A Holy People : Sunday School Lesson

International Sunday School Lesson
For Week Ending November 1, 2009

Purpose: To affirm that Christians are called to reflect God's holiness through loving attitudes and actions.

Scripture Text: I Peter 1:13-25 (NRSV)

I peter 1:13-25
(13)Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. (14)Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. (15)Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; (16) for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

(17)If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. (18)You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, (19)but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. (21)Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

(22)Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. (23)You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. (24)For
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
(25)but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
That word is the good news that was announced to you.

My Thoughts by Burgess Walter

The word “holiness,” when used to describe someone’s Christian discipline is almost a dirty word in some religious circles. To many it implies speaking in tongues or radical emotional behavior, which is not appreciated in many of our churches. When the Apostle Peter uses the word, he means wholeness or completion. The Greek word translated “holiness” literally means, “be all you can be.”

For centuries the word holiness has not necessarily meant Christians are to adhere to some strict moral code, but rather holiness is a joyful response to God's holiness. Christians are called as a people to reflect God's holiness in the community, and to be made whole and complete.

Peter tells us (verse 13) that the recipients of this letter are to fix their hope on the grace of Jesus Christ. We also are to prepare our minds for action. Our old desires should be replaced with a new desire to live a life that would make a parent proud, because we call God our Father. A holy God demands a holy people. Peter took the words Moses used for Israel (verse 16) and applies them to the church. If the church expects to be a powerful growing entity it must be “holy” or it may as well be any civic club or lodge. The one thing that should separate the church from the world is our reflection of God's holiness. "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

Verse 17 offers a unique way of looking at God's grace, that is, since the one we call Father is also our judge, we can live in hope. Who of us would not want to go before our earthly father to be judged? We would certainly live in hope that our father would be a fair and maybe even a partial judge. If we are obedient children we can enjoy a gracious relationship with our father. Our obedience is not out of fear, or a set of rules, but rather because we want to please both our earthly and our heavenly Father.

Verse 18 refers to the ransom paid by Jesus, through His blood, and not by trinkets, or treasure, but we are redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Just as the priest of Moses time used the blood of oxen and bulls, so now God has chosen to use the blood of His only Son to purchase the ransom price that sin as put on our heads.

Since we have been redeemed by the most Holy Son of God, again the call is for us to be holy also. The plan that God put into action was “destined before the foundation of the world, but has only been revealed at this time.” (My paraphrase)

Verse 21 tells us it is God's gift to us that allows us to have faith and trust in a risen savior. Faith and hope are not virtues we strive for, but are gifts of the grace of God. Because of our faith, we trust in God: we believe that the resurrection of Christ is a sign of God's power and love; and we share in the glory of the risen Christ. Because of hope we believe these wonderful things will be ours forever. Faith and hope have practical consequences and are revealed in obedience.

Verse 22 says we that have been ransomed have also been purified by our obedience to the truth of love and that includes the love of our fellow man and our community. Our purification comes from the living and enduring word of God. Because God has said He would do this for us, we can have confidence that it is true, “the word of the Lord endures forever.”

When I think of holiness, I think of two people that had tremendous influence in my life, my uncle Lewis Walter and my father-in-law Dayton Korb. Both of these individuals lived lives of holiness, and set an example for me to strive for.

What is your definition of “holiness”? What do you think is the best way for you to reflect God's holiness? Who do you look to for an example of a Christian living a holy life?

Opting Out ! :Sunday School Lesson

International Sunday School Lesson
For Week Ending October 25, 2009

Purpose: To explore in what ways wealth and possessions can hinder love of God and neighbor.

Scripture Text: Mark 10:17-31 (NRSV)

Mark 10:17-31
(17)As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? (18)Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. (19)You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” (20)He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth. (21)Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.(22)When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

(23)Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! (24)And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! (25)It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. (26)They were greatly astounded and said to one another, then who can be saved? (27)Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible. (28) Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. (29)Jesus said, Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, (30)who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.

My Thoughts by Burgess Walter

As you read this text some very interesting questions immediately come to mind. The first is what would be Jesus answer to us if we ask the same question as this “rich young ruler”? Second, why is there no mention of the things we normally associate with being saved, such as faith, grace, repentance?

