Humus. Week 2

As discussions on humility go, make sure yours triumphs over all the other groups!

This week, discuss the importance of humility in the context of "being right" and how much we prioritize our certainty. Certainty often comes at the cost of a relationship, and if it all hangs on love- we must be extremely cautious to not be choosing the idea of love over a living, breathing object of it.


"Should you ask me, What is the first thing in religion? I
should reply, The first, second, and third thing therein --
nay, all -- is humility."
-Augustine


"Humility is the solid foundation of all the virtues."
-Confucius


Thaw
*Though pretty early in the game, what is different this year than last so far?
*How do you see this group as part of your growth? How do you see your involvement in it?

*Who is someone that you consider strong in the faith and humble regarding others that may disagree with them? Describe them, and as the group shares, look for commonalities.

*What most stayed with you from Sunday? Why?

Read
The following is the second chapter from the Letter to the Ephesians, as translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message. Have one person read it aloud while the others listen.

"It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.
 
Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

But don't take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God's ways had no idea of any of this, didn't know the first thing about the way God works, hadn't the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God's covenants and promises in Israel, hadn't a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything.

The Messiah has made things up between us so that we're now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.

Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.

That's plain enough, isn't it? You're no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home."

*Thoughts?
*This may have been great news of the previous "outsiders", but perhaps not for the "insiders". What is the modern parallel?

Read
Ephesians 4:1-3
*Thoughts?
*Why does unity take so much work?

Leader note: help the group discover that our differing ideas don't divide us, but our fear of them do. Humility in accepting that Christ unites what we divided is key, and working hard to preserve that unity involves us seeing our differences as secondary to what (Who) binds us.

What role does remaining a student of life play in humility and the bond of peace?
Can we cease to be a learner and remain humble? Explain?

Discuss
*When does it feel necessary to fight for a principle, even at the cost of a relationship?
*Have you ever done this?
*Did/do you regret the outcome, or see your choice to stand up for truth at the expense of a relationship as necessary? Share.
*Are there any religions or ideologies that you are aware of whose adherents will accept literally any person, regardless of their views? Is this acceptance a strength or a weakness? Explain.

*In Ephesians, Paul refers to Jesus as a cap stone, the thing that holds everything together. How does this play out in our various contexts (church, churches, work, school, family, politics, etc...)?
*How is it playing out in this group?


Meditate on these passages on pride, allowing yourself to consider how they play into relationships where there is disagreement of division and even fear about contrary ideas. When finished, share what you have learned, realized or have been reminded of.

When pride comes, then comes shame;
But with the humble is wisdom.

Prov 11:2

By pride comes nothing but strife,
But with the well-advised is wisdom.

Prov 13:10


The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom,
And before honor is humility.

Prov 15:33


Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly,
Than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Prov 16:19


Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall.

Prov 16:18

Before destruction the heart of a man is proud,
And before honor is humility.

Prov 18:12


A man's pride will bring him low,
But the humble in spirit will retain honor.

Prov 29:23

By pride comes contention.

Prov 13:10


The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach
his way.
Psa 25:9


But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight
themselves in the abundance of peace.

Psalms 37:11


Surely he scorns the scorners: but he gives grace to the
lowly.
Prov 3:34