Sunday, April 18, 2004

This morning our little group discussed the verses from the lectionary that you see below.  After the readings we asked ourselves and discussed these questions: Psalm 118:14-29, John 20:19-31, Acts 5:12a, 17-22, 25-29, Rev. 1:4-8 Q1. Do you see any “common threads” throughout the lectionary readings this morning? Doors & Gates…….Opening the gates of righteousness (Ps.118:19) Opening of the tomb in the resurrection, Jesus entering through the shut door to His disciples, (Jn 20) Opening of the gates of the prison holding Peter & John.(Acts 5:19)   At the beginning of our gospel reading we are told that the disciples were in hiding with the “doors shut for fear of the Jews”.  We can understand that since Jesus their leader, the Messiah, the one who their hope had been placed, was just executed at the urging of the Jewish leaders, they now feared for their own lives as they wondered what would be the next step for them.    Q2. Other than fearing for their lives, what else might have caused them to be afraid? (embarrassment for following someone who was not who he claimed to be, fearing for what would happen tomorrow, maybe they had been wrong about Jesus, etc.)   Q3. What are some of the “fears” that we face that may cause us to hide behind doors of our own making? (afraid of being rejection, afraid of being hurt, afraid of being revealed as insignificant or worse, “damaged/tainted”, etc.)   Q4. How do we hide? (we don’t speak our mind, we aren’t honest about how we feel, we bury ourselves in “emotion numbing” activities rather than face our fears, we shun connection with others and relationships, etc.)   Q5. In v. 19 of John 20 how does Jesus enter through the door to speak to His disciples?  Do the disciples open the door?  Do you think that is significant?  Why?  Why do you think Jesus didn’t knock on the door and ask them to let Him in?   Q6. How do you think that speaks to Jesus’ presence and work in our lives?  Does He always wait for us to open the door?  Does He always just walk through the door in spite of the fact we have locked it from the inside?  Is He ever absent from us?  Is He tasting of the same “fear” or “issues” that I am experiencing or hiding from?   Q7. Is there anything that we can really hide from?  Is there issue or fear that will just be “zapped” and taken care of without us having to work through it?  IOW’s is there anything that we will be able to hide from?   Q8. Will He let us hide indefinitely?  Is that good news? What does it mean that Jesus is the door (Jn 10:7) Is it possible that any door that we hide behind is actually Jesus, and that once we realize it we see that we need not hide?  Any fear or issue are issues He has already dealt with in our place and is ready to walk us through it   Rev. 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.   Dan 3:07:56 PM

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