Lenten Bible Study
A Journey to New Life
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Table of Contents
Session 1: Matthew 4:1-11 Page 3
Session 2: John 3:1-8 Page 7
Sessions 3: John 4:5-42 Page 11
Session 4: John 9:1-41 Page 15
Session 5: John 11:1-45 Page 21
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Session One
Opening Prayer
Gracious God, thank you for your love and Word for us. We live in a world of sin. Help
us to see it, name it, and cast it out, of ourselves, our community, and our society. Guide
us so that we may serve our neighbors in ways that will be healing and life-giving. Amen.
Before we begin...
We are at the beginning of our Lenten journey. In the early church, Lent was a rigorous
time to prepare for baptism. Later it became a time for public penance. Now, we in the
ELCA engage in a forty-day devotional time to prepare for Easter; some use it as a period
to prepare for new members and baptism.
This year we invite you to use this Bible study as part of your Lenten journey. We will
spend time with the Revised Common Lectionary Scripture readings alongside the
problem of sex trafficking.
Matthew 4:1-11 (NRSV)
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the
devil.
2
He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.
3
The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these
stones to become loaves of bread.”
4
But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does
not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5
Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the
temple,
6
saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is
written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they
will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
7
Jesus said
to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the
kingdoms of the world and their splendor;
9
and he said to him, “All these I will
give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
10
Jesus said to him, “Away with
you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”
11
Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
What do you wonder about this passage? What did you notice this time reading it, that
you may not have in the past?
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What is sex trafficking?
Quoted from https://polarisproject.org/sex-trafficking:
Sex trafficking is a form of modern slavery that exists throughout the United
States and globally. Sex traffickers use violence, threats, lies, debt bondage, and
other forms of coercion to compel adults and children to engage in commercial
sex acts against their will. Under U.S. federal law, any minor under the age of 18
years induced into commercial sex is a victim of sex trafficking—regardless of
whether or not the trafficker used force, fraud, or coercion.
The situations that sex trafficking victims face vary dramatically. Many victims
become romantically involved with someone who then forces or manipulates
them into prostitution. Others are lured in with false promises of a job, such as
modeling or dancing. Some are forced to sell sex by their parents or other family
members. They may be involved in a trafficking situation for a few days or
weeks, or may remain in the same trafficking situation for years.
Victims of sex trafficking can be U.S. citizens, foreign nationals, women, men,
children, and LGBTQ individuals. Vulnerable populations are frequently targeted
by traffickers, including runaway and homeless youth, as well as victims of
domestic violence, sexual assault, war, or social discrimination.
Sex trafficking occurs in a range of venues including fake massage businesses, via
online ads or escort services, in residential brothels, on the street or at truck stops, or
at hotels and motels.
Key Statistics
• Since 2007, the National Human Trafficking Hotline, operated by Polaris, has
received reports of 22,191 sex trafficking cases inside the United States. Find
more Hotline statistics here.
• In 2016, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children estimated that
1 in 6 endangered runaways reported to them were likely sex trafficking victims.
• Globally, the International Labor Organization estimates that there are 4.5 million
people trapped in forced sexual exploitation globally.
• In a 2014 report, the Urban Institute estimated that the underground sex
economy ranged from $39.9 million in Denver, Colorado, to $290 million in
Atlanta, Georgia.”
What surprised you about this information about trafficking? Where do you see this
already happening in your community? Who is vulnerable in your community and where
might people be most vulnerable?
What does the ELCA have to say?
From ELCA Social Message on Commercial Sexual Exploitation
The ELCA Social Message on Commercial Sexual Exploitation was adopted by the ELCA
Church Council in 2001. Social messages explore the church’s response to a specific,
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timely topic in order to guide readers to think about a topic of social concern from a
Lutheran perspective and to encourage ways to serve our neighbors affected by the social
concern.
