Welcome to ELCA World Hunger Sermon Starters!  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. We hope the reflections below help you incorporate themes of hunger, poverty, justice, and hope in your sermons, children sermons, and educational activities in the life of your congregation.  We are always open to feedback, so if you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to email Ryan Cumming, program director of Hunger Education for ELCA World Hunger at [log in to unmask]
 
Sunday October 11 — Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Job 23:1-9, 16-17
Job begins this passage with a bitter complaint that is full of anger as he searches for God. The first section is filled with rebellious grievance as Job wants to lay his case before God and “fill [his] mouth with arguments” (Job 23:4b). Job does not want to beg for mercy, but demands that justice be done. God is nowhere to be found, and Job is desperate: “If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him” (Job 23:8-9). This desperate search for help is not only for biblical figures, but it affects us as well – our desperate search for food, or shelter, or a reason for why we are in the midst of misfortune. When Job speaks of confronting God, it is not to speak merely about physical needs, but to plead his case because hunger, unstable housing, and poverty are symptoms of a deeper breakdown in his relationship with God and the world’s relationship with its Creator. Job is searching for wholeness and an answer to the all-consuming, why me?
 
Mark 10:17-31
When the rich man sees Jesus he gets right to the point with his question, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mk 10:17). After a quick inquisition about the commandments Jesus looks at him and loves him. This verse is placed before a judgment regarding the rich man’s possessions and we should wonder why this verse was placed there? Why is it so important to note that Jesus loved this man in particular? We are reminded in this passage that we are to love the rich man as Jesus loved him. It is not up to us to judge him or condemn him, but only to love him.
The rich man asks about inheriting eternal life and specifically what he can DO to inherit it. What can any of us DO to inherit eternal life? Nothing. It is Jesus Christ who dies for us in order that we may inherit salvation, because inheritance only happens after a death. We are not capable of saving ourselves, just as the rich man is not capable of inheriting eternal life with what he does, because it is Christ who gets us through the eye of the needle. Jesus is the one who saves us, and loves us even when we run away with all of our possessions.
 
Children’s Message
Do you think that God goes on vacation? Does God ever take a break from loving us? God never takes a break from loving us or listening to our prayers. We are the beloved children of God. God loves each and every one of us. God loves you when you wake up in the morning and when you go to sleep. God loves you when you are crying and when you are laughing. Have the children think of a time when they were sad or angry then remind them that God loved them at that moment too. The love of God can never stop or take a break.

Sunday October 18 — Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 53:4-12
The suffering servant text in Isaiah is a beautiful piece of poetry that speaks from the point of view of someone who is witnessing the suffering. This narration speaks to how we as the readers should see it as well because it is clear that we are not the ones who are suffering in this passage. The audience of this text would have been living in exile in Babylon and hoping for some sort of savior to take away their sins. The suffering servant takes all of the sin and the consequences, “he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed” (Isa 53:5). We are healed because of this suffering servant who is likened to a sacrificial lamb that walks silently to the punishment we deserve. At the end of the passage there is a transformation, “Out of his anguish he shall see light” (Isa 53:11). This suffering servant is a messiah and for us it is difficult not to see Jesus in this text; a Christ that takes on all of our inequities and sins so that “the righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities” (Isa 53:11b). Through the sacrifice of this suffering servant we will all be made righteous, no matter our earthly circumstances or lack of material wealth, we will all be made righteous by our messiah. 

Mark 10:35-45
James and John are quite forward when they approach Jesus with a request to do whatever they ask of him. When they propose that they each sit in places of glory Jesus makes it clear that they have no idea what they are asking. “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Mk 10:38) They give an affirmative reply, but Christ can see their sinful ambition. Greatness in the kingdom of God is not about being first, but about being a servant, “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all” (Mk 10:43-44). Being a slave in the ancient world held no reward, but was a complete loss of honor. Jesus is telling the disciples that the human desire of power, privilege, and honor are not what the kingdom of God is about. When we are slaves to one another we do not reach for honor or power, but instead bear each other’s burdens. In the kingdom of God we are slaves to one another, so that no one goes hungry or goes without shelter. 

Children’s Message
Gather the children and ask them to join you in forming a line. Ask which one wants to be first in the line and then ask who wants to be last. Talk to the group about how Jesus wants us to be last in the kingdom of God. In the gospel reading the disciples wanted to sit right next to Jesus in heaven, right? It sounds like that is where we would want to sit, but Jesus tells the disciples that they should want to be last. When we line up in school it is good to be in the front of the line, but Jesus likes to turn what we think upside down. Jesus wants us to be last, but why? Because then we can be kind to one another and let others go ahead of us. Being last is not a punishment; instead being last can be seen as loving someone.