the European Court of Human Rights.  Their case has further fueled debate in England over how to appropriately balance the rights of people to practice their faith with the protection of the rights of others in society.  In recent times British courts have ruled overwhelmingly against Christians, occasionally comparing their beliefs unfavorably with secular principles.

Discussion Questions

• What do you think it means to be a Christian?
• Do you think that being a Christian is more a matter of what you believe or how you act?
• Do you feel comfortable wearing jewelry or clothing that identifies you as a Christian?  If not, why not?  If so, are there places or situations where you would feel uncomfortable or that doing so would be inappropriate?
• Do you agree or disagree: our overall culture is becoming increasingly indifferent, if not openly hostile, to Christianity?  Why?
• What limits, if any, should there be on religious expression?  For example some religions have mandates regarding facial hair or head covering.  Should employers be able to require a shave or a bare head?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, September 16, 2012 (16th Sunday after Pentecost)

Isaiah 50:4-9a

James 3:1-12

Mark 8:27-38

(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 particular passage is often called the fulcrum or “hinge” of Mark’s gospel account.  Not only is it the midpoint of the book, it also marks several important turning points in the story.  Geographically, Jesus has been working mostly in the region of Galilee, but now his ministry will lead him steadily onward to Jerusalem and the cross.  Theologically several shifts also occur.  Up to this point, Mark has focused on who Jesus is as shown by his words and his works of power.  The conclusion he hopes that we, the readers of the gospel, will reach is the same one that Peter voices – Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ.  So, from here on out the gospel will focus much more on what it means that Jesus is the Christ, and subsequently, what it means to those who call themselves Christians.  That is to say, there is a shift at this point from the invitation to follow Jesus to what discipleship – following Jesus – truly looks like.

So, what does discipleship look like?  Another important feature of this passage is that it contains the first of three instances, three “passion predictions,” in which Jesus foretells what lies at the end of his journey to Jerusalem (verse 31).  Here, as in the other two instances (Mk. 9:30, 10:32-34), those closest to Jesus fail to understand what he is talking about.  Peter rather famously pulls Jesus aside, as if Jesus is the candidate and Peter the campaign manager, and begins to rebuke Jesus for saying such things.  Jesus just as famously puts Peter in his place.  “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”  And here is the essence of the matter, it is not the disciple’s place to define what “Messiah” or “Christ” mean, for it is Jesus alone who gets to define these things.  The disciple’s place is simply to get behind Jesus, to take up her or his cross, and to follow.

But what does it mean to take up one’s cross?  Is it simply to deal with the problems or troubles that come your way with as much patience, determination, and faith as possible?  We often hear of “bearing our cross” in terms of such things.  Yet Jesus has something else, something deeper in mind than getting through life as best as we can.  After all, the cross that awaits Jesus in Jerusalem is not an accidental event or circumstance for him to “get through,” it is a direct result of his own work to confront the powers of sin, evil, and death.  Jesus defined Messiah in terms of his identification with the outcasts, the forgotten, and the oppressed, bringing to them in word and deed the promise of God’s coming kingdom.  This has important implications for all who would follow Jesus.  “Taking up the cross means being at work where God is at work in the world to relieve suffering and injustice, to rescue the weak, and to bring peace and justice to bear in the human community.” (R. Alan Culpepper, Mark)  Because God has gifted each of us with a unique set of gifts, talents, abilities, and experiences, each of us has a unique opportunity to take up our cross and participate in God’s redemptive work in the world.

Discussion Questions

• One often hears that all you need to do in order to be a Christian is to “believe in Jesus” or to “accept him as your personal Lord and Savior.” How do such statements compare with what Jesus calls us to in this passage?  Can a person follow Jesus apart from believing in him?  Can a person believe in him without following?
• If you were either to paint a picture or to make a list of what it means to take up your cross and follow Jesus, what are some of the things that you would include?
• How far would you be willing to go in order to be a disciple?  What things in your life right now would you be willing to give up, change, or take on in order to follow Jesus?
• Even after listening to him teach and witnessing the things that he did, Jesus’ disciples still had a hard time fully understanding what he was up to.  Are there ways in which Christians today misunderstand Jesus?

