Today was a day when we had a little trouble focussing. The latter half of Luke is made up of a variety of passages - stories and sermons on a variety of different topics. There was no cohesive issue or theme that caught our attention. There were many pieces, however that had us wondering.
Why is there a reference to a narrow door that will be locked to many, but through which people from north south, east and west will gain entrance to eat in the kingdom? Why does it say that one must "hate father, mother, wife and children, brother and sisters"? Aren't we to love everyone? On one hand it suggests that we need to give up all possessions but then there is a glorification of the dishonest manager who uses his employers debtors to set himself up after he was fired. Why are there references to the Kingdom of God being present, but then other statements that speak of things to happen once the Kingdom of God comes?
We felt a little lost with some of these questions. We talked a bit about understanding difficult passages and how different denominations have alternate understandings of the Bible and its authority....and then got off track trying to remember/research the beginnings of some groups of Christians. It was also interesting when there was reminiscing of our various experiences with "revival" preachers and growing up with different impressions of different denominations. No, we were not very focussed at all.
As we talked of our childhood impressions and experiences it became clear, once again, that we come from different places and have different views of many things. Yet we enjoy getting together and exploring the scriptures together. I'm sure there are many issues on which we would not all agree, yet we feel a kind of kinship as we struggle with different issues together. Our question is, how this can be extended to the larger congregation? How can we get past the differences, the separation of various groups from each other, and the sense, that many seem to have, of not being heard, not being valued? How can we become one body with many parts? Mennonite Church Canada has issued a statement that includes the words that disagreement does not negate unity in Christ. How can we live that out?
No, in many ways we did not really study much of Luke today - and didn't come up with many answers. There were more observations and interesting insights than I have recorded, but the majority of the afternoon was raising questions and looking for answers. We pray that God will speak to us. to our congregation, and to our leadership; guiding them and us as we continue the journey of being God's church on earth.
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