. BREAKTHROUGH
(Open-ended,
Life-centred Explorations of the Sunday Gospelsfor Home Groups)
MK 10:
1-16...Sunday, October 8th, 2006...18th S. after Pentecost
NOTES: 1] Omitting v.l as the Lectionary
does leaves out the fact that though Jesus is beginning to move towards
Jerusalem & his Passion, here he's operating across Jordan, beyond
the main influence of the Jerusalem heavies. The Pharisees here may be
locals, or agents of
those heavies. 2] In
over-ruling what's been said & done
before, Jesus, the 'Greater than Moses' challenges biblical literalism,
then & now.
N.B.
differences between here & MT 19: 1 +. 3] Rabbis then as now held
conflicting views about divorce & re-marriage. 4] Be sensitive to any among us
who've 'been through the mill'.
WARMING UP: Are we a strict person
or an easy-going one?
TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify
God at work in anything this week?
EXPLORING GOSPEL:
1-4
Do we consciously (& religiously!) act within the guidelines /
laws set down by church authorities, or feel free to move outside
them if & when it seems right to do so? What factors influence our
decisions about whether it's right to do so'? Or is that kind' of thing
not an issue for us? Have we yet chosen whether to be a conservative or
a liberal,
theologically speaking? Or is that something we don't choose? If not,
why not? Is it possible to live as a friend of Jesus & reflect that
in the way we live without thinking through where we stand
theologically? Do our actions speak louder
than our words about this matter?
5-12 What constitutes hardness of
heart? How
much / how often is 'hardness of heart' responsible for the way we
think / live? Even if we
ourselves don't believe it, are we ever conscious that someone else
thinks we're 'hard
of heart'? Given that many of us have been conditioned to
believe our heads are for thinking with, what do we make of those who
tell us we really ought to be thinking with our hearts? How does a
person 'think with their heart'? Do we recognize either our head or our
heart having superiority over the other in
our own life? What can we learn from, the ever-so-important myth /
parable ofthe Garden of Eden (GEN 2: 4+) about: head & heart
choices?
Are we as aware as God wants us to be that he has 'married' us
& joined us together as one with him? What
does that kind of oneness demand of us in our relationship with God
& each other (& in particular, a marriage partner)? Or doesn't
it demand anything? Can we see why, biblically, 'adultery' is a
recurrent term for expressing unfaithfulness to God (running after
other gods)? Does 'adultery' against God lead to adultery at the human
level too? What about vice-versa? Are there other questions we need to
pose for ourselves here?
13-16 Given Jesus' relationship with
children, how come so many
churches are in turmoil over child-abuse accusations? What's gone
wrong? Is it in any sense a natural follow-on from the fact that
churches have often seen children as 'fair game' while adults are in
the 'too hard' basket? Is our attitude to children in the church all it
needs to be (in Jesus'
eyes)? Are we welcoming / accepting / nurturing enough of children
& their families if we have any in our congregation? What's at the
heart of Jesus' attitude to children? Is the way we respond to children
in our church more a head or a heart thing?