Even a glimpse of the sex system makes evident that this is not the way life is
supposed to be. Sin is the proper term for speaking of what has gone profoundly
wrong in God’s good creation. Sin is an intruder in creation, resisting and
distorting God’s intention for human community. Sin is both personal and social.
It finds a home deep in the human heart, turning us in on ourselves and away
from God and others, and takes on a life of its own in our social structures.
Let us not blink at, gloss over, trivialize, or accommodate ourselves to the sinful
evil of the sex system. It is social sin, a structure of evil that shapes and snares
persons, and to which personal attitudes, decisions, and acts contribute. In its
tangled web, we see the dynamics of sin at work.
Persons become objects to be used for the benefit of others. The sex system
denies the human dignity bestowed by God on all. This denial is most blatant in
sex trafficking, a form of slavery driven by greed in which captured persons
become property, a mere extension of the will of the owner. Yet using persons as
objects characterizes all parts of the system: For predators, owners, and
managers of the system, ’their’ children and adults are instruments for generating
income; for sellers, ‘johns’ or buyers are objects for gaining money or favor with
their pimps; and for customers, sellers are ’pieces of meat’ to satisfy their every
want.” (pp. 3,4)
What leaps out at you from these passages?
Putting it all together
Reread the text from Matthew.
1. Does anything new jump out at you after having read this information about
trafficking?
2. The problem of trafficking can seem overwhelming and the sin so deeply embedded.
Where do you see hope in this passage?
3. Because Jesus was human, he experienced everything humans do, including death. In
this passage we see him experience temptation. When confronted with the realities of
trafficking, what are you tempted to do? What is God calling you to do?
Action opportunities
● Print posters found at: https://humantraffickinghotline.org/get-involved/outreach-and-
awareness. Where can you hang them up in your community? Restrooms,
restaurants, hotels?
● Research more about the reality of trafficking in your local context.
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● Read the Wednesday Prayer from Cherish All Children, found at:
http://www.cherishallchildren.org/wednesdayprayer.
● Read the entire ELCA Social Message on Commercial Sexual Exploitation here, in
English or Spanish: http://www.elca.org/en/Faith/Faith-and-Society/Social-
Messages/Commercial-Sexual-Exploitation.
Learn more
Below are resources you can print or share online.
● Myths about sex trafficking: https://love146.org/slavery/common-myths/
● How Sex Traffickers Recruit Children https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/why-
bad-looks-good/201401/human-trafficking-psychology-recruitment
● Child Sex Trafficking in America: A Guide for Parents and Guardians:
http://www.missingkids.org/en_US/documents/Fact_Sheet_Parents_Guardians.pdf
● Victims and Traffickers: https://polarisproject.org/victims-traffickers
● Power Wheel: https://humantraffickinghotline.org/resources/human-trafficking-
power-and-control-wheel
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Session 2
Opening Prayer
Gracious God, thank you for loving the world so deeply. Help us to love the world and all
of your children. Help us to hear what you are calling us to do, especially in regards to
sex trafficking. Help us to see how we can love and serve our neighbors who are caught
in this web of sin. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
John 3:1-8 (NRSV)
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
2
He came to
Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has
come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the
presence of God.”
3
Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see
the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
4
Nicodemus said to him,
“How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time
into the mother’s womb and be born?”
5
Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you,
no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.
6
What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7
Do not
be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’
8
The wind
blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where
it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
What do you wonder about this passage? What did you notice this time reading it, that
you may not have in the past?
What does the ELCA have to say?
Foundational Documentation on the Social Message on Gender-Based Violence
“Through baptism, we die and rise in Christ as we are washed by the Spirit
through water and marked with the sign of Christ, the cross. Through the gift of
baptism, God holds the body together in its vast plurality, in its dying and rising
in Christ.” (pp.16)
Faith, Sexism, Justice: Conversations Toward a Social Statement
“We know scripturally and theologically that all bodies are temples of the Holy
Spirit. Violence is rarely justifiable; it is particularly horrific when we permit its
perpetuation against some people and their bodies because they are seen to matter
less. The church as the body of Christ knows that to harm any member of the
corporate body is to harm Christ; to denigrate the temple of the Spirit is to
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denigrate the Spirit. This sacred knowledge gives us not only ground in our holy
conviction to end this violence, but also an awareness of how these injustices
ripple beyond those immediately affected into all of our lives, and into God’s
heart as well. As significant a web as sin has woven in sexism, the web of the
goodness of God’s creation and our reconciliation in the grace of God through
Christ is greater indeed.
