Bad Servants

Sunday, November 4, 2024

Scriptures: Luke 12:35-48

• Sermon Summary

  In this sermon on bad servants, Bobbi explores Jesus’ call to watchfulness and readiness for encountering God in unexpected ways. Through parables, Jesus disrupts traditional roles and expectations, inviting us, his followers to live with open eyes and hearts. Jesus’ teachings on judgment emphasize compassion over retribution, showing that God’s approach is rooted in love. In the second section, “Who is this message for?”, Bobbi suggests that Jesus' call is universal, challenging everyone to align with God’s kingdom values. The final section on “Lucidity” encourages us to recognize God’s presence in both surprising and everyday moments. Through the parables of judgement and this story in particular, we are invited to live alert to God’s constant and grace-filled arrival in our lives.

• Discussion Guide

  Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.

  Connect: Take a few minutes to catch up and talk about your experience of Halloween, either last week or in general.
  Would you agree with Bobbi that “on Halloween night we teach children that the world is also a trusting and generous place”?

  Share: Bobbi started to unpack Luke 12:35-48 with the theme of “watchfulness.” By speaking about slaves and master, and then master and thief, Jesus emphasizes the importance of being watchful and ready for holy encounters.

  How does this story about master and slaves and master and thief challenge or deepen your understanding of being spiritually watchful?

  What does being watchful look like for you?

  How do you cultivate this spirit of watchfulness or readiness in your life?

  Reflect: One thought you can reflect on from the message is this idea of Jesus' "Neverending Return.” Bobbi described Jesus' return not just as a future event but as a continuous process in our lives.
  

  How do you feel about the idea of Jesus’ return as a continuous, mysterious presence versus a single future event?

  Here’s a quote from the sermon:

  “I wonder, though, if Jesus’ return is more mysterious and continuous than that.

  I’m not alone in this curiosity. Meister Eckhart back in the 13th century said we should be constantly vigilant, watching out for Christ’s coming from wherever he might come, for Christ may be present in any circumstance.

  …

  Let’s call it lucidity.

  Being ready to notice the clarity of a moment in between so many of life’s confusing ones.

  Watching for Jesus’ arrival is mysterious and continuous. Christ might be in the one who recognizes your voice.
  He might take shape in the freedom story you choose to share. He might feel close to you in rest or play
  Work or creativity
  Hope or despair.

  So watch – watch for the times when you are down
  And then, seemingly out of nowhere, something good finds you.

  Watch when you are feeling lost
  But know that you can make a turn and then the next, and you might end up somewhere better than you ever planned to go.

  Watch – watch the fog of your thoughts lift with new clarity
  And let yourself be reminded that in an ever-expanding universe You are not alone.

  That’s watchfulness. That’s Jesus’ neverending return.

  Until he comes in blazing glory Or in life’s quiet grace.”

  Where in your life have you noticed a “return” or presence of Jesus in an unexpected moment?

  Engage: You are welcome to dig into the story (more like interconnected stories) in a couple of ways. Engage with the quote and the idea of learning from broken or flawed systems, and/or talk about judgement and compassion.

  Here’s the quote about God and the flawed systems:

  “This parable isn’t Golgotha. We aren’t at the cross yet, where Jesus refuses our horror. In Luke 12, we are in the messy middle where Jesus speaks through violent systems without legitimizing them.

  Can you learn from patriarchy?
  Can you learn from monarchy?
  Can you learn from oligarchy and democracy? What about supremacy?

  When we look at a system, take it apart, or trace its effects in our lives and relationships – yes, we can learn from it. That doesn’t mean that God blesses it.

  Let me be clear: you are free and you are favoured, and the point is always to live like that’s true.

  Now let me be extra, extra clear about judgment: Does God want the cancer to come back? Does God wish for your failed marriage? Does God desire an election result you dread? What about the depression or bipolar diagnosis? What about the grief you can hardly get out of bed to face?

  The answer is no. No, God does not want that for you or for your loved one. But can God speak through it? Even if God doesn’t want it for you? The answer is astonishingly
  Yes

  God Can.

  God has no plans to cut you in two or cast you out. Turns out we’re the experts on retribution, not God.”

  Do you agree that we can learn from flawed and oppressive systems even if they aren’t blessed by God?  What systems in your life (political,  economic, social) do you find yourself learning from, and how do you hold them in light of Jesus’ teaching?
  Where do you try to challenge and change them?

  Option two, judgement and watchfulness:

  The abusive manager receives harsh judgment, but Bobbi suggests that God is not the expert in retribution we often assume.

  Bobbi also suggests that in this parable divine judgment shows up as something that is less about punishment and more about our watchfulness and awareness.

  
  How do you feel about this interpretation of judgment, and especially the connection between judgement and watchfulness? What is the connection for you?

  Take away: What small practical steps could you take this week to help you be more aware of God’s presence, especially God’s presence in unexpected moments?

  Prayer from the sermon:
  Loving God, 

  Something I love in this strange parables

  Is how much agency and power the characters have in them. 

  Sure, that can make for a harsh reality world 

  But it can also be the opposite. 

  Maybe we really can make the world more loving

  Generous and curious

  Open to wisdom and ready action. 

  So may we turn with attention to the details of our lives

  And to see the gifts we have to share

  With each other. 

  Spirit of the living God, present with us now, enter the places of restlessness and pain, and heal us of all that harms us.

  Amen.

• Service Songs & Prayers

  CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 5

  MUSIC Curated by Rebecca Santos
  Leeland - Way Maker
  Brandon Lake - Gratitude
  Hillsong Worship - What A Beautiful Name
  Maverick City Music - Fear Is Not My Future
  
  SERIES BUMPER
  Jesus on Judgement