Week 4 Upside Down Kingdom Small Group

Opening Prayer

Invite a volunteer to open the small group with a word of prayer

Check-In

How are you today?

Did you have any joys or setbacks in implementing the Action Step from last week?

Scripture for This Week

We will invite two different voices to read this from start to finish. Having two different voices will help us connect differently to the passage and reading it through twice allows us an opportunity to get a sense of some of the nuances of the passage.

Luke 6:37–42 (NRSV)

37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven;

38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?

40 A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.

41 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?

42 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

Tell of a time when you made a snap judgment, perhaps about a movie or a book, and over time came to realize that your initial impressions were not correct. What was that realization like for you?

When we hear that word judging it seems almost like a curse word. If you ever hear someone say “are you judging me?” even the instigation that I might be judging them feels like an attack. In fact for the non-churched population one of the words that unfortunately gets paired most with the Christian Church is the word “judgemental.” How have we strayed so far? Often it seems that the opposite of judgement is acceptance, or openness. Those that are open and accepting are often accusing those “judgemental people” of being too closed off. And often those that are incredibly open minded are seen as willing to accept anything as true. Or in some way lacking in some sense of discernment.

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In the kingdom of God the opposite of judgement is neither of those thing. In fact, the response to being judgemental is found right here is the Sermon On The Mount. Forgiveness. Being judgy fails because if we were all judey we wouldn’t ever be able to get anything done. It would be as if the blind were leading the blind. The upside down kingdom invites us to first reflect on the ways that we have fallen short (the specks in our eyes) and instead of just dwelling on that and getting all down and out about ourselves, the upside down kingdom of God invites us to use that as a primary motivated for our forgiveness of others. When we practice forgiveness we gain a bit of a deeper understanding of God’s forgiveness for us. The best way to deal with hypocrites...is to realize that we might be one.

What is the opposite of judgement?

Breaking down the scripture

Judgement

The word used for judgement in this passage is κρίνω it is best described by the Lexham Theological Word-book as:

vb. to pass judgment, to make a judgment. This verb describes the act of carrying out a judicial process or making a judgment.

This is the most widely used term in the NT to describe the act of judgment. Additional terms such as the nouns κρίμα (krima) and κρίσις (krisis) are derived from this verbal stem and essentially overlap in meaning. The compound forms ἀνακρίνω (anakrinō) and κατακρίνω (katakrinō) are used frequently throughout the NT with the same basic meaning. The verb krinō is often used with a forensic sense to mean condemnation or punishment. The authors of the NT emphasize that the Father appointed Jesus as his judicial agent to carry out the final judgment on the day of the Lord (John 5:22–30). God’s eschatological judgment also has ethical implications for the present time. The NT therefore exhorts believers to live in reverence of God, knowing that he is the impartial judge who will exonerate them and bring condemnation upon those who defy him (1 Pet 1:17; 2 Pet 2:3–16).

Forgiveness

The Greek word for judgement in this passage is ἀφίημι and it means:

ἀφίημι (aphiēmi). vb. to leave, abandon. Refers to leaving or abandoning a place, a person, or a thing, including a belief.

The verb aphiēmi and its various forms mean to leave (or to let go) and often occurs in a literal sense (such as Jesus leaving the crowds in Matt 13:36). While aphiēmi is often used in a literal sense for physically leaving (Mark 1:20; 10:28–29), with regard to apostasy, its use in Rev 2:4 is significant since here Jesus reports that those in the church at Ephesus have “left” or “abandoned” the love they first had for the Lord.

Forgiveness is about getting rid of or letting go. The antidote for a world that is fueled by judgement is disciplines that are empowered by forgiveness. That forgiveness starts with being radically curious about the other person

Share about a time when you felt forgiveness from someone else (you don’t have to share details of what you did wrong if you don’t want to). How did that feel? Does that change your perspective on forgiveness?

Invite someone to reread:

Luke 6:39–40 NRSV

39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.

In light of this passage consider this question:

How many times have I been unaware of the ways that I am hurting others?

If you prefer another way to ask that would be to say:

How often is it that my privilege or my limited view of the world takes up too much space?

This passage has a couple of images of the transition between judgement and forgiveness:

The measure you give is the measure you recieve

The blind leading the blind

Identifying the log in someone’s eye before recognizing the speck in your own

As you think about your own life and experience is there one of these three that stick out to you?

Action Step

If we all think long and hard, there is probably someone in our life who we have harmed in one way or another. Spend some time this week holding them in prayer, and confessing honestly to God about how you hurt them. Then, send them a text, give them a call, or spend some time with them in person (if it is safe to do so) to restore the relationship. Try to be honest about the “log” in your own eye rather than focusing on the “speck” in their eye.