DECALOGUE VIII

This commandment is easy to dismiss if you dont go out at night as a burlger.
But with some reflection, it becomes evident that stealing from people is an attitude that generates behaviors like being a burglar. As always, the Law is Spiritual as Paul stated.

Spend some time as a group finding ways that, despite the lack of larceny, theft has been accepted as a way of life.

Thaw

• What insights would you say you have gleaned from this series over all?
• What are some ways that you understand God, the Bile or your own day-to-life differently?
• What from our time just this Sunday most stuck with you?
• Have you ever had anything stolen? Do tell? Have you ever stolen anything? Tell that too.

Leader note: without making someone sorry they shared something as vulnerable as a time they stole, watch for justifications being added to the story. See if reasons are given in hindsight that have to do with financial need, anger at someone for having, the thrill of excitement, etc. If you decide to bring up the justification given, or asking to clarify if you are hearing a justification, remind the group that theft is always justified in the eyes of the thief. That will help set the stage for the kind of stealing you'll be dealing with later that has less to do with physical stuff.

• What about the vagueness of "You shall not steal" speaks to you?

Leader note: it doesn't list the kinds of things you are ot to steal, nor from whom is stealing prohibited. It leaves it open to EVERYTHING.

Read

• Luke 19:1-9
• Luke 20:21-25
• Thoughts?

Leader note: Notice that Zacchaeus, whose job it was to collect the collected taxes from lower level tax collectors who collected from Roman citizens to an extraordinarily excessive degree, is reversing the direction of possessions. Jesus didn't have to order it.
But in the following chapter, Jesus says (among other things in this highly charged sentence!) that taxes should be paid. Both the tax collectors and the taxed lived in a deep tension of protecting themselves from being taken from, while trying to also fully "get". Both had their justifications and other saw the other not as humans but as receptacles of their possessions. Discuss as a group the work that Jesus is doing in these polarities, what this says to us, while leaving current politics out of the discussion.

Read

• Galatians 5:13-17
• Thoughts?
• What are ways that we can "consume" each other?
• How does this create a break in peace between people or groups?
• How do people who aren't led by the spirit love one another if they are always protecting themselves from one another?

Leader note: the last question isn't designed to become an us versus them. It's instead supposed to illuminate, for faithful people, that the spirit is always trying to teach us to exodus from slavery. Remember, Galatians is to christians. It's for us to do work on us, not talk about "them".

Read

• Eph 4:28
• How is this passage helpful in understanding how Christ wants to retrain the parasitic "flesh" to love?

Leader note: help the group see that the 8th command is a prohibition, but the Spirit of God doesn't just want the rule remaining unbroken.the rule was for us. So, there's a "cease from stealing" and then in place of the stopped behavior, a "love with those hands instead". All the ways that we take from people are ways that we could, instead, find ways to be more loving.


Read

• Matthew 20:28
• John 10:10
• Thoughts?
• How does God as "giver" differ from your view of God growing up?
• What if God doesn't make life comfortable; does this mean he is a taker? Explain.
• What if God doesn't give to "me" what he gives to "you, or does so in different amounts, does this mean he is a taker? Explain.

Discuss

• What does this have to say about treating people with patience? How about gossip? Giving the benefit of the doubt? Second chances?

Leader note: these are a few ways that, instead of taking from someone's life, reputation, etc...we are generous with them. When we are not patient, for example, we take the time from someone that they need because we have chosen to out our timeline up as of higher value than there's. It's a me-centric way of being a taker, rather than a loving giver. Gossip takes away dignity and respect in service to a story I want to tell for personal gain. That, and many other examples, are the work of an internal parasite. No tangibles are taken, but a theft occurs nonetheless.

• There are obvious implications for this commandment and what it means to be a thief.
• Are there any members of this group that feel they may need to admit that they take things, physically or online, or otherwise?

• How does the eighth command apply to the products we buy, the kind of deals we take or the companies we do business with?

• What is God speaking to you about what it means to be less of a taker and how can this group help you step into that?

DECALOGUE VI

You shall not kill.

You shall neither have the heart of a killer.

Use this group time to reflect on not only 9/11 from a strictly American perspective, but as representative for all humanity. What are we learning, as a generation, beyond how to have more power/security etc. to better avenge ourselves?

The cycles of attacks, counter attacks, preemptive attacks, revenge and all out war are obviously systemic, but are birthed in the individual. This is where we focus on ourselves, within our own groups, rather than idly chatting and trying to fix the world without dealing with our own.

Use the texts below to discuss God's kingdom and the way of Jesus where anger and murder (literally and as Jesus positions it in the heart before a corpse is produced!) are concerned. If the conversation slides into politics or is divisive, you will know that it has no longer become a Kingdom of God discussion, but one rooted in the kingdom of men.

"Everything you can do with anger you can do better without it."

-Dallas Willard

Keys Texts for Discussion

Matt. 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’

Matt. 5:22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.

Matt. 5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’

Matt. 5:39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Rom. 12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.

Rom. 12:18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Rom. 12:19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

Rom. 12:20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Rom. 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Eph. 4:26 “In your anger do not sin”

Eph. 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

Eph. 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Eccl. 7:9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.

DECALOGUE V

PAINFUL TRUTH ALERT:

A great and accurate metric for one's real spirituality isn't measured by the things we typically call spiritual, but by how one's heart is toward their mommy and daddy. Understand all this, and the growth we try and experience by focusing outside of ourselves and our immediates will finally be ours.

This should be a fun discussion.

Thaw

• What's something you are planning to do next summer if you are able to?
• How did this summer's experience lend to this idea formed?

• What themes or overarching statements are you gathering from the commandments thus far?
• How does your familiarity with the decalogue shape this?
• What has most stuck with you from Sunday morning?

Read

• Exodus 20:12
• Ephesians 6:2-4

• What immediate pictures, feelings and thoughts come to you when you hear this? Where does that come from?
• What are the implications of this command being the only prescription, while the others are prohibitive?
• How is this command enhanced by considering it's directed at the children of those who would worship a golden calf while this very law was being given?

Read

• Have someone read the Colossians 3:1-21, from the Message Translation, aloud for the whole group. Choose someone that can read slowly, with inflection, and see what stands out in Paul's words about what it means to be the people of Christ.

So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.

Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God....

Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.

Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don't take advantage of them.

Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end.

Parents, don't come down too hard on your children or you'll crush their spirits.

• As Paul makes his way through these ideas, to the family, what thoughts come to mind?
• What words or sentences stood out the most?
• How does learning to honor parents, regardless of their earning it or their reciprocating it affect other relationships through life?

Apply

• What has your heart gotten used to telling you that your parents owe you?
• What would have to happen for your relationship with your father and/or mother to be what you think it out to be, ideally?
• How do words like forgiveness, trust, demands, bitterness, maturity, and hope say to your situation?
• How can these people, in this group, help you take one step past the mere concepts and make the healthy reality of the 5th command begin to take shape?

Additional Texts for Meditation

• Romans 5:6-8
• Matthew 7:12
• 1 John 4:13-21