What is Wisdom and Where Do I Find It?

For 8/19/2012

All Scriptures are from The Message Version

Wisdom is a word we see repeatedly in Scripture, something to be valued, sought, and treasured. True wisdom is a gift from God which guides our lives along the right paths and saves us from folly. Jewish Wisdom literature includes several of the books of the Old Testament including Proverbs, Psalms, Daniel, and Job. In that tradition Wisdom is feminine and given a number of attributes as we can see from these words from Proverbs:

God sovereignly made me—the first, the basic— before he did anything else.

I was brought into being a long time ago, well before Earth got its start.

And then staked out Earth’s Foundations, I was right there with him, making sure everything fit.

Day after day I was there, with my joyful applause, always enjoying his company…

• What are some of Wisdom’s attributes? Are any surprising? What does the writer want us to know about Wisdom?
• Notice these similar words from John 1 about Jesus: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Today’s Lectionary Scripture is attributed to the Solomon, that man of wisdom. Proverbs is filled with practical advice about the benefits of wisdom and the downfall that comes with temptation and folly. Let’s look at today’s scripture for what it says about Wisdom - both the lady and the attributes:

Proverbs 9:1-10 Lady Wisdom has built and furnished her home; it's supported by seven hewn timbers. The banquet meal is ready to be served: lamb roasted, wine poured out, table set with silver and flowers. Having dismissed her serving maids, Lady Wisdom goes to town, stands in a prominent place, and invites everyone within sound of her voice: "Are you confused about life, don't know what's going on? Come with me, oh come, have dinner with me! I've prepared a wonderful spread—fresh-baked bread, roast lamb, carefully selected wines. Leave your impoverished confusion and live! Walk up the street to a life with meaning."
…It's through me, Lady Wisdom, that your life deepens, and the years of your life ripen. Live wisely and wisdom will permeate your life; mock life and life will mock you.

• First of all what does this tell us about the dispenser of wisdom, how would you describe her? Does it appear that access to Wisdom is difficult?
• What words are used to describe wisdom and its benefits? How would you use to describe it? Is it different from knowledge?
• What would you point to as examples of wisdom in your life experience? What was the impact of the wisdom on your life? Who have been examples of wise people in your life?
• Have you connected wisdom with your faith life? Has your spiritual life been a source of wisdom? In what practical ways has this wisdom made a difference in your life?

Paul speaks repeatedly about wisdom, that of the secular world and that of the spiritual, telling both of the source and the failure of the worldly to grasp it:

1 Corinthians 2:6-10 … God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don't find it lying around on the surface. It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. The experts of our day haven't a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn't have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. That's why we have this Scripture text: No one's ever seen or heard anything like this, Never so much as imagined anything quite like it— What God has arranged for those who love him. But you've seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.

• What is your take on the way in which Paul describes wisdom? What do you agree with and what question? Would you add anything to his description? What is added to the ideas about wisdom in Proverbs?
• What is the heart of the wisdom he refers to, what is its source? Do you see Jesus’ life and teachings as a source of wisdom for us? What are some of them that are particularly important to you and help guide the way you live your life?
• It can sound like wisdom will bring us wealth and true happiness – what happened to the Master of the God-designed life? What does this say to us, how is it instructive in understanding the meaning and purpose of wisdom? Is the ultimate goal of the Christian life to live safely, comfortably and contentedly or are there other dimensions?

John’s Gospel has Jesus assuring his disciples the night before he was crucified:

John 14:25-27 "I'm telling you these things while I'm still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I'm leaving you well and whole. That's my parting gift to you. Peace. I don't leave you the way you're used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don't be upset. Don't be distraught.

• Do you think that this scripture relates to God’s wisdom? How did the disciples receive wisdom from Jesus as they traveled with him and what happens now that he is leaving them? Do you think that his words apply to us?
• Have you experienced nudging, God moments, guidance, ah-has, or inspiration you attribute to your spiritual life? Have you sensed the presence of the Spirit in the day to day? Do you associate these things with the idea of wisdom?
• What are some ways we can strengthen this spiritual blessing to our daily lives? What are some things that shut it off?
• What would you now tell someone who asked you to describe wisdom? How does wisdom fit into your faith story, would you include it in describing the impact of your faith on your life?

