Day 1 (Monday)

Exodus 32:1-35

Last time we read excerpts from the several chapters describing what Moses saw and heard during the 40 days and nights he was up on Mt. Sinai, with instructions for how the people were to worship God, reflecting the worship of God in heaven, and pointing toward many things that we see fulfilled now in the New Covenant. Today we will see what the people of Israel were doing while Moses was on the mountain, and what happened when Moses came down again.

The Golden Calf
32 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” 6 They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

7 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8 they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 10 Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”

11 But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenant in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, written on the front and on the back. 16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets. 17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 18 But he said,

“It is not the sound made by victors,
or the sound made by losers;
it is the sound of revelers that I hear.”

19 As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.

21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” 22 And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are bent on evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off’; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

25 When Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them run wild, to the derision of their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27 He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.’” 28 The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day. 29 Moses said, “Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day.”

30 On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, blot me out of the book that you have written.” 33 But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. 34 But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; see, my angel shall go in front of you. Nevertheless, when the day comes for punishment, I will punish them for their sin.”

35 Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf—the one that Aaron made.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Things to note are that here we see the consequences of the people being scared of God and asking that Moses be the go-between for them and for God. They don’t want to come close to God themselves, so when Moses doesn’t come back, they decide they need a statue, an idol, to interact with God and try to control Him. They would have learned this custom in Egypt; it was the normal way to worship pagan gods. What also must be noted is the strong undertone of God’s intent to make Israel a priestly nation, which we saw in chapter 19 in week 21. The people of Israel had agreed to this covenant, and that agreement had been sealed in blood before Moses went up the mountain. This is why the Levites who offer themselves to serve as God’s instruments of judgment are told that they have ordained themselves; they have remained faithful to God and His purpose, and have brought the consequence of bloodshed upon those who betrayed their covenant with God. Now THEY are a tribe of priests, while the rest of the people have abandoned that calling and betrayed their promise to God.)

2) What do we learn about God in this story? (God is serious when He tells us that we must live differently from those around us if we are to be His people).

3) What do we learn about human beings in this story? (It is difficult to find a clearer example of human failure and sin than this story.)

4) What do you find difficult about this story? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. It is difficult to understand how the children of Israel could sin so horribly after seeing what they have seen. It is also difficult to see what it looks like when people reject God’s mercy again and again. It’s something of a challenge, too, how God changes His mind about destroying the people completely, but this can be seen as an example of the power of intercessory prayer.)

5) Does this story make you think that you need to change anything in your life? (We have a horrible habit as human beings of thinking that we can fool God, or get away with not following His commandments, because He seems far away. This story is a vivid reminder that God is not actually far away at all.)

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom on Our Absence from God

These last few weeks we have been reading excerpts from Metropolitan Anthony Bloom’s “Beginning to Pray.” This time we will see him talk about how we have to be really present ourselves, and how we can’t be truly present if we are not really committed to following God.

There are other ways too in which God is ‘absent.’ As long as we ourselves are real, as long as we are truly ourselves, God can be present and can do something with us. But the moment we try to be what we are not, there is nothing left to say or have; we become a fictitious personality, an unreal presence, and this unreal presence cannot be approached by God.

In order to be able to pray, we must be within the situation which is defined as the kingdom of God. We must recognize that He is God, that He is King, we must surrender to Him. We must at least be concerned with His will, even if we are not yet capable of fulfilling it. But if we are not, if we treat God like the rich young man who could not follow Christ because he was too rich, then how can we meet Him?

So often what we would like to have through prayer, through the deep relationship with God which we long for, is simply another period of happiness; we are not prepared to sell all that we have in order to buy the pearl of great price. Then how should we get this pearl of great price? Is that what we expect to get? Is it not the same as in human relationships: when a man or a woman experiences love for another, other people no longer matter in the same way. To put it in a short formula from the ancient world, ‘When a man has a bride, he is no longer surrounded by men and women, but by people.’

Isn’t that what could, what should happen with regard to all our riches when we turn to God? Surely they should become pale and grey, just a general background against which the only figure that matters would appear in intense relief? We would like just one touch of heavenly blue in the general picture of our life, in which there are so many dark sides. God is prepared to be outside it, He is prepared to take it up completely as a cross, but He is not prepared to be simply part of our life.

