Contents
- About this Study
- What is Advocacy?
- Session One – An Introduction to Advocacy
- Session Two – Creation and Stewardship
- Session Three – Justice and Peace
- Session Four – Our Neighbors in Need
- Session Five – Our Neighbors in Poverty
- Session Six – Conclusion
- Adapted Rite of Confession and Forgiveness adapted for Advocacy
- Rite for the Recognition of the Ministry of Advocacy
- Resources for Advocacy
1.
About This Study
Materials needed: The leader of this Bible study will need this Bible Study Guide and
copies of the social statements of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
mentioned in the Resources for Advocacy (p. 17) section for the members
of the class. Participants as asked to bring their Bibles to each class.
Advocacy has a long history in the Jewish and Christian traditions, and finds its roots
in the Bible. Throughout the Old Testament and continued in the New Testament, there are
many guidelines on how one should advocate and on whose behalf. This Bible study will
attempt to highlight several important Biblical passages in order to raise an awareness of
advocacy and to encourage Christians to be voices for the marginalized in our society.
This Study is designed for six sessions, with each session taking approximately 50 to
60 minutes. Participants in the Bible study are encouraged to read the Bible passages of
the week to come and to reflect on them as they go throughout their week.
The leader is required to do some preparation prior to each session: survey the entire
course prior to the first session, read the key verses for each week, and, if possible
contact the local ELCA state public policy office or the Lutheran Office for Governmental
Affairs (LOGA) for additional background information. (See Resources for Advocacy, p.17) The leader
may need to omit some portions of the sessions to fit the time constraints of the class.
The leader is encouraged to maintain an awareness of current events and public policy
issues influencing the lives of the members of the congregation and their neighbors in the
community.
During their time together, the study group is encouraged to take advantage of several
advocacy activities that take place throughout their city. The best way to learn about
advocacy is to do it. It is hoped that, by the end of the Bible study, the group will be
able to incorporate aspects of this study into their personal daily lives. Advocacy will
be a witness, a way of living the faith.
Following the sixth week, a Sunday morning service could be dedicated to the ministry
of advocacy so that the entire congregation can become more informed and involved in this
life-long vocation. The leader and participants in the study will need to coordinate
incorporating this rite with the Worship and Music Committee of the congregation
2.
What is Advocacy?
Many people are uncertain about what faith-based advocacy is. Some believe advocacy is
the same thing as lobbying. They picture it as petitioning the government until things are
changed to the way they like it and contributing to like-minded political campaigns. In
some cases this image of lobbying, and hence the image of advocacy, carries negative
connotations.
There is an important difference between advocacy and lobbying. While advocacy groups
do indeed petition various levels of government, advocacy is always done on behalf of
another group. Lobbyists often have their own interests and benefit in mind. But advocacy
groups work with and for the benefit of others. Most of the time these groups are people
who do not have a voice of their own: people who are poor and hungry, children, powerless
minorities. People who advocate on behalf of these voiceless groups seek to restore their
dignity and rights as human beings.
The ELCA encourages its members and congregations to become advocates for persons in
their neighborhoods and around the world.
3.
Session One – An Introduction to Advocacy
Key verses: Isaiah 1:10-17
Psalm 82:3-4
- Open with prayer: Holy God, you desire all people to live in peace. You call on us to
care for those in need so that peace may be shared by all. Grant us the strength and
courage to care for the needy, to advocate on their behalf, and to be bold in our faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
- Introduce the concept of advocacy, either by directly reading the introductory remarks
or paraphrasing them. If the leader has received background information from the local
state public policy office or LOGA, she/he might want to share these pieces with class
participants.
- What makes lobbying different from advocacy?
- Why would people in communities of faith, the church, define some of their attempts to
influence government as advocacy rather than lobbying?
- Ask group members to find the key verses in their Bibles and follow along as one group
member reads the passages aloud to the group.