We trust that justification by grace through faith frees us from our ego that throws
up defenses against our engagement of violence against women. We have
assurance of God’s love and forgiveness for all our sin, and we are heirs to the
promise of the kingdom. The freedom of God’s grace in Christ compels us to act,
even as we know we are still enmeshed in sin.
We have the commitment in the ministry of all the baptized to love and serve our
neighbors – all our neighbors. This is a commitment to neighbor justice, both in
the protection of the vulnerable and oppressed and in bringing justice to
perpetrators of harm. It is an act of love to speak truth about the way we all
participate in a culture of gender-based violence and to the fact that perpetrators
of violence against people with devalued identities are overwhelmingly people
with privileged identities. It is neither loving nor does it ultimately serve God or
others to shy away from these facts.” (pp. 81)
What leaps out at you from these passages?
Putting it all together
Reread the text from John.
1. Does anything new jump out at you?
2. What does it mean to be born of water and Spirit?
3. The excerpt from Faith, Sexism, Justice refers to some bodies “mattering less.” How
do you see that manifest in the system of sex trafficking? In stereotypes about people
who are trafficked?
4. What does the image of wind blowing remind you of? In what ways can you relate
“
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The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not
know where it comes from or where it goes,” to trafficking and the work against it?
5. Why do we serve our neighbors? Who are they?
Action opportunities
● Find out if there is a Trafficking Task Force in your city, county, or state. If so, see if
you can attend their next meeting to learn their current projects. How might you or
others in the Bible study get involved?
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● Visit the website http://www.nsvrc.org/organizations/state-and-territory-coalitions to
find out the name of your state’s coalition of organizations that serve sexual violence
victims. Visit your state coalition’s website to learn what they do, training and
resources they offer, and if/how your congregation could become a member.
● Work through the modules of Faith, Sexism, Justice: Conversations Toward a Social
Statement. Module 5 is specifically about violence. You can find the modules here:
https://www.elca.org/Faith/Faith-and-Society/Current-Social-Writing-
Projects/Women-and-Justice/Faith-Sexism-Justice.
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Session 3
Opening Prayer
Gracious God, thank you for meeting each of us in unexpected ways, to listen to our
stories, to inspire us to share your love. Open our ears to the stories of those harmed by
sex trafficking. Give us all courage in our listening and our speaking. In Jesus’ name we
pray. Amen.
John 4:5-42 (NRSV)
So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob
had given to his son Joseph.
6
Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his
journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7
A Samaritan woman came to
draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
8
(His disciples had gone to
the city to buy food.)
9
The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a
Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in
common with Samaritans.)
10
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God,
and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him,
and he would have given you living water.”
11
The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where
do you get that living water?
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Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave
us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”
13
Jesus said to her,
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,
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but those who drink of
the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will
become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
15
The woman said to
him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep
coming here to draw water.”
16
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.”
17
The woman
answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I
have no husband’;
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for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is
not your husband. What you have said is true!”
19
The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.
20
Our ancestors
worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must
worship is in Jerusalem.”
21
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is
coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in
Jerusalem.
22
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for
salvation is from the Jews.
23
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the
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true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks
such as these to worship him.
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God is spirit, and those who worship him must
worship in spirit and truth.”
25
The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is
coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to
us.”
26
Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
27
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a
woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with
her?”
28
Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the
people,
29
“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He
cannot be the Messiah, can he?”
30
They left the city and were on their way to him.
31
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32
But he said
to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”
33
So the disciples said to
one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?”
