asavage

October 30
[media presentation below] GospelThink Wednesday, October 30 LUKE 13:22-30 The Narrow Gate Prayerthoughts a. The Lord does not answer how many will be saved. Am I too concerned about whether I will have eternal life, and neglect the people around me? b. The Lord uses some strong language to remind me that I should enter through the narrow gate, that is, I should be dedicated in my approach to my spiritual life. Am I following the “narrow gate” idea as I work on my spiritual life? c. We don’t like to consider the possibility of our exclusion from the Lord—such as “I do not know where you are from.” I should take the time right now to ask forgiveness when I have rejected the Lord. d. Perhaps we are taking the Lord for granted in the sense that we may think of him frequently. But have we truly shown Christian actions, for example yesterday? e. The Lord uses a “scare tactic” saying that we will be “cast out.” Are there any moments of my life now in which I have not followed the Lord’s wishes? f. We like the idea of being “first,” but maybe we are too proud in our thinking. In what ways can I be more humble? Today, I will read Ephesians, chapter 6:1-9 and write an important thought from it.
Some Thoughts on the Liturgy THE NARROW GATE + The question asked of Jesus today is interesting: Lord, will only a few people be saved? - it is important to see Jesus’ response / because he did not answer the person - rather than give a number or spend time with the question, Jesus continues to teach - in order to be saved, he says, a person must enter by the narrow gate + The image of the narrow gate, the idea of discipline - means that a person must work in order to gain eternal life - in particular, Jesus’ difficult words: just because you spend time with me or think about me doesn’t mean that much - if a person does not make an effort at becoming a good human being who not only knows the concepts that Jesus taught, but is one who wants to put them at work, then that person will not gain the Kingdom + Involved here is a basic question concerning Christian maturity for Christian people in our world today—you and me - are we entering through the narrow gate, that is, learning this discipline, this self-discipline process so that life and love can happen? - we may not be controlling ourselves - practically, what does this idea of control and discipline and entering by the narrow gate involve? - Paul, in the close of the letter to the Ephesians, gives some practical rules for whatever state of life his listeners may have been in - for us, it differs with every individual, of course - but it might mean things like: - buying less material goods and giving the money to the poor - deliberately setting up a time to pray and read the Gospels every day - in general, it means controlling selfishness which is the principal destroyer of the spiritual life + The fact is that we must enter the spiritual life by the narrow gate, that is, practice a little discipline in order to have better control of our lives - it is not easy, but it is the word of Jesus Christ - we must move ourselves to see what we can do, and then do it.

MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: "Savage Love" -- Jason Derulo featuring Jawsh 685 I STILL WANT THAT

The Gospel

LUKE 13:6-9

Jesus told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”

Gospelthink: There is the possiblity that we can improve our lives. Are there some things in my life right now that I really should change?

“If I woke up without you, I don’t know what I would do. Thought I could be single forever ‘til I met you. I just found out, the only reason that you lovin’ me was to get back at your ex-lover, but before you leave—usually I would never even care. Every night and every day I try to make you stay, but your savage love, I still want that.”

Jason Derulo sings the thoughts of the man in the relationship in the song "Savage Love," namely, "I still want that." When it comes to human relationships, that can be a problem. We want what we want from our point of view. Often the other in the relationship may not be thinking like us at all. And we must adjust. In fact, in order to be happy we must adjust.

Jesus says the same thing in his story. The application of it is that there are some things in our lives that should change. Put in the context of Jason Derulo's song, the man should make the decision to move on in his love life, but he does not want to. And so the gardener, our conscience perhaps, says to us, you have to take the time to get out of this relationship. And if you do not, your life will be hurting.

As one studies the situation from an objective point of view without the emotions that the man has, when another person is using you for love simply because she did not get it some place else, there is a problem. In fact, it is quite easy to solve. Get out of that relationship so that you can improve your life. But the emotions can never be discarded so easily. We still want what we want--a lot.

There is little doubt that there are a number of things that should change in our lives that go beyond what we should be doing with our romantic lives. But what we want tends to dominate our thinking. Perhaps we must spend some time thinking about what happens to the fig tree in Jesus's story if it did not produce some change.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you tell us that we must change some things in our lives. We discover that in the way we live, but we continually seek the easy life, and what we want. Give us the grace to see what we should do in order to improve our lives. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: There are some things that we should do to improve our lives, but we do not want to.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Savage Love" teach young people?
2. In a relationship, what are the biggest adjustments that must be made?
3. Why do people hang on to a relationship when they really should let it go?
4. As you study our world today, what things should change most of all?
5. Can we who are not in a national spotlight do anything about the problems mentioned in number 4?

THE NARROW GATE