The lessons for each Sunday in the church year proclaim God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Also derived from a Sunday’s texts are lessons for the Christ-inspired and Christ-like life of God’s people. The comments here will help you find hunger-related threads – sermon starters – among the themes of this day’s texts. (We're presuming you have already done your exegetical work on the texts.) God bless your proclamation (and teaching) of what is most certainly true!

· This day could easily be called Water Sunday, and you could easily preach about the properties of water, its efficacy in a world growing increasingly thirsty, the watery-ness of Christ’s comforting gospel, and the ways in which ELCA World Hunger affords the gift of clean, drinkable water to people around the world. (For more information and encouragement in those directions, see the Winter 2007-08 Hunger Packet.)

· Perhaps there’s something striking in today’s texts about the abundance of water, or it ubiquity in a world of scarcity. A large, ample spring gushing from a rock, a centuries-old well still producing water, an ocean owned by God, Christ claiming eternal availability of water.

· How striking those images and how difficult those concepts in a world where polar icecaps are disappearing, where floods may soon encroach on the lands of the world’s poorest peoples, where pollution still fouls streams and reservoirs, and water tables shrink rapidly.

· And yet, with only desert-like lives ahead of us, we dare not complain to a bountiful God, or think that thirsty wandering will forever characterize our lives. Realistically and metaphorically, God remains a miracle-maker, redeeming us even when we are bitter.

· Here’s another thought: From time to time, it’s good to step back from all the intensities of hunger- and justice-related ministries and ask (again) some wonderfully fundamental questions. The most basic is this: “Why do we do this?” (Or more accurately, “Why, in God’s Name, do we do this?”)

· The Second Reading could take us back to first questions and first answers about hunger ministry, places we have to revisit – places where we have to re-attach, perhaps – in order to keep these ministries from floating free, as though not connected to the rest of the lexicon of faith.

· That’s right, we’re among “the poor,” when it comes to God’s favor and the really important questions about life. We deserve nothing and are sinners; therefore, we cannot save ourselves. We are destitute, empty of possibilities of rescue. Bereft and trodden down to the ground, we can only take refuge in the steady rock of God’s grace. (The rock image can lead us perhaps to the water-gushing rock in the Sinai or a marker that celebrated an Old Testament Israelite victory against superior odds. The second one had a name: “Ebenezer”, which meant something like “hitherto hath God helped us”)

· Back to hunger and justice ministries: People who are physically and economically poor likely understand and value “salvation” better than most of us. They understand the concept, “We are not able to save ourselves”, and so are able to worship God with gratitude for everything they receive from God’s gracious hand. In this regard, we can learn from them.

· One possibility: God just gets tired of injustice and oppression, and gets tired of the people who keep causing it. Not just the marquee-level bad people, but people like us, whose continued fouling of the planet, whose continued greed and consumptiveness makes the world groan. People like us, who know down deep that when the gap between rich and poor people grows, both groups lose. People like us, who ought to know better – we have seen Jesus and perhaps choose to ignore his example.

· What’s bright and fresh and spring-like in all this? (We agreed on this direction earlier in Lent, yes?) If it’s our behaviors that cause God to get angry, then it’s our behaviors that can change. We have options, we know how to choose among them. We are not locked into selfish-and-stupid. We are led by a Christ who teaches us to lead others. (Despite the psalm’s reference, we are NOT sheep!) We have been baptized-and-commissioned, we have been equipped by the Spirit. We’re saved for a purpose. We know what to do.

1. Children like water, but may take it for granted. Illustrate the scarcity and glory of water however you might like, but consider Dixie cups filled with dust, dirty water or just empty. Hand out small soap bars and wash cloths and ask children to clean themselves with dirty water. Hold up a pitcher of brackish or dirty or otherwise-polluted water and ask who would like a drink. For fun, use a really good water-filtering pump – a back-packing staple – and clean up the dirty water as a sign of God’s grace, a symbol of what ELCA World Hunger provides through well-digging and water-purification systems.

