Opening Prayer:
Creator of all, we thank you for the opportunity to gather in study. Open our minds and hearts. By the power of the Holy Spirit, unite us in faith, hope, and love. Help us to be faithful to the gospel and to walk humbly with you. Grant us your peace as we grow in wisdom and understanding. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 Why, in your experience, is it feeling unworthy part of the human condition to exclude?
Here is another instance where Jesus explains a parable about agriculture, but only to his disciples. This seems strange. They all lived in a rural area. Even fishermen and tax collectors would have been aware of the realities of farming. They saw it all around them. Why would they have needed an explanation of something so familiar? The key to the interpretation is the second sowing, done by the enemy. Both the parable and the interpretation say that the separation of true from false is God’s business and has to wait until the time of judgment. There were disagreements about judgment on sinners and about church discipline in Matthew’s church, just as in ours. So Matthew may have added the interpretation to make the point even clearer—that we dare not take the place of God in this. We sometimes try to disguise our attitudes by claiming to “hate the sin but love the sinner.” But is this really possible?
Romans 8:12-25 Is God a “father” to you? If not, what image speaks to you?
Paul wrote his letters by dictating them to a secretary, who then wrote out the letter on parchment from his notes and sent it off by messenger to the city where the recipients lived. As he dictated, Paul often digressed and then returned to his main thought. Even without the digression, his sentences were frequently long and complicated. In his complex way, Paul here writes of the presence of God in our lives. The word for father that Jesus taught his disciples to use is a much more intimate word than the formal “father.” Simply to be able to say “Abba” is a recognition that we are God’s children, that we have entered into a new relationship with the Father, and with Jesus Christ, who is also our Father, and brother.
Closing Prayer:
Faithful God,
you care for us with compassion and firmness,
urging us to grow in love for you.
Through Christ,
may we hear more deeply
your call to be rooted in your way. Amen.