TGIMMDecember7

December 7

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Sunday, December 7, Second Sunday of Advent

MATTHEW 3:1-12

Personally Responsible

Prayerthoughts

a. John the Baptist’s first word in the Gospel of Matthew is the word “Repent.” I have sinned in the past. Do I say often enough that I am sorry for my sins?

b. Have I made the Kingdom of heaven present in my own life? Do I “present” the Kingdom by the life that I lead?

c. Obviously John was not concerned about his clothing and his food. Do I find myself to be too concerned about material things?

d. As John warned the religious leaders, I should produce evidence of my repentance. Am I showing that I am sorry for my sins by leading a good life as best I can?

e. John knows that Jesus is more important than he is. Do I find myself considering myself to be more important than others and thinking accordingly?

f. Am I listening to John’s strong language with the thought of truly reforming some things in my life right now?

g. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will write read Romans 15:4-9 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

WHAT TO DO ABOUT “SIN”

Story: Nazi worker

+ His reputation around his home was that he was a kind man

- he seemed to work at a good life

- kind to his family whom he loved very much

- kind to the children of the neighborhood

- kind to his pet animals

- went to Church, the Catholic church in the Polish town where he lived

- did all the things that every good citizen of his country should do

- no one could find fault with him

- and he found no fault with himself

- he could see nothing wrong with his life

- he did his job, came home at night, loved his family, and did his very best

- his time and place in history: Germany, 1943

- his job: he was hired by the Nazis to be overall in charge of actually turning the valves of the gas chambers at Auschwitz

[If you want to capture the feeling of that story, watch the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, but be prepared to cry.]

+ I really don’t know whether there was such a man

- but there had to be someone like him

- the Nazi soldiers and administrators were for the most part God-fearing men and women

- who did not think of the atrocities that they were doing every day

- never even considering the possibility that it was wrong

- they simply accepted the fact that they were dealing with lesser people without even thinking how contradictory that was

- and they went about doing their lives the best they could in war-time

Gospel: real guilt

+ What would John the Baptist have said to those Nazi leaders?

- no doubt it would be the message of the Gospel today

- John the Baptist wanted real reform because of real guilt about real sin

- the Pharisees and Sadducees were merely “acting” like they were going to reform

- and so he told them about it in no uncertain terms

- you have to understand what you are doing, he says to them in effect, and do something about it

Do we have “sin” anymore?

+ One of the criticisms that preachers hear a lot from people who are sincere about doing something for our world, is that we do not hear enough about sin anymore

- that if we preached about sin more, we could get people to change, they say

- it may be a true statement—maybe we do not talk about “sin” enough

Our thinking process is the problem

+ Perhaps the reason why we don’t consider “sin” in our lives is the way we think when it comes to “sin”

- many times we do not think in terms of the possibility of sin in our lives:

- we justify ourselves, rationalize our evil ways

- we blame others – “it’s not my fault!”

- we translate “sin” into other words that are softer

- we consider “sin” only in someone else, not us

- because there is so much evil in the world, we can point to someone else’s sin, and forget our own

- we don’t like to compare ourselves to the Nazi leaders of Germany, but maybe we are like them in the sense that we should be thinking about what we are doing and we are not.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Can't Stop the Feeling" -- Justin Timberlake

SHARING ONE'S JOY

The Gospel

LUKE 5:24-26

Jesus said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said, “We have seen incredible things today.”

Gospelthink: When you believe in me, you will see incredible things. Do I recognize that the Lord has given me unbelievable things because of my faith?

"I got this feeling inside my bones. It goes electric, wavey when I turn it on. All through my city, all through my home, we're flying up, no ceiling, when we in our zone. I got that sunshine in my pocket, got that good song in my feet. I can't take my eyes off it, moving so phenomenally. You gonna like the way we rock it, so don't stop. I can't stop the feeling, so just dance."

It is not too difficult to get into the minds of the people that Jesus cured. Their lives were not happy before they met Him. In fact, there were no doubt many difficulties that their ailments caused. The man who was paralyzed for some reason in Luke's Gospel could not do anything on his own, and had to rely on the generosity of others to help him. Suddenly, his whole life changed, bringing about good things for him, and astonishment for the people who witnessed the miracle. The man expressed it by glorifying God, perhaps keeping his stretcher as a remembrance of the good feelings that he had.

When we feel good about something, we will want to show it in some way. Sometimes, it may not be something that we are proud of, but we feel the need to express it. The man in Justin Timberlake's song "Can't Stop The Feeling" feels good about the feeling he has--it is sunshine in his pocket, causing an electricity in his body that he never has felt before. He knows that the reason for his feeling is the person he is with, and so he shows it by his dance with her, wanting to make her feel good as well.

There certainly are difficult things that happen in our lives, and too often we tend to dwell on them too much. But the fact is that there are good things in our lives also: we experience them every day. We can turn selfish and enjoy the moment ourselves, not sharing it with others. Or we can become interested in allowing others to experience our good feelings, encouraging them to enjoy the good that we have.

The man that Jesus cured had a good feeling about what happened to him. His action was to glorify God. Our reaction to the good feelings that happen to us ought to be one of helping others to see our joy, and share it with them in a good way, maybe even by dancing with them.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, Your Son gave many people reason to have good feelings in their lives. Continue to give us the opportunity to turn to Your Son, and thus feel good about our lives, and to share our good times with others. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: When we feel good about something, we should express it in a good way.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What are some incredible things that we have seen in the lives of others?
2. Text analysis: "Sunshine in my pocket." What is the meaning of the phrase?
3. Why is dancing a good way to express our concern for others?
4. Why do people often express their good feelings by doing things that are not good?
5. Why do people tend to dwell too much on negative happenings in their lives?
6. What are some good ways to share our good feelings with others?
7. What does the song "Can't Stop The Feeling" teach young people?