So when we think of the absence of God, is it not worth while to ask ourselves whom we blame for it? We always blame God, we always accuse Him, either straight to His face or in front of people, of being absent, of never being there when He is needed, never answering when He is addressed. At times we are more ‘pious’ (very much in inverted commas), and we say piously ‘God is testing my patience, my faith, my humility.’ We find all sorts of ways of turning God’s judgment on us into a new way of praising ourselves. We are so patient that we can put up even with God!

Beginning to Pray – pg. 30-31

Discussion Questions

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out how the relationship with God can’t be approached half-heartedly. )

2) What do we learn about God in this reading? (We learn that He cannot just be “an important part of our life.”)

3) What do we learn about human beings in this reading? (We see that we struggle to recognize that God is Lord and King, and that we must submit to Him completely. We prefer to present Him with a “fictitious personality” that we somehow think He will like better than our genuine selves, because this allows us to keep our “genuine selves” under our own control.).

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. This passage is deeply challenging to anyone who takes it seriously.).

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life? (Urging the necessity of wholesale change is the entire point of this reading).

Day 3 (Friday)

Luke 10:1-24

Last time we saw Jesus talking to the Twelve Disciples after the Transfiguration, and correcting some mistaken ideas they had about how they were better than everyone else. This time, we will see Him expand the program of preaching, and send out not twelve, but seventy others to preach.

The Mission of the Seventy

10 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.

Woes to Unrepentant Cities

13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades.
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

The Return of the Seventy

17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus Rejoices

21 At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

23 Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

Discussion Questions

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out how the instructions Jesus gives the seventy are similar to those He gave the twelve, but there seems to be more detail. Also, we can see Jesus starting to warn those who refuse to listen to Him at this point, indicating that there is a limited period of time in which they will be able to repent. He also warns the disciples not to rejoice or take pride in the authority He has given to them, but only to rejoice that their names are written in heaven.)

2) What do we learn about God in this story? (We learn that even in the New Testament, there is still a reality of judgment, just as we see in the Old Testament. We also see Jesus pray to His Father, with a revelation of the Holy Trinity to His disciples that we haven’t seen so clearly yet in Luke.)

3) What do we learn about human beings in this story? (We see that too many of them reject the preaching of the apostles and of Jesus, and that the apostles continue to be tempted by pride).

4) What do you find difficult about this story? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. Some may be confused why Jesus rejoices that the secrets of the kingdom are hidden to the wise and the powerful, and are being revealed rather to the weak and the foolish. It is worth noting that this is ALWAYS how God works. Reference can be made to 1 Corinthians 1:27, where Paul says “God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise”).

5) Does this story make you think that you need to change anything in your life? (Open question – see what everyone has to say).

Day 1 (Monday)

Exodus 25:10-22, 27:20-21, 29:38-46, 30:22-33, & 31:12-18

Last time we read how God called 70 of the leaders of the people to come up on the mountain to see Him, and then sent them back down again, while Moses stayed on the mountain for 40 days. While he was there, God gave him instructions how the Tabernacle was to be built and used. This goes on for several chapters, but we will read only selections from these chapters, with brief explanations of what has gone before and come after each selection.

These chapters begin with God telling Moses that the Tabernacle will be made from materials offered by the people of Israel from their own possessions, and then continue with some directions on how to make the items that will go in the Tabernacle and how to make the Tabernacle itself.

Exodus 25:10-22 – The Ark of the Covenant
10 They shall make an ark of acacia wood; it shall be two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. 11 You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside you shall overlay it, and you shall make a molding of gold upon it all around. 12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side. 13 You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, by which to carry the ark. 15 The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. 16 You shall put into the ark the covenant that I shall give you.

17 Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width. 18 You shall make two cherubim of gold; you shall make them of hammered work, at the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other; of one piece with the mercy seat you shall make the cherubim at its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings. They shall face one to another; the faces of the cherubim shall be turned toward the mercy seat. 21 You shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark; and in the ark you shall put the covenant that I shall give you. 22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the covenant, I will deliver to you all my commands for the Israelites.

Then God gave instructions on how to build the Tabernacle itself, and continued with how to make the altar, and continued with guidance for what oil should be used in the lamp.

Exodus 27:20-21 — The Lamp Oil

20 You shall further command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, so that a lamp may be set up to burn regularly. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that is before the covenant, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual ordinance to be observed throughout their generations by the Israelites.

Then He gave instructions of how to make the vestments for the priests, and how Aaron and his sons should be ordained as priests, and continued with the instructions for the daily offerings.

