Finding True Wisdom

For 9/30/2012

James 3:13 – 4:3

In today’s scripture the writer of James’ Epistle speaks to the nature of true wisdom – God’s wisdom – and as he similarly wrote of faith (faith without works is dead) tells us that wisdom is also revealed by our actions.

• How would you define wisdom? How do you know it when you see it?
• Why should we seek wisdom? How will wisdom make us better off?
• Is the degree of wisdom a person possesses necessarily in proportion to their level of intelligence?

Read on in our scripture for today and see what the writer tells us constitutes wisdom.

James 3:13-16 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

• What about a person would cause you to feel that they were wise and understanding? How do you see wisdom described above, what are some specific ways we might see wisdom demonstrated?
• How does your list and those identified in the scripture compare? Are there any above that you question about or disagree with? Is there anything connected with faith or a relationship with God in them?
• He makes a broader point that trying to make ourselves look good ends up causing lots of problems. Can you think of instances from the news of people who were devious, gathered recognition and wealth, and in the end hurt themselves and others? This can also happen in little ways as when we get caught in a lie – have you witnessed events that make the point?

In considering the first scripture we looked at what could be some generally accepted descriptions of wisdom, now we read about real wisdom.

17-18 Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

• Where does wisdom begin and what comes from it? What are some characteristics of real wisdom?
• Have you seen this kind of wisdom? What are some examples of people you think had real wisdom?
• The focus of living wisely is developing healthy relationships. Is it always easy to do this with someone with whom you have a loving relationship? Where does wisdom come into play in maintaining relationships and what should our faith bring as a resource for maintaining them?
• But this wisdom is to apply to all of our relationships in the community, even with some whom we may not feel a personal connection. What wisdom have you accumulated about maintaining relationships with folks whom you do not relate? What causes fractures? Has your faith played a role in overcoming issues that cause fractures in these types of relationships?
• But how does our faith bring wisdom, where should we turn to find it? Some scripture from Hosea for contemplation:

Hosea 14:9 If you want to live well,

make sure you understand all of this.

If you know what’s good for you,

you’ll learn this inside and out.

God’s paths get you where you want to go.

Right-living people walk them easily;

wrong-living people are always tripping and stumbling

• What are some resources for identifying God’s path in any given situation? Are the paths always easy to find especially when our emotions are involved? Have you ever been involved in a relationship crisis when you allowed your personal hurts overcome any desire to find an equitable resolution? How about the opposite, when you found a way to peace and overcame those urges? What made the difference? Was any wisdom involved?

Some last thoughts on what happens in the absense of wisdom:
4:1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.
2-3 You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.

• You might find this scripture offensive and feel that it does not apply to you but where in the news and throughout history have we seen the truth of these words? Do these words reach down to some of the basic causes for wars, crime and violence?
• But on the other hand can they also apply in diminished strength to the polarized society we seem to find ourselves in today, the unhealthy political climate, and the incendiary rhetoric? What wisdom do you have for bringing peace and community to our body politic? What must happen for us to move forward on God’s path?
• How would you sum up what you have learned about wisdom from James?

Closing Litany

The revelation of GOD is whole

and pulls our lives together.

The signposts of GOD are clear

and point out the right road.

The life-maps of GOD are right,

showing the way to joy.

The directions of GOD are plain

and easy on the eyes.

God’s Word is better than a diamond,

better than a diamond set between emeralds.

Amen

Next Week’s Scriptures: Job 1:1; 2:1-10 or Genesis 2:18-24, Psalm 26 or Psalm 8, Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12, Mark 10:2-16



Get With It!!

For 8/5/2012
All scriptures are from The Message Version


We are not sure who wrote the letter to the church in Ephesus but it certainly is in the spirit of Paul to whom it is attributed. He writes to them about living life in the real world where being in community, especially in times of trial can be difficult. Paul speaks to the tools and power that those who rely upon the Spirit have to transform a group of people into a vital faith family. Think of those times when you had experienced a real sense of togetherness and those others when divisiveness seemed to pull your faith community apart – what lay behind success and failure? Reflect upon that as you read from Ephesians 4:

1-3In light of all this, here's what I want you to do. While I'm locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.


4-6You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.


• Where does the letter come from, where is the writer? What does he want them to do for him? With what does he want to infuse the congregation?
• What are some ways that a congregation can determine just what road God has called them to travel? What do you think that your faith community is true to that process when it faces change or conflict? Would you have liked to have seen anything done differently during those times?
• What do you think that we should do to ensure that we stay on God’s path instead of wandering? What might be some signs that we are continuing to be faithful to this exhortation by the writer of Ephesians?
• Do you think that he suppose that it is easy to stay on the path, the natural thing to do? What does he warn against? How often have you seen these things happen in congregational life?
• What does he stress in verses 4-6? What have you seen as reinforcing oneness in the congregation and what be some ways in which oneness can be strengthened in the days ahead?
• What are some things that work against oneness? What might cause differences and conflicts? What do you suggest we do to combat them?

