January 22

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Thursday, January 22

MARK 3:7-12

To Touch the Lord

Prayerthoughts

a. The people in Jesus’s time came to him to listen and to be cured. Do I listen to the Lord’s directives even as I seek to be cured of an ailment?

b. The people were “in pain,” some physical but mental as well. In my “pain,” do I try to “accept” that pain as what the Lord wants of me, even as I try to alleviate that pain in my life?

c. The crowds were seeking to “touch” the Lord. Perhaps two applications here. First, do I seek to “touch” the Lord the way I should, by seeking a solution to my problems by reading what Jesus said and did? By reading something spiritual other than the Scriptures?

d. Secondly, do I allow others to “touch” me, by giving them the time that they want and need?

e. Jesus did not wish notoriety. Do I want people to notice me too much?

f. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will read 1 Samuel 18:6-9; 19:1-7 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

BEING A JONATHAN

+ Jonathan is an interesting character in the study of David and Saul

- he was the son of Saul, and friend of David

- and he was a peace-maker who continually acted as a go-between his father and David

- in terms of the Gospel, he was a person who tried to heal the difficulties that others had, a person who can be called a forerunner of Jesus

+ Jonathan’s father Saul had been anointed king

- but Saul did not totally obey God

- and when God told Samuel to also anoint David as the next king, Saul became very angry

- he could have controlled it, but jealousy took over his life, and he wanted to kill David—and it became an obsession with him

- some scholars maintain that Saul had a mental disease of some sort, but whatever it was, he both loved and hated David

- and in his hate, kept trying to kill him

+ That made Jonathan’s work very difficult

- he realized what he had to do

+ - he loved his father Saul and he loved his friend David

- it was a very tough position to be in,

- but the thing to learn—Jonathan was able to help keep peace

- in terms of the Gospel, he was able to heal

+ In a sense, you and I are called to be “Jonathans” in our world

- that is, we are called to be peace-makers

- trying not to become angry ourselves, trying to love everyone, trying to be people who really want to bring about peace in everything that we do

- and in terms of the Gospel, healers of a sort

- we can’t heal the way Jesus did

- but we can try to help people in a way that they will feel better about living in this world

+ If we had more “Jonathans” in our world

- that is people who try to be peace-makers and healers

- our world would be a lot better than it is right now.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" -- Meghan Trainor featuring John Legend

SINCE WE'RE NOT PROMISED TOMORROW...

The Gospel

LUKE 14:15-24

One of Jesus’ fellow guests … said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the kingdom of God.” He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’ The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’”

Gospelthink: My story says that you should not stay away from the spiritual life by making excuses to stay away. I must choose to pursue the spiritual life.

"I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you. I'm gonna hold you like I'm saying goodbye wherever we're standing. I won't take you for granted 'cause we'll never know when we'll run out of time. In the blink of an eye, you could lose everything; the truth is you never know. I'll make the most of the minutes and love with no regrets. Let's take our time to say what we want, use what we got before it's all gone 'cause we're not promised tomorrow."

There are all kinds of excuses we can make when we really do not want to do something. In Jesus' story, the people invited to a man's festive gathering did not want to go. They gave all kinds of excuses, but the bottom line was that they did not want to take the time necessary to visit the occasion. Placed in the context of Jesus' Kingdom, the people were invited to the Kingdom, but they chose not to go because they had more important things to do.

Meghan Trainor and John Legend's song "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" is all about a relationship that they are experiencing. They are promising to each other that there will be no excuses offered to get out of the relationship. As they put it, their actions are going to prove that they will never cease the relationship because they will always be with each other. That is, they are "not promised tomorrow" and therefore there is only today. There is only today when the relationship is strong, saying in effect that it will stay that way, always and forever.

The couple in love are saying that their commitment is not a matter of “waiting until something else happens.” It is a matter of being so strong that they are not allowing for any conditions, any excuses. It will never be a matter of “I will love you if…” Love will always be active voice—no conditional. It is saying: “I will love you. It does not matter what will happen in the future; right now I am committed to doing what we have said. We are not promised tomorrow, so it will always be today, and always be what we say.”

There are many applications for the song because all of us are involved in some kind of commitment right now. We are committed to studying or living well or working out some relationship with a friend or in Jesus' story, being accepting of the Kingdom, or being a good married person or, a good unmarried person—whatever…. The point is that no matter who we are or what we are engaged in, the thought of commitment will come up in some way or another.

When we are called to some commitment, there can be no excuses. The commitment will always be real.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we are at times called to a real commitment in life, as with marriage or friendship or the like. Help us imitate Your Son's understanding of commitment, thus making the commitment we make an honest one. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: True commitment to something involves giving of ourselves completely with no excuses.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. The dinner in the Gospel story is comparable to the Kingdom about which Jesus was preaching. What are some reasons why people would not want to join Jesus' Kingdom?
2. The closing words of the parable are very hopeful in that people will be "made" to join the Kingdom. In general in your opinion, is Christianity considered to be a "hopeful" religion? Yes or no and why?
3. Text analysis: "Take you for granted." What is the meaning of the phrase?
4. Text analysis: "Love with no regrets." What does such love mean?
5. Analysis: "Take our time to say what we want." Why is communication so necessary for any relationship?
6. If tomorrow would never come, what most of all would you do today?
7. In your opinion, what do people consider "more important" than God in our world?
8. A person should promise a forever commitment only after careful preparation. What is the most important part of the preparation?
9. Because of our divorce rate, one can generalize that we often do not take forever commitments seriously. In your opinion, what is the principal reason for marriage failure?
10. Besides marriage, what are some other "forever" commitments that a young person should make?
11. What does the song "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" teach young people?