Closing Litany

Hallelujah! I give thanks to God with everything I've got—

Wherever good people gather, and in the congregation.

God's works are so great, worth

A lifetime of study—endless enjoyment!

Splendor and beauty mark his craft;

His generosity never gives out.

His miracles are his memorial—

This God of Grace, this God of Love.

Amen

Next Week’s Lectionary Scriptures: 1 Kings 8:(1, 6, 10-11), 22-30, 41-43 or Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18, Psalm 84 or Psalm 34:15-22, Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69



Avoiding Frustration and Futility

For March 29, 2012

All scriptures are from The Message Version
One of the urges we all feel as people of faith is to be good and do good things.  But it can be a frustrating calling as the practice of our faith runs up against our human nature and many times a a question about just what is the right thing to do in any given situation.  Today’s Lectionary scripture addresses that frustration. 

This post is intended to help the reader personalize the words and thoughts in the scriptures.  It works well if shared between two or more people as a topic of discussion but there is much to be gained by considering the questions yourself.  Commentaries for these scriptures can be found on Textweek through this link http://www.textweek.com/mkjnacts/jn15a.htm

Today’s scripture is from John 15 which is part of Jesus’ “Final Discourse” with his disciples as he prepares them for the time after his crucifixion, a time when he will not be physically present with them.  He tells them that they will do even greater things than he and in today’s scripture describes the source of energy that powers the engine that drives the train.  The analogy he uses is tending of grapevines which may be somewhat vague for most of us for whom knowledge of grapes is limited to fruit salad and wine.  But the point is that without vine trimming abundant new fruit is impossible and it is impossible for the branches to produce fruit detached from the main vine.  So read on and let’s look at some questions that come to mind.

1-3 “1 am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.

4"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

·       To set the stage just who is the vine and who are the branches?  What is the desired result here, is it kudzu like growth or something else?  Can you think of other plants that need trimming in order to be abundant producers? 

·       So what happens to the branches that are not producing fruit?  Can you move from an analogy to real life, how are we cut off if we do not produce (think employment)?  How do you treat people who do not bring good things to us through their relationship  I am not a good golfer so therefore I have cut out golf courses – I am sure we could go on.

·       From a spiritual standpoint what does it mean to bear fruit?  This differs from what we receive and focuses on what we do and how we act because of our faith.  In what specific ways have you responded to the sermons, bible study lessons, and prayers that have been part of your faith journey?

·       Does the idea of being shorn off the vine when not being fruitful make sense to you?  How have you seen it play out, have you ever had a sense of being cut off from a sense of spirituality in your life?  Has it ever happened when trying to solve a problem, make a decision, or begin a project? What were the circumstances?

·       Jesus speaks of living in him, that like branches we cannot make good things happen without being connected to the vine of spiritual sustinance.  What does the vine bring to the branches?  What does a vibrant spiritual life bring to us and how does it spark our being fruitful/faithful in all things?

·       Let’s try it from the opposite direction, say you are trying to solve a big problem in your life or make some worthy project happen, what would be the opposite of being connected to our faith roots?  What would we connect ourselves to as an alternative?  Where would the things come from that we would rely upon to make it happen?  Does being connected to our faith roots mean that we entirely let go of these things?

Let’s look at the rest of the scripture:

5-8"I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
This is in some ways an reiteration but how is the relationship described, what words are used?  When have you felt this way about your faith life, what was going on? 

·       How is the harvest guaranteed to come in?  Have you been in circumstances when the presence of the Spirit was obvious and you felt good things were happening and God’s work going on?  I have found it in many ways including a relationship with the staff of a not for profit whose good work in the community sprang from their individual and collective spirituality.

