The Great Divorce Small Group #4 Ikey & the Hard Bitten Man LEADER S GUIDE Ver 1.2

Transcription

1 The Great Divorce Small Group #4 Ikey & the Hard Bitten Man LEADER S GUIDE Ver 1.2 Covers: The Great Divorce Chapter 6 & 7 Main Scripture: Isaiah 61:10 Main Idea: Sometimes what seems like common sense actually leads you to the wrong conclusions. Two examples are the person who naively believes life is only about working hard and getting ahead financially, and the person who is so cynical they wont believe anything or anyone at all and so miss out on the very best things of life. There is a difference between creating wealth and reducing everything in life to dollars and possessions. and greed. There is a huge difference between skepticism and cynicism. Ikey and the Hard-bitten Man represent the eternal optimist and the eternal pessimist. They both think they have common sense. Both of these approaches become completely unaware of the presence of God. Participants that were not able to hear the sermon can hear a fairly close rendition of it at How to use this Guide: This study includes a section for each of five basic steps THE OPENER starts where your people are, THE BOOK gets them into The Great Divorce, THE CHALLENGE gets them to share honest things about their own lives, THE SCRIPTURE helps them dig into a scripture that can help them with this issue, THE TAKEAWAY allows them to create a plan as they go back into their world. THE PRAYER creates space for prayer partners or small groups to pray for each other by name as an end to the group. During THE BOOK section, we encourage you to have two people read (or act out) the script found at the end of this guide to the rest of the members. THE OPENER: For you, what has been the best or the strangest aspect of The Great Divorce so far? THE BOOK: SAY: In most chapters of The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis has pairs of people who knew each other on earth, meet on the front lawn of Heaven. One has come up from Hell and the other has come down from High Heaven. The people from heaven seem solid while the people from heaven seem unsubstantial. Today however, we meet two loners people who had no one coming for them. Once again we get the gift of being read to, so X and Y are going to read excerpts from chapter 5 to refresh our memories! As they do, try to imagine the scene and what the people are like. [Two readers read Condensed Script #4] ASK: 1. Why does Lewis spend so much time describing the natural scene in such detail? 2. Do you feel any sympathy for Ikey as he struggles to get apples? Does his need to continue to lower his goals/expectations remind you of any situations in your own life? 3. Why do you think he is constantly hiding and afraid of being caught? 1 P a g e

2 4. Why do you think Lewis has the narrator be first drawn to and then depressed by the Hardbitten man? 5. Although he appears strong and capable at first, what about the last things he says implies the Hardbitten man may actually be neither? 6. What might be inferred about the fact there was no one to greet these two men? THE CHALLENGE: ASK: Looking back, were you brought up with either of these ideas or something similar: The secret to life is to work hard and get ahead The secret to life is to not let any one get over on you, take advantage of you. Nothing is true, there is always an angle. In the sermon, Pastor Langdon argued: If you think everything is a scam,you will be closed off from the truth when it does come, and so never see the Kingdom of God. The cynic is the ultimate pessimist who lives in a small world. If you busy yourself with grabbing what you can get, you will always be looking down instead of up and so you will never see the Kingdom of God. The hardworking materialist is the ultimate optimist and so lives in a small world. In your own life do you lean more towards being an optimist or a pessimist? Why do you think that is? Pastor Palmer postulated that not only is the extreme optimist naïve, the extreme cynic is naïve as well. In what ways could both stances be viewed as naïve towards some aspect of life? THE SCRIPTURE SAY: Neither the pessimist nor the materialist optimist, neither those who reduce life to power and politics or those who reduce life to material gain and wishful thinking are able to perceive the enchanted world we actually live in. Isaiah 6:10 can show what it looks like to live a life fully aware of the goodness of God and our relationship with him. {Have someone read Isaiah 6:10} Isaiah 6:10 NIV Isaiah 61:10 I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. ASK: What strikes you about this scripture? ASK: If my primary delight and joy were in God and who God is, how would that effect the way I see the effects of both treacherous politics against me, and the benefits that come to me from accumulating worldly success? 2 P a g e

