Getting Free

Getting Free - Deeper with God

Introduction

Return from Corona week 4 at SP. We’ve been meeting like this for a couple reasons. One because of government regulations around social distancing. But secondly, because sitting around tables and being able to chat with those around you is a way of dipping our toe in the water a little. What water? So many people have said that there has been a bit of a gift in this time. Its been hard. But, enough people have said, “We don’t want to go back to how it was” that there’s something deeper that God is doing. We don’t want to become like Victoria, hey? God help them - on the other side of the border, but we ought not to be smug. During the more social restrictive months of Corona here, we had to baton down the hatches not race everywhere, spreading ourselves across lots of geographical spaces, and groups, and people. But spend time with a few people. We were challenged to live a little more deeply with a few people. It was a challenge. But something in that felt right. What!?!?

I’ve been reading a book by a guy named Johann Hari called ‘Lost Connections’ and he interviewed the world leading expert on loneliness. And he asked him why are we living such superficial lives trying to impress people with instagram posts and external signs of success when we know inside that life isn’t about that or money, prestige . “We live in a machine that is designed to make us neglect what is important about life”. – Professor Kasser. Kasser’s research revealed that 39% of people in the U.S. and only a little less here don’t have a single person they feel close to.

On Tuesday nights for the past four weeks a bunch of us have been doing some training with Dr Paul Whetham who is a clinical psychologist but an expert in helping people recover what he says was once the normal practice of being a human being in community. That is, 1) Being able to give enough time listening to a person when they talk that you can hear them share something important, 2) And when they share something important you care enough to be able to understand and share the feeling/emotion in that (compassion), and 3) Be interested in that person’s life enough that you can interpret some of the story going on - You feel like …because…is going on in your life? Part of Dr Whetham’s big emphasis is that we don’t need more experts. More psychologists. We need more mugs. Ordinary mugs who can just listen and care.

This sort of stuff is in the air at the moment. When people say, “We don’t want to go back to what things were like before, but we can’t work out exactly what it is that’s going to be dropped, and what we are going to continue on with and how we are going to do that because we are in a dehumanising machine that is pushing us.

So, that’s still an open question. The butchers paper on your tables in the past few weeks has been a place for people to put their thoughts down. We’ve been recording that. Jean is back from 2 weeks away so he’s got 2 weeks of table doodles to catch up on. But today, write down anything significant that comes up in your conversations or part of this bigger question for what God is calling SP to be going forward.

Less experts and more mugs. Today we are going to get a bit of a taste of this as we engage with God’s word. Because I’m convinced that just as we need more ordinary mugs for relating and listening to others, we need more mugs in how we listen to God and his word. You don’t need to be dependent on a few experts who get up each week.

So. That’s the intro. Less expert. More mug. More fun. More deep (deeper). More God. More of you. More Freedom. And that’s today’s topic - Getting Free. Its going to be really simple.

STEP 1 - internalising the Word of God

I’m going to read you a passage about a man finding freedom. Its a beautiful story. When I’ve finished, I’m going to ask you to turn your chairs and form either 2s or 3s (at most). Then, you’re going to retell the story as best you can remember. You’re going to take it in turns. This is a great activity for all our people aged 2- 102. That changes how you listen a little bit, doesn’t it, when you know you need to remember. To give you a help. Look around and work out your 2 or 3 now.

The passage is Mark 10: 46-51 - don’t cheat (put your Bibles away)

I’ll give you a little bit of context for this story. Just a little bit. Jesus has done some great stuff and has attracted a crowd who are walking with him. There’s a blind man in this story. In ancient Jewish culture, if someone had a significant problem (blind, lame, disease, etc) there was a deep suspicion that either that person had done something wrong and it was divine justice judging them, or it was that person’s parents who had done something wrong. You know…its unfortunate, but they probably deserved it. So…you ready?

READ PASSAGE

46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Retell the story

Get in 2s or 3s and retell the story as you remember it. Word for word might be hard, that’s fine, so you have some license to emphasise what you think is important here

I’m going to come around to the tables and put a copy of story upside down on the table. Only when everyone has had a chance to share, can you pick it up and check to see if you missed anything important.

