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Peace Lutheran Church


Confirmation '11/'12

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On January 29th, we talked about Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7.  In the sermon we find numerous famous passages and tons of information – far more than we could cover in class.  Please take some time this week and following to work on learning more about the Sermon on the Mount.  Here are some activities and homework to try.  Also this week, we introduced the confirmation project for this year.

Download this weeks Parent's Page

 Homework:

  1. Read at least two more sections from the Sermon on the Mount.  Covering three chapters, Matthew 5-7, the sermon is lengthy and has a lot of short teachings within it.  If you Bible has headdings, you can use them to select at least two sections of the sermon to read and discuss.  If not, scan the sermon until you find something you would like to discuss as a family.  Below are additional activities to help explore specific parts of the sermon.
  2. Complete at least one of the activitie from the parent's page or the list below.
  3. Complete at least four Faith Form cards.
  4. Begin working on the Sermon on the Mount Project.

Additional thoughts and suggestions

  • The Whole Sermon - The Sermon on the Mount is one of the longest single speaches in the Gospels.  Some even suggest that Matthew has brought together teachings from several different sermons into this one.  What we have though is a very good outline of what Jesus expects the world to be like and how people of faith are to live.  He raises the bar from mere morality (what does the law require of us) to divine community (how we live in the community of God).  Though he doesn't say it directly in the sermon, we can see behind everything Jesus says, his understanding of the two great commands he says in Matthew 22:35-40).  You may want to go back and review some of last sessons information on the Shema to help you better understand the two great commands.  The Sermon on the Mount can be broken down into the following parts:
  • Beatitudes - The name Beatitudes comes from the Latin word, beatus, which means blessed (or happy or fortunate).  This is not the only place in the Bible in which a Beatitude is present––read Psalm 1:1, Psalm 112:1 and Psalm 32:1.  Here, Jesus uses this collection of blessings to help us see the world which he is creating in the Kingdom of God and which the Church is to live today.  As Christians, we are to embody and live the Beatitudes now - even though the world around us doesn’t.  The Beatitudes don’t tell us exactly how to live, instead they paint a word picture about what life looks like.
    • There are hints that when Jesus first spoke the Beatitudes in Aramaic (the every day language Jesus spoke) he did so in verse––like a poem, song, or rap.  Even in English the repetitive structure can be read like a poem.  Try making a Beatitude rap using your own words.  Make sure to bring it to class to share with Pastor & Jason.
    • Some ideas in the Beatitudes can be hard.  For example, most people don’t feel real happy or blessed when someone they love dies and they are mourning.  Why do you think Jesus would say they are blessed when they don’t feel like it?
    • Monty Python’s version of the Beatitudes. Here’s a clip from Monty Python’s very irreverent movie, Life of Brian (please note that the entire film might not be appropriate for your student).  In it, we watch the crowd as Jesus preaches the sermon on the mount.  It’s very funny, but points a sarcastic finger at us too.  How are we more like the crowd that “listens” to Jesus but either ignores the instructions or gets them wrong?  
    • What if the Beatitudes were telling us who we should bless rather than how we can be blessed, how would that change how you read them?  How would that change how you live your life?
  • Divorce - Jesus teaching on divorce can be confusing and difficult to youth and children today.  In a culture where divorce is accepted as normative among adults, children can often approach this topic with fear and confusion.  This is compounded by the fact that the church hasn’t always been consistent in it’s interpretation of Jesus and the Bible.  Here are some points to consider:
    • Divorce in Jesus day.  The first century, when Jesus walked the earth, was very different from today when it came to marriage and divorce.  In marriage, the man had the dominant roll, the woman was seen as property.  To be married, meant that to a degree the man “owned” the woman.  She could do very little without the permission of her husband.  Yet without a husband, it was very difficult for a woman to provide for herself or her children.  That is why the early church took so seriously ministry to widows (Acts_______) because they couldn’t care for themselves.  To be divorced for a woman was even more difficult.  In Israel in the 1st century, woman could only ask for a divorce if they could prove beyond a doubt that her husband had been unfaithful to her.  But a man could divorce his wife just by giving her a letter stating that they were divorce.  As such the woman was cut off from society - an outcast.   Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:31-32 therefore give the woman more rights and security than she had prior.  It’s unfortunate that they have often been twisted to force woman staying in relationships that are abusive.  God never tolerates abusive relationships––for any reason––and neither should the Church or Christians.
    • Is divorce a sin?  
    • Can someone who is divorced remarry?
    • Is it alright to get a divorce?
    • The ELCA has several resources available on their website for families experiencing or contemplating separation and divorce.  http://www.elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action/Life-Transitions/Family-Relations/Separation-and-Divorce.aspx
    • The official stance of the ELCA on Marriage and Divorce.  Not the most exciting reading, but is the best thorough treatment of what our church believes.  http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues/Predecessor-Body-Statements/American-Lutheran-Church/Marriage-Divorce-and-Remarriage.aspx
    • When is it OK to get a divorce
    • Talking about divorce with your kids
  • Upside-Down world- Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount seem upside-down.  He says the first will be last, the strong will be weak, the meek will be powerful.  This is a very different world than we see when we go to school, work, or even the store.  But this is the world Jesus invites us to live in.  
    • How might you practice Jesus’ upside-down ideas when:
      • Someone hits you or bullies you at school?
      • Someone asks you to cheat by giving them the answers?
      • You see someone being made fun of and crying?
      • You hear about a classmate whose being mocked because their family doesn’t have enough money to buy new clothes?
      • Someone new moves into the neighborhood.
      • You’re friends tell you you shouldn’t hang out with someone because they’re a nerd?  How about if they say the person smokes pot?
      • Your parents ask you to clean your room?
      • The boss on your first day of work asks you to do something you think is wrong?
      • Someone touches you in appropriately?
    • What are some other places in the Gospels or the Bible that talk about Jesus’ upside-down ideas?  How are these similar to the Sermon on the mount?  There's a bunch but if you get stuck, take a look at:
    • Try summing up Jesus upside-down ideas in two sentences or less.  
      • After each person gives it a try, read Matthew 22:34-40.  How do you think this sums it up? The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ first teaching in Matthew.  Jesus’ words about the greatest two commandments occur during his last week.  Why do you think Matthew remembered Jesus beginning and ending his teachings with these similar thoughts?
    • Do you think it is possible to always live in Jesus’ upside-down world right now?  What is the hardest part?  Why do you think Jesus asks us to do it?
    • To celebrate Jesus upside-down, backwards world, throw an upside-down, backwards party.  
      • Eat desert first - pineapple upside-down cake of course
      • Put your clothes on backwards
      • Have everyone walk backwards
      • Insist on people ringing the door bell as they leave.
      • Play a game of monopoly where you start with lots of money and then have to give it away throughout the game.  The one who has the least money wins.  Remember though you also have to be a polite receiver (no rejecting other’s gifts).  
      • How else might you celebrate at your upside-down party?
    • Love your Enemies - While the world around us may tell us to love those who do us good and hate those who wrong us, Jesus tells us that we are to love our enemies. This perhaps the hardest saying in all of the Sermon on the Mount.  We are continually tempted to find conditions in which we need not love our enemies, exemptions that release us from loving our enemies, or reasons why we shouldn’t love our enemies.  Yet Jesus words are with out condition, exemption or reason.  We are,quite simply, to love our enemies at all times, in all places, in every circumstance.  Though it is difficult and we will fail, though sometimes it doesn’t seem fair or just, we are to love our enemies.
    • Turn the other Cheek.  Jesus’ instructions about turning the other cheek, giving away your coat, or walking an additional mile, are meant to get us to walk along with those who are suffering.  When we do we realize that there is really no difference between those who are poor or suffering and ourselves.  Powerful change in the world can come out of such insight.
      • In the Civil War, a regiment of African-American soldiers was formed by the Union.  Though the Union was fighting to free the slaves, they didn’t always treat them as equals.  The video clip below is from the movie Glory that tells the story of the 53rd regiment.  In it the men are about to receive their first pay check, long overdue.
         
