Studying the Bible (part 2)

For Sunday, March 21st, 2009

1) Last week we looked at a three interrelated passages where one story provides context for another. Those stories were historical in nature. In such a case, reading one story helps you understand the context of a later story. This week we're going to look at parables.
* What is a parable? [A brief story that illustrates a point]
* What's hard about reading a parable?
* What are some parables you can remember without looking in the bible?

2) Read: Luke 8:5-8 [Note: Don't let them read the explaination afterwards]

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown."

[Note: It's likely that someone already knows the second part where Jesus explains what the parable means. In which case, jump on ahead to the second part.]
* What are the various symbolic elements of this parable?
* What do you think they represent?
* Do you think there is more than one way to interpret this parable? [Note: Yes is a valid answer to this question.]

3) Read: Luke 8:11-15

"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

* Having read this portion, does it make it easier or harder to understand the parable?
* What type of ground are you and why?

4) Read: Luke 13:18-19

Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches."

* What are the elements of this story?
* What do you think they represent?
* If we assume the birds in this parable are the same birds as in the previous parable, what extra is this parable telling us?

5) Read: Luke 13:20-21

Again he asked, "What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."

This parable comes right after the previous one in the book of Luke. It also draws an analogy of the Kingdom of God.
* What are the elements of this story?
* What do you think this parable is trying to say?

6) Sometimes when we read the bible, it seems to make perfect sense. Other times it can seem completely incomprehensible. And sometimes, we can re-read something we had read before and find that it means something different than it did before.
[Read Proper 28 from the Book of Common Prayer]

Studying the Bible (part 1)

For Sunday, March 14th, 2009

1) Studying the Bible can be a daunting task. Often it can seem intimidating and cryptic.
* What do you like about studying the Bible?
* What is hard about studying the Bible?

For the next couple weeks, we are going to explore some key types of passages from the Bible and how to read them. You are encouraged to ask questions and form your own opinions. We won't always agree, and that's part of the mystery of the Bible: It sometimes says different things to different people!

3) Read: Matthew 12:1-8

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."
He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

* What is this story about?
* What parts of this story seem to reference other parts of the bible?
* On a scale of 1 (least) to 10 (most), how well do you feel you understand this passage?

4) Read: Exodus 34:21

"Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

This single verse comes in the midst of a set of laws that God gives to the Israelites.
* How does this passage help explain part of the previous passage from Matthew?
* Where does the balance of 6 days of work and 1 day or rest come from? [Note: Genesis 1, the creation story]
* What questions does this passage now raise for you?

5) Read: 1 Samuel 21:1-6

David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked, "Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?"
David answered Ahimelech the priest, "The king charged me with a certain matter and said to me, 'No one is to know anything about your mission and your instructions.' As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find."
But the priest answered David, "I don't have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women."
David replied, "Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men's things are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!" So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the LORD and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

This passage is part of the story of David, before he was king, and his travels while he hid from King Saul. David's men were tired and hungry.
* How does this passage help you understand the first passage from Matthew?
* What new questions does this passage raise for you?

6) Often times the Bible can leave us with more questions than answer, which might have happened with the above passages. This is natural! The above passages we read are an example of events that link together. This is sometimes referred to as a "narrative thread", or a chain of events that go together in the bigger story. Over the next couple weeks we will explore other types of passages we encounter in the Bible.
* What sort of questions do you have about studying the Bible that you would like answered over the next couple weeks?
[Note: Please collect the list of questions and send them to me.]

Topical Study: Perceptions

For Sunday, March 1st, 2009

1) Sometimes people misunderstand what we intended or misinterpret what we say. Maybe we mean something as a joke and people take it seriously, or we say something serious and they take i as a joke.
* Can you recall a recent time when you were misunderstood?
* Why do you think you were misunderstood?
* How about a time you misunderstood someone else? Why did that happen?
[Note: Plenty of time could be spent on these questions. Try to steer the conversation away from blame, and more towards recognizing that people are just different.]

2) Activity: What really happened?
[Note: This activity could be easily repeated with different material. It might be helpful to provide the volunteer with pen and paper.]
* One volunteer stay in the room.
* Everyone else leave the room, including the leader.
* The leader reads the following story to the group:

Mary Daley, a loyal fan of the Cooper City Little League, understood the value of calling a game (even a close one) on account of darkness. "No sense playing when it's too dark to see the ball," she always said. "The field will still be there tomorrow."

There was a game most every summer evening in Cooper City. Mary never missed one. Her big old Victorian overlooked Cooper City Memorial Field; her back yard, the perfect spot to park a lawn chair. She cheered for the boys and girls on both teams, even when the littlest ones ran to third base after whacking the ball off the tee.

She cheered for nearly forty-five years, until, as often happens to women of a certain age, she fell and broke her hip.

"No sense keeping the old Duster. You won't be driving with that hip," said son William, visiting between business tips.

"You'll love Golden Heights. It's much safer than being alone in that old house," said daughter Natalie, up from Boston for the weekend. "Aren't you tired of that racket from the ball field all summer? And those kids! Every time I call, you've got a bunch of them at the door looking for Popsicles and candy."

And so Mary sits in a stiff blue chair by the window of her darkened room in Golden Heights and watches the end of a sunset, while somewhere in Cooper City a crowd cheers the last play of a game that is about to be called on account of darkness.

[Note: Story comes from this site.]
* One by one, each person goes into the room, recounts what details they can recall from the story to the person in the room, and comes back out.
* After everyone has gone in and come back out, everyone goes back in.
* The volunteer now tries to reassemble the story and recount it.
* Read the original story to the volunteer now.
Questions for the volunteer:
* What pieces did you not hear from the original story?
* Was it hard to reassemble the story?
* Did you get contradictory information from different people?
* Did anyone appear to purposefully deceive you?

3) Read: Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

4) Read: Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'" The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'" The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

5) We've read this story before, but here we are presented with two versions: one in Matthew, and one in Luke. Both versions are from the bible, but there are clearly differences.
* What are some of the differences between these stories?
* Why do you think they are different?
* Do you think one is "right" and one is "wrong"? Why or why not?

6) Activity: Describe your angle.
[Note: Any object will do for this exercise, provided that it has different details from different angles.]
* Everyone sit in roughly a circle.
* Put some sort of object in the middle of the group, like a soda can.
* Without moving, each person should describe details of the object.
* Occasionally, when someone describes a detail that someone else can't see, ask other people these questions: Can you see that? Do you believe it is there? Why or why not?