2. Connect to the Israelites’ attitudes by talking about being thirsty, in excruciating detail (e.g., hot sun, dry throat, sweaty clothes, no shade in sight, no faucets anywhere). After awhile, ask if anyone in the group has every been really thirsty. How did it feel, in your head or stomach or throat? Think together what a glass of water means to someone who has never had clean water before. Reference a story from ELCA hunger materials that tells how a water system has helped a village grow crops, eliminate water-borne diseases and helped improve health and nutrition.

3. If you’re good at chalk-talks, draw some diagrams and pictographs that illustrate the connection of the Romans reading to the concept of doing justice. Example: Everything starts with God’s favor, which then causes . . . . Keep it short and keep it simple; the idea is to show God as the source for the good work that children (and adults) do in eliminating hunger.

1. “Complaining to God” comes to mind as a good topic for conversation. Start with the OT reading, and challenge participants to explore synonyms for complaining. Then move to finding in their lives situations analogous to what the Israelites faced. Explore how complaining is both obvious and subtle, how it spreads, how it’s legitimated in society and what are its effects. Then look at the end of Psalm 95 and think together about God’s viewpoint in the matter of complaining. (For a sharing-sidetrip, ask participants to talk about their own complaining, about its causes in their own lives.) For a hunger-and-justice connection, think about the legitimate complaints of those who are oppressed, homeless, tricked or shut out.

2. If you want to deepen questions around water, take some time to gather current artifacts – articles, YouTube videos, water conservation devices, water and sewage bills, stories of ELCA Hunger’s work to improve water quality, etc. – and bring them to the group’s attention. Talk together about whether “abundant water” is a reality in the world. Recall other Bible passages about water – its cleansing, its inclusive blessing, its power – and imagine how someone living without access to clean, affordable water might view these passages.

1. Spend some time “drilling down” -- i.e., getting to the bottom of things – in answering this question, “Why do we engage in hunger ministries, really?” Insist on more than surface-level or knee-jerk responses by making the question personal. A gentle way to begin the sharing: Ask about the first time participants were first aware of people who were poor, as well as their feelings at that moment. Use the Romans reading as a jumping off place.

· It is entirely possible that in our times night – think physical reality and/or metaphor -- still holds this almost-visceral set of limitations, if only in the private rooms of our emotions. One of them connects perhaps to hunger ministries.

· There is likely gathering around Western societies a sense of dread – “nighttime” for hope? – about the gradual deterioration of the environment, the increasing slide of economies, the drying up of some forms of generosity and gemeindschaftsfefühl and the diminishing influence of our country among the nations of the world.

· As these forms of light-lacking reality creep into souls and societies, it is possible that the work of God cannot be done, or that it cannot be done as well. So congregations work with diminished financial resources, individuals and families draw in on themselves and their problems, leaders find it difficult to find volunteers, immigrants are denigrated and those who are poor (blind?) are blamed for their own condition.

· Where the light of hope is absent, the darknesses of “night” can also prohibit the good and godly work of eliminating hunger and injustice. People who are afraid – of nighttime or of each other – are less likely to give of themselves to fight against injustice. People who are frantically clutching around themselves the crumbling pieces of what they used to think of as “the good life” are less likely to want to enable the good life of someone else, close at hand or faraway.

· Night is not a permanent physical reality, nor need it be an abiding metaphor for the way the people of God think and behave as followers of the Christ. What dispels night is light; what robs fear of its neurobiological grip is love and hope. What compels night to skitter back into its loathsome crannies is the sweep of God’s action in history, God’s will for the world, God’s power to turn the world on its head.

· It is very possible that on this day, members of your listening congregation are approaching their lives with “night” in mind, with its effects front-and-center in terms of their daily experience. It is also possible that, in your congregation’s participation in the hunger ministries of this church, you give those same people a chance to be light, and thus to dispel night.

· It is entirely possible that, gathered together in common purpose – to bring sight to those who are blind, to shepherd gently those who are vulnerable, to insist on God’s way of thinking – members of your congregation can thwart night’s fearful grip on their lives and keep them hopeful workers for God.

· Hold this thought: ELCA World Hunger changes people, for the rest of their lives. Like the blind man who gets almost an entire chapter of John’s gospel, people around the world are, on this day, forever changed people whose witness to the power of Christ might be as strong as the uppity blind man (see following starter thoughts).

