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This Advent – Stop The Donkeys

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No-DonkeysWe’d like to invite you to think a bit harder this Christmas.

It seems to me that there’s a part of the story of Jesus’ birth that we seldom dwell on, and we’d like to help your community enter into it.

If you’re willing.

A few weeks ago I participated in a conversation that gave rise to the thought that when Herod ordered the mass killing of the boy’s under two Mary, Joseph and Jesus wouldn’t have been the only family who tried to escape the genocide. They couldn’t have been the only ones who got word and tried to get out of town as fast as they could, parents, mothers, fathers and children, many of them would have grabbed what they could and have tried to make it as far out of the reach of Herod as they could.  The thought that there’d be this kind of event without such a response is ludicrous, what would you have done?

The image of a sea of donkeys, all carrying mothers with children came to mind, all of them escaping to Egypt or beyond… anywhere they could to escape this evil act.  And I wondered how the leaders of Egypt would have reacted to such a surge of refugees, all seeking to escape an evil leader who was killing their children in a jealous fit of rage.

Would they have responded in a similar way to our political leaders who seem to have a unnatural fear of boats carrying asylum seekers onto our shore (remember this?)?

Or, would they have responded differently and opened their arms?

And if they responded similarly what would their political catch phrase be?

What about “Stop The Donkeys”?

And another question to throw into the mix, who are we in the story? Are we parents fleeing for the life of our children, are we the children, are we the soldiers following orders, are we community members who help sneak the children out of town and hide them from the evil that is seeking them out, or are we people of Egypt? And if we’re people in Egypt are we welcoming or refusing the acceptance of these families seeking our hospitality?

What we’ve created is a list of resources that we hope will grow over the coming weeks to help your congregations enter out of Advent and into Epiphany and to delve into this question.  You’ll find that there is definitely a political lean here, but one that comes to us out of a biblical narrative that is at the heart of who we are as people of faith which tells us that after Jesus was born Herod ordered the killing of all the male children under two and that Mary and Joseph were warned to get out with the baby and escape to egypt where they lived for many years.

This idea is here for you to poach, steal, use, borrow…

And we’d love to invite you to add to the resources if you’re able, just shoot me an email.

Images:

Here are a few images that you can use over advent, have them pop up around the space and build some anticipation around the community, buy some stickers and put them on cars, capture people’s imagination.  One worship idea is to create a sea of donkeys with messages of hospitality to those who seek our generosity and love, or perhaps your community would like to create a sea of donkeys outside your church and invite your community to write letters to our government? Imagine your local member’s face when they receive 100 donkeys in the post…

Let us know what you choose to do with the images…

Narratives / Reflections:

Here are a couple of reflections to help you enter into the story of the flight to Egypt, once again feel free to use, rewrite, bounce off of or add to these if you’d like.

Liturgical Resources:

Commentary:

Resources Exploring Refugee Issues:

The Upper Room – Lenten Studies 2005

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Supporting materials for the Lenten study as it appears in the January/February and March/April 2005 issues of The Upper Room magazine. Each session is designed for an hour of group time. The material on this website supplements the sessions described in pages 70-75 of the regular-print edition of the magazine.

This material is meant to enrich and add to the printed study that appears in the magazine. It contains additional material or alternate activities that may be used in the activity time. Each week, participants in this Lenten study have four choices of activities.

The first one is detailed in the pages of the January-February issue of The Upper Room. The other three activities are outlined here. You may wish to familiarize yourself and your congregation with the four options as described below and select all or some of these offerings for your church.

Link : The Upper Room – Lenten Study Resources

Must Have Experience – 6 Bible Studies about the experience of Jesus Christ

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Six studies are offered to build up those who seek to experience and share their experiences of Jesus Christ. Ideally, these sessions should be used in groups to encourage the formation of people as members of the Body of Christ.

As people “build one another up in love” they will experience Jesus Christ in new ways.

As many communities undertake special times of Bible Study during Lent, these six studies have been tailored for that purpose. If a congregation is only doing studies for four weeks then it is suggested that studies 1,2,5 & 6 be used. Studies 3 & 4 could be done after Lent. However, they could all be done later than Easter if that suited the local context.

At the time of writing, we have been shaken by the news of the Asian Tsunami. This has been taken into account amongst the worship and response suggestions. There is a suggested donation: $5 per copy made, contact The UCA Synod of NSW.

