Growing Fruitful Disciples

Transcription

1 July 13, 2014 Proper 10 Semicontinuous Gen. 25:19 34 Ps. 119: Complementary Isa. 55:10 13 Ps. 65:(1 8), 9 13 Rom. 8:1 11 Matt. 13:1 9, Growing Fruitful Disciples Goal for the Session Through the parable of the Sower, adults will commit to fruitful discipleship. PREPARING FOR THE SESSION Focus on Matthew 13:1 9, WHAT is important to know? From Exegetical Perspective by J. David Waugh That both the sower and the seed are constant, while the results across the four types of soil change, implies that the purpose of the parable is to assist the disciples, and perhaps Jesus himself, in understanding why the response to the gospel message shared so consistently varies so greatly. The sower and soil are understood as good. That some soils are labeled bad is not because of any choice of their own, nor is the good soil good because of what it does or does not do to make it more productive. The kingdom of heaven is like a bountiful crop produced in spite of what seem to be overwhelming setbacks. WHERE is God in these words? From Theological Perspective by Gary Peluso-Verdend Considering the powerful opposition to the gospel the evil one, hardened hearts, persecution, the anxietydriven lure of wealth it is a miracle that there are disciples and that the empire of the heavens grows. The yields are miraculous because, ultimately, all growth comes from God. Opposition may eliminate three-fourths of the seed, but the remaining seeds yield abundant fruit. Faith that initiates discipleship is a gift. Fruitful yield as the outcome of discipleship is a gift. Faith is a gift from God, and fruitful discipleship is the work of God in us. SO WHAT does this mean for our lives? From Pastoral Perspective by Talitha J. Arnold That is our job, our calling. To sow the seed and to bear the heartache when it falls on rocky, arid, or weedinfested ground. In accepting that calling, we stand in solidarity with the people in our congregations who also know the hard truth of this parable. The parent whose words of guidance and compassion fall on their teenager s deaf ears knows hard-packed ground. The businessperson who produces a quality product and pays employees a living wage, only to see clients go where things are cheaper, is well acquainted with shallow roots. This parable reminds us all that we are not alone in such times, even as it reminded the first crowd who heard it. NOW WHAT is God s word calling us to do? From Homiletical Perspective by Theodore J. Wardlaw Ultimately, though, this parable is not so much about good soil as it is about a good sower. This sower is not so cautious and strategic as to throw the seed in only those places where the chances for growth are best. No, this sower is a high-risk sower, relentless in indiscriminately throwing seed on all soil as if it were all potentially good soil. On the rocks, amid the thorns, on the well-worn path, maybe even in a jail! Which leaves us to wonder if there is any place or circumstance in which God s seed cannot sprout and take root. 1

2 Growing Fruitful Disciples FOCUS SCRIPTURE Matthew 13:1 9; YOU WILL NEED seed packets or starter plants index cards newsprint or board marker Bibles copies of Resource Sheet 2 copies of Resource Sheet 1 copies of Resource Sheet 1 for July 20, 2014 For Responding option 1: newsprint, marker option 2: copies of Resource Sheet 2, poster board, magazines, scissors, glue, index cards, pens option 3: Bibles, seeds or starter plants, paper, pens Focus on Your Teaching Most adults are familiar with what it takes to be productive in the workplace, whether that be an office, an assembly line, or the home. In fact, many are constantly being evaluated at home and work. But though they may want to be more faithful followers of Jesus, steps toward developing a more fruitful discipleship may have eluded them. It stands to reason that a seed needs certain things to release its potential, and the same is true of faith. Adults may welcome an opportunity to consider what those things are. O God, make me receptive to Your Word and open to new possibilities for growth. Amen. LEADING THE SESSION GATHERING Before the session, obtain seed packets or starter plants for vegetables. Alternatively, print the names of vegetables on index cards. On newsprint or a board, print the definition of a parable from the sidebar. Welcome participants as they arrive and offer a special welcome for newcomers. Ask for a show of hands from those who have a garden, or have worked in a community garden. Form small groups or pairs, with someone who has some knowledge of gardening in each group if possible. Give each group a seed packet or starter plant. Ask them to discuss what things are necessary to ensure that this plant will grow and produce food. In the total group, ask participants to name those conditions. Tell participants that in today s session they will encounter a parable Jesus told that draws on his hearers experience with growing things. Pray the following or a prayer of your choosing: Creator God, make us receptive to receiving your Word. Deepen our understanding and guide our responses. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. EXPLORING Call attention to the posted definition of a parable and read it aloud to the group. Remind participants that last session s focus scripture used the metaphor of the yoke, another farming reference most first-century people would have understood. Say that today s focus scripture also draws on that common knowledge of farming. Read aloud Matthew 13:9, then ask a volunteer to read verses 1 8. Invite participants to identify what they think each of the following represent in the parable: the seed, the sower, and the types of soil. Discuss what might be strange or surprising about this parable. 2

