Lesson 10, pp. 53-57 TRINITY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH IHOP BIBLE STUDY Topic: Matthew 8: 18 9: 8, Teaching Stand point, Changing lives The gospel of Matthew's message is powerful and relevant to our current human situation. Matthew's purpose is to give us a training manual for teaching the Deeply Satisfied Life. This material is developed for the early church, but is applicable for us today. Matthew's teaching role model is Jesus. The "Deeply Satisfied Life" is the experience ("Gut Trip Analysis") of the term Sanctification (which is an Old Christian Code Word understood as "Head Trip Analysis). This is our tenth lesson in this series, and is associated with, Tools For Teaching The Methods For A Happy/Holy Life"." My reflections on the gospel give us the overall title of, "The Training Manual For Teaching The Sanctified Life." With this metaphor established, let us continue. A Partial Summary Chart of the Gospel of Matthew Tools for teaching The Methods For a Happy/Holy Life The Teacher s Handbook Part I: Ethics happiness Teacher s challenge Indicative Ethics or WWJD Watch your focus Watch your priorities The focus Teach -ing standpoint Chang -ing lives Staff: qualifications Task Graduation Address Affirming credentials 5:1-12 5:13-20 5:21-48 6:1-24 6:25-7:29 8:1-18 8:19-22 8:23-9:8 9:9-17 9:18-34 9:35-10:42 11:1-19 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lesson 10 Lesson 10 11 12 13 14 I. Read the assigned reading at one time. II. The Teaching Standpoint Note: On occasion my titling of the groups of pericopes (sections titles in the scriptures) is done too quickly. In preparation for today s study I ve changed the chart title for these few verses in 8: 18 to 22 from the Teaching Style to The Teaching Standpoint. A standpoint is the point-of-view, the position, the stance or the perspective from which Jesus taught. A. 8: 18 through 22 The cost of following Jesus. Essentially, what follows is material inadvertently left in with last week s lesson material! Vs. 8: 18, The inclusion of this little pericope in Matthew s Training Manual reveals much about the standpoint Jesus uses as a teacher. Please review these few verses: The poignant words are, he gave orders to cross to the other side. When 53
these words are used in any of the gospels, they point to the place when the relationship to God is the closest. This place is experienced more than it is rationally understood. Last week we identified this place as being home. In this regard, this side of the lake is on vacation. Consequently, the standpoint Jesus uses is his perspective of representing the other side of the lake, or, from living at home rather than living on vacation. Vs. 8: 19 20, Where does the Son of Man lay his head? From the point of view of the standpoint Jesus lays his head at home! Vs. 8: 21 22. The story of turning away the man who wanted to bury his father before he went to the other side is considered one of Jesus hard sayings. However, in light of Jesus standpoint the answer is easily understood. Burying one s father is living on vacation. III. Changing lives A. Now, in light of Jesus standpoint, read the following scripture assignments and share how your experience of this material illuminates the experience of Changing lives. 1. Vs. 8: 23 27, Jesus Calms the Storm WS: This scripture is a favorite of many preachers as it lends itself to several treatments. In our construct the boat is on vacation where life is experienced as TWLI. This is to say, the story reveals the experience of our natural lives. Is there anyone we know who does not identify with the disciples in the rocking boat that is about ready to sink? There is a distinct possibility we could drown. In this experience we confront our own death. Now, look at Jesus. He is asleep! Why? Because he is at home. Jesus does not fear death because always he is at home. He represents the dynamic of faithfulness (surrender) to living in an eternal relationship to God who is experienced as the Perfect At-One-Ment. Because Jesus is our example, we need not fear death as well. So, the choice is ours. On which side of the lake do we choose to live? What is the significance of Jesus accusation, You of little faith? WS: Understood from Matthew s stand point, this statement convicts the disciples of their spiritual blindness. This is demonstrated in their fear of dying, and represents their spiritual blindness. The old code word Faith always can be translated as surrender. This statement could be transliterated as, Ok, you guys, you ve lost sight of the meaning of surrender to God! What is the significance of Jesus calming the storm? WS: Interestingly, from our point of view, whenever Jesus speaks, he addresses the natural side of things. As noted above, his accusation calls into question our full surrender to God. From my point of view, what is calmed is my relationship to the stormy water rather than the (natural) water actually being 54