3 ASK: What would Ikey think of the jewels so valued by Isaiah in the scripture? ASK: What would the Hard-bitten man think of Isaiah s understanding of God s character? ASK: If you are honest, what is your gut reaction to the image of yourself arrayed in a robe of righteousness, adorned with jewels, treated like royalty? SAY: Listen to what Galatians 3:26-27 says: 26 You are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ASK: On what grounds than is it appropriate for a person to believe they are arrayed in a robe of righteousness despite their unintentional mistakes and intentional sins? THE TAKE AWAY ASK: All of us lean towards either pessimism or optimism. The pessimist can lean toward passivity and be despising of dreams while the optimist can lean towards self-sufficiency and wishful thinking. Given your personal inclination, what would it it look like to lean on Jesus instead? How would your self-talk need to change? THE PRAYER Take time praying for each other both recounting things that have been shared, and asking God to protect them from either despair or self-sufficiency. Ask God s Holy Spirt to reveal to your prayer partner how precious they are in his sight END EXTRA STUFF - IF YOU NEED IT 1. In Chapter 6, what scenes most struck you? What about them did you find so moving or interesting? How do you think an angel-waterfall could speak to the idea of a person s calling in life? 2. Review the scriptures below looking for ways they speak to Ikey (the business man), the hard-bitten man, or your own life. Be prepared to share with your group which verse most struck you and why. Scripture #1 1 Timothy 6: If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, 3 P a g e

4 faith, love, endurance and gentleness. SCRIPTURE #2 Ecclesiastes 1:2 2:23 2 "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." 3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun 10 Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 15 What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted. 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. 18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." (Ecclesiastes 2:1-23 NIV) "I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. 14 The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. 15 Then I thought in my heart, "The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?" I said in my heart, "This too is meaningless." 16 For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die! 17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless." SCRIPTURE #3 John 1:45-46 "Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." 46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip." SCRIPTURE #4 Matthew 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. SCRIPTURE #5 Matthew 5:8 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. SCRIPTURE #6 1st Corinthians 1: Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. SCRIPTURE #7 Psalms 51:17 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. SCRIPTURE #8 2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 4 P a g e

5 The Great Divorce Scripts GATHERING #4 - Chapter 6 - Ikey and the Hardbitten Man CONDENSED READING for two readers The main reader reads all the non-bold words, the second reader reads the words in bold which are also indented. {bracketed} words signify an action or attitude and should not be read. Near a huge waterfall there grew a tree. Wet with the spray flashing with the bright, innumerable birds that flew among its branches, it rose in many shapes of billowy foliage, like a huge cloud rising from the plains. From every point apples of gold gleamed through the leaves. Suddenly my attention was diverted by a curious appearance in the foreground. A hawthorn bush not twenty yards away seemed to be behaving oddly. [Ikey wave the tree] Then I saw that it was not the bush but something standing close to the bush and on this side of it. Finally I realized that it was one of the Ghosts. It was crouching as if to conceal itself from something beyond the bush, and it was looking back at me and making signals. It kept on signing to me to duck down. As I could not see what the danger was, I stood fast. Presently the Ghost after peering around in every direction, ventured beyond the hawthorn bush. It could not get on very fast because of the torturing grasses beneath its feet, but it was obviously going as fast as it possibly could, straight for another tree. There it stopped again, standing straight uptight against the trunk as though it were taking cover. Because the shadow of the branches now covered it, I could see it better: it was my bowler-hatted companion, the one whom the Big Ghost had called Ikey... All the time it was apparently haunted by the terror of discovery. At every whisper of the wind it stopped and cowered: once, at the cry of a bird, it struggled back to its last place of cover: but then desire hounded it out again and it crawled once more to the Tree. I saw it clasp its hands and writhe in the agony of its frustration. The wind seemed to be rising. I saw the Ghost wring its hand and put its thumb into its mouth cruelly pinched, I doubt not, between two stems of the lilies when the breeze swayed them. Then came a real gust. The branches of the Tree began to toss. A moment later and half a dozen apples had fallen round the Ghost and on it. He gave a sharp cry, but suddenly checked it. I thought the weight of the golden fruit where it had fallen on him would have disabled him: and certainly, for a few minutes, he was unable to rise. He lay whimpering, nursing his wounds. But soon he was at work again. I could see him feverishly trying to fill his pockets with the apples. Of course it was useless. One could see how his ambitions were gradually forced down. He gave up the idea of a pocketful: two would have to do. He gave up the idea of two; he would take one, the largest one. He gave up that hope. He was now looking, for the smallest one. He was trying to find if there was one small enough to carry. The amazing thing was that he succeeded. When I remembered what the leaf had felt like when I tried to lift it, I could hardly help admiring this unhappy 5 P a g e

