Beer and Bible: Luke 6 (b)

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Posted by Rob Borley | Posted on 20-05-2009

Category : Beer and Bible

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After a couple of weeks off Beer and Bible was back in the lounge of The Northcote Hotel. We picked up where we left off in Luke Chapter 6 but didn’t get very far.

Questions

The main questions that came up were;

  1. Who are our enemies? Do we actually have any?
  2. What does it mean; turn the other cheek? And all that.
  3. What is judging? 

Discussion

The focus of the discuss was on the very challenging verses 27-36. We talked about the context of Roman occupation into which these words were originally spoken. We agreed that the idea of having enemies is almost alien to us. The concept is normally watered down to people who are rude to you while queueing at the post office etc. 

What followed was quite a long discussion about whether or not Jesus was asking his followers to be subversion and cunning (be nice to bad people because it will make them feel bad) or if Jesus was asking us to just be nice.

Finally we talked about judging. We agreed that we make judgements all the time and that this passage isn’t suggesting that it is bad to judge right from wrong. We considered the idea of our motives being important and how we always need to keep the context of the fact that we are all the same really. We are all human beings; created in the image of God. We are not any better than anybody else.

Some rather honest discussion followed about situations we find it difficult not to be judgmental. It was a very useful exchange *smile*

It was suggested that these are some of the most difficult and challenging verses in the Bible. I guess it’s no surprise that we didn’t get much further.

Drinks consumed were: Guinness, 6x, and Carlsberg.

Good evening all round!

Next week

Reading: Luke 6: 43 – end (and maybe into seven if we are lucky)

Venue: The Northcote Hotel (lounge bar)

Time: 20:00 

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Beer and Bible: Luke 6 (a)

1

Posted by Rob Borley | Posted on 01-05-2009

Category : Beer and Bible, Luke

Tags: ,

There were slightly less of us on Wednesday but that didn’t dent our enthusiasm. If anything it made for a better evening and a more in depth discussion. The original plan was to tackle all of Luke 6 but we were so enthralled by the discussion that it got to 10pm and we were only half way through.

The great thing about our time together is that we don’t really have an agenda. We don’t need to blitz a whole chapter every week. The passage is a catalyst for discussion as we seek to get to know other better and get to know God a little better too.

Once again we dipped in and out of other Gospels as we sort to find some context for what we were reading about the calling of the disciples. We also spent some time in Exodus in an attempt to work out what all the fuss is about the Sabbath.

Questions

The main questions that came up were;

  1. Why is the calling of the disciples seemingly in a different chronological place from the accounts in other Gospels.
  2. What is a Sabbath? Should we keep it? How does that work today?

Discussion

Some discussion surrounding the make up of the Bible and how the books were constructed. Who was Luke written for and how that affects is contents. Context is key.

A long discussion followed about the Sabbath. Why is such a big deal made of it? Even in the ten commandments it seems to get more real estate than any of the other nine.  We talked about the disappearance of a collective, national sabbath and whether or not the church should be doing anything to try and reverse this trend.

A large focus of discuss was on what it means for us to keep a Sabbath. Should we? Why? How? etc.

We didn’t get as far as chapter 17 so this will wait until next time.

Drinks consumed were: Guinness, 6x, and Landlord.

Next week

Reading: Luke 6: 17 – end

Venue: The Northcote Hotel (lounge bar if its not full again)

Time: 20:00 

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