Tag: reflection

Approaching the Gospels Together

This morning a group of us gathered with an ease of being together, with a shared sense of wanting to learn from each other, and with a desire to look closely at our scriptures. We read the text of Jesus’ baptism in the three synoptic gospels (seeing with one view or eye): Mark, Matthew, and Luke. We begin by reading the text in Mark (the first of the synoptic gospels written) and then read the same story from Matthew and notice the similarities and differences. Then we read the version in Luke and do the same. It’s amazing the differences!

Then we begin asking ourselves these questions (focusing on the text to give us the answers):

  • What does it tell us about Jesus that he came to John the Baptist to be baptized?
  • What if anything does it tell us about Jesus’ relation to tradition?
  • Who heard the event?
  • Who saw the event?

All this examination helps us discern the differences in the gospels and helps us wonder why the same story is written in many different ways.

We had a great time discussing the following question:

  • How would you describe this experience like for Jesus: inner, outer, or what?

Then it was time for personal sharing in response to this question:

  • Is this an experience similar to one in your life? If so, what kind or kinds?

There was rich sharing of times of baptism, confirmation, reception into the Episcopal Church and ordination. It seemed that common elements were: humility, consent, affirmation, and a call to do something (or be something) different.

I looked around at the room while in the midst of this sharing, filled with joy, realizing this was another of my “dream come true” moments, which I so often have here at St. Andrew’s.

To read the scripture and view the questions we discussed today, please click here. Approaching the Gospels Section 18

 

Simply Scripture opens up exploration of new ideas and great insights.

This past Saturday, our parish library was crammed full of people hungry to learn more about our scriptures for the upcoming month and to share their thoughts, reflections, and wonderings. We studied the Epistles for the month, which are largely from the book of 1 Timothy.

One of the topics that I think was most fruitful was an exploration of what to do when there is a word of phrase in the scripture that you don’t like.

  • Do you just skip over it?
  • Do you look up the word in the original language to see what it meant then?
  • Do you look at other translations and pick the one most congruent with your understanding? Or the one most irritating to you?
  • Do you settle into the tension and reflect upon why this word or phrase is causing such a reaction in your own soul?
  • Do you talk to others to see if this worried them as well?

The answer, of course, is “all of the above” (except the first one!).

It is always important to know the context of the passage, to look up the original word in Greek or Hebrew and look at all the possible meanings ~ and it is very important to know why this word or phrase grabs your attention. Often it’s God’s message to you to pay attention to what’s happening within you.

questionsQuestions are a good thing, in the Episcopal Church. So bring them on!