After

What you did then was what most people in history had to do with the word of God. Its only very recent history that you could have a personal Bible. Its only been the last couple hundred years that you might have been lucky to have a family Bible. If you wanted to have access to the Bible, you had to memorise it. You might have been able to access the synagogue Bible or the church Bible once a week to see if your memory was aligned.

WHAT SPEAKS TO YOU IN THIS?

What speaks to you in this?

Do you identify with a character?

What inspires you?

Do you have a clarification question?

Take your time. Silence in modern times feels awkward and some people might feel tempted to pull a screen out to look at it if there’s a silence or a pause. Resist the urge and be curious with your thoughts until it lands on something that connects inside. Then share.

AFTER

I love this story because of the layers. If you pay attention to the story, you can see this, so you don’t need an expert here. But I’ll give you a little insight into one word. In verse 52 Jesus says, “Go your faith has healed you”. That word for heal in the original language is ‘sozo’. Which is interesting. Some translations actually say “Your faith has saved you”, because that is more literal. He was physically healed in his sight. Underneath that he was socially healed or saved because of the effects of his blindness. And underneath that, his soul was saved or healed because he now knew without a doubt of God’s love for him and his complete acceptance. Through all those layers, he became free.

VULNERABLE UNDERBELLY

This morning when I woke up I patted our cat Eddie. Less friendly. he rolled over and showed me his tummy, which he wanted my to give a scratch or rub, which I did. Animals have an instinct to protect their bellies. Its a vulnerable side to them. When they show you their belly they are giving you a big sign they trust you. You each just shared something that spoke to you about the story. Why was that important to you, why did it connect with something? That’s a little bit deeper. This question gets a bit closer to who you are and where you are in your soul. Only share what you feel comfortable to share. Jesus established trust with the blind man by listening and not judging. The crowd did the opposite initially, but turned when they saw how the love of God works. Its a great example for us, but you can’t leverage Jesus’ trust. Its got to be earned. We are going to go around again and allow it to go a little deeper. Its a chance to listen and show that you’re someone that its safe to show your belly to. I’ve got some sentence starters on the screen which help people feel valued and safe. If that feels patronising, apologies, use your own words.

Going deeper

Before you said …was something that spoke to you. Tell us more about that.

Why do you identify with … in this story?

What of this speaks of freedom to you?

You will have a chance to affirm their story. This actually helps people understand their own story.

You feel…because … Thanks for sharing. That must be hard/inspiring/...

Once you have done that, you might feel led to take that further. You can if you want and have time. But there’s always after our time together.

Conclusion

I mentioned Johann Hari at the beginning who wrote a book Lost Connections. Part of the problem our society has now is that it dogmatically reinforces silly sayings like “Be yourself. Be you”. Relying more on your own resources actually furthers the problem alot of the time. Instead, he says, “Be US. BE WE”.

On your tables there are some book marks. Bible book marks. On the book mark is a just a basic guide for BE WE daily. How we in groups like families or 2 or 3 can BE WE with God in our story. To make time for deep with family or a close group might mean sacrificing being shallow with 100s or 1000s of people.

Communion

We come to communion now. And if ever there was something where you didn’t need an expert but just another ordinary mug, it is this. In your same groups of two or three share in the communion together. The only thing that qualifies you to share in communion is 1) You are a Christian, and 2) You’re on talking terms with God - You’re not ghosting God (as Lydia put it last week) by ignoring issues that stand between you and Him. Up on the screen there are a few words from Scripture around communion. In your groups now, share these words with each other as we remember Jesus, his body and blood, as well as the great banquet ahead of us that these symbols point to. If there is a moment of silence afterwards, feel free to add more thoughts to the butchers paper on what you believe God is saying to us in this time.

Lets share together

On the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take, eat, this is my Body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, after supper, he took the cup; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, "Drink this; for this is my Blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for you, and for many, for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Finish