Our Savior Lutheran Church Study Guide & Adult Sunday School

Adult Sunday School - January 4, 2009 - Questions & Readings

Our Savior Lutheran Church
Sermon Synopsis
1st Sunday after Christmas
February 15, 2009

Called as God's People
Equipped by the Holy Spirit
Sent to boldly proclaim the love of Jesus Christ to all people

Mark 1:40-45
Epiphany 6

"When God Is At Work"

The people really didn't understand it.  But, of course, they really had no means to.  They understood how it maimed and disfigured. And that was enough for fear to take over.

I'm talking about the disease of leprosy.  In a world and a time in which the disease has all but been eradicated except in small pockets, perhaps we cannot appreciate the fear that accompanied this word in the ancient world of Jesus.  What happens when fear takes over is people do not act, they react. And reactions to leprosy were both swift and cruel.  It seems incredible to us today, but on the edge of every large city in the ancient world huge pits were dug, and in those pits lived the lepers of the community.

And if, by some remote possibility, they did escape this hovel and venture out into the streets, they would be quickly greeted with shouts of "leper," accompanied by stones to make them keep their distance.  In Jesus' day a leper by law could not get within fifty yards of a clean person.

So this was the heart of the matter. Not only did these wretched poor people have to endure the trials of an incurable affliction, they also were isolated from society and kept from the community of faith.   The horror of the disease, a lifestyle of loneliness, isolation and hopelessness---where could they find hope? The only friend a leper had was God himself.

This, then, is the background of the leper we meet this morning. What can we learn from this man's tragic story?

First we can learn of the loneliness of leprosy. His personal life remains a mystery to us. His name we know not. His years of suffering and pain are not mentioned.  What we do know is that the leper comes to Jesus alone.  There is no one else mentioned in this text, just Christ and the leper.

Mark's gospel simply shares with us a brief happening in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.  "And behold a leper came to him and kneeling before him said: "If you choose you can make me clean. And Christ, stretching forth his hand, touched him saying: I will--be clean.  And immediately, we are told, his leprosy was cleansed and he walked away whole.

Perhaps the shortness of this gospel story obscures its deeper meaning.  At first glance we might think that what Mark is telling us is that God has the power to heal.  And certainly that is true. But, it seems to me, there is something more to this story. Something connected with the leper's life before he was healed.  Something, which for years the leper could not see, and something, which perhaps he never dreamed of even in his wildest imagination.

That is, that in all of his loneliness and despair, while his flesh was rotting away, long before his healing took place, GOD HAD NOT FORGOTTEN HIM. Indeed, God was at work in his life, leading him toward that destiny that was to be uniquely his. It seems incredible that we can say that, because as we look back over the leper's life this morning, it is hard for our minds to fathom how God could be at work in that situation.

We of course can accept the final victory. We can accept the fact that God has the power to heal. But can we accept the fact, in many ways more important, that quietly and mysteriously God was there all along -- leading, sustaining, guiding this poor wretch to an appointment with history, God with him and by him even when this poor man thought that his life was over with? Perhaps he had even given up praying. It seems to me that if Mark is telling us anything this morning, it is that God is not just with us in the final victory of life. God is at work all the way through his life, there by his side even when God may have been the furthest thought from his mind.

I suspect that we are very much like this leper. When we are in the midst of crisis, when we are hurting, I t is very hard for us to see that God is at work in our life. Perhaps there are times in our life when we genuinely feel that we shall never smile again. Perhaps there are times in our life when we think that our present situation will be our lot in life till then end. Perhaps there are times when we travel through life all alone.

But just like our friend the leper, while he was at the lowest possible point, God is at work in our lives too. Jesus once was with Nicodemus on the top of the Mount of Olives. Jesus told Nicodemus, "Do you hear the wind blowing? You don't know where it comes from and you don't know where it is going. Nicodemus. The spirit of God is like that.  Sometimes it's like a gentle breeze and other times a mighty hurricane.  But it is always there.

The second thing we can learn from this man's tragic story is that our suffering moves God's hand. Moves God's heart. "Filled with compassion" are the words Mark use. God does not sit idly by when we are in pain.  Jesus reached out and touched the man, saying, "I am willing; be clean."