Exodus 29:38-46 – The Daily Offerings

38 Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old regularly each day. 39 One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer in the evening; 40 and with the first lamb one-tenth of a measure of choice flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering. 41 And the other lamb you shall offer in the evening, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the Lord. 42 It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43 I will meet with the Israelites there, and it shall be sanctified by my glory; 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate, to serve me as priests. 45 I will dwell among the Israelites, and I will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.

Then He gave further instructions for the incense altar and other items inside the Tabernacle, and then gave instructions for the anointing oil, which was used to consecrate the Tabernacle itself, and to ordain the priests as well.

Exodus 30:22-33 – The Anointing Oil and Incense

22 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23 Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, two hundred fifty, and two hundred fifty of aromatic cane, 24 and five hundred of cassia—measured by the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil; 25 and you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the covenant,[e] 27 and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, 28 and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand; 29 you shall consecrate them, so that they may be most holy; whatever touches them will become holy. 30 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, in order that they may serve me as priests. 31 You shall say to the Israelites, “This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be used in any ordinary anointing of the body, and you shall make no other like it in composition; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an unqualified person shall be cut off from the people.”

And then finally God told Moses which craftsmen from among the people should be in charge of the work of making all these things, and repeated the law about the Sabbath. Then He gave Moses the tablets of the covenant.

Exodus 31:12-18 – The Sabbath Law

12 The Lord said to Moses: 13 You yourself are to speak to the Israelites: “You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. 14 You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people. 15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. 16 Therefore the Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”

The Two Tablets of the Covenant

18 When God finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

Discussion Questions

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader can point out how there are counterparts in the Church to each of the things talked about here. First of all, in the Church we have the Platytera Icon in the Apse, which shows Christ enthroned on the lap of the Virgin Mary with two angels to either side, corresponding to the Ark and the Cherubim and Mercy Seat. As for the oil lamp, we still have that on the Altar Table in the Church. The sacrificial lambs are notable in the Church simply by their absence; in their place we participate each Liturgy in the one sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world. The anointing oil used to consecrate the Tabernacle and the priests continues to be present in the Church in the Chrism which we use in baptism. Finally, the sabbaths see their fulfillment in the Great and Holy Sabbath on which Jesus lay in the tomb, and even now in the weekly celebration of the Lord’s Day on the day after, on Sunday, the day of the Resurrection.)

2) What do we learn about God in this story? (This question and the others can be used if there isn’t sufficient discussion from the first question).

3) What do we learn about human beings in this story?

4) What do you find difficult about this story? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. The amount of animal sacrifice involved here may be troubling to some, and it’s not uncommon to find the amount of detail given in these chapters rather boring. It’s worth remembering that any written or spoken description of a physical reality will tend to be boring, but it’s worth trying to move past that initial reaction to actually imagine what is being described, and to see the points where what is being described connects to the Church as we see and experience it.)

5) Does this story make you think that you need to change anything in your life? (Hopefully we can take God’s call to worship Him with awe and repentance more seriously.)

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom on the Publican & Pharisee

In what we have already read from his book “Beginning to Pray,” Metropolitan Anthony has talked about prayer as beginning with us feeling that God is absent, and how that is natural, and even something for which we should be grateful. But the point is not to remain in that state, but to move forward, so he continues by talking about how we should begin to approach God in prayer.

What we must start with, if we wish to pray, is the certainty that we are sinners in need of salvation, that we are cut off from God and that we cannot live without Him and that all we can offer God is our desperate longing to be made such that God will receive us, receive us in repentance, receive us with mercy and with love. And so from the outset prayer is really our humble ascent towards God, a moment when we turn Godwards, shy of coming near, knowing that if we meet Him too soon, before His grace has had time to help us to be capable of meeting Him, it will be judgment. And all we can do is to turn to Him with all the reverence, all the veneration, the worshipful adoration, the fear of God of which we are capable, with all the attention and earnestness which we may possess, and ask Him to do something with us that will make us capable of meeting Him face to face, not for judgment, nor for condemnation, but for eternal life.

I would like to remind you of the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. The publican comes and stands at the rear of the church. He knows that he stands condemned; he knows that in terms of justice there is no hope for him because he is an outside to the kingdom of God, the kingdom of righteousness or the kingdom of love, because he belongs neither to the realm of righteousness nor to the realm or love. But in the cruel, the violent, the ugly life he leads, he has learnt something of which the righteous Pharisee has no idea.