34
Jesus said to
them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.
35
Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you,
look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.
36
The reaper is
already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and
reaper may rejoice together.
37
For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and
another reaps.’
38
I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have
labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s
testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.”
40
So when the Samaritans
came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days.
41
And many more believed because of his word.
42
They said to the woman, “It is
no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for
ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.
What do you wonder about this passage? What did you notice this time reading it, that
you may not have in the past?
Connecting John 4:5-42 with Trafficking
This excerpt is taken from an article/radio news story from American Public Media
called “Bought and Sold Victims, not criminals: Rebranding teen sex trafficking.” You
can read or listen to the full story at: http://www.apmreports.org/story/2016/05/12/
victims-teen-sex-trafficking
“The state and the nation are undergoing a sea change in how they understand and
combat teen sex trafficking. Lawmakers, police, prosecutors and advocates in the
past decade have rebranded what once was called underage prostitution.
Driven by young victims themselves and by veterans of the debate over domestic
abuse, they have begun to look at sex trafficking as a public health problem
instead of a criminal justice problem. Trafficked girls are increasingly considered
victims, not criminals. Police and prosecutors in some places are focusing more
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on sex traffickers and johns, and advocates are finding ways to focus more
resources on social problems, taking girls off the streets and offering them help.
There are many different components to ‘Safe Harbor’ laws. This map shows only
one: full decriminalization for minors involved in prostitution. Dark blue states
have full decriminalization statutes. Light blue states have decriminalized either
minors under 16, or minors who are proven to have traffickers. Minors can still
be charged with prostitution in orange states, but those states may have diversion
programs and other services available. Source: Shared Hope International and
FBI Uniform Crime Report.
A [trafficked] streetwalker, homeless and an addict, Joy Friedman at 37 heard
about Breaking Free, an organization trying to help women out of prostitution. It
was there she met Vednita Carter, a pioneer in a survivor-led movement in the
1980s and 1990s to end prostitution.
Carter convinced her, Friedman said, that ‘it wasn't my fault, I didn't cause it and I
was worth saving.’
Carter had gotten out of prostitution herself in 1973 because she had confided in a
teacher. There was no other help available.
‘I mean even the first battered women's shelter, that didn't even come around until
the mid-'70s," Carter said. "So there was literally nothing. I mean women were
just dying in that life.’”
What Does the ELCA have to say?
ELCA Social Message on Gender-Based Violence
“Every survivor is loved and cared for by God. God does not intend people to be hurt.
God is with every victim. Scripture speaks of this, from God’s sorrow over Israel’s
suffering to Jesus’ pain on the cross.
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The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us in Jesus of Nazareth. Time and again,
Jesus’ ministry took the form of healing pain. God, through the church, continues this
ministry.
On the cross, Jesus Christ took on all sin and death for our sakes. We no longer need to
live with death and sin upon us. And in the resurrection, God, through Christ, is making a
new creation, mending what is broken and sending the healing presence of the Holy
Spirit to dwell among us.” (pp. 9)
What stuck out to you from these readings? Were you surprised by anything? When did
you think trafficking first became legally recognized as a crime?
Putting It All Together
1. Where do you see Christ in this article? How is Christ’s presence with trafficking
victims similar or different to where Jesus is in the story of the woman at the well?
2. Because the woman was fetching water at the well at noon, we can surmise that she
was ostracized from the other women of her community, who would have gotten
water at dawn when it was cooler out. The fact that Jesus was speaking to her would
have been scandalous because she was a woman AND a Samarian. How can you
relate her story to that of the women being trafficked?
3. It’s difficult to read Joy Friedman say that she needed to be convinced that being
trafficked wasn’t her fault and that she was worth saving. Describe from your
perspective how you would talk about the freedom of the Gospel for people who have
been trafficked.