·       So how do we go about making, maintaining and strengthening the roots of our faith?  As one old joke goes; “A person visitor in New York City seeking direction asks how do you get to Carnegie Hall, the answer: practice, practice, practice.”  What motivates a person to devote themselves to practicing the essentials of something (again I think of my golfing friends) in order to improve their performance?  What do they get out of it?  Why does something take on this degree of importance?  Do other things take a back seat to some degree to make room for the practice?

·       So how about our spiritual lives; what would be some good things to practice if we are to be fruitful, make a difference for someone else, make decisions that spring from our spiritual roots, become energize by a sense of the Spirit’s presence with us?  What do we practice, practice, practice?

·       The writer of Ephesians adds some Miracle-Gro to the equation in Chapter 2:

God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

·       It seems that our faith is a transformational experience, that practicing our faith both leads us where we need to be and prepares us to respond.  Ever happen to you?  Would you like it to happen more often?   Practice, practice, practice.

Closing Meditation

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.  Ephesians 12:1-2

Next Week’s Lectionary Scripture:  Isaiah 6:1-8, (9-13), Psalm 138, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Luke 5:1-11

Take It Into Your Hearts

For 10/30/2011
All Scriptures are from The Message Version

This post is intended to help the reader personalize the words and thoughts in the scriptures.  It works best if shared between two or more people as a topic of discussion but there is much to be gained by just considering the questions by yourself.  Commentaries for these scriptures can be found on Textweek through this link http://www.textweek.com/mtlk/matt23.htm

Matthew 23:1-12

Matthew and the other Gospel writers give us many examples of the conflicts that Jesus had with the religious authorities who confronted him and his followers.  In today’s scripture from Matthew 23 he uses the behavior of the Pharisees to teach a broader lesson about the root of a full and meaningful faith life.

Matthew 23:1-3 Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. "The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God's Law. You won't go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don't live it. They don't take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It's all spit-and-polish veneer.

·       In other teachings Jesus has seemed to completely discredit those who are in a position of Jewish authority or given formal credibility as teachers and judges of behavior.  In this scripture he modifies this apparent blanket judgment.  What should be respected and understand about religious scholars and Pharisees?  What do you think he means when he speaks about God’s Law, what might it consist of?

·       Here are two brief scriptures in which Jesus speaks to the law:

Matthew 5:17 "Don't suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures— either God's Law or the Prophets. I'm not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama.

Matthew 7:24-25"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock.

·       Where should we turn to understand what God’s Law is for followers of Jesus?  How are we to use it and what is it’s benefit?  What makes the Law real and effective for us?  Can our perception of the word law as something to learn and comply with run against the concept of law Jesus is speaking about?  What must we do with the words to live on solid rock?

·       After giving the Pharisees some credit he takes them to task.  What is his problem with them?  Does any of this ring true for you in your experience with religious leaders or fellow believers or yourself?  Isn’t a common criticism of Christians that we are “a bunch of hypocrites”?  How would you respond if someone said that to you?  What is available to us when we fall short?

Back to our scripture:

Matthew 23:4-7 "Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called 'Doctor' and 'Reverend.  Don't let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that.”

·       What results from seeing “God’s Law” as complying with rules?  How have you experienced hearing it as “food and drink”?  What makes our faith real to us in our everyday lives?

·       Does any of the criticism of the Pharisee’s behavior resonate with your experience or observation of religious leaders or fellow Christians?  What do you admire in the lives of leaders and fellow believers, what makes you respect them?

·       Should we expect to find favor in God’s eyes because of meeting others expectations as to how we should behave or practice our faith?

 Continuing with our scripture:

^{8-10 “}You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don't set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of 'Father'; you have only one Father, and he's in heaven. And don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ.

 ^11-12"Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.

·       Is it important for us to have teachers if we are to grow in our faith life?  What cautions does Jesus give us about teachers? Who have been meaningful teachers for you and what was it that gave them credibility?

·       What are some important experiences that taught you about and grew your faith?  Where does succeeding and failing on our own fit into expanding our understanding what being faithful means?