- Introduce the background of this section of the book of Isaiah:
The prophet Isaiah lived and prophesied sometime between 740 and 701 BCE, a time of
political and economic instability. Judah’s time of prosperity and national glory had
come to an end. The mighty Assyrian armies would soon invade and conquer the Northern
Kingdom of Israel.
Isaiah sees the spiritual crisis of Judah, greed, hypocrisy, and injustice, as more
serious than the threat of physical invasion and conquest. Isaiah denounces Judah’s
pride, self-indulgence, and callous injustice toward the poor. He is convinced that God is
ready to devastate the nation in judgment.
Remember that during this time, women were strictly second class citizens. They were
possessions of their husbands and treated as property. A widow in Isaiah’s time could
be any age, and more often than not she had no way of supporting herself or her children.
She was totally dependent on the benevolence of her husband’s family.
Isaiah believes that those who are disobedient to the basic requirements of God’s
law are unfit to engage in worship. Far from receiving blessing and favor when they appear
before God, they inevitably call down judgment on themselves. The people’s condition
is unforgivable because their understanding of worship is to totally wrong. They see
worship as a way of winning and earning the right to favor with God. They find themselves
faced by the steadfast demand that they show their obedience by abandoning those things
which contradict their trust in God. Above all they are to protect the fatherless and the
widow and insure the maintenance of right.
(For more detailed information, look up Isaiah in the Interpreter’s
Dictionary of the Bible, the Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible,
or other Bible commentary in the church or local public library.)
- Reread verse 17 aloud.
- Break into small groups of five or less persons. Ask them to discuss these questions:
- By what process do we determine what is "good" in a difficult situation?
- What is justice, and who decides what justice means in a situation? What are some
examples of finding justice in our contemporary world?
- What are some types of oppression in our society and who in particular lives under
oppression?
- Who are the orphans in our world? Against what do they need defending and who should
defend them?
- Gather together in a large group and reread Psalm 82:3-4 aloud. Ask the group, in light
of these two biblical passages, to discuss these questions:
- How can we as individuals and as communities of faith live out this mandate to defend
the rights of the poor and be fair to the needy?
- What is the government’s responsibility for these persons?
- How can the community of faith we call the church and the community of society we
call government work together in filling this mandate?
- Encourage each participant to begin a scrapbook or file of newspaper or magazine
articles on issues of advocacy that touch them on a personal level, issues that impact
their families, neighborhood, and church community. Participants will be asked to share
their scrapbooks during Session Three and
Session Six.
- In preparation for Session Two,
ask participants to read Psalm 8, and Genesis 1:1-2:4,
as well as the ELCA Social Statement, Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and
Justice.
- Close with prayer: Loving God, bless us this week as we go out into the world. Show
us your grace in all that we do and help us to see those in need. Grant us, as Church and
as individuals, the courage to challenge oppressive systems, to advocate for the needy,
and to petition those in power to practice justice; in Jesus’ name. Amen.
4.
Session Two – Creation and Stewardship
Key verses: Psalm 8:3-8
Genesis 1:26-31
- Open with prayer: Creator God, you give us all good things: the earth we live on, the
air we breathe, the food we eat. We thank you for providing for the needs of your body,
and also for the needs of our mind and soul. You have given us friends and family to
support us. Help us to appreciate and use wisely all that you have given us. In the name
of Jesus Christ. Amen.
- Review the definition of "advocacy" from the previous session.
- How do participants see advocacy as part of their responsibility as stewards of
God’s good creation?
- Ask group members to find the key verses in their Bibles and follow along as one group
member reads the passages aloud to the group.
- Ask the group to reread the section Our Place in Creation on pages 2 and 3 of the
Caring for Creation Social Statement silently. Then ask class members to
summarize what they see as the key points of the document. The key points should include:
- We are called to govern by God’s wisdom, which brings together truth and goodness.
- God reminds us that we are dependent on God and the world in which we live is an
interdependent web of life with all of creation.
- God’s command to have dominion over the earth is not a license to dominate or
exploit the resources of the earth, but to behave responsibly toward it.
