{"id":1563,"date":"2022-12-22T17:46:14","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T23:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/?p=1563"},"modified":"2022-12-22T17:46:14","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T23:46:14","slug":"1563","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/2022\/12\/1563\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Values: What are they, and why do they matter?\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
Warm-up Question<\/h5>\n
What do you treasure?\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/h5>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reflection Questions\u00a0<\/b><\/h6>\n
    \n
  1. What do you see in this image?<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. What do you feel looking at this image?<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. What stories from your own life does this image bring to mind?<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. What stories of the world does this image bring to mind?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Where your Treasure Is<\/h6>\n

    Read <\/span>Matthew 6:19-21<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

    Bible Reading Reflection<\/h6>\n

    Pastor Eugene Peterson, in his biblical paraphrase <\/span>The Message<\/span><\/i>, writes <\/span>Matthew 6:21<\/span> this way: \u201cthe place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.\u201d Similarly, theologian Martin Luther said, \u201cyour god in reality is that around which you entwine your heart and on which you place your confidence.\u201d Ultimately what we treasure reflects what we value, and misplaced values can become false gods, treasures stored upon earth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    This reading from Matthew\u2019s Gospel comes in the midst of Jesus\u2019 Sermon on the Mount (<\/span>Matthew 5-7<\/span>)<\/span>, the longest, single collection of Jesus\u2019 sayings and teachings in the Bible. It follows Jesus\u2019 words about prayer and fasting, and it introduces a series of sayings that deal with the commitments of the heart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    In the ancient world, much like today, material wealth often signified one\u2019s status, position, and power in society. Jesus\u2019 words against storing up earthly wealth \u2013 valuing wealth for wealth\u2019s sake or personal gain, rather than valuing wealth as a means to serve the neighbor \u2013 are a call to his followers of every age to re-examine what they value and why. Jesus\u2019 words are a call for each of us to test the commitments of our hearts and see if those commitments, those values, reflect earth-bound self-serving greed or the neighbor-serving mercy of the reign of God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Discussion Questions<\/h6>\n
      \n
    1. How often do we think about what we value?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. What are your five most important values?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Which of your personal treasures or values are tangible?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Which are intangible?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    5. In what ways are your treasures, your values \u201cstored up on earth?\u201d 6. In what ways are your treasures, your values \u201cstored up in heaven?\u201d 7. How do your values serve the neighbor in love?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    6. What makes it difficult to live the values of the reign of God today? 9. How would you describe the treasures of heaven?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      Activity Suggestions<\/h6>\n

      Ask everyone to bring one thing that represents something they value most in life. Invite people to share what they value and why. Talk together about how these values can love and serve the neighbor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Give everyone a blank piece of paper. Invite them to write down something that they value that gets in the way of their service to the neighbor. Fold the papers in half. Have each person nail their papers to a cross\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      As a group, make a comprehensive list of values. Invite each person to choose their top 20, then top 10, and finally to rank their top five values. Invite people to share how their top five values guide their lives, paying particular attention to service of the neighbor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Prayer Concerns<\/h6>\n

      Philanthropists, elected officials, people behind the scenes who daily work to serve the neighbor\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Closing Prayer<\/h6>\n

      Help me, O God, to value what matters and to live my life reflecting those values. In the name of +Jesus, Amen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Downloadable PDF Version<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Values: What are they, and why do they matter?\u00a0 Warm-up Question What do you treasure?\u00a0 Reflection Questions\u00a0 What do you see in this image? What do you feel looking at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8561,"featured_media":1564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/files\/2022\/12\/8623289296_3e464ff18f_o.jpg?fit=1500%2C1307&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8561"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1565,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563\/revisions\/1565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}