How to really love your enemies – eye for an eye, love for enemies
The real test of love does not come in how we relate to the kind and loveable but in how we relate to the cruel and despicable. Jesus calls us to show our attitude of total love to an ‘evil person’ and our ‘enemies’. This means love where there is no self-interest and this is impossible without the grace of God.
We discussed:
• What we find difficult about the instructions Jesus gives in the passage and what those instructions might mean in our everyday lives? Particularly;
‘Give to the one who asks you’ – we discussed how black and white we felt this statement was and in what situation we might face this challenge and where it may not be appropriate to give what is asked for. This then led on to discussions about how to avoid being seen as a doormat.
• How Jesus’ instructions might apply in world wars, how should a Christian world deal with dictators and those that kill for power?
• How we can find it in ourselves to bless and love those that cause so much suffering?
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Matthew 5: 31-37- Sermon on the Mount - Study 5
Divorce and Oaths
Jesus raises challenging responses to the questions that were put to him by the religious leaders of the time. The issues raised in this passage are all too familiar and no less challenging for the church today. On the issue of Divorce, Re-marriage and the church Dr David Instone-Brewer has produced a very well circulated book on the subject, based on his research as a theologian of 1st Century Palestine and his role as a church leader.
For an interesting link see: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/october/20.26.html
More broadly speaking this passage also raises discussions about God’s response to the general broken-ness of humankind and it raises questions about how we as Christians are to respond to individuals that face challenges of broken relationships – past and present
The passage goes on to look at the use of oaths, promoting the notion of let our ‘yes be yes’ and ‘our no be no’! This raises a few questions like:
1. Why might it be considered wrong to make a promise in God’s name?
2. What does this say about certain judicial systems where people are required to take an oath on the bible?
3. Are there incidents from the bible where promises have been made in God’s name that has turned into tragic circumstances?
4. What does this say about how we use God’s name?
5. How does this affect our everyday use of language?
Jesus raises challenging responses to the questions that were put to him by the religious leaders of the time. The issues raised in this passage are all too familiar and no less challenging for the church today. On the issue of Divorce, Re-marriage and the church Dr David Instone-Brewer has produced a very well circulated book on the subject, based on his research as a theologian of 1st Century Palestine and his role as a church leader.
For an interesting link see: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/october/20.26.html
More broadly speaking this passage also raises discussions about God’s response to the general broken-ness of humankind and it raises questions about how we as Christians are to respond to individuals that face challenges of broken relationships – past and present
The passage goes on to look at the use of oaths, promoting the notion of let our ‘yes be yes’ and ‘our no be no’! This raises a few questions like:
1. Why might it be considered wrong to make a promise in God’s name?
2. What does this say about certain judicial systems where people are required to take an oath on the bible?
3. Are there incidents from the bible where promises have been made in God’s name that has turned into tragic circumstances?
4. What does this say about how we use God’s name?
5. How does this affect our everyday use of language?
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Matthew 5: 21-30 - Sermon on the Mount Study 4
Murder & Adultery
In these verses Jesus speaks specifically of the commandments Murder and Adultery found in Exodus 20: 13-14. The interesting thoughts that came from the group are as follows:
• Jesus reaffirms his position as being at the same level as God
o He is able to express, emphasise and clarify the meaning of the Law
• Why might God see anger and lust being on a par, or maybe even more, with murder and adultery?
o We are made in God's image (Genesis 1:27)
o By dwelling on these thoughts and feelings we are valuing someone less than ourselves
o We mar God's image in us
o We attack God's image in them
• Are we condemned by our thoughts?
o No, a fleeting thought is not what this is about. There are stimuli everywhere that's sole purpose is to distract us.....Satan will tempt us! He tempted Jesus in the desert (Luke 4: 1-13),and this is where we are given a model to follow that links to this passage:
Jesus had a choice whether to comply with the temptation or reject it - He rejected it, and so should we!
