BREAKTHROUGH
(Open-ended,
Life-centred Explorations of the Sunday Gospels for Home Groups)
MK
10: 17-31...Sunday, October 15th, 2006...19th S. after Pentecost
NOTES: 1] We're all meant to identify
with the unnamed man according to our own circumstances. 2] 'Eternal' is essentiallly a
quality of life rather than a length. 3]
In v.19, 'fraud' may stand for the 'coveting' of EX 20:17 & all
that stems from it. The commandments Jesus cites are the ones directed
at the way we relate to eacb other (all of which stem from the first
four commandments relating directly to God).
WARMING UP: Is there anything we'd
like said about our 'quality of life' on our tombstone?
TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify
God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
17-22 Does it surprise us that Jesus
protests when the man calls him 'good'? Isn't Jesus 'good'? In
seemingly denying that he's good, is Jesus at least distancing himself,
if not actually denying that he is God? How much time & effort do
we ourselves spend in justifying ourselves: a) in our own eyes? b)
someone else's? c) God's'? Does it ever fool anyone? How much is
'eternal life' part of our personal agenda? Of today's
church
agenda?
.
How
strongly do we feel about & act on the commandments Jesus cites? Do
they play a defining role in our life, or have we (not to mention
'others'!) simply sidelined them? What about the first
four that Jesus assumes to be unassailable? Have we 'kept all these
since our youth'? Do we still observe them? Have we ever brought
someone undone through not observing any
of the commandments? Can we ever bring someone else undone without
bringing ourself undone at the same time? Is our own immediate response
to the man in the story to 'love him' as Jesus does? What kinds of
things determine how we react / relate to people? What can we learn
from the way Jesus relates to this man about the way we should relate
to others / get beyond first impressions, pr judices? Given that
there's no commandment about the way we spend our money, use our
property, is Jesus being a bit tough on the man? What might he be
trying to tell us about what we have & the way we use it? Can we
pinpoint (as Jesus no doubt can!) the 'one thing' we ourselves lack?
How much is it a matter of what we let get between us & God? What
we let become more important than following Jesus?
23-31
Despite a more egalitarian society (for most of us, at least) do we /
our church still tend to defer to those who have more money, property,
status, as the disciples apparently do here? Do we ourselves do it too?
How hard
is it to 'enter the kingdom of God'? Is it really as impossible as for
a camel to pass through the eye of a needle? Who, indeed, then ,can be
saved? What is this 'saved' business? Can we explain it / experience it
in other than pious terms? 'Saved' from what? 'Saved' for what or whom?
Is this camel quip an example of Jesus' sense of humour? If our
situation is really as grim as Jesus seems to be saying here, are we
just wasting our time following him?Has anything changed since Jesus
said this?
What
tangible reward do we expect for a life of discipleship? How does 'the
last being first' & vice-versa sit with the 'win win win', 'gold
gold gold' 'ozzie ozzie ozzie' mentality that seems to pervade much of
life today - & not just in sport either?