Contact: http://nsw.uca.org.au

Link : Must Have Experience – 6 Bible Studies about the experience of Jesus Christ

Experiences of Jesus – 5 bible studies for groups

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These resources are offered to Uniting Church congregations in Queensland for study and reflection during Lent or at some other time during the year. The sessions link some biblical texts, passages from the Uniting Church Basis of Union and other writings, with a series of questions designed to focus the participants on their own and other’s experiences of Jesus in the time leading up to Easter.

Each person’s experience of Jesus is unique and different, and together the biblical story and our stories build up a tapestry of how Jesus meets and speaks to people in our church and community. These small group sessions emphasise that Jesus brings change to people’s lives, heals people’s hurts, gives freedom to those who feel trapped, brings forgiveness to those who feel guilty, and gives a future to those who feel hopeless.

There are some underlying assumptions in these resources about how God speaks to us. The Basis of Union acknowledges ‘that the Church has received the books of the Old and New Testaments as unique prophetic and apostolic testimony, in which it hears the Word of God and by which its faith and obedience are nourished and regulated’.

It also refers to foundational documents and God’s continuing revelation to the church. The Basis of Union is itself a foundational document for the Uniting Church. We are indeed people on the way, but not without guidance.

Link : Experiences of Jesus – 5 bible studies for groups (pdf)

Link : UCA, Queensland Synod

Change Makers

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The change-maker bible study series produced by SU and Tear explores God’s call to justice and peace, exploring issues of hunger, war, discipleship, poverty and injustice in the bible and asking how we, as christians can choose to respond.

I’ve found this series to be highly under-rated, the issues and the biblical and prayerful reflection that each of the guides offer are of high quality and allow groups to converse about world issues in a safe way.

The study themes are: – Awake to the World – Seeing and Praying – Eyes Wide Open – Seeing Faith at Work Prophetic, challenging, educational and live changing these studies will challenge your young people to pray and reflect on what it means to be a Christian in a global way.

But don’t trust me, here’s what others have said:

Rev Time Costello, (Formerly President of Baptist Union of Australia): “ChangeMakers! is an excellent and prophetic series of studies, tackling difficult questions from life, society and global realities. It allows the Bible to challenge our values and speak powerfully to our lifestyles. Indeed, it induces change! I look forward to using this material extensively in groups.”

Margaret Smith, Member of the Board of Tearfund (UK): “Do not embark on these studies if you wish your life to remain the same. You will meet the world’s poor. You will read God’s Word to those of use who are rich and discover how the two, rich and poor, can impact upon each other. I thoroughly recommend you take the risk!”

These studies were compiled by Steve Bradbury and Allan Harkness. – Steve Bradbury is the National Director of TEAR Australia. – Allan Harkness is currently lecturing at Trinity Theological College in Singapore.

Link : Change Makers

Link : Tear Australia

Water For The Journey – 5 Bible Studies for Small Groups

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Water for the journeyCraig Mitchell wrote this study in 2001, originally as a lenten study to prepare people for worship during the lenten period. I remember using this a few years ago and how useful the process that the study uses was, and still is for bible study.

The process involves three steps, My Story (focusing on myself), God’s Story (focus on the bible) and Our Story (focus on the world). The studies are no longer available in printed form, however he has just released them on his blog for download in pdf format.

Water is an essential part of our daily lives. We use it for drinking, bathing,washing, cooking, watering gardens and crops, and more. Water is also one of the biblical symbols for the Holy Spirit – cleansing us, filling us, refreshing us.

God’s presence in our lives is like fresh water. These studies explore God’s call to us to travel to new life and a hope-filled future. The water represents the gracious presence of God which guides, sustains and refreshes us. Our God who calls is always a God who equips us for the journey ahead.

The studies will allow people to explore what it means to be the people of God today – in our homes, in our towns, in our world. Through these studies you are invited to journey with the people of Israel in the Old Testament, and to journey with Jesus in John’s Gospel.

As we listen for God’s call, we are invited to reflect on the journey of our own lives, and to discover God’s purpose for our lives in a new way. As we look at what it means to journey with God, will will also ask what it means for us to help others discover Jesus Christ as the source of life-giving water.

You are invited to look at where youhave come from as a church and to ask questions about where you are heading together. May this be a great time of listening to God’s Spirit, looking at the needs in our towns, and encouraging each other’s gifts for ministry.

Link : Water For The Journey (pdf file)

Link : Craig Mitchell”s Blog