- Read Genesis 1:26 aloud. Break into groups of five or less persons and discuss the
following:
- What are some of the ways that members of the class have cared for creation?
- As a large group, read Psalm 8:3-8 aloud again. Discuss these questions:
- The words translated as "dominion" in the creation stories of the Bible mean
both "conquer and bring into bondage" and "be responsible for bringing into
peace and harmony." There is a tension between dominion as force, coercion, and
abuse, and force and dominion as stewardship, nurturing care, and advocacy. What are some
examples of how the positive and negative connotations of dominion present themselves in
our world?
- What are some ways Christians can practice a positive sense of "dominion" in
life Monday through Saturday?
- Discuss our individual and corporate responsibilities and roles in caring for God’s
creation.
- How far does our responsibility for caring for creation extend?
- To what extent are our responsibilities covered by the word "stewardship"?
- How do our individual responsibilities extend to include communal responsibility?
- In addition to our responsible care for God’s creation, what are our
responsibilities in caring for God’s people?
- How does the reality that God loves and cares for God’s creation so very much that
God sends God’s Son, Jesus Christ, to be an advocate for us connect with their own
stewardship?
- Have each participant propose one concrete way that they can provide a positive example
of dominion during the coming week. Encourage group participants to share their ideas with
the members of their small group.
- In preparation for Session Three,
ask participants to read the key verses and the ELCA Social Statement, "For Peace in
God’s World." Encourage them to search the ELCA website, www.elca.org, for the
Division for Church in Society and Advocacy. Participants are asked to bring their
advocacy scrapbooks for the next session.
- Close with prayer: Reigning God, because of your great love for us, you have placed
us over the things of your creation. Thank you for such a great privilege. Grant us the
wisdom to honor this privilege responsibly and with love; in the name of your Son, Jesus
Christ. Amen.
5.
Session Three – Justice and Peace
Key verses: Zechariah 8:16-17
Isaiah 58:6-7
- Open with prayer: God in heaven, we pray that your kingdom would come. Help us to
practice your justice on earth and to strive for your peace; for the sake of him who died
so that we might have justice and peace before you. Amen.
- Ask group members to find the key verses in their Bibles and follow along as one group
member reads the passages aloud to the group.
- Divide the group into two groups. Ask one group to propose a definition for the word
"justice." Ask the other group to propose a definition for the word
"peace."
- Read Zechariah 8:16b aloud to the group: Render in your gates judgments that are true
and make for peace. Have each group present their definitions and discuss how the
definitions relate to each other.
- Theologians have described justice as "the intersection of serving love and
enlightened self-interest" and peace as "the reconciling love that breaks down
the hostility among people and creates a new wholeness and harmony, the shalom of
God’s surpassing peace." How do these definitions fit or expand our definitions
of justice and peace?
- Ask group members to share what they view as the key points in the ELCA Social
Statement, "For Peace in God’s World." The key points should include:
- Peace encompasses many aspects of human life: culture, economics, and politics.
- Justice involves treating fellow human beings with dignity and as equals.
- People are at peace when they are treated justly.
- Break into groups of at most three persons and review the newspaper and magazine
clippings that each person has gathered for their scrapbook. Ask the groups to focus on
peace concerns at the local community, state, national, and international levels. How
might the church become involved in these issues?
- Regroup and have each group present their concerns and church involvement ideas.
Are there similar peace concerns that surfaced in each group? How are the solutions to
these similar peace concerns the same or different for the groups?
- In preparation for Session Four,
ask participants to read the key verses.
- Close with prayer: God of peace, send your justice into the world. Help us to see the
humanity of those around us, so that we might treat them with the equality they deserve.
Strengthen us to stand up for justice and give us the courage to be peaceful people; in
the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
6.
Session Four – Our Neighbors in Need
Key verses: Deuteronomy 15:7-11
Luke 10:25-37
- Open with prayer: Holy One, send your Spirit upon us as we gather to study your Word.
