Category: Youth Ministry
Paragraphs from SSCSJ
Psalm 23
One final exegetical insight that could also enhance the depth of this psalm is how people today tend to envision a “shepherd”, namely as always a male. This predominant image is encouraged by the connection between Ps 23 and David made in the psalm’s superscription. Even though modern biblical scholarship understands that the phrase “le’david” is not a by-line, or even a claim that David wrote this psalm, still the presence of his name immediately evokes the stories about David’s being a shepherd. Thus, the reader/hearer of Ps 23 envisions a man as the author of this psalm as well as a male deity. However, a close read of some other stories in the Hebrew Bible, particularly in Genesis and Exodus, reveal that females (specifically: Rachel in Gen 29 and Zipporah in Exod 2) also tended flocks, making them shepherds as well. The Divine Shepherd in Ps 23 could just as easily be female as well. Preaching on Ps 23 provides a great opportunity to refurbish an old image of God.
2 Samuel 7:1-14a
This dream continued and strengthened during the Roman period as well. Some within the Jewish community were praying for God’s anointed one to come and overthrow the Romans and reclaim the throne. It was this idea that lies behind some of the gospels (i.e., Matthew and Luke), as the writers go to great lengths to show how Jesus was of the “house of David”. Of course, Jesus had no political aspirations and died under Roman rule. Like the DH, the gospels and epistles were written to explain another disappointment and to find meaning within the life and teachings of the prophet from Nazareth. Thus, the Davidic Covenant still remained unfulfilled; however, rather than taking the political propaganda created by the DH writers as literal, we can see that this covenant, along with all the others God makes with humans throughout the bible, is more about relationship and Divine presence than about Divine favoritism or guarantees of rewards for faithfulness. Inherent in all of creation, and especially within humans (the only part of creation to be made in God’s image), is a Divine promise to be with us in good and bad times, when we are faithful and when we are not, even until the last breath we take and beyond. God keeps covenants, and that is one of the core themes of the 1st Testament (and of the whole canon).
Ephesians 2:11-22
It can be imagined that hearing this text read aloud in a home in Ephesus might sound like an argument stating that the ways of Jesus are different from that of the Roman Empire.4 The peace created and offered through Christ Jesus is different from what the Roman Empire offers through conquest and assimilation into the Roman worldview.5 Similar struggles for identity, loyalties, and unity exist in secular and religious life today.
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
One way to translate this text for children would be to think about a child’s day and the importance of a structured “nap.” Too long a nap makes children restless for their usual bedtime and too short does not help them continue with their day. Where the disciples excited, but tired and cranky? Could they talk about anything other than themselves and their success? Somewhere along the way of growing up, we’ve lost the importance of “napping” for our physical and mental well being. Many persons use the internet or other distractions as “mindless” napping, but continue the stimulation of being awake. Hobbies are another way of thinking about “come away and rest” time. We can drive children or ourselves into such confined routines or sports that we may not develop fully other gifts or skills needed to navigate life.
the latest “Sightings”
If anyone that is part of the planning team for our next General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) reads this blog, here is an idea from the UU’s that is worth considering for our future gatherings. Maybe this is what the youth program could consider doing in some way when we gather in Orlando next summer. Here is a reprint of the latest, “Sightings” from the Marty Center.
A “Justice General Assembly” for Unitarian Universalists
by Dan McKananDelegates to this year’s Unitarian Universalist General Assembly tried something new. Together with local partners in Phoenix, Arizona, they convened a “Justice General Assembly” challenging the human rights abuses inherent in the United States immigration system. For five days, Unitarian Universalists gathered with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Mi Familia Vota, Tonatierra Nahuacalli, Los Comités de Defensa del Barrio, Puente, Somos America, and Borderlinks. Justice General Assembly included worship, workshops, service projects, voter registration, theatrical presentations, and a massive candlelight vigil at the gates of the notorious “Tent City” jail, where persons without documents are detained and denied the basic rights most people in the United States take for granted.
Justice General Assembly began as a compromise: the meeting had been scheduled long before Arizona passed SB 1070 and immigration rights advocates called for a boycott. At the 2010 General Assembly, delegates debated the boycott vigorously, then rallied around the idea of dispensing with “business as usual” and coordinating the Phoenix meeting with local partners.
For Unitarian Universalists, a strong emphasis on justice is nothing new—all General Assemblies are chock-full of justice-related workshops, and in recent years all feature at least one act of public witness. What was new was the expanded emphasis on partnership, and the creation of accountable relationships with specific partner organizations. Together, delegates and partners learned to practice the “cultural humility” that enables common work for justice.
This entailed some surprises: delegates in 2011 had assumed that partner organizations would value action more than talk, and so eliminated the procedure for making immediate social justice statements from the 2012 agenda. It turned out that the partners were very eager for Unitarian Universalists to join the Episcopal Church in condemning the “Doctrine of Discovery”—the notion, first articulated by medieval and early modern popes but then incorporated into US case law, that Christian nations could assert sovereignty over non-Christian peoples they had “discovered.” The delegates approved a strong statement that also called for US implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples—but doing so required some fancy parliamentary footwork.
Prior to Justice GA, some Unitarian Universalists had worried that a stronger emphasis on justice would come at the expense of spirituality. But delegates in Phoenix discovered that few tradeoffs were needed. This General Assembly featured expanded worship time, with both justice and ecumenical partners fully included. Participants also learned that only certain forms of partnership can be achieved in a large scale gathering. Partners were elated to see two thousand people from around the country join them for three hours in the heat outside Tent City. But delegates who longed for intense, one-on-one encounters with Arizona immigrants were disappointed: the ratio of 3700 delegates and other Unitarian Universalists to roughly one hundred partner representatives made this impossible. Many people left Phoenix determined to seek out new encounters at home.
In some respects, Justice GA was just the beginning of partnership. Participants contributed tens of thousands of dollars from their personal funds to the partner organizations (as well as a similar amount to the Arizona Immigration Ministry, a UU organization created to coordinate the partnerships), but they did not discuss a permanent budgetary commitment to partnership work. Back in the late 1960s, the issue of such commitment nearly split the tradition, when the denomination first made and then partly rescinded a million dollar budgetary commitment to the Black Affairs Council, a UU group created to foster partnership with organizations promoting black empowerment. The resulting controversy left many advocates of partnership bitterly disappointed. Justice GA helped heal some of those lingering wounds, but it only began to address the tough questions of reparation and shared power that Unitarian Universalists and other people of faith had grappled with in the 1960s.
By the end of the week, most delegates were determined to make aspects of Justice GA into “business as usual” for future gatherings. They selected “Reproductive Justice” as the denomination’s next “Congregational Study Action Issue” in part because the proposal envisioned a partnership with Sister Song—the women of color collective that has pioneered the concept of “reproductive justice”—comparable to the Arizona partnership on immigration. The future of Unitarian Universalism may well be intertwined with that of many justice-seeking movements.