BREAKTHROUGH
(Open-ended, Life-centred Explorations of the Sunday Gospels for Home
Groups)
MK 13: 1-11(13)...Sunday, November 19th, 2006...24th
S. after Pentecost
NOTES: 1] Leaving out vv.12-l3
panders to modern sensibilities. Maybe we should read it, but preface
it with, 'Some hearers may be disturbed'?! 2] The passage is 'apocalyptic' (=
revealing hidden things) in which Jesus discerns that Jewish politics
must inevitably lead to the kind of destruction he talks of, the end of
the Jewish world they know. But beware of those who use already
fulfilled apocalyptic to preach hell-fire & damnation out of
context.
WARMING UP: Are we optimistic
or pessimistic about the future of the world as we know it today?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
1-2 Do we ever
discern our own church buildings have become the centre of attraction,
& replaced God at the centre of faith & life? How do we feel
about the fact that the grandest of our buildings so easily become
tourist destinations, family history centres, etc., more than places of
worship? Or isn't that a problem? If our church building was destroyed
in some manner, would we want to rebuild lit exactly as it is now /
build it somewhere else / build it differently / not rebuild it at all?
How can we prevent ourselves from being bogged down in buildings &
property, & become free to get on with our mission? Or has
'mission' already become lost among the demands of property?
3-8 Do questions
like, 'When will all these things take place?' rate high on our agenda?
Does 'living for today' mean we've lost too much concern for what God's
'tomorrow' might bring? Are we 'watchful', 'on our guard' etc., enough
to be able to counter those who lead us / mislead us about the politics
of God & human beings? What are
the politics of God? Are we alert (if not alarmed!) enough to cranks
flourishing round us? Has fear of terrorism pushed concerns about the
politics of God onto the back burner?
If, as many believe, Jesus' focus is on what's going
to happen in Palestine 40 years after he's speaking, how do we take
seriously what he says about wars, earthquakes, famines, etc., without
falling into the clutches of extremist / fundamentalist teachings about
these being signs of an imminent end to this wor1d? [Jesus literally
speaks of these things as 'the beginning of birth-pangs'. See also Paul
in RO 8:22-23] Does that imagery help us sort things out at all? Is the
issue really about living in our time & God's time at the same time
without trying to force one onto the other?
9-13 'Religion' is commonly
blamed today for wars & most other ills today. How can we take that
seriously, but find positive ways to offer at least our own little
world the Good News of what
God does in Jesus Christ through the Spirit? Do we take seriously the
persecution of fellow Christians in many parts of the world & under
different religions, regimes, etc.? Or do we hear & see so much in
the media that the seriousness of the situation goes over our heads? Is
it really God's problem? Have we become so irrelevant today that we're
not worth persecuting anyway? What steps are we taking to 'endure to
the end'? The end of what?