Breathe new life into us, lift from us our burdens of the past week and open our eyes to
see your grace and love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
- Ask group members to find the key verses in their Bibles and follow along as one group
member reads the passages aloud to the group.
- Introduce the background of Luke’s story about the Samaritan:
Samaria becomes the name for the kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the
Assyrians. This nation is north of Judah, the southern kingdom, about 50 miles from
Jerusalem.
The introduction of the Samaritan into the story was shocking to those first hearers.
In contrast to the priest and the Levite, the listeners might have expected a layman. But
the man from Samaria represented both radical impurity and religious heresy. Samaritans
were despised foreigners who were not expected to show hospitality or sympathy to Jews.
Without fear of contamination or exposure to robbers, this stranger treated the wounds,
brought the unfortunate to a nearby inn and left money to care for him. (One denari was
the day’s wage for common labor, similar to our minimum wage.)
Jesus contrasts the failure of the ministers of God with the unselfishness of a hated
Samaritan, and his hearers would then be able to measure the unlimited nature of the duty
of love. The Pharisees and scribes believed that, in order to uphold God’s law, they
could not touch what they thought was a dead body before performing their religious
duties.
In the parable the one who possesses the secret to eternal life turns out to be this
stranger without learning and concern for personal security, a foreigner without the
dignity and status of the priest and the Levite. The Samaritan’s love was spontaneous
and did not inquire into the ramifications of the Law. It was disinterested in self,
kindly, personal, and effective.
The question of the parable is, Who acted like a neighbor? We cannot escape the demands
of the law by asking Who. We respond to God’s command by seeking How. How do I act
like a neighbor? God’s command is clear: show love to those who need it.
- Break into small groups of five or less and discuss the following questions:
- Who are today’s Samaritans? Whom do we consider unclean and heretics?
- How does the Samaritan go above and beyond the call of duty? What is the significance of
his witness for us?
- Who are the people who are beaten, bleeding, and left for dead by the side of the road
in today’s society?
- Who are the people who are expected to help others and sometimes don’t?
- How do we act like Pharisees, priests, and Levites and morally justify not helping
persons in need of our help?
- If time permits, ask each small group to reenact the story of the Samaritan and base it
in a contemporary setting. Encourage groups to incorporate some of the discussion to
question 4.
After each group presents its version of the story, ask group members to talk about
their character’s reactions and personal responses to walking on by or assisting the
man attacked by robbers.
- As an entire group, talk about the connections between the Samaritan’s relationship
with the injured man and an advocate’s relationship with those for whom he/she is
advocating. Ask participants to react to these statements:
- The injured individual was made helpless by forces outside of himself. He was going
about his daily routine and doing his job when he becomes a victim of robbers, who left
him for dead. How might people in our community be made helpless by forces outside of
themselves?
- The injured individual remained unable to help himself because persons in a position to
help, that is, the priest and the Levite, passed by and left him for dead. How do we and
other persons who are able to assist the injured of our society sometimes pass by those in
need?
- In preparation for Session Five,
ask participants to read the key verses. Ask them to prepare a rough monthly budget that
includes rent for a two bedroom apartment, food, childcare for a 3 year-old,
transportation, etc. Also bring the classified section of the local newspaper to class.
- Encourage the group to continue thinking about the parable of the Good Samaritan during
the week. Ask them to include this petition in their personal devotions: Open our eyes to
see our neighbors’ needs and have compassion on them.
Another source for prayers are the Petitions, Intercessions, and Thanksgiving section
of the Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW), found on p. 42 ff. This section of
the LBW contains prayers for Social Justice, the Neighborhood, and the Poor and
Neglected.
- Close with prayer: Lord God, help us to be like the Samaritan. Give us the boldness
to help those that the world might deem unclean. Give us the courage to go beyond what we
see as mere Christian duty. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, whose bold and
courageous faithfulness to God’s love led to death on the cross. Amen.
7.
