Introduction & ice breaker
What stories, fables, maxims, folk tales do you remember being told growing up that shaped how you see the world?
Themes to Consider
Purpose of Parables:
The parables in scripture are stories told that preserve kingdom culture.
They shape collective kingdom imagination of the people of God.
They display the heart of God
They show the mission of Christ
Jesus perpetually confronted the hearts of those who were looking for a certain messianic-respectability that Jesus had no interest in.
Jesus perpetually ordered his life in such a way that he was with the sinners and the tax collectors and not the religious.
He prioritizes the messed up, broken sinner and suffering who need help.
We prioritize those who seem like they have it all together.
He spends his energy on seeking those who are in great need destitute
We spend time with people from whom we can gain (status, fun, money, reputation, networks, hookups)
He invites us into heavens joy.
We need to be careful that we don’t find ourselves with a purpose at odds with Jesus’ own.
Our problem is…
when we think we don’t need to repent
When we don’t notice his seeking of us
Discussion Questions
What does this parable teach me about the Kingdom of God? What does this parable teach me about God and how He reigns?
Do you feel like God has not pursued you?
Do I seek out the vulnerable the marginalized those at risk of harm?
Do I care about people on the edges of society who are often neglected?
Do I show them that the way of Jesus is one where they are the VIPs?
Who in your life are people who may be vulnerable in any way that you can reach out to in support or comfort or invitation?
Guided Prayer
Spend some time in expressing gratitude today for God’s seeking of you.
Consider the ways in which he has sought you out… a call from a friend, a beautiful nature scene, a scripture that gripper your attention…
Thank him for these graces.
Supplemental Content
“Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”
—Elizabeth Barret Browning
”Jesus's teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did.” ―Timothy Keller
