SUNDAY’S COMING: BIBLE STUDY –
Bible Study for Palm Sunday (04/14/19)
Hebrew Scripture Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a
The Lord God has given me
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens--
wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious,
I did not turn backward.
I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
**************************************************************
Points to Ponder:
Palm Sunday is the transition point between Lent and Holy Week, making it a particularly fitting time to reflect upon one’s relationship with God. The prophet Isaiah beseeched the people of God again and again to attend to their relationship with God, yet throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites struggled. They struggled because they were constantly drawn away from prioritizing God in their lives in favor of material wealth or power. The lure of worldly distractions chipped away at their relationship with God until disaster befell them, after which they would return to God once again. The prophet served as a reminder in people’s lives to prioritize God even when the world is trying to take priority instead.
Hopefully Lent has been a time of growing deeper into your relationship with God. Lenten disciplines, done well, can help one prioritize God in one’s life and bring to focus the things that are truly important. The next challenge is to be able to step back into the world post-Lent and face all the distractions in the world that threaten to take priority over your relationship with God once again. Just as Isaiah warned the Israelites, be aware of where your hard work of prioritizing God in your life is being threatened.
**************************************************************
The Take Away: What does this mean for my life? Some questions –
1. Did you find yourself reprioritizing values during Lent?
2. What in your life threatens to undo those priorities?
3. What changes can you make to keep your relationship with God a priority?
**************************************************************
Psalm: 31:9-16
9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; *
my eye is consumed with sorrow,
and also my throat and my belly.
10 For my life is wasted with grief,
and my years with sighing; *
my strength fails me because of affliction,
and my bones are consumed.
11 I have become a reproach to all my enemies and even to my neighbors,
a dismay to those of my acquaintance; *
when they see me in the street they avoid me.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; *
I am as useless as a broken pot.
13 For I have heard the whispering of the crowd;
fear is all around; * they put their heads together against me;
they plot to take my life.
14 But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord. *
I have said, "You are my God.
15 My times are in your hand; *
rescue me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine upon your servant, *
and in your loving-kindness save me."
**************************************************************
Points to Ponder:
Shame is one of the most powerful forces that can control a person’s life. Few things motivate a person’s behavior like the fear of or experience of shame. The ancient Israelites were deeply immersed in a culture based on honor and shame, and the psalmist vividly expresses what it feels like to be lost in shame: “a horror to my neighbors,” “dread to my acquaintances,” “passed out of mind like one who is dead,” etc.
Shame can be terribly isolating and dehumanizing, yet the psalmist has a glimmer of hope in God’s promise of unending love. Even in the midst of shame, God knows who we are and has promised to love us.
During Lent, many people end up reflecting on mistakes they have made of which they are ashamed. Likewise, Holy Week causes some people to experience great shame surrounding the idea of Christ needing to die for one’s sins. There are no words that can magically make shame disappear, but this is an important place to start: God’s love is steadfast. Christ did not die so that people would feel guilty, but instead, as a sign that nothing we can do will ever stop God from loving us. All of us feel shame sometimes, but God is never ashamed of us.
**************************************************************
The Take Away: What does this mean for my life? Some questions –
1. When have you felt like shame was controlling you?
2. Do you know someone who feels alone because of shame?
3. How can you help them see that they are loved?
**************************************************************
After studying the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
******************************************************************************
BROTHER GIVE US A WORD - Wisdom
We tap God’s gift of wisdom by looking backward, remembering, which will give a whole new perspective on life. Life then is no longer just stray threads but rather a tapestry that wants to be woven together into the most amazing shapes and colors and forms.
-Br. Curtis Almquist
The Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE)
******************************************************************************
Bible Study for Palm Sunday (04/14/19)
Hebrew Scripture Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a
The Lord God has given me
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens--
wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious,
I did not turn backward.
I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
**************************************************************
Points to Ponder:
Palm Sunday is the transition point between Lent and Holy Week, making it a particularly fitting time to reflect upon one’s relationship with God. The prophet Isaiah beseeched the people of God again and again to attend to their relationship with God, yet throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites struggled. They struggled because they were constantly drawn away from prioritizing God in their lives in favor of material wealth or power. The lure of worldly distractions chipped away at their relationship with God until disaster befell them, after which they would return to God once again. The prophet served as a reminder in people’s lives to prioritize God even when the world is trying to take priority instead.
Hopefully Lent has been a time of growing deeper into your relationship with God. Lenten disciplines, done well, can help one prioritize God in one’s life and bring to focus the things that are truly important. The next challenge is to be able to step back into the world post-Lent and face all the distractions in the world that threaten to take priority over your relationship with God once again. Just as Isaiah warned the Israelites, be aware of where your hard work of prioritizing God in your life is being threatened.
**************************************************************
The Take Away: What does this mean for my life? Some questions –
1. Did you find yourself reprioritizing values during Lent?
2. What in your life threatens to undo those priorities?
3. What changes can you make to keep your relationship with God a priority?
**************************************************************
Psalm: 31:9-16
9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; *
my eye is consumed with sorrow,
and also my throat and my belly.
10 For my life is wasted with grief,
and my years with sighing; *
my strength fails me because of affliction,
and my bones are consumed.
11 I have become a reproach to all my enemies and even to my neighbors,
a dismay to those of my acquaintance; *
when they see me in the street they avoid me.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; *
I am as useless as a broken pot.
13 For I have heard the whispering of the crowd;
fear is all around; * they put their heads together against me;
they plot to take my life.
14 But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord. *
I have said, "You are my God.
15 My times are in your hand; *
rescue me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine upon your servant, *
and in your loving-kindness save me."
**************************************************************
Points to Ponder:
Shame is one of the most powerful forces that can control a person’s life. Few things motivate a person’s behavior like the fear of or experience of shame. The ancient Israelites were deeply immersed in a culture based on honor and shame, and the psalmist vividly expresses what it feels like to be lost in shame: “a horror to my neighbors,” “dread to my acquaintances,” “passed out of mind like one who is dead,” etc.
Shame can be terribly isolating and dehumanizing, yet the psalmist has a glimmer of hope in God’s promise of unending love. Even in the midst of shame, God knows who we are and has promised to love us.
During Lent, many people end up reflecting on mistakes they have made of which they are ashamed. Likewise, Holy Week causes some people to experience great shame surrounding the idea of Christ needing to die for one’s sins. There are no words that can magically make shame disappear, but this is an important place to start: God’s love is steadfast. Christ did not die so that people would feel guilty, but instead, as a sign that nothing we can do will ever stop God from loving us. All of us feel shame sometimes, but God is never ashamed of us.
**************************************************************
The Take Away: What does this mean for my life? Some questions –
1. When have you felt like shame was controlling you?
2. Do you know someone who feels alone because of shame?
3. How can you help them see that they are loved?
**************************************************************
After studying the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
******************************************************************************
BROTHER GIVE US A WORD - Wisdom
We tap God’s gift of wisdom by looking backward, remembering, which will give a whole new perspective on life. Life then is no longer just stray threads but rather a tapestry that wants to be woven together into the most amazing shapes and colors and forms.
-Br. Curtis Almquist
The Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE)
******************************************************************************