B&Bs - Bonding and Bridging Together

Scripture: Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.  As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”  And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.  He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.  And he was a Samaritan.  Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean?  But the other nine, where are they?  Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”  Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Background Information: The theme of this week’s sermon is gratitude.  Currently, the working sermon title is “Thanking Jesus Up Close and Personal.”  In this passage, Jesus encounters 10 lepers.  They speak to him from afar because lepers were considered unclean and they were required to keep their distance.  When the 10th leper comes up to Jesus to thank him, that is the first time in years (perhaps ever?) that he has approached another human being.  The math of this passage is: 10 asked for healing; 10 were healed; 9 went their way; 1 made a point to thank Jesus; all 10 remained healed (that is, the gift of healing wasn’t taken away from them when they didn’t offer their thanks).

Discussion Questions:

1.  The story starts with the painful recognition that some people are shunned in society.  Who is shunned in our society?

2.  Why do you think the other 9 didn’t come back to thank Jesus? (There is no right answer, so be creative)

3.  At the very end of the story, all 10 lepers are healed and we can assume living new lives with new possibilities–so in that regard, they all had the same experience.  In your opinion, did the one who came back to thank Jesus have a different life because he came back?  In what ways?

4.  How do we directly and explicitly show thanks to Jesus for what he has done for us in our lives?

Scripture: Luke 7:36-8:3

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table.  And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. S he stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair.  Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.’  Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’  ‘Teacher,’ he replied, ‘speak.’ ‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them.  Now which of them will love him more?’  Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’  And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’  Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.  Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love.  But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’  Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’  But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’  And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.  The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities:  Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

Background:  This week’s sermon is titled: Growth Is a Choice: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.  This week’s scripture reading is a story about forgiveness and acceptability.  Simon assumes that he is righteous and in no need of forgiveness, and assumes the woman is a sinner and has not possibility of forgiveness.  And yet Jesus points out that she is the one who has shown true hospitality and Simon has been stingy in his welcome of Jesus.

Discussion Questions:

1.  Have you ever felt like an outsider?  What was that experience like?

2.  When we are open to growth, surprising people come to join us.  How do we welcome people who are “different” from us?

3. The woman who lavishes welcome on Jesus is an outsider; who do we make space for “outsiders” to share their gifts with us?

4. If growth can make us uncomfortable (as it clearly does to Simon), but growth is our call from God, how do we deal with our discomfort?

Scripture: Luke 12:32-40

‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions, and give alms.  Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.  Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.  If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

‘But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.  You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’

Background: This week’s sermon title is “Growth Is a Choice: Readiness is the Key.”  In our scripture passage, Jesus calls his disciples (that’s us!) to be ready for him.

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you do to be ready for Jesus?

2. The first question begs a second question: Ready for what?

3. What would “readiness” look like in the church?

Scripture: Luke 8:26-39

Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me’— for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying,‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

Background:  The sermon for Sunday, July 18 is titled “Growth Is a Choice: The Church Has Left the Building.”  I recently read “There isn’t a mission because there is a church; there is a church because there is a mission.”  This story of the Gerasene demoniac takes place, not only outside of the place of worship, but outside of Jewish territory.  The story is a powerful reminder that “church work” is not primarily done in the church, but in the name of the church somewhere else.

1.  Why is it hard for us individually or as a church to “go out into all the world” to share God’s love? (Or is it hard for you?)

2.   At the end of the story, the villagers beg Jesus to leave because they were afraid–what do you think they were afraid of (the story doesn’t say nor is it implied so you will have to simply guess here).

3.   The story ends with the healed man declaring what God had done for him.  What has God done for you that you can share with others?

Scripture:

Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him. “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days.?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hope that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the Scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead of them as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and give it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”

That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of bread.

Discussion Questions:

1.   What does the word “heart” mean to you in modern terms? How do you understand the concept of heart as experienced by Jesus’ two followers who walked with him on the road to Emmaus?

2.   In this story in Luke, Jesus is known to the men in the breaking of bread. Why did that cause these followers to know who he was?

3.   Has there been a time in your life when you have recognized Jesus, or felt his presence or influence?