It has taken me a long time to get back into writing this blog. First there was not much controversial or new that came out of our study of James in spring, then I went on an amazing tour and spent time pondering the apostle Paul and his journeys and teachings - but somehow didn't get around to writing about them - then summer came with numerous trips and visits and weddings and this and that - and then fall came and has flown by. I am having trouble recognizing that it is already nearing the end of October!
This fall I have been doing some interesting reading. Some relevant - like Shane Claiborne's book, Irresistible Revolution: living as an ordinary radical, and some less so - like Dan Brown's Inferno. It is fascinating how various unrelated readings seem to tie together in my head to create blow-your-mind ideas - and how difficult a time I have expressing them - so don't expect to be blown away!
As a Bible Study group we have chosen to follow the "Dig-In" study put out by MennoMedia in answer to the question, "How do we read the Bible in this age and...How can the Bible guide us as we navigate difficult questions of how to live and how to be the church for our time?" (p4). Each lesson draws on a short Bible passage and one of the article of faith from Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (copyright 1995 by Herald Press, Harrisonberg, Virginia). We have had a lot of meaningful discussions, and, I hope, have had thoughts rumbling around our heads for us to ponder during the week. We've even had homework on occasion.
The first lesson focussed on John 1:1-18 - The Word in the Flesh. We looked at the articles on God, Jesus, and the creation and calling of human beings. We looked at the question "What can Jesus' way of coming into the world teach us as a Christian Community about our own call to serve the world?" As it was a few weeks ago now, I don't recall specifics of our conversation but we did talk about how we can know God understands us because, as Jesus, God has experienced the limitations of being human, the trials of being bullied, the joys of being loved by friends and family. It is so easy to not want to pray about something because it seems too trivial for God to understand why it matters to us. It is so easy to get frustrated because thing aren't going the way you think they should - it's obvious that if God is in control then God just doesn't get it - right? Maybe we're the ones that don't get it. It is a challenge to recognize the humanity of Jesus and how much God gave in order to help us know that we are understood, and loved.
The second lesson focussed on Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and article 1(God) Love God Love God's Words. We spoke of Shema! - and how orthodox Jews actually take these words from Deuteronomy and bind them to themselves and have them on their doorsteps etc. How do we keep God front and centre? How does loving God in this way affect our lives? Does it? So we challenged ourselves to have a sticky or some other note where we would see it often in our day - reminding us to Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and with all our souls, and with all our might. Some of us have kept the sign around, others probably haven't. But it was interesting to try having this concrete reminder in sight at various times during the day.
The third lesson focussed on 2Timothy 3:14 - 17, Article 4 (Scripture) - A Story to Pass along. It was interesting to consider the part the Bible plays in our lives. Do we have time to read it regularly? Do we know it well enough that, if Bibles were taken from us we could still remember and learn from it and draw comfort from its promises? It is interesting to think about how different people come to such very different conclusions about issues based on words from the very same book. It is really hard to know if we really have it right when we look around and so many different groups are so sure they have it right - yet disagree with each other. The challenge this week was to read the lectionary passages sometime during the week - and the blog Donita has been writing about them. Let's try, for at least one week, to make reading the Bible a priority. Maybe it will become a habit!
The fourth week we looked at Isaiah 53:1-12, Article 17 (discipleship) - Suffering Love. We talked about suffering - and how suffering from a disease like cancer was different from suffering at the hands of bullies or suffering for taking a stand. Are all these kinds of suffering useful? Could we ever say they were God's plan for us? The guide calls us to look at suffering through a "multi-focal lens" so we can see different facets. I think we can agree that we often come out of suffering having learned something or maybe being stronger - but we have trouble seeing this as God's plan as much as it is God's bringing some good out of the awful. We did not really pose a challenge for this week - but left considering suffering and God's plan and how they worked together.
And now we are caught up. I will try to ponder future lessons more deeply. Tomorrow we are again speaking of Discipleship. There is so much to consider - How do we react when the church and/or the world and/or our own reading of scriptures disagree? How can we truly follow Christ in our day to day lives? So much to consider yet so important. Come back for more on our views on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment