Passion

DOWNLOAD Advent, Year C Small Groups Resources (PDF)

Fellowship – Snacks or a Meal (10 minutes with snacks; longer, obviously, if there is a meal).

Gathering Time (5-10 minutes).

For this week’s lessons, which are dedicated to the theme of “passion,” consider starting with a game of trivia about the human senses. It could be as simple as asking the question, “How many human senses are there?” Beyond the commonly known five (hearing, vision, smell, taste, touch) and the intriguing notion of the “sixth sense,” science has introduced us to others, such as the sense of balance, sense of time, sense of parts of our body, and so on.

Alternatively, have the trivia be about which body parts are associated with which emotions in cultures around the world. For example, which body part is associated with love and anger in some indigenous languages of Central Australia? Answer: the throat. For more information, see Friday essay: my belly is angry, my throat is in love — how body parts express emotions in Indigenous languages (theconversation.com).

Group Dialogue (Approximately 30 minutes). Read Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 3:1-6.

• The lectionary texts for this week offer some vivid sense-filled language and metaphors. Which grab your attention? [e.g., from Malachi, “refiner’s fire,” “fuller’s soap” [cleaner’s soap], “purifier of silver”; from the Gospel of Luke, “voice crying out in the wilderness”; “all flesh shall see”]
  • Take some time to explore what each metaphor could mean. [e.g., imagine the grueling work of a silversmith]

• Human beings pay attention and make sense-filled meaning through myriad complex ways. Sometimes, the most impactful act of attention can occur in ways we don’t anticipate. Has your body ever picked up on external stimuli or signals in ways you didn’t expect? [e.g., you lose your voice after a period of extreme stress; you have an inkling that something is about to happen….]

• The Preaching Notes for this week draw our attention to a character, John the Baptist, who knew how to stimulate his audiences’ senses with animated words and actions (use of water for baptism). He is someone who “doesn’t hold back…who believes with every fiber of his being,” yet who also comes with “rough edges” that might rub some people the wrong way.
  • What strikes you about John the Baptist as “messenger”? What do you learn from his way of life and ministry? [e.g., he doesn’t fit into an expected mold; he confronts and provokes; his approach might be off-putting; at times, a confronting jolt is what we need to shake up the system]
  • Who might be some of the “John the Baptists” in your midst today? How do you find yourself responding to them? [e.g., the young people who are “nones” (not religious) or “done” with church might be challenging our status quo]

• Consider the notion of “cleanliness” as metaphoric for “being saved” (or “holiness” and “saintliness”). How might that be problematic if misused today? [We must be careful about implicit biases; the language of “clean” and “dirty” has been used to discriminate against people.]

• With all the complexities and nuances that we have just begun to probe, consider these invitations to put faith into action:
  • How might we be like John the Baptist, someone who invited others to repentance and forgiveness with every fiber of his being? What will help us to lean into our faith so completely that it ripples out from within us to transform the relationships and communities of which we are a part?
  • How do we activate the fullness of our senses to perceive the work of God breaking in and transforming our lives in ways we hadn’t anticipated?

Prayer (10 minutes). Share prayer requests and respond appropriately.

Sending Forth (2 minutes). End with the following prayer, a similar prayer, or the Lord’s Prayer.

Refiner's fire
Focus our hearts’ desires
That we may become holy and wholly yours
That we may sense you more fully in all that we are
That we may manifest your Good News in all that we do.

(As adapted from the lyrics of Brian Doerksen’s worship song, Refiner’s Fire.)

Resources: https://www.emotionlanguageaustralia.com/; https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-my-belly-is-angry-my-throat-is-in-love-how-body-parts-express-emotions-in-indigenous-languages-156962)

Mai-Anh Le Tran is associate professor of religious education and practical theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. An ordained elder of the California-Nevada Annual Conference, she regularly contributes to the ministries of local churches, districts, conferences, and denominational agencies. She is the author of Reset the Heart: Unlearning Violence, Relearning Hope (Abingdon, 2017).