Many sages and rabbis used stories to impart important truths and illuminate the mind when merely fact sharing wouldn't do. Jesus was constantly communicating the good news of the Kingdom of God, and therefore nearly one third of his communication was in parable form.
For six weeks, we will be taking a handful of parables and unlocking a few layers of their meaning for our lives. As you discuss them with your group, be reminded that to turn a story into two dimensional set of bullet points is exactly the opposite of how parables work. Jesus chose this form of communicating because he valued ongoing discovery, multilayered meaning and what certain elements of the parables look like when reapplied in different cultural contexts. Help your group understand that by discussing Christ's parables, it steps into an ancient tradition of letting the Kingdom paint our minds.
Thaw
- What's your favorite story?
- Describe the characters?
Leader note: When people describe the characters from their favorite story, note that they won't often use visually descriptive words. They will describe their person, or their role in the story, but not how they appear. If the story was a book, then the characters may or may not have been illustrated, leaving the reader to make them up. Yet, our minds still create pictures for that character. Help the group describe what the characters actually looked like, and explore why our descriptions sound like biographies, rather than an actual description of the image we have in our minds. The western mind thinks in definitions and lists of information. The mind of the easterner (as in Palestine, not the Outer Banks!) thinks primarily in pictures. From the beginning, we have to understand a slightly different approach to information!
- What was most impactful from the message Sunday?
- How do you see it applying to your life?
Read
- Luke 7:29-35
- Thoughts?
- Jesus had a mold he was expected to fit as a Messiah, just as there were also expectations on John the Baptist who pointed to Jesus as the one who was to come. All of these expectations came from what people expected of God, and what he was going to do. What kinds of expectations do you think people carry about God today?
- Where did people get these expectations?
Leader note: be prepared to wrestle with the fact that what many people are correctly or incorrectly determining they are supposed to be expecting from God, based on what the Scriptures say. Don't be the answer man/woman. There is much misunderstanding of the scriptures and what they actually communicate on all our parts. One major flaw is that if a thing isn't carried out in a few months or years, we assume that means it is "never" coming to be, and thus lose trust in the text. It sounds small, but these are the kinds of ways we carry "failed" expectations with what we quietly demand God should do. Allow the group to discuss issues together, rather than it all falling on you, and don't let any one issue hijack the discussion. You can come back to specific issues later, as this discussion is about expectations on God and how we deal with him not meeting them.
- When God "fails" these expectations, what do people do as a result?
- What's an example of you having an expectation on God that he didn't come through on? How did you respond?
ReRead
- Luke 7:31-32
- What are ways that we feel we do our part to elicit a certain response from God?
Leader note: Saying "in Jesus' name" at the close of a prayer is one way many people do this. Those are the "magic words" that Jesus has to listen to according to many of our unrealized traditions. Other ways we feel like we have God cornered are things like strings of good behavior that we secretly think should be rewarded by God via fortunate circumstances or loving spouses, good kids and repair-free cars. Church attendance should bring us out of depression. Bible reading and prayers should preserve the job or garner the promotion. The group will have more to add, for sure.
- Why did Jesus choose a picture of children trying to force a response from each other?
- What is Jesus teaching people about God and our expectant demands with this parable?
Discuss
- Often when things don't go as expected, we assume both that God hasn't stepped in like he should, and that the reason he didn't step in is because we did something wrong first. In other words, our expectations of God are connected to what we think Gods expectations are of us.
- What Does God expect of us?
- Where did we get this belief?
Read (May want to assign one to each, to move through quickly)
- Romans 3:23
- James 3:2
- Micah 6:8
- Galatians 5:22
- Thoughts?
- Would God ever expect us to do or be something we cannot do or be? Explain.
- Would God ever have an expectation on us, knowing we couldn't fulfill it, and then say that he went ahead and expected it of us anyway? Explain.
- If God did have an expectation on us that we weren't able to meet, and he was a loving Father, what would you expect that He would do about it?
Leader note: You may want to note that the depiction of a father in Col 3:21 and 1 Thess 2:11-12 helps us understand what The Father is like. No dad worth his salt expects his children to do what they can't and then punishes them for failure. How much more our Father in heaven!!!
Application
- What changes in your day, and in your mind, if you believe that God has very intimately reasonable expectations on you?
- John 14:26 reads, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." Christ knows we need help. In fact, the implication is that without God, we cannot even remember what Jesus said. How does this shape our view of God's expectations on us.
Leader note: This life of following Christ is still a huge challenge. Don't let the group begin to believe that the Father just winks at weakness or sin because he knows we're "just sinners". He helps us correct it, not just "feel better" about it. Transformation is often painful. But pain, difficulty and God's love are not mutually exclusive.
- What shifts in your expectations of God's expectations, knowing that He knows what you can and cannot do and invites you forward anyway?
- Much of what we believe about God we learned as children. We then carry a child's view of God (which isn't all bad, most times!) and can't understand why we have trouble believing with an adult mind. What changes do you need to make in how you know and pursue God, if you find inaccurate and unreasonable expectations on him?
- How can this group be helpful to each other in expecting well of God?
- How can this group be helpful is understanding and moving forward on God's expectations of us?
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