There are many things, in addition to wealth, that can keep us from following Jesus and obtaining eternal life. In today's news we see what a person’s desire for attention and fame can do, not just to an individual but also to the children and family of one so demented and star crazed. With many of us it would not be asking so much to sell all we have and follow Jesus, unless He said leave you pride and worldly desires and follow me. Come; follow me, but no more golf or watching football. No more cheering for Tebow, and the Gators.

What are the things that keep us from surrendering everything to Christ? The rich young ruler went away sad because he had great wealth, but it may have been more than that, he probably also a position in the community of influence and power. Is it possible that Jesus saw that the man was not as truthful as the text implies? In the text Jesus only questions him about the last six commandments. If we break those down as Jesus did when he said there were really only two commandments, love the Lord with all you heart, mind and soul, and thy neighbor as thyself,the only commandments Jesus questions him about are grouped together in, “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Was he loving his neighbors while withholding his wealth from helping some that may have been in need?

The young man does deserve some credit for seeking out Jesus, and trying in his own strength and wisdom to do what he was taught as right. I am afraid the world is full of well meaning individuals that are doing what they feel is right, but it appears that they may fall short when it comes to eternal life with Jesus.

Jesus wants us to be willing to give up what we want and our desires, for working towards increasing His kingdom. Almost everyone called to follow Jesus in the Gospels was asked to leave something behind and follow Jesus, one exception being the thief on the cross; he was rewarded for His belief. Another was Legion the demonic, he was told he could not go with Jesus, but was to return and share with his community what Jesus had done for him.

One thing we can take from a compilation of all those called and saved, in the Gospel stories is they were all treated as individuals, from Mary Magdalene, to Zacchaeus, to Paul; it seems they all had different issues.The two things that are consistent are God's love and grace, and the faith of the individual. None of those called had merited God's favor by their deeds or wealth, but rather by their belief, faith and trust that Jesus was who He said He was, the Son of God.

It is because of God's grace and the faith that He gives to those that seek him, that Jesus can make the statement, “for mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

The rich young ruler chose not to follow Christ, because the price seemed too high, we have no record of him ever changing that decision, but the scriptures tell us “Jesus looked at him, and loved him.” Hopefully the young man responded to that love at some point in his life.

Begging to Get In: Sunday School Lesson

International Sunday School Lesson
For Week Ending October 18,2009

Purpose: To nurture steadfast and relentless faith that challenges prejudice and works for inclusive community.

Scripture Text: Mark 7:24-30 (NRSV)

Mark 7:24-30
24)From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, (25) but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. (26) Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. (27) He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ (28) But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ (29) Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ (30) So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

My Thoughts by Burgess Walter

There is another version of this story in Matthew 15:21-28 that goes: (21) Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.(22) Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ (23) But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ (24) He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ (25) But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ (26) He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ (27) She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ (28) Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.

What are some of the differences you notice between the two stories? The first difference I see is in verse 28 of Matthews version he credits the woman with great faith, while faith is never mentioned in the Mark version. Matthew writing to the Jews of his time refers to the woman as a Canaanite, certainly a defining name for his readers. Mark is writing to different readers, he is writing to the Gentiles of Rome primarily, so he calls her a Syrophoenician woman, a Syrian that lived in Phoenicia, regardless of the title, the point is she was not a Jewish women but rather a Gentile.

In Matthew's story this women seems to be a very vocal distraction to both the disciples and to Jesus. The implication is the disciples wanted her request granted just to shut her up. In Mark, she is depicted as worshiping Jesus, falling at His feet.

In both texts Jesus appears to ignore her initial request. It is the persistence of the woman that tugs at Jesus' heart; He explains that she does not qualify for His mission since she is not a Jew. She is undaunted and indicates she is well aware of that, but is willing to receive just some crumbs from the Son of David’s table, “even dogs are not forbidden the crumbs from the master's table”. Although she had no idea at the time, the time for His ministry to her would be soon, once Jesus was rejected by the Jewish authorities, he would be available to all believers, Jew or Gentile. What Jesus did was give her a foretaste of what would be coming for all. “Blessed assurance Jesus is mine, O what a foretaste of Glory divine”

This women sets an example for us, in her statement “have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David;” It is the statement that all sinners must pray in order to receive the gift of eternal life. In Mark the writer calls it begging, in fact, we are all beggars when it comes to getting the promise of eternal life with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Like the Syrophoenician woman we do not deserve to be heard, healed, or redeemed, but by God's mercy and grace, begging is honored.