·       When do you turn to “experts” as you live your daily life?  Do you follow their advice literally or do you interpret it based on your experience?  How might this apply to our faith lives?

·       Jesus finishes with a teaching he repeats all during his ministry – what are we to remember and how should we seek to live?   Can you point to an example that illustrates what he is talking about?

·       What is one thing you have learned as you contemplated these scriptures today?

Closing Litany from Romans 12:1-2

Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.

Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.

Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

AMEN

Next Week’s Lectionary Scriptures:  Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25or Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16 or Amos 5:18-24, m 78:1-7or Psalm 70, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Matthew 25:1-13

Please comment by clicking on the word comments in the sentence “Posted by John at XXXX “ at the bottom of the page

How To Treat Others

For 9/28/2011
All scriptures are from The Message Version

Today we look at three scriptures that deal with and give guidance on living in community with one another. This is a theme that runs throughout the bible, both the formal rules of the Old Testament Law and the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. First we will look at a teaching by Jesus that sets the stage for understanding the foundation for living together as a faith community. The context is Jesus telling his followers that he is going to Jerusalem and that he would be crucified and what would be required if they were to follow him but there might be a wider application:

Matthew 16:24-26 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?

· Jesus reminds his disciples (us) that we are followers; what is the essence of that reminder? This is easy to hear in concept but how should we apply it in practical terms to our daily lives? How do we relinquish being in the driver’s seat as we face the issues and decisions of daily life?
· How do you react to his words on suffering and self-sacrifice? How is our true self revealed thru accepting these things; have you had experiences that gave you insight on your true self (for better or worse).
· Can you relate any of this to what is needed to live successfully as a faith community and also with those whom we come across each day?

Next we look at specific advice Paul gives for living faithfully with others. Read the entire scripture and then come back and reflect on each section. As you read this are you reminded of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7?

Romans 12: 9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

· What do you relate to in these verses? What is called for as the scripture begins? Can you relate this to Jesus’ many, many teachings – This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you (John 15:12)
· What is Paul’s bottom line and how much practice does it take to play second fiddle?

11-13Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

· How do we avoid burn out? Is that a problem with our church leadership pool today? What are some ways in which we can recharge our spiritual batteries as individuals and as a faith community?
· What practical advice does he give for hard times and how might they fit into the life of your congregation today?
· Should we only help needy Christians?

14-16Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.
17-19Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."

· Do you relate to the thought that you might have enemies in the congregation?
· How do you feel about your congregation's expression of Paul’s encouragement for relationships with one another? Can you think of specific examples?
· Have you had the experience of discovering beauty in someone you didn’t like? Was it helpful?

20-21Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

· There are lots of stories about taking positive steps to mend a relationships between two people who did not like one another, do you have one?
· Might there be a difference in applying this to believers as opposed to non-believers? Should we be selective in with whom we seek to repair a broken relationship?

Lastly Paul speaks to the understanding and reality that we need to embrace in order to be an effective person of faith, to incorporate the good we have been discussing into our lives.

Romans 12:3 I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

· What is the key to understanding ourselves and motivating us to be proactive in living ou our faith in everyday life? Does it give you any new insight?
· What will you take away from this discussion today? What would you like to know more about?

Closing Litany
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best— as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
The Lord's Prayer - The Message Version

Next Week’s Lectionary Scriptures: Matthew 18:15-20, Romans 13:8-14, Psalm 149or Psalm 119:33-40, Exodus 12:1-14 or Ezekiel 33:7-11

Questioning Jesus

For 8/6/2011
All Scriptures are from The Message Version

Today two of Jesus' teachings which raise some interesting questions for us and teach us that we need to look closely at what he said and consider some troubling issues his words convey. Jesus has just been chastised by the Pharisees (possibly including the future Apostle Paul???) for repeated violations of the Jewish law including dietary and cleanliness laws. Jesus responds:

Matthew 15:10-11 He then called the crowd together and said, "Listen, and take this to heart. It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up."
12Later his disciples came and told him, "Did you know how upset the Pharisees were when they heard what you said?"
13-14Jesus shrugged it off. "Every tree that wasn't planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch."
15Peter said, "I don't get it. Put it in plain language."
16-20Jesus replied, "You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don't you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It's from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That's what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that's neither here nor there."