Session Five – Our Neighbors in Poverty
Key verses: Deuteronomy 15:7-11
Luke 10:29-37
- Open with prayer: Lord God, giver of all good gifts, we thank you for all that we
have; for our friends and our families, for our times of work and leisure. You have given
us many good things. Help us to share these gifts with those who have less than we;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
- Ask group members to find the key verses in their Bibles and follow along as one group
member reads the passages aloud to the group.
- Ask group members to recall their major learnings from Session Four.
- As they heard the parable of the Good Samaritan read again at the beginning of this
session, were there any new meanings or insights?
- Did they react or do things differently this week in their encounters with others?
- How did their views of poor people change?
- Reread the Deuteronomy passage.
- Break into small groups of five or less and discuss these questions:
- What are some words or phrases we use that mean the same as "poor"?
- Which of these words have a positive meaning? A negative meaning?
- Staying in small groups, use the data from the classified sections of the newspapers and
personal budgets (assigned in Session Four)
to complete the following monthly budget for a modest standard of living. Use a sheet of
newsprint, if desired.
- Rent for a two-bedroom apartment
- Utilities and telephone
- Child care for one preschooler, age 3
- Transportation and auto maintenance
- Food
- Clothing and laundry
- Medical care
- Entertainment
- Savings
- Incidentals/miscellaneous
Total monthly budget
- Determine the before-taxes hourly wage needed to accommodate this living standard by
dividing the total monthly budget by 150 (37.5 hours per week x 4 weeks).
Before–taxes hourly wage $__________
- Determine the annual before-taxes budget by multiplying the total monthly budget by 12.
Annual gross budget $__________
- Have the small groups come together and discuss their findings:
- How does the hourly wage the group calculated compare with the current minimum wage
standard?
- If they had to live on the budget they devised in question 6, what would they have to
eliminate from their own budget?
- What types of jobs are available to persons without post-secondary education and
training that would meet the hourly wage for the budget requirements?
- Keeping the Deuteronomy passages in mind, discuss how we might address the problem of
poverty in our nation:
- How much should the government do to provide for people who cannot meet the monthly
budget prepared in this session? What types of education and training should be available,
and to whom? What would the group suggest to relieve the worries of hunger and substandard
housing?
- How does the general population respond when policymakers suggest raising taxes for
social programs to help persons who are poor?
- What role does the church play in caring for the poor?
- In preparation for Session Six,
ask participants to read the key verses. They should also bring their advocacy scrapbooks
to class.
- Encourage the group to continue to think and pray about these issues through the week.
Close with prayer: O Lord, we know that the poor will always be with us and we are to
open our hands to persons who are poor and in need in our land. Grant us wisdom and
courage to help others and to advocate on their behalf as individuals, as your people, the
church, and as a nation. Amen.
8.
Session Six – Conclusion: Where do we go from here?
Key verses Isaiah 1:16-17
Psalm 82:3-4
- Open with prayer: Providing and sustaining Creator, you have given us voices so that
we can speak on behalf of those who are ignored or not heard by the powerful of this
world. Give us hearts full of compassion and the strength to carry out your Word, so that
all may share in the gifts of your creation. Amen.
- Ask group members to find the key verses in their Bibles and follow along as one group
member reads the passages aloud to the group.
- Divide into small groups of less than five persons and review the issues and concerns
raised in the scrapbook of newspaper and magazine clippings each person has made.
- Are there any common concerns?
- Does any one concern overlap into or incorporate other areas?
- How do these concerns relate to the topics of the previous sessions:
Creation and stewardship;
Justice and peace;
Neighbors in need; and
Neighbors in poverty?
- What other concerns are not listed in the newspapers? Why do group members feel they may
not be covered?
- Gather together in a large group and list the issues and areas of concerns covered in
the scrapbooks.
- What are the most prominent and common issues?
- How do these issues influence the lives of group participants?
- Ask group members to suggest how they as individuals and as members of the church could
become involved in advocating for people whose lives are impacted by these issues. Are
there specific ways the group members would suggest this group could become involved in
one or more of these issues?