But what are some ways that the Spirit prepares us to be effective?
7-13But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,
He climbed the high mountain,
He captured the enemy and seized the booty,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.
Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ's followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

• How do you think that this scripture applies to life in your faith community? What do you take from it as encouraging and what questions do you have?  Have you seen evidence of these gifts in the work of your spiritual family?
• What are some methods and practices we can follow in order to maximize the emergence of the spiritual gifts we do have as a congregation? What will suppress them?
• Are the gifts we have necessarily limited to the talents of the members of the faith community? What else might the Spirit lead us to that could be considered as benefitting its life and work?
• What concerns do you have as you think about the next 6-9 months in the life of your faith community?  Does anything you have read so far seem helpful?

To be effective we need to grow up spiritually:
14-16No prolonged infancies among us, please. We'll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.


• Where do you feel that truth telling has gone on in your life and the life of your faith community and where may it need to come into play in the future? What is the key to effective truth telling and what are some practical ways to do it?
• What is the last image he gives us of Christ’s presence? What does it mean to you? How does it apply to congregational life? Do you think that challenges and change can be a time of growth? How do we ensure that growth happens?

Closing Prayer

Holy One, whose love has been poured into our hearts through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit, and who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish far more than we can ask or imagine, we pray that you would equip us for the work of ministry and for building up the body of Christ. Amen.

Next weeks Lectionary Scriptures: John 6:35, 41-51, Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2, Psalm 130 or Psalm 34:1-8, 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 or 1 Kings 19:4-8

How do we measure God's love

For 7/29/2012


Today's scripture come from Ephesians 3 in which the writer of offers a prayer on our behalf and which turns our attention to the working of God in our life, the dimensions it adds and the immeasurable extent to which God’s love encompasses us. How have you felt the immensity of God’s presence in your life?

3:14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

First of all, how does it feel to be prayed for by someone you don't even know?  Do you think that the prayer is appropriate for where you are today, fits today's circumstances, is welcomed?

What do you interpret verses 14-15 to mean? From a commentary:
Naming is about authorizing. Fatherhood, here, is not so much fathering or even parenting, as exercising power. It is a quaint of way of asserting that God is God and not allowing rivals, whether other gods or other claimants to power and authority. As a structure of thought it is interesting. There is a sense in which it means: any exercise of authority needs to be based on the way God is, if it is to have legitimacy. William Loader

• How important in the naming of a child are the persons (relatives, celebrities, ancestors) who have that name? How important to you is your name and with whom it is associated? What considerations are made in the process of naming anything (business, church, sermon) important to us?

• Can you think of instances of name changes or naming in the Bible which came from God or Jesus?
The power of naming starts at the very beginning of the Bible. God named the heavens and the earth. Adam was given the power to name all the animals—and his wife. naming denotes a sort of authority over that person. Karla Bohmbach

3:16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.


• The you in this scripture is a plural, he is writing to a church(es) and speaking to the collective body. What is the desire in verse 16 and what will make it happen?

• Have you felt inner strength because of the Spirit’s presence in your life? What put you into touch with this awareness?

• What are some things that we find dwelling in our hearts? Are they all necessarily good things? What is the result of those things presence on the way in which we live our lives? What should our spiritual life be doing to our hearts and its contents?

• What results from the presence of the Spirit? Do you know of people who seem to be rooted and grounded in this way? Have you had the experience of being motivated to react in a loving way because of your faith?

• How do these ideas pertain to a faithcommunity? In what ways have you seen the Spirit’s presence in your congregational life? What might we do to encourage our collective openness to the Spirit?

• One of the gifts of the Spirit is strengthening a faith community's “inner being with power through his Spirit.” What are some crucial areas in which your faith community could use inner strength as it moves ahead and how might it connect with that source of power?

• What do you think that the community is ‘rooted’ in now and how might it increase the presence of God’s love?

3:18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

• Have you ever come to grips with the incomprehensible magnitude of something that ‘surpasses knowledge”? Have there been events in your life or have you witnessed things that you never expected to happen? Have you thought about God’s love in these terms?

• The prayer asks that we be filled with the same incomprehensible love, “filled with the fullness of God.” How do you feel about that?

• What would happen if a faith community were filled with that fullness in the months ahead? How might it go about things so that love is shown?

20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

• What does the benediction ask that we be blessed with? Do you think that the presence of the Spirit can help us do “far more than all we can ask or imagine’? Have you experienced this in a congregational setting? What made it happen? Why can’t we connect with this ability more often?

• What is the reason that we are given spiritual power? How might we glorify God in our work ahead as a congregation?

Closing Prayer

Lord I offer my faith community as a living sacrifice, praying that it is holy and acceptable to you. I pray that we might be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we may discern what is your will—what is good and acceptable and perfect. Amen.

Adapted from Romans 12:1-2

Next Week’s Lectionary Scriptures: John 6:24-35, Ephesians 4:1-16, Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 78:23-29, 2 Samuel 11:26 - 12:13a or Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15