Making_most_ 07_ Bible_ Study.pdf

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M ak i n g t h eM o s t of t h eR e s t of O u

r L i v e s

Bi b l e S t u d i e s

T i m D e a r

b or n a nd D onP o s t er s k i

Tim Dearborn and Don Posterski

Rest

Makingthe Most

Our

Lives

Partnership Ofces

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World Vision Ofces

Bible

Studies

of the

of


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Making the Mostof the Rest

of Our Lives

Bible Studies

TIM DEARBORN & DON POSTERSKI


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© 2006 by World Vision International.

Printed in the United States of America.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form,except for brief excerpts in reviews, without prior permission of the publisher.

Published by World Vision International, 800 West Chestnut Avenue, Monrovia,California 91016-3198 U.S.A.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised

Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of ChristianEducation of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Usedby permission. All rights reserved.

Series Editor: Don Posterski. Editor in chief: Edna Valdez. Copyediting and type-setting: Joan Laflamme. Cover design: Richard Sears. Cover photo: TBD.

This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper.

ISBN 1–933785–05–5

Tim Dearborn and Don Posterski are Directors, Christian Commitments, WorldVision International.


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Introduction ...............................................................................1

Suggestions for use .................................................................... 3

1 Great Commandment......................................................... 5

Study 1: Loving God with all we are ................................ 7Study 2: Loving others with all we have ......................... 12

2 Great Commission ............................................................ 17

Study 3: Agents of change with a great commission ....... 19Study 4: Pursuing change in all its fullness ..................... 24

3 Great Requirement ........................................................... 29

Study 5: Great expectations............................................ 31Study 6: Making room for mercy ................................... 36

4 Great Compassion ............................................................ 43

Study 7: The twin virtues of compassion and conviction 45Study 8: Love is hard work ............................................. 50

5 Great Generosity............................................................... 55Study 9: Grace in action................................................. 57Study 10: An issue of justice .......................................... 60

6 Great Confidence.............................................................. 63

Study 11: Restoring our capacity to dream ..................... 65Study 12: Singing tomorrow’s song…today.................... 69

7 Great Surprises.................................................................. 73Study 13: God’s surprising ways ..................................... 75Study 14: Walking off the map ...................................... 79

Contents


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Introduction 1

Introduction

Making the Most of the Rest of Our Lives is for people who are already on the road of faith in Jesus Christ. We want for today and for therest of our lives to count for Christ. We want to make a difference inthe world. We have heard the call to participate in God’s mission,and we wonder what our place might be.

The following encounters with the Scriptures are for those of us whoknow we are a lot like the man in the Bible who says, “I believe; helpmy unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). And yet, still we follow. We are people who want to pursue what God has designed for the best of life, forthe rest of life – however long or short that may be.

The first step in pursuing the best of life is deciding to follow Jesus.That decision has sometimes received a bad reputation as leading toa set of rigid rules and hard-to-follow regulations. Sometimes it isviewed as permission to do whatever we want, for we believe thatGod will forgive us. Following Jesus – and making the most of therest of our lives – is not about either of those extremes.

Following Jesus is about loving relationships. It is about being led by

the Spirit to translate our beliefs into attitudes – and our attitudesinto actions – that contribute to fullness of life for us and for others.

Think of God as the composer of a beautiful symphony – the har-mony of all creation. This God calls us and gifts us to play our uniqueinstruments in a chorus of praise like no other. God the Father is thecomposer, Christ the Lord is the conductor, and the Spirit is the one who instructs us to play our instrument in harmony.

To play in tune, we need to understand the musical score, play ourinstrument well, and allow the conductor to harmonise all our notes.


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2 Introduction

In this study we explore God’s purposes for human life. Why are wehere, and how are we to live? What is God’s mission in the world,and how do we participate in it? Believing that God has created us toplay the instruments of our lives in rhythm and harmony, how can we play them together is such as way that all people enter into thegreat chorus of praise?

By discerning the purposes of the Composer, we will be able to play our own unique instrument with freedom. We will enjoy the music. We might even dance. We will make the most of the rest of our livesby being the person we were created to be – fully – and by living in

harmony with the rhythms of God’s creation.