There is a story about a New York City policeman investigating a case. Dialing the phone on one day of the investigation, he somehow knew before he had even finished that he'd made a mistake. The phone rang once, twice – then someone picked it up.  "You've got the wrong number!" a husky male voice snapped before the line went dead.    Mystified, the policeman hit redial. "I said you got the wrong number!" came the voice. Once more the phone clicked down.

"How could he possibly know I had the wrong number?" the policeman asked himself.  A cop is trained to be curious and concerned. So he dialed a third time. "Hey, c'mon," the voice said: "Is this you again?" "Yea, it's me the cop said.  I was wondering how you knew I had the wrong number before I even said anything.  "You figure it out!"  The phone slammed down.  The cop sat there for a while, the receiver hanging loosely in his fingers. Then he called the man back.   "Did you figure it out yet?" the husky voice asked?   "The only thing I can think of is nobody ever calls you."  "You got it!" The phone went dead for the fourth time. Chuckling, the officer dialed the man back.  "What do you want now?" asked the man. I thought I'd call – just to say hello." "Hello? Why?"  "Well, if nobody ever calls you, I thought maybe I should."

There may be nobody else in this world that is moved with compassion enough to reach out to you. It happens.  People fall between the cracks and get left behind, even in the church. There are people all around us who live isolated lives.  And sometimes the only one we have to rely on is God himself, God who dials our number and says, I thought I'd call – just to say hello.  God, who brings joy to the sorrowful, peace to the troubled and healing to the lepers. God, who embraces the lonely in the shadow of his wings, who fills the empty, and God who guides those who are without hope.

So we can learn of the loneliness of leprosy.  AND we can learn from this man's tragic story that our suffering moves God. Filled with compassion our Lord reached out and touched the leper.

The final thing we can learn from this man's story is that our Lord is willing to heal.  Even in the depths of physical misery and death there is spiritual healing.  Our tragedies can be His triumphs.  The leper came asking to be healed, "If you choose, you can make me clean."    Which really isn't a question.  It is, rather, a statement of faith.  "If you choose," he said. He did not say if you are able.  It's recognition that Jesus has the ability, the power of God to heal.  And it changed the leper's life.  And this same God can change our life.  Amen.

Adult Sunday School Class
2nd Sunday after Christmas
January 4, 2009

Questions:

First Reading:
Jeremiah 31:7-14
God promises to bring Israel back to its land from the most remote parts of exile. In Zion Israel will rejoice over God's gift of food and livestock. Young women will express their joy in dancing; God will give gladness instead of sorrow.

7   For thus says the LORD:
           Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
           and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
           proclaim, give praise, and say,
           "Save, O LORD, your people,
           the remnant of Israel."
8   See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
           and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
           among them the blind and the lame,
           those with child and those in labor, together;
           a great company, they shall return here.
9   With weeping they shall come,
           and with consolations I will lead them back,
           I will let them walk by brooks of water,
           in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;
           for I have become a father to Israel,
           and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
           and declare it in the coastlands far away;
           say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him,
           and will keep him as a shepherd a flock."
11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob,
           and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
           and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,
           over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
           and over the young of the flock and the herd;
           their life shall become like a watered garden,
           and they shall never languish again.
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
           and the young men and the old shall be merry.
           I will turn their mourning into joy,
           I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
           and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,
           says the LORD.

Psalms:
Psalm 147:12-20
12 Worship the LORD, O Jerusalem;
           praise your God, O Zion,
13 who has strengthened the bars of your gates
           and has blessed your children within you.
14 God has established peace on your borders
           and satisfies you with the finest wheat.
15 God sends out a command to the earth,
           a word that runs very swiftly.
16 God gives snow like wool,
           scattering frost like ashes.
17 God scatters hail like bread crumbs.
           Who can stand against God's cold?
18 The LORD sends forth the word and melts them;
           the wind blows, and the waters flow.
19 God declares the word to Jacob,
           statutes and judgments to Israel.
20 The LORD has not done so to any other nation;
           they do not know God's judgments. Hallelujah!

Second Reading:
Ephesians 1:3-14
In Jesus, all of God's plans and purposes have been made known as heaven and earth are united in Christ. Through Jesus, we have been chosen as God's children and have been promised eternal salvation.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14 this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.

Gospel:
John 1:1-18
John begins his gospel with this prologue: a hymn to the Word through whom all things were created. This Word became flesh and brought grace and truth to the world.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2 He was in the beginning with God.  3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.  8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.  15 John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'"  16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.