· “Not the same person” is a different result of Jesus’ ministry than “healed” or “fed” or “comforted”. In this story, a man whose life was very limited suddenly found new possibilities. Suddenly a alms-dependent beggar becomes so dangerous that he is banned from his local church. Suddenly, someone whose voice was likely plaintive and pleading is now bold and instructive. Suddenly someone who was easy to ignore is the center of deserved attention. Suddenly someone who had nothing to give is now a worshiper, a teacher, a leader-in-the-rough.

· That’s what this church’s hunger ministries make possible. When you read the stories of our joined work, you can see the obvious – people aren’t hungry anymore, kids go to school, health goes up and mortality goes down, livelihoods are made possible and justice becomes part of the workings of our governmental enterprises.

· Like blind people who now can see, women who were previously powerless in their villages are now capable of determining their own economic destinies; communities of disenfranchised “beggars” are pulled together by community organizers and forever retain their rights; orphaned children become leaders; starving people become food producers, people whose supposedly life-saving sources of water were killing them are now healthy; children attend schools and adults receive training that offers them knowledge and skills that do not disappear.

· And people in the pews of your church are forever released from the poverties of their spirit, their lack of awareness about poverty, their ignorance about the causes of injustice and their smallness of life purpose. Because of the hunger program of this church, members of your congregation are among those who are “not the same people”!

· The story of the man born blind – strange designation, hmm? – reveals to us someone whose changed life includes more than a healthy dose of courage vis-à-vis established religious norms and supposed authority figures. In a word, this poor man, this beggar man, this easy-to-ignore man suddenly becomes uppity.

· One of the delightful parts of the story is the intricate way in which this transformed beggar decimates the rhetoric and the intents of the Pharisees – supposed men-of-the-people, the liberals whose emphases on what was holy and godly made them populists, if only in their own estimation.

· “Uppity” fits the hunger work of this denomination – others, too? – in several ways. First and foremost, this church confronts systems that might keep people down (making them “beggars” or “blind”). Not just in our national and state-based advocacy work, and not just in our Pittsburgh-based Office for Corporate Social Responsibility, both forms of work which gather and focus attention on what might otherwise not be seen or be uncomfortable. Individual congregations and their members are also encouraged to confront and name what’s wrong and what’s unfair wherever they find themselves. Historically humble Lutherans – the jokes abound – stand up and speak their mind; others pay attention and listen!

· A second way to understand “uppity blind beggar” occurs wherever in the world formerly powerless people come to an understanding of their power, individually and collectively. In the world-spanning ministries of the ELCA and its partners, we do this in formal ways – education and community organizing – but also in informal ways. For example,our partners and we distribute food aid that also helps people who are poor to find their voices, find their power, gain status or influence.

· In the Johanine story, Jesus seems to be deeply appreciative of this man’s life – the writer of John is certainly impressed, given the length and specificity of this story. In the healing of this man’s eyes and/or brain, Jesus also heals this man’s self-image. The beggar becomes the proclaimer, the disabled person becomes the teacher, the asker becomes the giver.

· This same kind of work happens in hundred and thousands of stories around the world every day. Christ comes in the healing work of ELCA World Hunger, and changed people gather their courage around them to confront what is not right, what may have kept them captive earlier – “Poor people deserve what they get because they’re sinners.”

· Today we can be appreciative of the power – the uppitiness? – that this church’s hunger ministries provide, and can stand alongside people whose new voices and attitude inspire and sustain us away from own timidity or false humility.

· As in many of John’s stories, this one has some bumpy/quirky places. Right at the end of the text, Jesus comments about the situation in which sighted people might find themselves: guilty because they have seen (and presumably have not acted on what they have seen).

· The lesson here is a hard one to swallow or accept: We who know about the nature and causes of hunger and injustice may be satisfied with our knowledge or wisdom about these matters. But what of our “sighted” actions, the result of our insight? How do our actions match our knowledge? How do we stand guilty in front of God and in front of those who are “blind” and “beggars” around the world?

· When it comes to hunger-and-justice as a body of knowledge, many of us are already sighted, already filled with insight and already capable to act on that information and wisdom. What is it that holds us back, what keeps from action, what thwarts our best intentions, and what tempts us to pretend to be blind?

