DeoHabilis!
Discipleship Questions for
Sunday June 1, 2008
Scripture Readings:
First Reading: Deut 11:18, 26-28,32
Psalm Reading: Psalm 31
Second Reading: Romans 3:21-25,28
Gospel: Matthew 7:21-27
Deut. 11:18
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Deut. 11:26
See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— 27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
Deut. 11:32
be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.
Psa. 31:0
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
Psa. 31:1
In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4 Free me from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.
Psa. 31:6
I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
I trust in the LORD.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not handed me over to the enemy
but have set my feet in a spacious place.
Psa. 31:9
Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and my body with grief.
10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,
and my bones grow weak.
11 Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbors;
I am a dread to my friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.
12 I am forgotten by them as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.
13 For I hear the slander of many;
there is terror on every side;
they conspire against me
and plot to take my life.
Psa. 31:14
But I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands;
deliver me from my enemies
and from those who pursue me.
16 Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.
17 Let me not be put to shame, O LORD,
for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
and lie silent in the grave.
18 Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt
they speak arrogantly against the righteous.
Psa. 31:19
How great is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you,
which you bestow in the sight of men
on those who take refuge in you.
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from the intrigues of men;
in your dwelling you keep them safe
from accusing tongues.
Psa. 31:21
Praise be to the LORD,
for he showed his wonderful love to me
when I was in a besieged city.
22 In my alarm I said,
“I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
when I called to you for help.
Psa. 31:23
Love the LORD, all his saints!
The LORD preserves the faithful,
but the proud he pays back in full.
24 Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the LORD.
Rom. 3:21
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—
Rom. 3:28
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
Matt. 7:21
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Matt. 7:24
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Discipleship Questions:
1. We are “DeoHabilis” – capable of doing what God calls for us to do. In this reflection our Lord is challenging us to build our lives on Him and we will be building upon a firm foundation. Please read all of the Scripture readings for today and discuss the above spiritual reality in light of them.
2. Let us now focus on the Gospel Reading. Please read it now form Eugene Peterson’s “The Message:” Matt. 7:21
“Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance— isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. 22 I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’23 And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’
Matt. 7:24
“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. 25 Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
Matt. 7:26
“But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. 27 When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”
What we hear in these words is a challenge to embrace the values that Jesus sets forth throughout the Sermon – insisting upon forgiveness, non-retaliation, love of enemies, and so forth – is to embrace a very vulnerable way of life as far as the standards of the world are concerned.
In some sense, it would seem that Jesus is asking to build our house on a very shaky foundation indeed, Jesus, in the parable insists that taking His words to heart and living them out in deed, rather than simply crying “Lord, Lord,” is to build on the kind of firm, rocky ground that any sensible architect would choose. Please discuss how basing our lives on the Sermon on the Mount we are in fact building our lives on the Rock!
3. Pray that this would ever be your life long choice. Amen and Amen!