Bible Reflections for July and August, 2006
Bible Reflections for July and August, 2006
Text for:
Sunday, July 9
Read: Mark 6:1-13
Consider: Jesus receives the reception that insecure hometowns often reserve
for those who have left and "made good." His former neighbors are astounded
at the spiritual power demonstrated in his miracles of healing, but finally
react in anger and are offended at this "local boy" who seems in their minds
to have outgrown his roots. Because of this attitude on their part, Jesus'
success at healings are limited in his hometown, for healing is a miracle
that requires a receptive heart. In the second section, Jesus commissions his
disciples to go out and be healers, traveling light for the journey. But he
warns them that they "will not win 'em all." In some places they will meet
resistance and be ineffective for lack of receptivity. For such situations,
Jesus gives them a little "sacrament of failure," a ceremony of shaking off
the dust and moving on to the next challenge, without carrying the burden of
their inability to reach those who keep the door closed.
Reflect:
+ How do you feel about your hometown? Do you occasionally visit? If so, what
feelings run through you? Do you find yourself falling back into earlier ways
of relating and thinking about yourself?
+ Some people, though much more rare today, never "leave home"
geographically. How can they continue to grow expansively and find
connections with the world beyond their hometown?
+ Have you experienced the frustration of having someone unreceptive to your
desire to help them? What feelings did that evoke?
+ What does the phrase "travel light through life" mean for you? How do we
get weighed down by excess baggage? Do you need to "lighten up" for your life
journey? What could you "leave behind"...and what is it important to always
carry with you in life?
Sunday, July 16
Read: 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
Consider: This passage portrays the vivid and intense celebration that
followed Israel's victory over the Philistines. The joyful people parade and
dance, and David brings the Ark (a portable religious shrine which the people
of Israel believe marked God's presence among them) to a new and permanent
home in Jerusalem. David, in ecstatic joy, dances before the Ark wearing an
ephod--some sort of priestly garment--in celebration of God's presence and
the victory of God's people.
Reflect:
+ When in life have you felt like dancing for joy?
+ What is it important to affirm the ecstatic, enthusiastic expressions of
faith as well as the more thoughtful and reasonable expressions? That is,
what does faith need both a "head" and a "heart"
+ Are you more of a "heart" person or a "head" person in expressing your
faith?
+ Has the realization of God's presence in your ever filled you with an
inexpressible joy? If so, take a few minutes to get in touch with those
emotions.
Sunday, July 23
Read: 2 Samuel 7:1-14a
Consider: This passage is about the building of houses--in two senses. First,
David believes that now that the people of God are settled in a land and have
found stability, it is time for God to have a house. He is disturbed that
while he, David, lives in a permanent house of cedar, God still dwells in a
tent, the tent where the Ark is contained, and needs a more fitting
residence: a Temple. David's prophetic advisor, Nathan, has a vision in the
night...God tells him of a more important house to build in God's sight: the
house of David, a strong, continuing family of faith. The permanent Temple
will come later (under Solomon), but for now, first things first: the
priority is to establish a dynasty, a people that stretches from one
generation to the next so that the story of God's faithfulness can be passed
on and a strong "household of faith" firmly established.
Reflect:
+ Why is it important to build the spiritual house before the physical house?
+ What values and traditions does your family cherish that make it a stronger
household?
+ How are these values and traditions passed on from generation to generation
in your family?
+ How does your physical house reflect some of the priorities of your
"spiritual house" Would one visiting your home know just by looking around
that it was a household of faith? If not, how could you begin to express your
faith through the objects and arrangements within your home?
Sunday, July 30
Read: John 6:1-21
Consider: This is John's version of the familiar "Feeding of the 5,000," one
of the few stories that appears in all four Gospels. Jesus tries to retreat
with his disciples, but many people follow them to hear his teaching. Jesus
is concerned not only about the "spiritual hungers" that need filling by his
teaching but also about their physical need for food. They are in a place set
apart, with seemingly no way to feed the large crowd. But a small boy is
willing to share his meager lunch of five loaves and two fish. Jesus takes
the bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to the people--and lo and
behold, there is plenty for all and much left over. The story is about Jesus'
power to expand the little gift we bring into more than we could imagine. But
it is also about the miracle that comes when we are willing to share what
little we have, and trust that, in Jesus' hands, it is more than adequate.
Reflect:
+ What are ways you have seen some very small gift become something much
greater?
+ Have you ever received a "little gift" that was worth far more than the
giver realized?
+ What does it mean to call Jesus "the bread of life" What are some means
that we can receive this spiritual nourishment?
