Majesty and Madness
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- The pastor always talks about the timeless underneath the time bound, i.e. the as-then, so-now, features of biblical narratives. Reviewing the scope of this narrative today, what do you notice in the historical facts or details that transcend the moment (or to put it another way, involve principles that speak or apply to us yet today?)
- We live in a culture that is judgment-adverse, meaning that the average Joe or Jane is uncomfortable with condemnation or judgment, doesn’t want to judge or be judged, wants to re-create God into a morally indulgent Being whose love means giving a free pass to everyone and everything (except of course pedophiles, corporations, environmental polluters, global warming deniers, racists, Fox News watchers, and all right wingers, all of whom one is free to despise with impunity). The Jesus whom these folk tout would never countenance a condemning word. How does all that square with Jesus’ prophecy in verses 43-44 and his actions and words in verses 45-46? And what do you think would be the best remedy for such distorted God and Jesus images? Look at Psalm 119 and all the effects and benefits of God’s word for one whose mind is marinated in it.
- Does verses 45-46 contain any reproof for contemporary evangelical Christianity that you can think of? Ask: What were these people doing that was so wrong that in principle is widely replicated in our own Christian culture? (Hint: think ‘commercialism’ and go from there) As then, so now, it is not always possible to discharge God’s work and carry out His revealed will without financial funding. So when do we cross the line from the legitimate to the illegitimate?