Action opportunities
• Learn what organizations in your community are providing services to
sexual/domestic violence or trafficking victims. Go visit them to learn more about
what they are doing and how your congregation might work with them on a project or
support their work in other ways. If you are in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area,
you can find a directory of organizations which serve trafficking survivors at:
http://www.cherishallchildren.org/beacaringneighbor
• What laws does your community have to protect people who are trafficked? Educate
yourself and then contact your representatives with your concerns.
• Read the entire ELCA Social Message on Gender-based Violence, which can be
found in English and Spanish here: http://elca.org/Faith/Faith-and-Society/Social-
Messages/Gender-Violence.
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Session 4
Opening Prayer
Gracious God, we give you thanks for your healing power. In the face of shaming and
abusive powers, help us to find our own spiritual authority. Open our hearts, so we are no
longer ignorant of the injustice of trafficking and we see those impacted. In Jesus’ name
we pray. Amen.
John 9:1-41 (NRSV)
Note: In some places the word “Jews” was replaced with “religious leaders.”
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.
2
His disciples asked him,
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3
Jesus
answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that
God’s works might be revealed in him.
4
We must work the works of him who sent
me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.
5
As long as I am in the
world, I am the light of the world.”
6
When he had said this, he spat on the ground
and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud
1
on the man’s eyes,
7
saying to
him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and
washed and came back able to see.
8
The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is
this not the man who used to sit and beg?”
9
Some were saying, “It is he.” Others
were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”
10
But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”
11
He answered,
“The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to
Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.”
12
They said
to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
13
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.
14
Now it
was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
15
Then the
Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them,
“He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.”
16
Some of the Pharisees
said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others
said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were
divided.
17
So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It
was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”
1
During Jesus’ time, people believed saliva had healing properties, especially from a holy
person. The kneading of the mud violates the Sabbath practices, showing Jesus was willing to be
countercultural when it served people.
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The religious authorities did not believe that he had been blind and had received
his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight
19
and
asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he
now see?”
20
His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was
born blind;
21
but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who
opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”
22
His parents
said this because they were afraid of the religious authorities; for the religious
authorities had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah
would be put out of the synagogue.
23
Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask
him.”
24
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they
said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”
25
He
answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that
though I was blind, now I see.”
26
They said to him, “What did he do to you? How
did he open your eyes?”
27
He answered them, “I have told you already, and you
would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become
his disciples?”
28
Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of
Moses.
29
We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not
know where he comes from.”
30
The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing!
You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.
31
We know
that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him
and obeys his will.
32
Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone
opened the eyes of a person born blind.
33
If this man were not from God, he could
do nothing.”
34
They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you
trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
35
Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do
you believe in the Son of Man?”
36
He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so
that I may believe in him.”
37
Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one
speaking with you is he.”
38
He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.
39
Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see
may see, and those who do see may become blind.”
40
Some of the Pharisees near
him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?”
41
Jesus said to
them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We
see,’ your sin remains.
What do you wonder about this passage? What did you notice this time reading it, that
you may not have in the past?
Connecting John 9:1-41 with Trafficking
This excerpt is a continuation of the article from Session 3: “Bought and Sold Victims,
not criminals: Rebranding teen sex trafficking.” You can read or listen to the full story
here: http://www.apmreports.org/story/2016/05/12/victims-teen-sex-trafficking
In 2000, Congress passed a law recognizing that many people in the sex trade are
not willing participants. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act created new
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penalties for anyone who uses coercion, force or deception to make someone
perform a commercial sex act. But the main idea was to combat international
labor and sex trafficking.
‘And more and more people, even at that early stage, started to say, 'Well, this is
also happening in our local communities,'’ said Amy Farrell, a criminologist at
Northeastern University in Boston. ‘In addition to people being transported across
borders, there are people that are in very similar ways being moved and coerced
in the United States.’
Starting in 2003, states began passing their own anti-human trafficking laws. But
they were rarely used. Police continued to arrest prostitutes, including minors…
As police, prosecutors and advocates shift attitudes to help young victims in the
sex trade, they also are turning more attention to shutting down the demand for
commercial sex… Stings to catch johns are expensive for police and they can be
dangerous. But at least the targets are easy to catch.