6 creature when I saw him rise staggering to his feet actually holding the smallest of the apples in his hands. He was lame from his hurts, and the weight bent him double. Yet even so, inch by inch, still availing himself of every scrap of cover, he set out on his via dolorosa to the bus, carrying his torture. Fool. Put it down, <said a great voice suddenly>. It was quite unlike any other voice I had heard so far. It was a thunderous yet liquid voice. With an appalling certainly I knew that the waterfall itself was speaking: and I saw now (though it did not cease to look like a waterfall) that it was also a bright angel who stood, like one crucified, against the rocks and poured himself perpetually down towards the forest with loud joy. Fool, put it down. You cannot take it back. There is not room for it in Hell. Stay here and learn to eat such apples. The very leaves and the blades of grass in the wood will delight to teach you. Whether the Ghost heard or not, I don t know. At any rate, after pausing for a few minutes, it braced itself anew for its agonies and continued with even greater caution till I lost sight of it Thinking of going back? I turned and saw a tall ghost standing with its back against a tree, chewing a ghostly cheroot. It was that of a lean hard-bitten man with grey hair and a gruff, but not uneducated voice: the kind of man I have always instinctively felt to be reliable. I don t know Are you? Yes I guess I ve seen about all there is to see. You don t think of staying? That s all propaganda Of course there never was any question of our staying. You can t eat the fruit and you can t drink the water and it takes you all your time to walk on the grass. A human being couldn t live here. All that idea of staying is only an advertisement stunt. Then why did you come? Oh, I don t know. Just to have a look round. I m the sort of chap who likes to see things for himself. Wherever I ve been I ve always had a look at 6 P a g e

7 anything that was being cracked up. When I was out East, I went to see Peking. When... What was Peking like? Nothing to it. Just one darn wall inside another. Just a trap for tourists. I ve been pretty well everywhere. Niagara Falls, the Pyramids, Salt Lake City, the Taj Mahal What was it like? Not worth looking at. They re all advertisement stunts. All run by the same people. There s a combine, you know, a World Combine, that just takes an Atlas and decides where they ll have a Sight. Doesn t matter what they choose: anything ll do as long as the publicity s properly managed. And you ve lived er down there in the Town for some time? In what they call Hell? Yes. It s a flop too. They lead you to expect red fire and devils and all sorts of interesting people sizzling on grids Henry VIII and all that but when you get there it s just like any other town. I prefer it up here, Well, I don t see what all the talk is about It s as good as any other park to look at, and darned uncomfortable. There seems to be some idea that if one stays here one would get well, solider grow acclimatized. I know all about that Same old lie. People have been telling me that sort of thing all my life. They told me in the nursery that if I were good I d be happy. And they told me at school that Latin would get easier as I went on. After I d been married a month some fool was telling me that there were always difficulties at first, but with Tact and Patience I d soon settle down and like it! And all through two wars what didn t they say about the good time coming if only I d be a brave boy and go on being shot at? Of course they ll play the old game here if anyone s fool enough to listen. But who are They? Isn t it possible that this might be run by someone different? Entirely new management, eh? Don t you believe it! It s never under new management. You ll always find the same old Ring. I know all about dear, kind Mommy coming up to your bedroom and getting all she wants to know 7 P a g e

8 out of you: but you always found she and Father were the same firm really. Didn t we find that both sides in all the wars were run by the same Armament Firms? Or the same Firm, which is behind the Jews and the Vatican and the Dictators and the Democracies and all the rest of it. All this stuff up here is run by the same people as the Town. They re just laughing at us. I thought they were at war? Of course you did. That s the official version. But who s ever seen any signs of it? Oh, I know that s how they talk. But if there s a real war why don t they do anything? Don t you see that if the official version were true these chaps up here would attack and sweep the Town out of existence? They ve got the strength. If they wanted to rescue us they could do it. But obviously the last thing they want is to end their so-called war. The whole game depends on keeping it going. This account of the matter struck me as uncomfortably plausible. I said nothing. Or there? Anyway What the hell would there be to do here? Quite They ve got you either way. What would you like to do if you had your choice? There you go! <Said the Ghost with a certain triumph> Asking me to make a plan. It s up to the Management to find something that doesn t bore us, isn t it? It s their job. Why should we do it for them? That s just where all the parsons and moralists have got the thing upside down. They keep on asking us to alter ourselves. But if the people who run the show are so clever and so powerful, why don t they find something to suit their public? All this poppycock about growing harder so that the grass doesn t hurt our feet, now! There s an example. What would you say if you went to a hotel where the eggs were all bad and when you complained to the Boss, instead of apologizing and changing his dairyman, he just told you that if you tried you d get to like bad eggs in time? <short silence> Well, I ll be getting along You coming my way? There doesn t seem to be much point in going anywhere on your showing, < A great depression had come over me. > And at least it s not raining here. 8 P a g e

9 Not at the moment. But I never saw one of those bright mornings that didn t turn to rain later on. And, by gum, when it does rain here! Ah, you hadn t thought of that? It hadn t occurred to you that with the sort of water they have here every raindrop will make a hole in you, like a machine-gun bullet. That s their little joke, you see. First of all tantalize you with ground you can t walk on and water you can t drink and then drill you full of holes. But they won t catch me that way. No sir nobody s going to pull one over on me 9 P a g e