· What is your picture of Jesus as he responds to the Pharisee’s questions – his emotion, his tone, his body language? Have you ever reacted, even internally, to someone who was correcting you based on their understanding of correct thinking or behavior?
· Consider the Pharisees – they believed that a specific standard of behavior and choices were needed in order to be right with God. Is it a problem that they express their feelings and reactions to practices which seems to violate these beliefs?
· Do contemporary Christians display the same behavior – do they all come from the same place theologically - when is it appropriate to voice our opinions? Do we know the mind of God or are we drawing conclusions based on our interpretations. What does this say about what it is appropriate for us to be vocal about when taking our faith public?
· What is Jesus’ problem with the Pharisees? What does he foresee will happen to them? Does it seem fair that they should be condemned because of the way in which they understood God should be worshipped?
· What does his caution about blind guides say to us about the people we should believe are credible in spiritual matters? Is a blind guide necessarily only a person or are there other kinds of blind guides? How do we choose? In the end who is responsible for the content of our spiritual lives?
· In this paraphrase Jesus makes some indelicate allusions in making his point about what emanates from us. What is his point?
· In dismissing what we swallow as irrelevant Jesus seems to be referring to dietary and hand washing laws. But does this extend to other outside influences. Can we be influenced by our culture with inappropriate attitudes and beliefs? What are some ways that we can bring balance to those things we “swallow”, what can we turn to that we can have confidence is nurturing our hearts?
· Do you think that there are elements of our religious practices that might fall into Jesus’ evaluation “that's neither here nor there" or does observing custom and tradition have spiritual value for us? What do we need to careful about in observing them to keep them from being subject to the same criticism Jesus made of the Pharisees?

The second scripture raises even more troubling questions as he encounters a woman after a time of intense teaching and healing:

Matthew 15:21-22 From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, "Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit."
23Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, "Now she's bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She's driving us crazy."
24Jesus refused, telling them, "I've got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel."
25Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. "Master, help me."
26He said, "It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs."
27She was quick: "You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table."
28Jesus gave in. "Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!" Right then her daughter became well.

· What is your reaction to this story, what do you like and dislike about it?
· Being both gentile and a woman would make it inappropriate for Jesus to speak or deal with her according to Jewish religious practices. Does this seem to fly in the face of the criticism that he just made of the Pharisees? What are some possible reasons he might have fallen back so seemingly easily into this practice?
· Do you think that this story might point to the human component of Jesus’ complex presence on earth? Can you think of any other examples of human reactions or actions? Jesus agonizing prayer at Gethsemane seems to be one (Matthew 26:36-46).
· Across the Christian spectrum there are categories of people who for religious and real or perceived moral issues are condemned and given a status that Jesus gave to the woman. What does this story tell us about dealing with those we consider outsiders?
· What is the key to the woman being heard, what tactic did she use? Do you think that there is any parallel for us in approaching God with our problems?
· Jesus responded to the woman because of what he perceived to be her faith. What did she have faith in? Does it say she declared herself to be a faithful follower of Jesus or of God? What is your minimum requirement for someone to be understood as being faithful?
· What do you take away today as things you learned from these two stories? Do you leave with more questions than answers? If we look closely that is one of the purposes of scriptures - invitingt us to explore them in depth and try to apply them to our life today.

Closing Litany (from Psalm 67)
God, mark us with grace and blessing! Smile!
The whole country will see how you work, all the godless nations see how you save. Let all far-flung people become happy and shout their happiness because
You judge them fair and square, you tend the far-flung peoples.
God! Let people thank and enjoy you. Let all people thank and enjoy you.
Amen

Next Week’s Lectionary Scriptures: Matthew 16:13-20, Romans 12:1-8, Psalm 124 or Psalm 138, Exodus 1:8 - 2:10 or Isaiah 51:1-6