Open-ended,
Life-centred,
Gospel-Focused Explorations of the Hebrew Bible Readings set for the
Eucharist in the Australian Prayer Book.
1st
S.after Christmas, Year C... 1SAM2: 18-20 & 26...For the Gospel
(LK 2:41-52) scroll above.
NOTES: 1]Always read the Hebrew Bible in the light
of our understanding of God revealed in Jesus.2] Read Ch.1 to get the context
& connect with the visit to the Temple in today's Gospel by Jesus,
Mary & Joseph. 3] Samuel,
who appears on the scene about 1040BC, is the last of the 'Judges' who
led Israel before the monarchy (which SAM constitutes by anointing
Saul, such a great failure that he is gazumped by God himself & replaced by David. 4] In v.18 an ephod is a liturgical
garment.
WARMING
UP: Is the mother-son, father-daughter bond as strong as
it used to be, or was that always a myth?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
18-20 Isthe idea
of giving up a child 'to God' in the sense here ( maybe a bit
like the former Roman Catholic practice of going to live in, getting an
education in, & serving in a religious congregation?) something we
would find acceptable today, even if it were available? Has the church
often found it easier to 'home in' on children than on their parents
& other adults? Might that be a reason why many grow to think of
religion as 'kid's stuff'? How do we feel about 'children in church'
& how we provide for them? How much does the way we think depend
upon whether the children in question are ours or someone else's?
What do continuing revelations
about child-abuse by ordained or lay members of the church tell us
about the way we treat children in the midst of our families &
congregations? Are we ashamed enough that such abuse has happened
without the Church(es) doing much about it? Has the current state of
affairs contributed to a distrust of the Church by society, or is it
just another page in a long catalogue of complaints rightly or wrongly
based?
Does this story have the feel
of a family relationship with God rather rare today? How does our family relationship with God
'feel'?
26
As well as the obvious comparison with the young Jesus in LK 2:
52, what can we learn from this example of connectedness between people
& stories in the Hebrew Bible & those of our New Testament? How
much does that kind of connectedness flow through from the Hebrew Bible
& / or the New Testament to our
lives, adults or children, today? Would we be better off if there were
more connectedness? How might that connectedness work? Is 'growing in
(wisdom &) stature & favour with God & people' something we
just hope for / expect of our children (or grandchildren!?) or
something we're taking seriously for ourselves too? If we're not
growing in stature & favour & wisdom, what are we going to do
about it? And when?
