Luke 12:35-48

These questions are connected to the message, “Is this the Jesus you were expecting?” from Sunday May 8, 2022.

Dive In: Read this passage in a few different translations (e.g. The Message, N. T. Wright’s The New Testament for Everyone, Contemporary English Version, Amplified Bible, The Living Bible); does your understanding of the passage change?

Reflect:
1.  Consider your go-to image of Jesus. How does it reflect your theology? How does it reflect your intimacy with Jesus?

2.  Think deeply about hypocrisy in our current context – 21st century GTA. Looking back on your life, can you identify areas/ideas/worldviews that you now recognize were hypocritical or at best, were blind spots? What are some ways you think the church/Christians as a whole can be hypocritical?

3.  In this first story, the ending is so alarming for Jesus’ first audience. The role reversal so unbelievable. We’ve maybe gotten used to the idea if we’ve been soaked in Scripture for any length of time. But pause and consider if you think the church of Jesus has really grasped or embodied this. Explain.

4.  When you consider the metric of faithfulness depicted in the stories in verses 42-46, how does it compare to your experience with metrics of faithfulness in your faith journey?

5.  Describe your hopeful vision of the church.

Act on it: Try writing your own lament – either a lament for your own blind spots or a lament for the church. Include repentance and end with hope. Pray it daily. Note what takes place in your spirit as your write and pray throughout the week.

On lament:
1.  Lament is a form of praise. Full 2/3 of Psalms are psalms of lament yet the book is called “Praises” (Hebrew tehillim). Unlike a complaint, which is an accusation against God, a lament is an appeal to God. One maligns God’s character and one appeals to it.

2.  Lament is proof of relationship. Israel brought their laments to God based on God’s covenant with them, confident that God would hear.

3.  Lament is a pathway to intimacy with God. By laying every emotion and experience before God, the psalmist was reinforcing the bond of intimacy and strengthening the attachment as a child with a parent.

4.  Lament is a prayer for God to act. Lament psalms are not reckless venting but pleas for God to act based on God’s good character. In light of the outpouring of the Spirit, when we pray we are participating in the arrival of the Kingdom.

5.  Lament is participation in the pain of others. Lament is not only for the suffering, but for solidarity with the suffering.
Lament is not our final prayer. It is prayer in the meantime.