+ In what ways might this miracle get reenacted in soup kitchens across the
land? Have you ever served in a soup kitchen? Consider the possibility, if
the opportunity is available, since Jesus is concerned for the physical
hungers of people as well as the spiritual (read Matthew 25:31 and following
verses).
Sunday, August 6
Read: Ephesians 4:1-16
Consider: Paul is speaking about our life in the faith community. There is a
unity which is centered in Christ, but there is also a diversity in the great
variety of gifts, abilities, and kinds of service among God's people. The
differences are not divisive when held in love, because we share "one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all." So the community works
best when everyone employs his or her unique gift for the common good, the
upbuilding of the community. He urges followers of Christ to "speak the truth
in love" to one another. Silence due to the fear of intimidation does not
build community;
neither do words spoken in bitterness and anger. But when each share his or
her perception of the truth in a spirit of love, the whole community grows
and thrives.
Reflect:
+ What is your style of dealing with different opinions in your family? In
your church or religious group?
+ What do you think are the special "gifts" God has given to you? The
qualities or talents you seem to have in more abundance than most people?
What do you think others would identify as your unique gifts?
+ What might be some practical guidelines families, communities, or churches
might use for "speaking the truth in love" to one another? Can you draw up a
list?
Sunday, August 13
Read: John 6:35, 41-51
Consider: Jesus declares himself to be "the bread of life," but some of his
listeners take offense at this because of his humble origins. He says that
the bread he gives for the life of the world is his flesh, pointing toward
the cross which lies ahead and its saving power for eternal life. When some
take him literally, he speaks in the next section (verses 52-58) about the
eating of the bread that we call the Lord's Supper, communion, or the
Eucharist. Jesus takes ordinary things from the world of nature, such as
bread, wine, or water, and transforms them into symbols which bear spiritual
power. This Bread of Life first offered long ago, continues to feed a
spiritually hungry world.
Reflect
+ Have you ever made homemade bread? If so, what do you recall about the
experience?
+ How would you identify the most urgent spiritual hungers of our day? How
can Christ satisfy these hungers?
+ Close your eyes and think about a time you took communion, recently or long
ago; let the memory of things touched and tasted, words heard, moods evoked,
wash over you.
+ How often does your church celebrate the Lord's Supper? Some celebrate
weekly, others seasonally, and some quarterly each year. Would you like more
frequent opportunity to come to the Lord's table to receive the Bread of
Life?
Sunday, August 20
Read: John 6:51-58
Consider: This passage continues the section from last week. Jesus speaks
further about what it means to be "the bread of heaven."
Reflect
+ What does it mean to "abide in Jesus" To have Jesus "abide" in us? (verse
56)
+ What is "eternal life" Where is it lived? When does it begin?
Sunday, August 27
Read: 1 Kings 8: 1, 6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43 (or read verses 1-43)
Consider: David's dream of building a Temple for God is finally realized by
his son, Solomon. Solomon offers a prayer of dedication for the new house of
God, thanking God that he has not forgotten the covenant God made with David.
For the Hebrew, the Temple was the unique place where God's presence dwells.
And yet Solomon is wise enough to know that temples (or any building built
with human hands) cannot contain God (verse 27). From here on, the Temple
will be the center of Hebrew faith, the place where God's people come near to
the presence of God and recall God's unfailing promises.
Reflect
+ Do you think God dwells in "special places" such as a temple, or is present
everywhere? Or... is God both all-present but especially present in certain
places?
+ What does it mean to call a church sanctuary "God's house" What are the
implications?
+ What are the dangers of thinking that God is "especially" here or
"especially "there" in the world?
+ Do you feel a sense of God's presence when you worship in your church
sanctuary? What other places or situations lead you to feel that God is
present? Nature? Other people? Beautiful art?
Sunday, September 3
Read: James 1:17-27
Consider: The Book of James is something of a work of Christian wisdom
literature: guidelines for practical living by God's word. The connection
between hearing God's word and acting upon it is emphasized; life is
incomplete if we are not both hearers of the word and doers of the word.
Hearers...because our actions will be uninformed by God's guidance and may
actually hurt more than help. Doers...because wisdom and insight that is not
lived out becomes forgotten and eventually dies. Just as God's Word did not
remain in some spiritual state but became flesh and was lived out by Jesus in
the incarnation, so God's word continues to need incarnation--and we are the
flesh and blood agencies by which God's word is enacted today.
Reflect
+ Do you consider yourself more of a "good listener" or an "active doer" in
life?
+ What are some concrete ways we can incarnate (embody) God's love in the
circumstances of our life? Where do you spend time that sorely needs God's
love to be present?
+ Fred Speakman, a late Presbyterian pastor, once wrote a book titled "Love
Is Something You Do." Do you agree? Can one love without "doing"
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