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Week of 6-7-26

Introduction

Tax collectors, though religiously on the margins yet were power people of money and coercion. They were often the high and mighty in the halls of power. Jesus had dinner with them. Jairus was a person of religious standing, and Jesus helped him. And then a women who hemorrhaged reached out for help, and Jesus responded. Jesus was seemingly indiscriminate in sowing the seeds of God's love and mercy, often in surprising and even contradictory directions.

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

9As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

 10And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

 18While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Discovery Questions:

1. How important is reputation to you? Were you taught to pay attention to whom you associated with? Were there people you were to stay away from? 

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2. What reputation does Matthew seem to have? Beyond good or bad, what would be some particulars you could imagine? Rich or poor? Polite or a bully? Matthew’s associates?

3. One commentator said it isn’t that Jesus ate with sinners, but that he seemed to have a good time as well. How would that change your sense of the dinner with sinners?

4. Jesus heals physically and spiritually a wide variety of people: sinners, tax collectors, a leader of the synagogue, a child, a woman who had suffered who could only approach from behind. What does the variety of people say about Jesus and the Gospel? Do you sense limits or openness? How so?

5. Capon: What does it take to receive the work of Jesus? Not smarts. Not ability. The Little girl is dead. She has nothing to offer. Jesus came for the dead. That is the promise of life. How do you respond to this? Who wants to confess the truth that they are dead?

6. What does Jesus mean when he says: I have come to call not the righteous but sinners. What does a sinner need that the righteous does not?

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7. If you were to identify with a character in the story, who would it be and why? Sinner, Crowd, Matthew, Leader, dead girl, woman, flute player, other?

8. How is this story a story of Christ ahead of me? Christ through me?

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Week of 5/31/26

First Reading: Genesis 1:1--2:4a

At the beginning of time, God the Creator, God the powerful Word, and God the life-giving Spirit form the earth and all its inhabitants.

1In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Paul appeals to Christian fellowship grounded in the triune harmony of Christ’s grace, God’s love, and the Spirit’s partnership.

[Paul writes:] 11Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

  13The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20

Jesus commissions his disciples to baptize and teach all nations in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Questions

Discover Questions

1. Where do you experience God in nature?

2. What has been a compelling worship service for you?

3. When/where you do have quiet time with God?

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4. We think of the Holy Trinity as only about how we think of God, or imagine God, but here Trinity, God as Father, Son, Spirit has more to do with God’s mission in the world, and how we see or grasp God’s mission in the world. God’s mission begins with creation, and it is an act of God. God’s mission is experienced in the church and its calling to the world, and how that comes form God. Jesus sends us, and Jesus is with us in spirit in mission. What is your reaction to this idea?

5. Trinitarian language informs worship. We begin with the words of Paul from 2 Corinthians. We end with a blessing naming the triune God. The creed is about the Trinity. We baptize in the name of the trinity. Why not just say, “God,” without using Father, Son, Spirit?

6. The trinity points us toward God’s relational nature. Jesus speaks in language of relationship. Paul connects relationships in the church to the trinity. There is something deeply relational in the interaction of Father, Son, Spirit—otherwise you just end up with a thing, an object a lone deity. No one is a lone individual, we only exist as we are in relationship, and the character of our relationship to others. What important relationships have shaped your faith?

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7. Trinity is also about how we experience God, and that our experience or full knowledge of God is revealed in part in creation, but then more so in Jesus, and now in our experience of God’s presence in spirit. Take away Creator or Jesus or Spirit and you have only a partial knowledge of who God is. Of the three, which is most important or meaningful for you?