• Is the imagery of gouging out your eye, or cutting off your hand to be taken literally?
o Jesus' loving nature would suggest this is not a literal commandment
o Temptation often begins by something "catching our eye" it is the thing that makes us "double take" This is the point we get to choose, do we linger and gaze on that temptation for longer or do we avert our gaze elsewhere?
o Once we decide to continue looking with our "eye" it is a short step to full compliance with sini.e. by physical participation with it (the hand)
o The message seems to be "you have choice" Do not let your eye linger on these things, and certainly resist acting upon them
• Big sin grows from tiny seeds
o Each time we allow ourselves to be a "little" bit angry with someone or inappropriate to a member of the opposite sex but "just as a joke!" we learn to justify that behaviour to ourselves and each time we do we lower our baseline morality just a bit
o Over time that bit grows into a lot, before you know it we have become desensitised to it
o We see it in our Nation today....we turn the news over as the horrors of war/disaster are no longer horrific, just dull...no shock in naked women in TV, film, music, advertising hoardings....constant swearing pre-watershed. None of this will lead the world to a better place, more likely there will be an upsurge in demand for ever more cheap thrills, more lack of concerns for our "brothers"
o Ultimately from those tiny seeds we have come to accept Worldly things and have strayed from God's Heart!
• God's Heart
o Both passages point to knowing God's heart
o We should not be de-sensitised
o There is no "small" sin, it will grow!
o The more we proclaim our Love for God, and of each other. The more we reject sin the closer to God's heart we will be. And it will be this that grows as sin's grip on us lessens.
o Jesus specifcally uses the word "brother". We are a family, of one Father, we must love each other! (Matthew 22: 36-40)
• Our Heart & repentance
o This is what God values most, and is consistent throughout the Bible
o David, described by Paul when preaching in Acts 13:22,is considered by God to be "..a man after my own heart"
David's behaviour is often not seen to be the way we imagine God to be
But he loves the Lord with all of his heart (Psalm 6)
He repents often (Psalms 51, 52)
The main thing to come from our discussion was a statement of fact...God's standards are very high!! As Christian's we are called to "let [our] light shine before others, that they may see [our] good deeds and glorify [our] Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16) So it is crucial that we in the World adhere to these things and role model to others the behaviours Jesus modelled for us......but, no doubt we will fall from time to time and through the Grace afforded us by Jesus on the cross we can ask for forgiveness, and like David be assured that our prayer will be answered!
In these verses Jesus speaks specifically of the commandments Murder and Adultery found in Exodus 20: 13-14. The interesting thoughts that came from the group are as follows:
• Jesus reaffirms his position as being at the same level as God
o He is able to express, emphasise and clarify the meaning of the Law
• Why might God see anger and lust being on a par, or maybe even more, with murder and adultery?
o We are made in God's image (Genesis 1:27)
o By dwelling on these thoughts and feelings we are valuing someone less than ourselves
o We mar God's image in us
o We attack God's image in them
• Are we condemned by our thoughts?
o No, a fleeting thought is not what this is about. There are stimuli everywhere that's sole purpose is to distract us.....Satan will tempt us! He tempted Jesus in the desert (Luke 4: 1-13),and this is where we are given a model to follow that links to this passage:
Jesus had a choice whether to comply with the temptation or reject it - He rejected it, and so should we!
• Is the imagery of gouging out your eye, or cutting off your hand to be taken literally?
o Jesus' loving nature would suggest this is not a literal commandment
o Temptation often begins by something "catching our eye" it is the thing that makes us "double take" This is the point we get to choose, do we linger and gaze on that temptation for longer or do we avert our gaze elsewhere?
o Once we decide to continue looking with our "eye" it is a short step to full compliance with sini.e. by physical participation with it (the hand)
o The message seems to be "you have choice" Do not let your eye linger on these things, and certainly resist acting upon them
• Big sin grows from tiny seeds
o Each time we allow ourselves to be a "little" bit angry with someone or inappropriate to a member of the opposite sex but "just as a joke!" we learn to justify that behaviour to ourselves and each time we do we lower our baseline morality just a bit
o Over time that bit grows into a lot, before you know it we have become desensitised to it
o We see it in our Nation today....we turn the news over as the horrors of war/disaster are no longer horrific, just dull...no shock in naked women in TV, film, music, advertising hoardings....constant swearing pre-watershed. None of this will lead the world to a better place, more likely there will be an upsurge in demand for ever more cheap thrills, more lack of concerns for our "brothers"
o Ultimately from those tiny seeds we have come to accept Worldly things and have strayed from God's Heart!
