Session One: The Outpost of Ashes

Advance Preparation and Materials:
Shop around for the various tunes for “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.”
Lyrics for “Awake My Soul and With the Sun” (Doxology) (Search the internet if you want all ten stanzas!)
Various used maps and sticky dots
Ingredients and cooking time for Panczki (see recipe below)

For  Experiential Options:
Modeling clay
Paper and pens
Paper and art materials

Opening Statement (to read ahead of time)
            Every journey has to start somewhere, and this journey to the City of God begins on Job’s ash heap.  But it’s not what you think.
           Setting the stage:  Job has been the unwitting pawn in a bet between God and Satan. He’s lost everything and doesn’t know why.  Moreover, his friends insist it’s because he’s done something wrong and deserves what has happened.  But Job maintains his innocence and wonders where he can get a fair hearing.
            God’s ultimate response is to direct Job’s attention to creation and, by extension, to God’s glory and majesty.  Job’s response is to repent.  But what does that mean?  There are six different ways to translate Job 42:6, and the one many prefer is that Job, who comes to see his misfortune in the larger perspective of God’s revelation, now repents from dust and ashes.  He is leaving behind his despair and moving forward.
            Lent can be seen as a "woe-is-me, I-have-to-give up-something" time.  We could wear long faces and draw attention to our misery.  Jesus warned us against that.  Or we can look at spiritual and physical disciplines as welcome because they help us to get in shape for the journey.  The first session of this Lenten small group takes place on Ash Wednesday.  Despite that, a Fat Tuesday recipe is provided with the first session.  (These treats must be made in advance of the meeting.)  But when it comes to repenting from dust and ashes, maybe a treat is in order.

Scripture Reading: Job 42:1-6

Focus Statement.  Let us repent from dust and ashes.

Gathering
            Have panczki (see recipe) or other fun foods available, considering as always the dietary needs and restrictions of group members.
            Play gentle, instrumental music in the background as people enter, perhaps recordings of familiar hymns.  Call all together in a circle or a space. Even though many people in the group may know each other, take a moment for each person to introduce her/himself in one sentence.  
            Spread out used maps of various sorts. Invite group members to mark the maps with sticky dots that represent places they have been, lived in, would like to go to, dream about, or avoid at all costs.   As the dots accumulate, discuss what sort of journey one might experience, trying to draw all these experiences and aspirations together.  How coherent would such a journey be?
            Read this session’s scripture passage aloud.
            The Opening Statement can be read aloud or summarized by a leader as an introduction to the shape of the journey ahead.
            With an eye to Job’s journey, sing “I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” which is based on Job’s affirmation in 19:7 in the face of his troubles.  The hymn has been set to more than one tune, so shop around.

            Pray together: Ever-present God, you are with us at the beginning and ending of all our journeys, and at every point along the way.  Be our guide as we share together the richness of the experiences you have blessed us with in the lives of those we know face to face and in those scattered around the world who touch us through the pages of The Upper Room.  Be with us now in our gathering and in our going.  These things we pray in the name of risen Lord. Amen.

Marking the Milestones (Daily Meditations from The Upper Room)

            Today’s session will focus on the meditations from Thursday, January 31 through Wednesday, February 6. They are the starting point for our journey, the Outpost of Ashes from which we can see the cross distantly. Although questions are given in chronological order, there is no need to go that way.  Ask group members if there was one particularly striking meditation.  Did a particular meditation seem particularly appropriate for any person one day, and if so, why?  Begin there if you choose.  Jump around.  Go back to a meditation if the discussion takes you there. You do not need to answer all the questions.  They are for guidance only.
            As you discuss these gifts from other believers, consider praying together their prayers as printed in the magazine.

Thursday, January 31, 2008
Lemon Aid
Job was bitter about his lot yet finally gained some measure of perspective.  Talk about this author’s change in perspective.  How did it come about?  Is it sometimes easier to see changes you think another person needs to make than to see our own (cf. Luke 6:41)?  Is there a source of bitterness in your life?  Where are you now in that experience? 

Friday, February 1, 2008
Guided by God
Job’s friends were not very good guides when it came to helping him through his rough time. Think about the way today’s writer put trust in another to guide him into a church parking lot.  Do you accept direction or correction as easily when it is needed?  How important is independence and/or interdependence for Christians in their walk together? Have you been blessed with guides along your way?  Do you find it easy or difficult to trust others or to listen to advice?

Saturday, February 2, 2008
God’s Purpose
Job’s statement that he repents from dust and ashes marks an “I get it!” moment for him.  Today’s writer suggests that though we might be puzzled by the apostles’ inability to understand everything Jesus said to them, we ourselves may be overlooking God’s “subtle cues.”  Share an “I get it!” moment from your life.  Was there a time when someone else helped you make sense of a situation, or in turn when you helped another to see what was needed?  What is “Jesus’ message of peace” and why is it unexpected?

Sunday, February 3, 2008
Pass It On
Part of Job’s anguish was having loved ones die.  Whether you choose to speak or to reflect silently, consider how your life has been shaped by loss. What recovery has taken place?  Many Christians are afraid of the word evangelism, fearing that it only means walking from door to door and accosting strangers with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The author suggests that sharing the Good News was going on without him realizing it as first. Have you experienced this -- witness without words?  If so, when and how?