Traffickers are tougher.
‘They tend to be more wary and more strategic in avoiding police operations,’
said Detective Tim Hoppock of the Austin Police Department… ‘It also can be an
uphill battle to get a trafficking case through a courtroom,’ Hoppock said.
‘Victims might not testify, the evidence can be complex and, because trafficking
laws are relatively new, it's often easier for juries to understand drug charges or
sexual assault charges,’ he said.
In 2013, Farrell, the Northeastern University criminologist, published a study that
found prosecutors often charged traffickers with other, lesser crimes, for example,
promotion of prostitution, which has a lower burden of proof.
‘Prosecutors are more leery of trying an individual they believe is guilty of a
crime with a crime they're less certain will result in a conviction,’ said Farrell. In
2016, she published a follow-up that found states' use of trafficking laws is
growing, but it's uneven. California accounted for nearly 40 percent of trafficking
prosecutions.
In King County in Washington State, police and prosecutors are tired of simply
arresting sex buyers. They want to make it unacceptable for men to buy sex in the
first place.
The shift in thinking began with Valiant Richey, a senior deputy prosecuting
attorney for King County. Back in 2011, he was confronted by advocates and
trafficking survivors who wanted to know why he was prosecuting so many
women and children. He had a look at the statistics in his county, and realized
they were right.
‘It was dismaying,’ he said. ‘Because I had prosecuted many pimping cases. I
knew what these girls and women had been through ... yet here in front of me was
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a chart telling me that our community was arresting and prosecuting them far
more often than the men who were buying them.’
Meanwhile that year, more than 130 websites were selling sex locally and nearly
7,000 men responded to Backpage ads in a 24-hour period. In 2011, only 39
buyers were charged the whole year.
‘We cannot arrest our way out (of the problem),’ Richey said. ‘Unfortunately
there is an opinion that the root cause of trafficking is vulnerability, that there are
vulnerable people out there and therefore they get trafficked. That's totally
incorrect. Vulnerability is what traffickers take advantage of to respond to the root
cause, which is demand. If there was no demand there would be no business and
traffickers would not exploit people.’”
What stuck out to you from this reading? Were your surprised by anything?
Connecting John 9:1-41 and Trafficking
1. Share some examples of times you have associated, or heard other people associate, a
physical problem with sin. Share at least one response from a Lutheran understanding
of faith to that tendency.
2. Jesus surprises his disciples by saying that the man’s blindness is not his fault, is not a
result of sin. How is this relatable in a society that blames victims of trafficking and
sexual assault?
3. Who has the authority in the biblical passage? Is it surprising? What “authorities”—
people with wisdom and experience—should we look to when working against sex
trafficking?
Action steps
● Put the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline number in your phone
(1-888-3737-888).
● What are some ways we can advocate for victims of sex trafficking? The ELCA has a
national and several state public policy offices which may have sex or human
trafficking on their issue agendas. To connect with these offices, go to:
http://www.loppw.org/what-we-do/advocate/ If your state doesn’t have an ELCA
public policy office, check with your state’s Council of Churches or similar
organizations, which often have public policy agendas. Another resource is a statewide
human trafficking task force or sexual violence victim services coalition.
● Use resources on human trafficking, including bulletin inserts, from the Justice for
Women Program. Find them at http://elca.org/Resources/Justice-for-Women.
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● How do you teach young people to find their own authority? Think about how many
traffickers rely on a young person being taught to respect older people and defer to
authority.
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Session 5
Opening Prayer
Gracious God, thank you for the many ways you bring new life and resurrection to your
people. Guide us in the days ahead, so those trapped by trafficking may be released as we
work to end this injustice. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
John 11:1-45 (NRSV)
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister
Martha.
2
Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his
feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill.
3
So the sisters sent a message to
Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
4
But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This
illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God
may be glorified through it.”