        • By tearing up their pay stubs the men are hurting themselves (They wanted $13, got $10, but now will get nothing), yet how is their act of civil disobedience an agent of change?
        • They act non-violently. They could have attached the pay sergeant.  They could have revolted.  Why is their choice not to hurt anyone else but themselves such a powerful statement?
        • It has a profound effect on their cornel, he too (and all the officers) rip up their pay stubs.  Why do you think they choose to do this?  What effect do you think it has on the other soldiers?  What do you think others will say?
        • Glory is at times graphic, but is a powerful movies about the sacrifice one people make for others, even when the others don’t know enough to appreciate it.  If you student is not bothered by the violence, it is a movie worth watching.
      • Going too deap.  What happens when God's Kingdom interacts with the values of this world?  Sometimes this is the question we don't want to ask, because it may challenge us to respond in ways we don't want.  For a challenge on this topic, read this recent post on Pastor Bryan's blog, The Question We're Afraid to Ask.  What do you think Jesus would do with this information in light of the Sermon on the Mount?  What do you think you would do with this information?  How could we respond?  
  • Relationships- In many ways the whole Sermon on the Mount is about relationships.  Jesus is instructing us on how to be in relationship with others and with God.  Relationships can be tough, ask anyone.  Sometimes we make mistakes and hurt others when we don't intend.  Jesus instructions are meant to be a foundations for us upon which we can build healthy relationships and also work at mending broken ones.  
    • Pick some of the instructions Jesus gives (see the list above) and talk about how these instructions affect relationships.  Is this a relationship between you and someone else or you and God?  What effect does acting the way Jesus instructs have on the relationship?
    • Relationships are organic things, always in flux.  Often they involve three people in a "triangle"  Triangles can be difficult, because there is always the temptation to team up on one person.  To illustrate this, make a large loop of rope (at least 6' in diameter) and have three people stand inside the loop with the rope streached taunt about waist level.  
      • At all times, the three people have to keep the rope taunt.  Try having two people move closer together.  What effect does that have on the other person?  
      • Now try illustrating Matthew 6:24.  One person is God, One person is Money, the last is a human.  How does this graphically illustrate the passage?  What happens when you're closer to God or Money?  Form the ideal triangle in your mind, standing in relation to the others.
      • Now pick three more of Jesus' teachings and try them out in the triangle.  You may have to think a bit about where the relationship is in the passage, and who each participant represents.