Monday, February 4, 2008
Praise God When?
Some people talk about "the patience of Job," but he seems to have found it difficult to be either patient or to praise God in the depth of his misery.  Many of us share a similar difficulty.  In today’s meditation, the author is surrounded by beauty but is also beset with problems.  Call to mind that God never explains to Job the circumstances that led to his misery.  God displays the majesty of creation and Job responds.  Something similar happens here.  What circumstance or display has taken you out of yourself and caused you to praise God?  Should we praise God dutifully, even if we don’t feel like it?  What benefit might there be in praising God when we are mired in difficulty? 

Tuesday, February 5, 2008
A Royal Family
The author draws a connection between a particularly visible family and the scrutiny all members of God’s family may be subject to.  Discuss what charity you may or may not have felt when hearing stories about celebrities, politicians, and others in the public eye.  When, if ever, have you been subject to close scrutiny?  Given that all are sinners, is it fair that Christ and Christians are judged by our actions?  How have I experienced judgment?  How have I judged others?

Wednesday, February 5, 2008
Broken
Ash Wednesday.  Job was totally shattered, but eventually with perspective granted by God he was remade.  The author talks about his journey from brokenness to transformation by using the image of clay.  Read aloud the scriptures verses referred to in the daily entry (and add 2 Corinthians 4:7-12).  Silently consider the following images we associate with clay as the leader reads them aloud one by one, with long pauses: clay shards hardened and broken, a lump of soft and pliable clay, the potter’s hands shaping wet clay, beautifully useful pottery, Jesus as the potter in our lives.

Reflection:

            How can I live with and rise above my problems?

            How far or how close does the cross of Jesus seem?

            When have I felt the presence of God on my journey?  When have I felt that God was absent?

           Do I truly trust God? What makes me answer as I do?

Experiential Options:
            Use modeling clay to illustrate or illuminate one or more of the week’s meditations. 
            Write a seven-line poem, individually or together, to tie the week’s meditations together in a chain.
            Illustrate with art or words what you would pack for this segment of the journey to the City of God.

Going Forth
            Sing “Awake My Soul and With the Sun.”  Some hymnals may print only a few stanzas.  All ten are available online at www.cyberhymnal.org.

Closing
If you are lighted a candle or lamp, extinguish it as you prepare to leave. Close with the following responsive litany:

One: Though we have planted seeds of bitterness, Lord, we count on you to raise up sweet fruit.
All: We repent of dust and ashes and turn our hearts towards you.
One: We accept with gladness your guidance.
All: We repent of dust and ashes and turn our hearts towards you.
One: We praise you for your wisdom which blesses us with discernment.
All: We repent of dust and ashes and turn our hearts towards you.
One: We thank you for the cloud of witnesses who have blessed our lives in your name.
All: We repent of dust and ashes and turn our hearts towards you.
One: In all seasons and circumstances we praise your name.
All: We repent of dust and ashes and turn our hearts towards you.
One: With your help we pledge to be your ambassadors, that all may praise you.
All: We repent of dust and ashes and turn our hearts towards you.
One: We come with a broken spirit and a contrite heart. 
All: Restore, rebuild, remake us.

The leader may close with prayer.              

Work together to clean up your meeting space.

Recipe for Panczki (pronounced "ponchkee")
Thanks to Nancy Glon, Goshen, Indiana

2 c. flour                                                 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. boiling mild                                     1 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 oz. yeast                                        1 - 2 tsp. grated orange rind
1/4 c. lukewarm milk                             1/4 lb. butter, melted
6 egg yolks                                           Flour, jam, oil for deep-fat frying

Sift 1 cup flour into boiling milk; remove from heat and beat until smooth.  Cool. Dissolve yeast in the 1/4 cup lukewarm milk. Add to flour mixture; stir and let stand 1/2 hour. Cream egg yolks and sugar. Add vanilla and orange rind and add to dough when it begins to rise. Add remaining l cup flour and the butter; work with fingers until dough begins to stand away from the hands. Let stand until it has risen to about twice its bulk. Roll out on floured board to 5/8 inch thickness and cut out circles with pastry cutter. Place a teaspoon of jam in center of half the circles, using only the chunks of fruit, not the syrup. Cover with remaining circles. Press edges together and let stand in warm place to rise again. Fry a few at a time, taking care not to heat the oil so much that the dough burns. Drain the panczki on paper towels and serve dusted with confectioner's sugar.

For a Children's Session
      Materials:
            Copies of the hymn “Morning Has Broken”
            “Doxology”
            Depending on your longitude, hemisphere, and residence, changes are taking place in nature.  Sing “Morning Has Broken.”  Take a walk around your neighborhood and identify signs of the season as well what changes lie in store.  What birds, animals, insects, or plants do you see?  What do the trees and soil look like? Look for visible marks of change.  If you can do so without affecting the environment, bring back small mementos such as twigs, stones, leaves, bird feathers, acorns and so on.
            On returning, arrange the collected objects to make a worship center.  Have each child say something about what they brought back.  Read aloud the meditation for Monday, February 4 (Praise God When?).  Ask children what they would like to offer praise for.  Sing the stanza of “Awake My Soul and With The Sun,” popularly known as the Doxology.  After a snack, close by praying the prayer printed with the meditation, inviting older children to help younger ones.