3 Growing Fruitful Disciples Jesus parables were among the earliest of his sayings to be collected. Matthew used material from Mark 4 and added more parables from other sources, assembling seven parables in a unified speech in chapter 13. Parables are stories, phrases, or images that place unlikely things beside each other to draw comparisons in one or more ways. They spark insights about a spiritual truth and appear in every oral culture and religion. If no one makes note of it, point out how the sower distributes the seed without preparing the soil first. Ask what is normally done today before planting. What would one expect to happen if a gardener randomly tossed seed on an asphalt driveway, an overgrown lot, or a gravel path? Have another volunteer read verses 18 23, the parable s explanation. Discuss together how these verses define the sower, the seed, and the soils. Distribute Resource Sheet 2 (The Parable of the Four Soils). Ask the group to read it silently. Discuss: P What conditions are named as necessary for fruitful discipleship? P How is understanding defined here? Distribute Resource Sheet 1 (Focus on Matthew 13:1 9, 18 23), and have a volunteer read the Where? excerpt aloud. Invite adults to respond to this statement and question: P Faith that initiates discipleship is a gift. Fruitful yield as an outcome of discipleship is a gift. Faith is a gift from God, and fruitful discipleship is the work of God in us. If this is true, how can one become more receptive to these gifts from God? Invite someone to read aloud the Now What? excerpt. Discuss together: P If God the sower sows the seeds indiscriminately on all soil as if it were potentially good soil, what are the implications for us as disciples? P What does Jesus mean when he says, Let anyone with ears listen!? Remind the group that these parables in Matthew are kingdom parables that is, they are intended to give a glimpse of what the kingdom of God is like. Invite participants to respond to the following to complete the sentence: In the parable of the Sower, Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God is like... To lead into Responding, ask participants to reflect on how they might complete the phrase the kingdom of God is like using an analogy from contemporary experience. EASY PREP RESPONDING Choose one or more of these activities depending on the length of your session: 1. Church Growth/Fruitful Discipleship In this activity participants explore what makes for fruitful discipleship as distinctive from church growth. Ask: P How would you define church growth? Ask the group to name some activities that could enhance growth, but not lead to deeper discipleship. Then have them name activities that might happen in both, such as Bible study and outreach. Ask: P If the focus shifted from church growth to fruitful discipleship, how might the strategies change? Discuss the following: P Which activities does our congregation already do? P What are other activities that might fit our church well? 3

4 Growing Fruitful Disciples Invite the group members to name at least one way they will strengthen already existing activities or one new activity they wish to discuss with the church leadership. Write their suggestions on newsprint. Make plans to present these suggestions to the church s leadership. Urge participants to be sure they include in their presentation some concrete steps they themselves are willing to take. Ask participants to commit to praying in the coming week for discernment about what strategies might grow fruitful disciples. 2. Address Temptations Within In this activity, participants create a montage reflecting temptations that can threaten fruitful discipleship and commit to finding ways to overcome some of these temptations. Refer the group to Resource Sheet 2, and note that the final paragraph mentions that disciples need to be prepared for troubles from within. Form two groups and give them poster board, magazines, scissors, and glue. Ask one group to create a montage reflecting the anxious cares and the other a montage that presents the lure of wealth. Have each group explain its completed montage to the total group. Distribute index cards and pens, and ask adults to select one or two temptations that are a particular challenge to them. Have them print those temptations on one side of a card. On the other side, have them write Attend first to the empire of the heavens. Have them write one or two actions they can take either to overcome the temptations listed or simply steps toward more fruitful discipleship. In the total group, have each person suggest a concrete step or two he or she will take to address this temptation or attempt to be more fruitful in his or her discipleship. Ask them to commit to pray for one another in the coming weeks. 3. A Prayer for Fruitful Discipleship In this activity, participants reflect on the parable to write a prayer of their personal commitment to deepening fruitful discipleship. Ask participants to read the focus scripture silently, then spend a few minutes reflecting on the seeds in the seed packet or the starter plant. Distribute paper and pens and ask them to write a prayer based on the images in the parable. Encourage them to use this prayer in the coming week, committing to finding ways to be more effective disciples whose actions and service can bear fruit. CLOSING If participants did option 2 in Responding, skip to the closing prayer. Ask participants to hold the seeds or plant. Ask each person to tell one thing they might do in their lives to make their discipleship more fruitful. Invite the group to close by praying aloud the Lord s Prayer, using the words Lead us not into temptation rather than Save us from the time of trial, pausing after the words Lead us not into temptation... to allow for silent prayer by each person concerning his or her own inner temptation. 4