calmed. When we have no fear of death, what difference does the storm really make? Once we surrender ourselves to God the Perfect At-One-Ment we already are At-One with the sea and we no longer fear it. This is Good News! 2. Vs. 8: 28 34, The Healing of Two Demon-possessed Men Observe the change in the sides of the lake. On THIS side are tombs and demon possessed people. What is it these people sense in Jesus? Why would the people in this region plead for Jesus to leave? WS: These statements regarding the other side of the lake always intrigue me. Perhaps, it is because they support my own prejudice and perspective. However, when these statements are understood metaphorically, they certainly support the experience of being at home or on vacation. In the Bible, being demon possessed is easily associated with being a victim of a lie. What people sense in Jesus is the antithesis of the lie; in Jesus they experience wholeness or authenticity. This is the experience of being at home. So, if this is true, then why do they fear Jesus? This fear is based on being convicted that they are living demonic lives. That is, these are people who made the choice to surrender themselves to a lie; thereby, they are victims. We see this dynamic frequently. A fairly consistent message of Jesus can be summarized in the statement, You are not really living. You are just existing. From this experience, sometimes it is easier to kill the messenger than it is to accept the challenge of accepting the message. This is particularly true if we have an investment in the lie. The interesting note in this story is the role of the pigs. Obviously, pigs represent living the unclean (on vacation) life. As the demons are exorcised, they take over the bodies of the pigs who dash off a cliff and die. Perhaps, a summary can be, when we live like pigs we'll die a pigs death. The opposite also is true. 3. Vs. 9: 1 8, Jesus Heals a Paralytic Again, this sections starts with a change of venue. Is this on vacation or at home? How can the teachers of the law accuse Jesus of blasphemy? WS: Note that Jesus now is back in his own natural environment that is he is on vacation. A paralytic is brought to him who wants to live at home. Jesus tells him that his sins are forgiven. When it is remembered that sin is separation, then it is easy to understand that as we live on vacation we are separated from, and crippled by, our absence from living at home. To live on vacation is to experience life as a cripple. However, it is the Teachers of the Law who accuse Jesus of blaspheme. This word is experienced as living a lie! The Teachers of The Law are not spiritually awake, but spiritually blind. In light of Jesus standpoint which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven, or 55
Pick up your bed and walk? WS: As Christians, we are people who believe in The Word. That is, The Word is the presence of The Christ, or health, or authenticity that is present in this Word. Jesus reminds us The Word is both a Head Trip and a Gut Trip. He can heal from a Head Trip information, or he can heal with a Gut Trip demonstration. Both of them get the job done. This Word awakens people to living At Home. Why were the people filled with awe? WS: Whenever we are confronted with authenticity we experience a little bit of home. The experience of awe is an indicator that we are at home. From where does Jesus get his authority? WS: Jesus gets his authority from the same place we all get our authority. When we are awake to the significance of living at home, the experience is self-fulfilling. Our authority comes from representing health, wholeness, and authenticity. ABOUT THIS SCRIPTURE: Material from SermonStarter---Matthew 9: 9 13, 18 25, Year A. The healing stories in Matthew represent the transparent task. The transparency can be likened to a photographic slide transparency. This task is illustrated in the following construction. 1) On one side of our transparency is The Way Life Is (TWLI). TWLI is characterized by death, sickness, blindness and the inability to communicate; that is, to be mute. 2) When this material is passed through the transparency of the Good News (or The Christ), then we speak of this stage of passing through Jesus, or the Cross. 3) On the other side of the transparency a transformation occurs in which TWLI is not changed, but we see our human frailty in new light, and we are changed! We are no longer victims to TWLI, but now we are victors. Note that our human situation remains the same while everything is transformed. When this happens, we experience Good News. This is one of The Teacher s tools in Matthew s Teacher s Tool box. There is one caveat in this process. These transparent experiences are not experienced as two different realities. This is experienced as one reality that is like a Reality Soup. The human/natural and the spiritual part are of ONE REALITY in which the human and the spiritual are like tiny particles in this soup. As we observe these particles through our prescription glasses (ground on the stone of our gender, race, culture and education) one lens illuminates the human/natural part of the soup, and the other lens illuminates the spiritual part of this One Reality Soup! We do not live in a parallel universe of two different worlds. We live in ONE WORLD a UNI- VERSE of ONE WORLD with two realities. Consequently, the sermon is about seeing through the sickness of these two women in order to experience the Good News of Jesus Christ that is present here, and allow it to address the sickness in our own lives. The Key to this sermon: In order to make your way through this sermon take time to define in your own mind the following experiences: 1) righteous, 2) sinners, 3) faith and 4) healing. From the point of view of Gut Trip Analysis these words are experienced as 56
a) the awakened, b) those that are asleep, c) surrender, and d) the awakening. ABOUT THIS SCRIPTURE: Material from SermonStarter---Matthew 9: 9 13, 18 25, Year A. The Grabber: What happens when Jesus comes calling? Share a time in your life, or the life of another, when a light goes on. Hint: think of a visit to the Cave of the Winds in Colorado Springs when the guide turns off the light so you experience profound darkness. What does it mean for Jesus to come calling during these times in our lives? 57