He has learnt that in a world of competition, in a world of predatory animals, in a world of cruelty and heartlessness, the only hope one can have is an act of mercy, an act of compassion, a completely unexpected act which is rooted neither in duty nor in natural relationships, which will suspend the action of the cruel, violent, heartless work in which we live. All he knows, for instance, from being himself an extortioner, a moneylender, a thief, and so forth, is that there are moments when for no reason, because it is not part of the world’s outlook, he will forgive a debt, because suddenly his heart has become mild and vulnerable; that on another occasion he may not get someone put into prison because a face will have reminded him of something or a voice has gone straight to his heart.

There is no logic in this. It is not part of the world’s outlook nor is it a way in which he normally behaves. It is something that breaks through, which is completely nonsensical, which he cannot resist; and he knows also, probably, how often he himself was saved from final catastrophe by this intrusion of the unexpected and the impossible, mercy, compassion, forgiveness. So he stands at the rear of the church, knowing that all the realm inside the church is a realm of righteousness and divine love to which he does not belong and into which he cannot enter. But he knows from experience also that the impossible does occur and that is why he says “Have mercy, break the laws of righteousness, break the laws of religion, come down in mercy to us who have no right to be either forgiven or allowed in.’ And I think this is where we should start continuously all over again.

Beginning to Pray – pg. 31-33

Discussion Questions

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader can point out how important the idea of mercy is to real prayer. We won’t pray well when we think we deserve mercy; our prayer only becomes real prayer when we realize that we don’t deserve it, but decide to ask for mercy anyway.)

2) What do we learn about God in this story? (This question and the others can be used if there isn’t sufficient discussion from the first question).

3) What do we learn about human beings in this story? (We learn that human beings are not able to meet God without the grace of God to make us capable of meeting Him for salvation, and not for judgment)

4) What do you find difficult about this story? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. The idea that we can’t earn the love of God SHOULD bother all of us, since all of us tend to believe that we CAN earn His love, or at least do better than people around us. The Church’s demand that we not look at other people either to judge them or to encourage ourselves, and simply must stand in honest repentance before God, is one of the hardest things we are asked to do as Christians. But it is necessary for us to actually encounter God.)

5) Does this story make you think that you need to change anything in your life? (Everything about this passage is about what we need to change about how we approach God…as the outsider, the sinner, the unworthy one, and not as the heir, the one who possesses and deserves good things already.)

Day 3 (Friday)

Luke 9:46-62

Last time we saw Jesus transfigured on the mountain, and then He came down and drove a demon out of a young boy, and told His disciples again that He was going to be betrayed and killed. Apparently they don’t get the point He is trying to convey to them, because their next conversations were all about which of them was better than the others, and how all of them together were better than other people outside.

True Greatness

46 An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. 47 But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, 48 and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.”

Another Exorcist

49 John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.”

A Samaritan Village Refuses to Receive Jesus

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53 but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 Then they went on to another village.

Would-Be Followers of Jesus

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Discussion Questions

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out how often Jesus does what His disciples don’t expect here. He tells them that caring for children is important, and that the least among them is the greatest. He doesn’t let them destroy the Samaritans, even though they rejected Him. And His words to the three people who say they want to follow Him are very hard for us to hear, but they certainly remind us that we can’t choose to both follow Christ and still hold on to the things of this world that are important to us.)

2) What do we learn about God in this story? (We learn that He is different from what we expect Him to be.).

3) What do we learn about human beings in this story? (We see that we want to be the greatest, that we like thinking of other people as our enemies, and that we struggle to actually follow Christ when it means leaving other things we love behind).

4) What do you find difficult about this story? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. I think the most difficult piece is the part where he tells the man who wants to bury his father to “let the dead bury their own dead.” The point here, I think, is that we can’t put Christ second to anything, even to good things. We have to seek first the Kingdom of God; and then, very often, the way that we follow Christ will be by loving and serving those who are dear to us. But Christ has to be first.).

5) Does this story make you think that you need to change anything in your life? (It is hard to put Christ first…but it is necessary, for all of us).

Day 1 (Monday)

Exodus 24:1-18

Last time we read some of the basic laws that God had given to Moses. After giving these laws, God called some of the leaders of the people, including Aaron, Moses’ brother, and two of Aaron’s sons, to come up the mountain and to meet with and worship God. Let’s see what happens!

