27/05/2023
Parable 6
Are you possessed by…your possessions?
Warm up for the discussion:
- If you were face to face with Jesus and could ask him one question, what would you ask him?
Discussion questions:
- Make a list of those things you worry about. How many of these can be linked to possessions? (e.g., like a lack of finances, rising petrol costs, family members that have lost jobs).
- How do these worries take your time, attention, and energy?
- How can one experience the kingdom of God? What do those experiences teach us about the kingdom of God?
- One of the key priorities of the Kingdom of God are the poor. What does “poor” mean and why does the kingdom of God focus on the poor? (Contrast Luke 6:20 with Matthew 5:3).
- The gospel brings dignity to the poor. What does this quote from Jurgen Moltmann below tell us about “dignity”?
“What does the gospel bring to the poor? It does not bring them any welfare activities, nor does it make them as rich as others. It brings them a new dignity. The poor are no longer the suffering objects of oppression and humiliation but rather are subjects with the dignity of the first children of God. Jesus brings the poor the certainty of their indestructible dignity in the eyes of God. And with this consciousness the poor, the enslaved, and the women who have been sold can rise out of the dust and help themselves. They cast away the society’s value system which makes them believe daily, “You are failures, you have not made it, you are good for nothing!” and begin to live with lifted up heads and to walk upright. The appropriation of such a value system of the strong society is always the most difficult obstacle for the self-liberation of the poor because it produces self-contempt. Faith overcomes this self-hate and lifts up the bent ones. “The kingdom of heaven is yours” – This is not an empty consolation so that they remain quiet here, but rather an authorization to stand up and to live as children of the kingdom of God in this violent world. Jesus does not bring the poor onto the way to social ascent so that they also become as rich as the others. He brings them onto the way of community in which the culture of sharing counts, as the “feeding of the 5,000” shows.”
- How does a focus on bringing dignity to the poor help us overcome being possessed by possessions (i.e., worrying about possessions)?
Faith building:
- How will you bring dignity to the poor this week?