God has created us to play together in our communities of faith andto make beautiful music in the noisy clanging of a broken world.God sends us to participate in the coming of the kingdom, in whichall of creation will be set free to join in the chorus of praise.

Jesus speaks to us in this time and place, along with his disciples,

when he turns to those gathered around him and says: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21).


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Suggestions for use 3

Suggestions for use

Group composition:

Interest: This study is designed for people who are serious about tak-ing the next steps in following Christ. It assumes a desire to walk with God in the world as witnesses to Christ and the coming king-

dom.

Age and background: This study is appropriate for people with a sec-ondary education – from late teens and beyond. It is written to beaccessible to people from any cultural background and diverse churchtraditions.

Size: Using combinations of individual study and small- and largegroup-discussion, the number of participants can range from as few as four to several hundred.

Background reading:

Reading material. Every participant needs a copy of this book. Noadditional reading is assumed; however, a list of recommended read-

ing is provided.

Outside preparation. While advanced reading is not required, discus-sion and learning may be enhanced if participants read through theupcoming study before the session.

Facilitation:

Co-ordinator . It is possible to engage in this study with a facilitator who only arranges materials, leads the discussion and monitors thetime-schedule. This role could be rotated among participants.


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Study 1: Loving God with all we are 7

Study 1

Loving God with all we are

Note to facilitators:

• Everyone should have a copy of the workbook and a journal.• Participants can take turns reading aloud the text in the work-

book.

All of us want our lives to count. None of us wants to lie on ourdeathbed and feel as though we have missed it. We may have workedhard or hardly at all, played hard or hardly ever, but whatever we did, we want to be able to say: “It was good. Thank you, Lord, for the lifeI have lived.” But there is more. We also want others to look at usand be able to say, “That person lived a good life. Thank you, Lord,for the life he (or she ) lived.”

Reflection and introductions (10 minutes)

• Think about someone you know (either living or deceased)

who has lived life well. What makes (made) his or her life a good one?• Share with a partner what especially touches you about this

person. What gift do you think he or she brings (brought) tothe world?

• In groups of eight, introduce yourselves to one another, shar-ing your name, one characteristic you admire about this per-son you mentioned, and one hope you have for this study.

• As an entire group, we will hear from a few people some ex-amples of what made others’ lives good ones.


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8 Part 1: Great Commandment

Why are we alive? How do we make the most of our lives? What areour lives supposed to be? These are the big questions. We know thatpart of the answer is found in the crucial beginning steps: We believein Christ. We are energised with the presence of the Holy Spirit. Weenjoy (most of the time) community with God’s people.

We are all at different places in our pilgrimage of faith. We haveresponded to the Spirit’s call to follow Christ. We want to grow andtake the next steps of faithfulness. Those next steps may be differentfor each of us, but we all yearn to walk toward Christ and the king-dom of God. We want to learn from what we have already lived and

make the most of the years to come. What is God’s call?

• As we begin, pray together for the Holy Spirit to take thisstudy and lead us into God’s preferred will and ways for ourlives.

The astonishing answer to making the most of our lives is actually very simple to understand – though very challenging to live. It is

connected to a love affair. The world needs better lovers.

As we listen to the following reflections, think about which part of you has the most difficult time engaging in this life of love: yourhead (believing you and others are loved); your heart (feeling thatlove); your soul (encountering God’s presence daily); or your strength(what you do with your body).

Read:

“Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus:’Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must

I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law?

What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your

God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with your strength

and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to

him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’” (Luke10:25–28)


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The Pharisee knew what was required. He simply cited the Law back to Jesus, quoting from Leviticus 19:18 and Deuteronomy 6:5. Thatcalling isn’t even unique to the biblical faiths – it is present in every religion. This is the law of the cosmos, so to speak, because it is thevery nature and passion of God. God calls us to love with every as-pect of our being – with the resources of our mind, heart, soul andbody. There is no part of our life that is irrelevant to God. There is nopart excluded from this love affair.