The Blood of the Covenant
24 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship at a distance. 2 Moses alone shall come near the Lord; but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and set up twelve pillars, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed oxen as offerings of well-being to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, “See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

On the Mountain with God
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 God did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; also they beheld God, and they ate and drank.
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.”

15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

Discussion Questions

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader can point out the blood, the fact that the elders of Israel saw God and ate and drank with Him, and the forty days and nights that Moses was on the mountain. In the Church, we make a point that the Eucharist is a “bloodless sacrifice,” but we don’t realize the importance of this unless we comprehend how much blood was involved in ancient worship. That the elders of Israel saw God up on the mountain indicates again that this is the Son of God, the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity, with Whom they are interacting.)

2) What do we learn about God in this story? (We see both the awesomeness of God’s power and His surprising accessibility. We don’t expect to see anyone “seeing God,” but just here we see even the 70 elders up on the mountain, beholding God in a visible manner).

3) What do we learn about human beings in this story? (We see how relatively easy it is to assent and agree to instructions that are given…the question is, how do we do at following those instructions?)

4) What do you find difficult about this story? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. The volume of blood is almost disturbing, and the description of the pavement upon which they encountered God is strange, as is the very idea that they were able to see God.)

5) Does this story make you think that you need to change anything in your life? (I don’t see anything particular in this vein, but others might. The importance of obedience is present, I suppose, but only because they DO obey, or say that they will obey, at every point here.)

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom on Prayer – 2

This is the 2nd of the two important things that Metropolitan Anthony Bloom says about meeting God, and about how it is a deeply serious thing for us to encounter God.

The second very important thing is that a meeting face to face with God is always a moment of judgment for us. We cannot meet God in prayer or in meditation or in contemplation and not be either saved or condemned.

I do not mean this in major terms of eternal damnation or eternal salvation already given and received, but it is always a critical moment, a crisis. ‘Crisis’ comes from the Greek and means ‘judgment.’ To meet God face to face in prayer is a critical moment in our lives, and thanks be to Him that He does not always present Himself to us when we wish to meet Him, because we might not be able to endure such a meeting.

Remember the many passages in Scripture in which we are told how bad it is to find oneself face to face with God, because God is power, God is truth, God is purity. Therefore, the first thought we ought to have when we do not tangibly perceive the divine presence, is a thought of gratitude. God is merciful; He does not come in an untimely way. He gives us a chance to judge ourselves, to understand, and not to come into His presence at a moment when it would mean condemnation.

From Beginning to Pray, pg. 26-27

Discussion questions:

1) What do you notice about this passage? What jumps out at you? (Each person should answer this question, and then the leader can give his/her answer as well. If this results in a discussion, it’s just fine if the other questions are skipped. Chances are what jumps out will involve answers to the other questions anyway.)

2) What does this passage tell us about God? (It reminds us that He is Holy, and that therefore an encounter with Him is a moment of judgment; to comprehend, even in a small way, the holiness of God is to see ourselves truly, how much we fail and fall short of the glory of God)

3) What does this passage tell us about ourselves, about human beings? (It reminds us of the real ramifications of our limited nature. We can conceive of a Being greater than us, and can even begin to imagine a Being infinitely greater than all things…but it is another thing entirely to stand face to face with that Being)

4) Is there anything that bothers, or confuses, or frustrates you about this passage? (This is an open question – it’s important that the leader asks this question and allows it to hang in the air for a little while. If no one else wants to answer, it would be a good opportunity for the leader to share something that he/she had noticed, as a way of encouraging the others to engage in a little bit more self-reflection)

5) Is there any action, any change in way of life, that this passage makes you think is necessary? (The idea that sometimes we should be grateful that God seems to be absent, because we simply aren’t ready to encounter Him, is humbling and challenging; if we can take that seriously, then a great number of changes to our lives become necessary).

Day 3 (Friday)

Luke 9:28-45

Last week we saw Jesus feed 5,000 people; after this, Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Anointed One of God, and Jesus told the Twelve that He would be killed and rise from the dead on the third day. We read this selection in Week 3, after September 14th, if you want to go back and see what happened in more detail. This week, Jesus will take three of His disciples up a mountain to pray, and show them His Divinity.