• God's Heart
o Both passages point to knowing God's heart
o We should not be de-sensitised
o There is no "small" sin, it will grow!
o The more we proclaim our Love for God, and of each other. The more we reject sin the closer to God's heart we will be. And it will be this that grows as sin's grip on us lessens.
o Jesus specifcally uses the word "brother". We are a family, of one Father, we must love each other! (Matthew 22: 36-40)
• Our Heart & repentance
o This is what God values most, and is consistent throughout the Bible
o David, described by Paul when preaching in Acts 13:22,is considered by God to be "..a man after my own heart"
David's behaviour is often not seen to be the way we imagine God to be
But he loves the Lord with all of his heart (Psalm 6)
He repents often (Psalms 51, 52)
The main thing to come from our discussion was a statement of fact...God's standards are very high!! As Christian's we are called to "let [our] light shine before others, that they may see [our] good deeds and glorify [our] Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16) So it is crucial that we in the World adhere to these things and role model to others the behaviours Jesus modelled for us......but, no doubt we will fall from time to time and through the Grace afforded us by Jesus on the cross we can ask for forgiveness, and like David be assured that our prayer will be answered!
Matthew 5:17-20 - Sermon on the Mount Study 3
Jesus rebukes those who said he had come to do away with the "law and the prophets" (old testament teaching). Instead he has come to fulfil the law, and he makes it clear that God still requires us to obey his laws. We thought about the different types of law in the old testament:
• Ceremonial Law - such as sacrifice and cleansing which point forward to Jesus. Jesus has fulfilled all of these requirements for us;
• Civil law - such as compensation for injuries etc. This is specific to the culture and society of the time and although we don't follow these laws specifically, we still obey the principles behind them which are present in our own legal system;
• Moral law - things like the ten commandments which still apply to us today - this is what we are talking about.
Points which came up in our discussion included:
• The universal nature of Gods law (Romans 2:13-15) - there is an absolute standard of right and wrong and our conscience tells us this even if we do not know God's Law
• The link between the requirement to obey the law and the beatitudes - acknowledging that we are poor in spirit and cannot do it without him (Matthew 5:3)
• That all disobedience and sin is equal and things that we consider "minor" transgressions are just as bad. When we ask God for forgiveness at the end of the day, are we even aware of most of our "minor" sins?
• If we acknowledge that we can never keep the whole law, and that we are made right with God by his grace, even when we fail should we even bother to try obeying the Law? Definitely according to Romans 6:15 - to honour God, to grow in holiness, to demonstrate our faith.
• The positive example which we set by obeying God's law and the link to last week's study- we are "salt and light" (Matthew 5:13-16)
• Ceremonial Law - such as sacrifice and cleansing which point forward to Jesus. Jesus has fulfilled all of these requirements for us;
• Civil law - such as compensation for injuries etc. This is specific to the culture and society of the time and although we don't follow these laws specifically, we still obey the principles behind them which are present in our own legal system;
• Moral law - things like the ten commandments which still apply to us today - this is what we are talking about.
Points which came up in our discussion included:
• The universal nature of Gods law (Romans 2:13-15) - there is an absolute standard of right and wrong and our conscience tells us this even if we do not know God's Law
• The link between the requirement to obey the law and the beatitudes - acknowledging that we are poor in spirit and cannot do it without him (Matthew 5:3)
• That all disobedience and sin is equal and things that we consider "minor" transgressions are just as bad. When we ask God for forgiveness at the end of the day, are we even aware of most of our "minor" sins?
• If we acknowledge that we can never keep the whole law, and that we are made right with God by his grace, even when we fail should we even bother to try obeying the Law? Definitely according to Romans 6:15 - to honour God, to grow in holiness, to demonstrate our faith.
• The positive example which we set by obeying God's law and the link to last week's study- we are "salt and light" (Matthew 5:13-16)
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