- Introduce the Adapted Rite of Confession and
Forgiveness and Rite for Recognition
of the Ministry of Advocacy for the coming Sunday morning worship. Choose 2 or
3 individuals in the group to outline a 3-5 minute presentation that summarizes their
learnings in this Bible study.
- Distribute copies of the hymnal that the congregation uses. Look for sections on topics
such as Society, Social Justice, and Community. Choose three hymns (entrance hymn, hymn of
the day, closing hymn) related to advocacy for use as part of the worship service in which
the Rite for Recognition of the Ministry of
Advocacy is used.
- Close with the Lord’s Prayer (modern version).
9.
Adapted Rite of Confession and Forgiveness for Advocacy
This adaptation can be used in place of the confession and forgiveness in the Sunday
morning service. At the beginning of the service, or where appropriate, the presiding
minister should announce that the service will focus on the ministry of advocacy. The
following confession should be printed in the bulletin for the whole congregation to read:
P: Most merciful God,
C: we confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have
sinned against you by not sharing our clothing and food, we do not strive for peace and
justice, we neglect our responsibility to care for the earth, the oppressed, the
voiceless, and those who are poor and outcast. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us. Forgive us our sins; grant that we who serve you would be empowered to
share with all the blessings of your love and mercy, for the glory of your holy name.
Amen.
P: (Continue with the standard absolution.)
10.
Rite for Recognition of the Ministry of Advocacy
This rite is adapted from the Occasional Services accompaniment to the Lutheran Book of
Worship, pp. 143-146. It is set within the liturgy, preferably following the Prayers of
the Church.
P: Dear Christian friends: Baptized into the priesthood of Christ, we are called to
offer ourselves to the Lord of the Church in thanksgiving for what He has done and
continues to do for us. It is our privilege to recognize and support those who are engaged
in the work of this congregation, especially those in the ministry of advocacy.
All participants in Advocacy: A Bible Study
should come forward. Class participants then make the presentation of their learnings.
Invite others in the congregation in vocations of advocacy to come forward.
P: Having offered yourselves in the advocacy ministry of this congregation of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will you follow our Lord’s example of
humble service and be an advocate for all persons in need?
C: Yes, with God’s help.
P: Let us pray: O God of love, your son washed the feet of his disciples as a sign of
servanthood. Uphold those who follow his example of humble service and strive to speak
out on behalf of the downtrodden and disadvantaged. Strengthen them in their faith, help
us all to be faithful and courageous in our witness, and help us to do faithfully in deeds
of love and mercy expected of your servants; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
C: Amen.
P: For all who offer themselves in your name, we give thanks, O God. Give them the
joy of service, and constant care and guidance. Help us all to be both willing servants
and thankful recipients of ministry, that your name may be glorified, your people live in
peace, and your will be done; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
C: Amen.
The service continues with the Offering.
11.
Resources for Advocacy
Pennsylvania Families…After Welfare Reform and accompanying Study Guide
Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA, Division for Church in
Society, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), February 1999.
A Social Statement: Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice
September 1993, Department of Studies, Division for Church in Society, ELCA.
A Social Statement: For Peace in God’s World
September 1995, Department of Studies, Division for Church in Society, ELCA.
A Social Statement on Economic Life: Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All
September 1999, Department of Studies, Division for Church in Society, ELCA.
Note: All ELCA Social Statements may be downloaded from http://www.elca.org.
Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania
900 S. Arlington Avenue, Suite 117, Harrisburg, PA 17109; 717-545-3500; http://www.lamp.org
ELCA Washington Office
122 C Street NW, Suite 125, Washington, DC 20001; (202) 626-7935;
http://www.elca.org/advocacy/federal
ELCA World Hunger Appeal
PO Box 71764, Chicago, IL 60694-1764; http://www.elca.org/co/hunger
Bread for the World
1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1000, silver Spring, MD 20910; http://www.bread.org
Children’s Defense Fund
25 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20001; http://www.childrensdefense.org
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