The Transfiguration
28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” 36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon
37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38 Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. 39 Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. 40 I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41 Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43 And all were astounded at the greatness of God.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death
While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, 44 “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.” 45 But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Discussion Questions
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader can point out that Jesus reveals Himself as God to the three disciples on the mountain in the same chapter as He foretells His death to them. This is not a coincidence – He tells them about it both before the Transfiguration and afterward.)

2) What do we learn about God in this story? (We see clearly that Jesus is indeed God Himself, and that He comes to suffer and to die of His own will, even though He has power and authority over death and demons and all enemies).

3) What do we learn about human beings in this story? (We see again how much we struggle with faithlessness and a lack of understanding of Who Jesus Is, and what He comes to do).

4) What do you find difficult about this story? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. Some may wonder why the disciples couldn’t cast the demons out, or why Peter was talking about “dwellings” on the mountain for Jesus and Moses and Elijah. Regarding the demons, Jesus says in this episode in one of the other Gospels that some demons don’t come out without prayer and fasting; as for the “dwellings,” there was an old tradition of that mountain being the place where God was enthroned in a heavenly tabernacle together, worshiped and surrounded by angels and saints. Peter is recognizing Christ’s divinity, which He has just confessed previously, by suggesting that they should build a tabernacle for Him and for the OT saints. See here for more information.)

5) Does this story make you think that you need to change anything in your life? (It is easy to celebrate the power and glory of the Lord; it is much harder to walk the way of the Cross that Christ calls us to walk in imitation of Him.).

Day 1 (Monday)

Exodus 23:1-26

After God gave the Ten Commandments, and the people asked that Moses hear the rest of the commandments of God and be the go-between for them and for God, Moses went back up the mountain and God gave him various more detailed commandments. He gave instructions about violence and property and restitution, how the people should live both in their own homes and especially in relationship with other people. We aren’t going to read all of this in detail, but in chapter 23 we will see some examples both of what sort of rules God is giving to them, and what sort of promises He is making to them.

Justice for All
23 You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice; 3 nor shall you be partial to the poor in a lawsuit.

4 When you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, you shall bring it back.
5 When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free.

6 You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in their lawsuits. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and those in the right, for I will not acquit the guilty. 8 You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.
9 You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Sabbatical Year and Sabbath
10 For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild animals may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.
12 Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey may have relief, and your homeborn slave and the resident alien may be refreshed. 13 Be attentive to all that I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.

The Annual Festivals
14 Three times in the year you shall hold a festival for me. 15 You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread; as I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt.

No one shall appear before me empty-handed.
16 You shall observe the festival of harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall observe the festival of ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.

17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.
18 You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my festival remain until the morning.
19 The choicest of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.
You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

The Conquest of Canaan Promised
20 I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him.
22 But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

23 When my angel goes in front of you, and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, 24 you shall not bow down to their gods, or worship them, or follow their practices, but you shall utterly demolish them and break their pillars in pieces. 25 You shall worship the Lord your God, and I will bless your bread and your water; and I will take sickness away from among you. 26 No one shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.

Discussion Questions

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader can point out the specific laws of justice, especially the directions on how to treat foreigners living among them, the “resident aliens.” The sabbath year, the directive against boiling a kid in its mother’s milk, the pilgrimage feasts, and the prohibition against worshiping the gods of the Canaanites, are all important. They reflect above all God’s expectation that His people are to be different from those around them.)

2) What do we learn about God in this story? (We learn the importance of justice, and especially of care for the poor and needy. We also see the details of what God means when He says He is a “jealous God”).

3) What do we learn about human beings in this story? (We see that we have a deep and abiding problem with injustice, and that we are the ones that God holds responsible to do something about it, directly, ourselves, in our own lives.).

4) What do you find difficult about this story? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. There are a lot of points here that could stand to be explain. I’ll discuss a few of them in the Youtube video for this week. Urge the kids, however, to think through some of the strange requirements and try to figure out why God says what He says.)

5) Does this story make you think that you need to change anything in your life? (The points about our responsibilities to act justly and care for the poor, and to be attentive to the worship of God, and to worship any god but the Lord our God are all challenges that we should take seriously.)

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom On Prayer and the Absence of God – 1

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom was a bishop of a community of Russian Orthodox exiles in Western Europe in the late 20th century. He speaks clearly and beautifully about the realities of the Christian life. The following excerpt is from his book “Beginning to Pray.” He is talking about why it is that sometimes, indeed often, we feel that God is absent when we pray.