Recognizing Jesus: Sunday School Lesson

International Sunday School Lesson
For Week Ending October 11, 2009

Purpose: To emphasize the importance of recognizing and being a witness to what God has done for us.

Scripture Text: Mark 5:1-13, 18-20 (NRSV)

Mark 5:1-13, 18-20
(1)They came to the other side of the lake, to the country of the Gerasenes. (2) And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. (3) He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; (4) for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him.

(5) Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. (6) When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; (7) and he shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.’ (8) For he had said to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ (9) Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’ (10) He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. (11) Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; (12) and the unclean spirits begged him, ‘Send us into the swine; let us enter them.’ (13) So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned in the lake.

(18)As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. (19) But Jesus refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.’ (20) And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

My Thoughts by Burgess Walter

Today's lesson offers many different possibilities for teaching, but I am choosing to take a selfish one, and I am dedicating this lesson to a friend Walter Smith and his wife Edna Anne (Eddie) Smith, who just succumbed to a dreaded demon we call cancer on October 3, 2009.

There are many things to glean from this passage, but let's look at the very last verse (20) “And he went away and began proclaiming in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.”

Walter Smith and I grew up in the same rural area of Indiana; Walter was as much of a city kid as you could be in a town with one stop light. I was a farm boy with very little of the sophistication you can get from being a city kid. When our one room school was forced to join the city kids in the seventh grade at Butler, Walter and I became classmates. Walter, when I first met him seemed shy and maybe a bit of a class clown, he was not as athletic as some, but you could always count on him for a laugh. As we progressed through High School, Walter became an amateur magician, and in our senior year got the lead in our class play “A Man Called Peter”. Walter played Peter Marshall, the Chaplain to the United States Senate. That changed Walter's life, and he started preparing for full time Christian service, where he met his wife Edna (Eddie).

Eddie grew up in a missionary family and was called to the mission field as a young girl when she heard the story of the five missionaries that were martyred in Ecuador. And that is why I have selected just the last verse of our text to talk about. The entire lesson takes place in a foreign county, which it is not in the Jewish part of the world at that time but rather in the Greek or Gentile region. It was across the sea from where Jesus and the disciples grew up and lived; the Decapolis was a ten city area on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The demon possessed man would become the first Gentile missionary.

As you read the story, it is almost heart breaking when Jesus tells this young man he can not come with them and proclaim the message in Galilee and Judea, but rather he should go and tell his story of how Jesus worked a miracle in his life, to the Gentiles of the Decapolis.

I recall when Walter was first in college he would visit other churches and put on his magic show and work into the message, how “Jesus had changed his life.” I am sure there were times when he thought he might become a Minister to a nice church in our area, but God called him and his wife “Eddie” to go across the sea and minister in a land that did not know much, if anything about Jesus. Walter and Eddie served on the mission field in Nigeria for over 40 years, most of that time with no dependable electricity or things like health care, that most of us take for granted. Walter and Eddie became responsible for many native missionaries becoming local ministers and teaching their own people about“what Jesus had done for them.”

About a year ago Eddie realized a former problem had returned and she knew there was a good possibility she would have to give up the work that meant so much to her in Nigeria. Walter and Eddie returned to the States to fight the demon that had taken over her body. But Eddie was not content just fighting the demon, she also chronicled for her friends and family everything she was facing both heath wise and spiritually. She called it “The Chronicles of a Shorn Lamb” This week we received word from Walter that the “Shorn Lamb was with the Lord.” Eddie was a gifted writer and her chronicles put most of us to shame for the way she faced the demon of cancer unwavering in her faith. She knew where she was going and faced it unafraid.

Eddie and Walter lived the lesson that our text teaches, we are called to share the message where we can and God knows the best place for each of us to serve.

If any of you would like to help in a worth while ministry, you can do the following:

Memorials for Eddie may be sent to: Walter C. Smith, Missionary to Nigeria, Forwarding Agent: Betty Hafey, 329 Glenmont Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43214
Help train Nigerians to preach the Word and to build the Christian Memorial Hospital. Checks must not have my name on them. They should be marked "special offering," and should be made out to: ACM International