5
Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her
sister and Lazarus,
6
after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days
longer in the place where he was.
7
Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us
go to Judea again.”
8
The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the religious authorities
were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”
9
Jesus
answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the
day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world.
10
But those who walk
at night stumble, because the light is not in them.”
11
After saying this, he told
them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.”
12
The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.”
13
Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was
referring merely to sleep.
14
Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
15
For
your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to
him.”
16
Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us
also go, that we may die with him.”
17
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four
days.
18
Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away,
19
and many of
the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.
20
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary
stayed at home.
21
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother
would not have died.
22
But even now I know that God will give you whatever you
ask of him.”
Lenten Bible Study: A Journey to New Life
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23
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24
Martha said to him, “I know
that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
25
Jesus said to her, “I
am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die,
will live,
26
and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you
believe this?”
27
She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,
the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
28
When she had said this, she
went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here
and is calling for you.”
29
And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to
him.
30
Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where
Martha had met him.
31
The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her,
saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that
she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32
When Mary came where Jesus was and
saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my
brother would not have died.”
33
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he
was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.
34
He said, “Where have you laid
him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
35
Jesus began to weep.
36
So the
Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37
But some of them said, “Could not he who
opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
38
Then Jesus,
again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying
against it.
39
Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man,
said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”
40
Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the
glory of God?”
41
So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said,
“Father, I thank you for having heard me.
42
I knew that you always hear me, but I
have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe
that you sent me.”
43
When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus,
come out!”
44
The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of
cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let
him go.”
45
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen
what Jesus did, believed in him.
What do you wonder about this passage? What did you notice this time reading it, that
you may not have in the past?
What does the ELCA have to say?
Social Message on Commercial Sexual Exploitation
“In our time, before God’s victory is fully manifest, our faith in the Lamb
struggles against our indifference and cynicism and gives us hope and courage to
act. We are to repent of our own complicity in this tangled web, whether that
complicity be through active involvement in the sex system, lack of love for our
youth, denial of its reality, neglect of its causes, or failure to act. We are called to
expose the destructive dynamics of the sex system, tell of the victory, forgiveness,
hope, and new life in Christ to all caught up in it, and to join with others to
combat its evils.
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This calling embraces all dimensions of life in society: personal character, family
life, culture patterns, commerce, public policy, law and its enforcement, and
social service and advocacy organizations. The sex system itself varies from place
to place; some of its activities are illegal, and others are legal (which does not
mean they are benign or morally acceptable). People in diverse places of
responsibility bring distinct gifts to fight it. Equally committed people may
disagree on what laws should be in place or what are the best measures to address
prostitution, pornography, and stripping. In light of the scope and complexity of
the action required, a multitude of creative and courageous responses are needed.
The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America calls upon
members, congregations, synods, churchwide units, and affiliated agencies and
institutions to give serious consideration to what they should and can do.”
(pp. 4-5)
Putting It All Together
1. What images in the scripture passage talk about being bound and trapped? What does
this passage say about being free?
2. Name some ways you think the images of resurrection speak to human trafficking.
3. What is God calling you to do? What stone can you pull away? What gifts do you
bring to this effort in the different dimensions of your life?
Action opportunities
● Learn how other ELCA congregations are working to end the injustice of child
trafficking by reading past issues of the E-Quipped for Prevention newsletter from
Cherish All Children: http://www.cherishallchildren.org/newsletter.
● Learn about the work of ELCA Justice for Women related to gender-based violence
and human trafficking: https://www.elca.org/en/Our-Work/Publicly-Engaged-
Church/Justice-for-Women/Social-Issues.
● Learn about the work of the Women of the ELCA related to human trafficking:
http://www.womenoftheelca.org/filebin/pdf/resources/UnderstandingAndResponding
ToTrafficking.pdf. You can also read a portion of an article about work being done to
address trafficking in Gather magazine: http://www.womenoftheelca.org/gather—
advocacy—prayer-and-kindness—january-february-2016-news-501.php?category-
id=73.
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