First of all, it is very important to remember that prayer is an encounter and a relationship, a relationship which is deep, and this relationship cannot be forced either on us or on God. The fact that God can make Himself present or can leave us with the sense of His absence is part of this live and real relationship.

If we could mechanically draw Him into an encounter, force Him to meet us, simply because we have chosen this moment to meet Him, there would be no relationship and no encounter. We can do that with an image, with the imagination, or with the various idols we can put in front of us instead of God; we can do nothing of the sort with the living God, any more than we can do it with a living person.

A relationship must begin and develop in mutual freedom. If you look at the relationship in terms of mutual relationship, you will see that God could complain about us a great deal more than we about Him. We complain that He does not make Himself present to us for the few minutes we reserve for Him, but what about the twenty-three and a half hours during which God may be knocking at our door and we answer ‘I am busy, I am sorry’ or when we do not answer at all because we do not even hear the knock at the door of our heart, of our minds, of our conscience, of our life.

So there is a situation in which we have no right to complain of the absence of God, because we are a great deal more absent than He ever is.

Discussion questions:

1) What do you notice about this passage? What jumps out at you? (Each person should answer this question, and then the leader can give his/her answer as well. If this results in a discussion, it’s just fine if the other questions are skipped. Chances are what jumps out will involve answers to the other questions anyway.)

2) What does this passage tell us about God? (Among other things, that He is a real person, and that the laws of our relationship with Him are not so different from those that govern every other relationship in our lives. If we want someone else to be present with us, we have to be present with them.)

3) What does this passage tell us about ourselves, about human beings? (It reminds us that we tend to be very bad at being present in our relationship with God.)

4) Is there anything that bothers, or confuses, or frustrates you about this passage? (This is an open question – it’s important that the leader asks this question and allows it to hang in the air for a little while. If no one else wants to answer, it would be a good opportunity for the leader to share something that he/she had noticed, as a way of encouraging the others to engage in a little bit more self-reflection)

5) Is there any action, any change in way of life, that this passage makes you think is necessary? (Hopefully, everyone will see the importance of changing whatever needs to change in our lives to be more present with God, perhaps in prayer, or church, or service to others, or all of these together).

Day 3 (Friday)

Luke 9:1-17

We talked last week about how Jesus healed the woman with the flow of blood and raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead. In this chapter, we will see Him send the twelve disciples out to preach and heal and cast out demons. Let’s see what happens next!

Sending Out the Twelve

9 Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 3 He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. 5 Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

Herod’s Perplexity

7 Now Herod the ruler heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, 8 by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen. 9 Herod said, “John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he tried to see him.

Feeding the Five Thousand

10 On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. 11 When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured.

12 The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.” 13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 They did so and made them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Discussion Questions

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader can point out that when Jesus sends the twelve out, it is effectively their ordination. They were just His followers before, but now they are acting as ministers of His love and His power, and when they return, they are called Apostles, not just disciples. Herod’s confusion of Jesus with John the Baptist, or the feeding of the 5,000, are also worth highlighting. The leader can pick which aspect they want to focus on, of course, if the group doesn’t take the conversation in a different direction.)

2) What do we learn about God in this story? (We see that He chooses to act through human beings, through His Apostles, and that that even applies in the feeding of the 5,000; Jesus multiplies the food, but He begins with what the Apostles have to offer, with the 5 loaves and 2 fish).

3) What do we learn about human beings in this story? (We see the problems that we have that Jesus comes to heal, for one thing: sickness, hunger, demon possession. And we see their potential; human beings are created to be like Jesus, and we see the Apostles beginning to grow and be transformed by the Lord in this passage.).

4) What do you find difficult about this story? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (The shaking of the dust as a testimony against towns that reject the Apostles is a potentially challenging aspect. The reality that even receiving the Good News of the Gospel is an occasion for judgment, if we fail to receive it, is challenging, but profoundly important, since this is generally how God’s judgment operates. He doesn’t come and condemn us for our sins; first, He comes and calls us to repentance, offers us a better way. But if we reject that call and that offer, then He accepts our decision, and we are left outside the Kingdom.)

5) Does this story make you think that you need to change anything in your life? (This passage reminds us that we are also called to be the vessels and ministers of the love of Jesus Christ; and also that, as we hear the Word of God, it is important that we respond with a good will and a willing heart.)