1. A very simple application of today’s psalm: How do the stories of hunger-related ministries, particularly relief and development, connect with Psalm 23? For example, “preparing a table in the presence of my enemies” has an almost direct correlation about the way we feed people in times of war or other conflict. Perhaps a sheep puppet and you could talk about these ideas, telling story snippets along the was as illustrations of how Psalm 23 could easily be about hunger ministries in the ELCA. See the most recent Hunger Resources Packet for stories, or go online at www.elca.org/hunger or www.elca.org/globalmission and play around in those Web sites until you find wonderful stories.

2. Although simulating “blindness” can easily become insulting to those who are not sighted, you might help children reflect on the idea of “seeing anew” with a simple exercise: Put sturdy blindfolds – dark toweling – on the children who volunteer. As you talk with them about how it feels not to be able to see, ask them if they see any people who are poor, or anyone who needs help. (Except for the truly imaginative children, the answer will probably be “no”.) While you are talking, bring into view some photos or posters that show poverty, injustice or their obverse, good and godly relief and development work.) Ask the children who are still sighted to describe what they see. Now, ask both sets of children what they want to do about what they see. (The blindfolded children’s answers should be less focused or specific than the non-blindfolded children.) Note the difference between the two sets of answers, then remove the blindfold, and ask the newly sighted children what they want to do about helping folks who are poor, now that they can see. If your congregation will be taking a hunger-directed offering during Lent, this exercise may be a good segue to that offering.

3. Night and day, dark and light – both sets of experiences are easily understood by children. Perhaps you and they talk about their feelings about both paired realities, and then help them unpack the metaphorical nature of these ideas per the text, but with hunger-related stories as the example. For example, hunger- and justice-related correlatives to “the disgusting things people do at night” might be the story of the conscription of children into rebel armies in Africa. Be sure to connect “daytime” and “light-oriented” activities with the good things that happen because of ELCA World Hunger.

1. The Gospel text invites honest conversation about confronting supposed authorities – civil or religious – about supposed norms regarding people who are poor. (Yes, this story has definite justice over- and undertones!) In what ways do participants behave similarly to the formerly blind beggar? What does it take – a “healing”, perhaps? – to move from obsequious beggarhood to insistent challenger of wrong-headed thinking about people who are poor? For whom, really, do we stand up when we speak out against what’s wrong, short-sighted, or just plain mean-spirited? (For example, substitute “illegal immigrant” for “blind beggar”.)

2. The concept of “eco-despair” has now entered the lexicon of our civilization. Its definition will be bandied about for awhile, but you probably get the basic picture: Folks who know a lot about the degradation of the environment (and those who don’t?) are beginning to lose hope. It’s a sobering reality among some leaders as well. For biblical connections on this day, consider the ideas of “night” and “dark” as they connect to hope and despair. Without getting into basic science or basic political matters, talk together about participants’ own emotions about the gradual deterioration of the environment, and what it means to them personally. A different question: What in the lexicon of faith could be helpful for people suffering from eco-despair?

3. Play with Psalm 23 as though hearing it for the first time, and as though you were members of a small congregation all of whose members were living in severe poverty. What would the psalm say to you? What would it teach you about God? About yourselves? About the course of your lives or your purposes? Don’t forget that people are NOT sheep, however.

4. Explore together the concept of “anointing” that runs throughout the 1 Samuel text. The reading may be more about Samuel than David, and more about the way God’s legacy is passed through generations than about Jesus, and so offers to Bible conversationalists the possibility of examining their own feelings about receiving and passing on the legacy of leadership/responsibility that comes from their Baptisms. What does it mean in today’s world to be “anointed” for leadership in hunger ministries? To what purposes would any participants feel anointed? Who have they anointed to follow their example, take over their work, be like them when they are gone? Why would anyone seek anointing? Why would they fear it?

2. Walk in the dark tonight, in the darkest night you can find. Stop somewhere, looking at any source of light you can find. Standing or sitting there, think to yourself about the darknesses in your soul and the ways in which even small sources of light – people, events, words – dispel what would otherwise confound, blind or diminish your witness. Thank God for this experience.

Invite to breakfast or lunch your most insistent critic, with this rubric between you: “I want to listen to you like never before.” Talk about something important.