5 July 13, 2014 Growing Fruitful Disciples Adult Resource Sheet 1 Focus on Matthew 13:1 9; WHAT is important to know? From Exegetical Perspective by J. David Waugh That both the sower and the seed are constant, while the results across the four types of soil change, implies that the purpose of the parable is to assist the disciples, and perhaps Jesus himself, in understanding why the response to the gospel message shared so consistently varies so greatly. The sower and soil are understood as good. That some soils are labeled bad is not because of any choice of their own, nor is the good soil good because of what it does or does not do to make it more productive. The kingdom of heaven is like a bountiful crop produced in spite of what seem to be overwhelming setbacks. WHERE is God in these words? From Theological Perspective by Gary Peluso-Verdend Considering the powerful opposition to the gospel the evil one, hardened hearts, persecution, the anxiety-driven lure of wealth it is a miracle that there are disciples and that the empire of the heavens grows. The yields are miraculous because, ultimately, all growth comes from God. Opposition may eliminate three-fourths of the seed, but the remaining seeds yield abundant fruit. Faith that initiates discipleship is a gift. Fruitful yield as the outcome of discipleship is a gift. Faith is a gift from God, and fruitful discipleship is the work of God in us. SO WHAT does this mean for our lives? From Pastoral Perspective by Talitha J. Arnold That is our job, our calling. To sow the seed and to bear the heartache when it falls on rocky, arid, or weed-infested ground. In accepting that calling, we stand in solidarity with the people in our congregations who also know the hard truth of this parable. The parent whose words of guidance and compassion fall on their teenager s deaf ears knows hard-packed ground. The businessperson who produces a quality product and pays employees a living wage, only to see clients go where things are cheaper, is well acquainted with shallow roots. This parable reminds us all that we are not alone in such times, even as it reminded the first crowd who heard it. NOW WHAT is God s word calling us to do? From Homiletical Perspective by Theodore J. Wardlaw Ultimately, though, this parable is not so much about good soil as it is about a good sower. This sower is not so cautious and strategic as to throw the seed in only those places where the chances for growth are best. No, this sower is a high-risk sower, relentless in indiscriminately throwing seed on all soil as if it were all potentially good soil. On the rocks, amid the thorns, on the well-worn path, maybe even in a jail! Which leaves us to wonder if there is any place or circumstance in which God s seed cannot sprout and take root Westminster John Knox Press

6 July 13, 2014 Growing Fruitful Disciples Adult Resource Sheet 2 The Parable of the Four Soils Sowing results in some disciples. In Matthew s interpretation of this parable, he once refers to the seed as the good news (v. 19) but otherwise uses seed to speak of germinated disciples who have begun to grow. The parable of the Four Soils hardened, shallow, thorny, and good serves to remind the church of the necessary conditions for fruitful discipleship. In order for disciples to grow, they must understand, attend properly, and persevere. It would be hard to overstate the importance of understanding for Matthew. Without understanding, the word finds no place to implant, and the ever-near evil one, like the hovering bird, snatches away the potential of faith. Understanding opens the ground, but it is important to note that understanding does not mean mere acknowledgment. Rather, understanding is insight tied to urgency to act. Understanding is life-attuning knowledge. Imagine finding yourself on a train track and coming to understand that a locomotive will run you over in ten seconds. That understanding leads to action! In Matthew s story, Jesus the teacher tries to impart to his hearers the fundamental sine qua non of discipleship: understanding that enables discipleship to begin. Through his Gospel, Matthew seeks the same end. Through its ministries, the church is called to do likewise. Understanding, however, is a necessary, but not sufficient element for fruitful discipleship. Also necessary are attentiveness and perseverance. Matthew reminds us repeatedly (including in the lections for this Sunday and for the next two) that disciples must endure the evil one s powerful opposition. One form this opposition takes is persecution. Joy in response to receiving the gospel is wonderful, but trouble or persecution... on account of the word (v. 21) will arise. Disciples need to be prepared not only for persecution (troubles without), but also temptation (troubles within), especially in the form of anxious cares (see Matt. 6:25 32) and the lure of wealth (v. 22). Elsewhere (see Matt. 19:16 22), Matthew provides examples of disciples lured away by attention to their worldly anxieties or their attachment to wealth. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus counter exhortation is to attend first to the empire of the heavens. From Gary Peluso-Verdad, Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 3 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), Westminster John Knox Press