{"id":4538,"date":"2013-04-23T07:28:27","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T12:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=4538"},"modified":"2013-04-18T13:26:46","modified_gmt":"2013-04-18T18:26:46","slug":"april-28-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-28-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"April 28, 2013&#8211;Lesson Before Dying"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Contributed by Paul Baglyos, St. Paul, MN<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Warm-up Question<\/h3>\n<p>Whose are you?\u00a0 Who are yours?<\/p>\n<h3>Lesson Before Dying<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2013\/04\/shutterstock_94130377edit.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-4553\" style=\"margin: 5px\" alt=\"shutterstock_94130377edit\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2013\/04\/shutterstock_94130377edit.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"133\" \/><\/a>Lt. Col. Mark Weber lives with his wife and their three sons near the Twin Cities in Minnesota.\u00a0 Recently, Lt. Col. Weber published a book called <i>Tell My Sons<\/i>, which is a collection of personal stories and life lessons that he wanted to pass on to his sons before he dies from the intestinal cancer with which he was diagnosed in 2010.\u00a0 In a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.startribune.com\/lifestyle\/relationship\/201536991.html\">newspaper interview<\/a> and on a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=96cg3ja01Gg\">YouTube video<\/a>, Lt. Col. Weber has talked about his reasons for writing the book.\u00a0 Watch the news video and\/or read the news article and consider the following discussion questions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>How do you think being a father helps Lt. Col. Weber to face his illness and impending death with courage, humor and hope?<\/li>\n<li>Do you think it\u2019s a good idea for Lt. Col. Weber and his wife to discuss his terminal illness openly with their sons?\u00a0 Why or why not?<\/li>\n<li>What do you think is the most difficult and painful aspect of this story?<\/li>\n<li>What do you think is the most hopeful and inspiring aspect of this story?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 28, 2013 (Fifth Sunday of Easter)<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=233055444\">\u00a0Acts 11:1-18<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=233055476\">Revelation 21:1-6<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=233055510\">John 13:31-35<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(Text links are to <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/\">Oremus Bible Browser<\/a>. 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 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elca.org\/Growing-In-Faith\/Worship\/Lectionary.aspx\">Lectionary Readings<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic <a href=\"http:\/\/www.agnusday.org\/\">Agnus Day.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Gospel Reflection<\/h3>\n<p>Here Jesus is speaking to his disciples shortly before his arrest and crucifixion.\u00a0 The \u201che\u201d at the very beginning of verse 31 (\u201cWhen he had gone out . . .\u201d) refers to Judas Iscariot, who has just left the supper table in order to betray Jesus to those who wanted to arrest him.\u00a0 Jesus speaks about his impending suffering and death as his being \u201cglorified.\u201d\u00a0 This might seem odd to us because there is nothing \u201cglorious\u201d about the humiliation and agony Jesus is about to face.\u00a0 Jesus makes it clear, however, that he is not glorifying his impending death but rather glorifying God to whom his entire life is devoted.\u00a0 Not even the certainty of his own death dissuades Jesus from his devotion to God.\u00a0 Jesus testifies that his life belongs entirely to God and not to the power of death; death cannot extinguish his life, even though it will take him away from his disciples to where they \u201ccannot come\u201d (verse 33).<\/p>\n<p>Jesus calls his disciples to share his life of devotion to God through their love for one another.\u00a0 His glory becomes also their glory when they love one another just as he has loved them.\u00a0 Love is the sacred purpose of human life in the image of God; love is the power of God that overcomes all suffering and death that afflict human life.\u00a0 There is nothing glorious about suffering and death, but there is glory \u2013 God\u2019s glory \u2013 in life lived in love for others even in the face of suffering and death.\u00a0 To live in love for others even in the face of death is to share Christ\u2019s victory over the power of death.\u00a0 Our lives, after all, do not belong to us alone but to God who has created us to love one another, and to love all others, as God in Christ loves us.<\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>How does the story of Lt. Col. Weber provide an example of what Jesus calls us to, loving others even in the face of death?<\/li>\n<li>What do you think Jesus means by loving one another \u201cjust as I have loved you\u201d?<\/li>\n<li>Who do you love just as Jesus loves you?\u00a0 Who loves you just as Jesus loves you?\u00a0 Whose love do you count on each day?\u00a0 Who counts on your love each day?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Activity Suggestions<\/h3>\n<p>Within a group discussion share one example of how, in the past week, you have loved another person as Jesus loves you, or how someone else has loved you as Jesus loves you.\u00a0 If you can\u2019t think of a good example from the past week, try to anticipate a good example that might occur in the coming week.\u00a0 Discuss how love for others can be a defiance of the power of death.<\/p>\n<p>Individually, write an intention to love another person as Jesus loves you.\u00a0 Using the closing prayer below, pray as a group that each of you might be able to fulfill the intentions you have written.\u00a0 Keep your intention with you throughout the coming week for your own personal prayer and as your own personal reminder to love that other person as Jesus loves you.<\/p>\n<h3>Closing Prayer<\/h3>\n<p>Pray together the prayer attributed to Francis of Assisi on page 87 in <i>Evangelical Lutheran Worship <\/i>or page 48 in the <i>Lutheran Book of Worship<\/i>.\u00a0 If you do not have access to <em>ELW<\/em> or the<em> LBW<\/em>, you can find the text on the internet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributed by Paul Baglyos, St. Paul, MN &nbsp; Warm-up Question Whose are you?\u00a0 Who are yours? Lesson Before Dying Lt. Col. Mark Weber lives with his wife and their three sons near the Twin Cities in Minnesota.\u00a0 Recently, Lt. Col. Weber published a book called Tell My Sons, which is a collection of personal stories [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[535,530,573,1174,319,483,13041,105,410,469],"class_list":["post-4538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post","tag-challenges","tag-courage","tag-death","tag-dying","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-lesson","tag-power","tag-promise","tag-trust"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>April 28, 2013-Lesson Before Dying - Faith Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-28-2013\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"April 28, 2013-Lesson Before Dying - Faith Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Contributed by Paul Baglyos, St. Paul, MN &nbsp; Warm-up Question Whose are you?\u00a0 Who are yours? 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