Activity Suggestions

• Baptismal Connections    Examine together the Affirmation of Baptism service, and especially the description of our baptismal covenant (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, pg. 236; Lutheran Book of Worship, pg. 201).  How is this a description of what it means to be a disciple?  Brainstorm together some practical, every day ways you can live out these promises.  For example, what does it look like to live among God’s faithful people?  How does one proclaim the good news of God in word and deed in real, actionable terms, or strive for justice and peace in all the earth?
• Gifted to Serve   Use a spiritual gifts inventory, or other such instrument, to help participants identify and claim some of the ways in which God has gifted them.  Challenge them to consider how they might use their specific gifts and abilities to participate in God’s redemptive work in the world.  How can using their gifts become a way of taking up their cross and following Jesus?  One such inventory can be found on the ELCA website:

http://www.elca.org/Growing-In-Faith/Discipleship/Christian-Education/Program-Planners/2005/SpiritualGifts.aspx

Closing Prayer

Gracious and loving God, in the waters of baptism you name us and claim us and make us your own.  Thank you for the gift of new life and for the invitation to experience that life in the community of your church.  Fill us with your Spirit, call deeply to our hearts, and lead us to more fully and faithfully follow Jesus.  Guide our thoughts, our words, and our actions, that we may be your hands and voice in a world so hungry to experience good news.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

Contributed by Angie Larson, Clive, Iowa

Warm-up Question

When is it ok to use photoshop on a photo?

Who Will You Advocate For?

Fourteen year old, Julia Bluhm has begun a petition to ask Seventeen magazine, a magazine geared towards teenage women, to cut back in using Photoshop on their photos.  She started a petition on change.org and has so far had over 70,000 people sign that petition. Bluhm believes that cutting back on the amount of photo alterations would benefit the young women who read and subscribe to the magazine.  Bluhm wrote, “The media tells us that ‘pretty’ girls are impossibly thin with perfect skin. Here’s what lots of girls don’t know. Those ‘pretty women’ that we see in magazines are fake. They’re often photoshopped, air-brushed, edited to look thinner, and to appear like they have perfect skin. A girl you see in a magazine probably looks a lot different in real life. That’s why I’m asking Seventeen magazine to commit to printing one unaltered — real — photo spread per month.”  Bluhm is advocating for thousands of girls who compare themselves to the photos in the magazines.

There is debate concerning  this advocacy program.  Some say that selling magazines is what it’s all about; it’s just business and putting Seventeen’s best look forward is what sells.  Others say that the unrealistic and unachievable perfection of  photo-shopped photos are partially to blame for eating disorders and low self –esteem.  At this time Seventeen has not issued a response.

Discussion Questions

• If you had a zit on your face during the day of your yearbook photo, would you want it computer altered to make you look more flawless?
• What do you think of Julia’s advocacy campaign?
• Would you be willing to sign Julia’s petition or do you agree with the magazine’s perspective?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 27, 2012 (Day of Pentecost)

Acts 2:1-21

Romans 8:22-27

John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15

(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 this part of John’s Gospel Jesus tells his friends that the Advocate will come.  By the “Advocate” he is referring to the third part of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.  As Christians we try to grasp an understanding of God the Father from Scripture.  We also know Jesus through the Gospel, but our understanding of the Holy Spirit can be confused.  The Holy Spirit is just as much at work as God the Father, or Jesus the Son.  However, the Spirit’s work is more mysterious.

When the disciples heard Jesus talking about the Holy Spirit as an advocate who will come when He is gone, they were confused.  They couldn’t understand what he was saying about his upcoming death, resurrection, and ascension. He also calls the disciples to testify to the truth about who Jesus is.  Jesus knows that he must leave in order for the Advocate to come.

The Advocate or Spirit will come to “convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment.”  At the same time it will “guide you into the truth.”  Both the good and the bad will be revealed.  The Holy Spirit is our advocate, it will guide us in areas that we need someone to help us to understand the true nature of the world.  The Holy Spirit will help us to see accurately, un-airbrushed, the reality of who Jesus was.

Discussion Questions

•  How do you see the Holy Spirit’s movement in your own life?
• Having read the Scripture text, what do you think was the disciples’ original reaction?
• Who are some that do not know Jesus yet?  How can you share with them the truth?

Activity Suggestions

•  Make a list of causes you think you can advocate for.  What world concerns do you think need to be pointed out as issues?  Choose one issue or cause. Brainstorm ways that you can witness and testify to others about what you understand to be the truth.
• Create a mock trial situation.  On one side, have a “lawyer” explain and call witnesses about why Jesus is the Son of God.  On the other, have a group explain why he is not.  Put together your own trial and practice apologetics in order to learn how to better testify.  Then switch sides.

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for blessing us with this time together.  Open our hearts to your Holy Spirit, your Advocate for us.  Help us to see your activity in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  Help us to know your love and care for us in our own unaltered state. Please use us Lord for your kingdom. Amen.