What is God’s great command? It doesn’t focus on being fruitful,productive and successful, which is where we often put our attention

and how we measure our worth and the worth of others. It is not a command to acquire all we can – or even to sacrifice all that we have.Rather, it is the simple call to love the Lord our God with all ourheart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbour as our-selves.

The gospel is rooted in the good news that God is love. The gospeldoesn’t proclaim that God acts in a loving way but that God is love.

God exists in intimacy – in the love of Father, Son and Spirit. InChrist, by the presence of the Holy Spirit, we are caught up into thatembrace of love. The Father and Son come to make their home in us. We are empowered to participate, to experience, and to express thisart form of living lives of love.

Reflection (10 minutes)

Form groups of four and discuss:

• Why is it so hard for us to accept that loving God is a basicpurpose for our lives?

• What gets in the way of loving God?• When you think of loving God with your heart (what you

feel), your soul (what you do in your inner life), your mind(what you think and know) or your strength (what you do with your body), which area is hardest for you? easiest? Why

do you think that is?


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Loving ourselves. God’s call for us to love ourselves is a surprise tomany. Even those who grew up in the church and have heard it many times, still struggle with self-love. Loving God and loving others wemay understand, but isn’t loving ourselves selfish? Sometimes it isactually the hardest thing to do. When we are honest, sometimes wedon’t even like ourselves very much, let alone love ourselves. It ishard for us to believe we are loveable.

As we listen to the following reflections, remember a time

when you have been most aware of God’s love for you and

were able to accept (if not love) yourself.

The gospel is the astounding news that God loves us first – and keeps

on loving us every day, day in and day out, regardless of how often we

fail. Loving God and loving our neighbours depend on knowing we are

loved and valued. One simple way to internalise God’s love is to wake up

in the morning and embrace the stunning reality that we are loved by

God. “I am loved by God.” Say it. Hear it. Remember it.

Experiencing tastes of God’s love washing over us opens up our parched,affirmation-seeking selves to believe that we are loved. Receiving God’s

love won’t resolve all the obstacles to loving and properly appreciating

ourselves in all the right ways, but there is no better beginning.

Knowing we are loved frees us to live in the midst of the world without

being controlled by its demands and expectations, its suffering and com-

forts. Therefore, the first word of John’s Gospel is this great news of our

being loved. “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16). Keep repeating,

“God loved us first, and God keeps on loving us first.”

Personal reflection (5 minutes)

Write in your journal your responses to the following:• When have you most deeply felt God’s love for you? What

contributed to your awareness?

• Invite God to push aside the feelings of unworthiness thatkeep you from experiencing the fullness of God’s love. Writea brief prayer to God, expressing the desire of your heart.


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As you leave…

As we embrace the fact that we are free to love ourselves, even com-manded to love ourselves, we move more naturally into the freedomof loving others. Before the next session, continue to live and movein the conscious reality that you are God’s beloved. You will be betterprepared to encounter the radical call to love others – with all youhave.


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Study 2

Loving others

with all we have


• Everyone should have a copy of the workbook and a journal.• Provide each participant with Post-it notes.• Attach a large drawing of a deep pit or ravine to the wall.• Prepare a song of praise for God’s great love to be sung at the

conclusion of this session, for example, “O the Deep, Deep Love

of Jesus” or “How Great the Father’s Love for Us.”• Participants can take turns reading aloud the text in the work-book.

In the last session we were reminded that the gospel is the astound-ing news that God loves us first – and keeps on loving us first, re-gardless of how much, or how often, we mess up. God loves us. We

respond with love to God. However, most of us aren’t very goodlovers. The good news is that while we may not be, God is. JesusChrist both reveals God’s love to us and responds to that love on ourbehalf. The gospel shifts the focus off of us and our feeble attemptsto love and onto Christ and his overflowing love. Now, as we live inChrist, the Holy Spirit pours out the love of God through us (Rom.5:5). We are given a new capacity to live as lovers – Christ’s capac-ity – as we participate in his great love for the world.


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Study 2: Loving others with all we have 13

Listen to the following thoughts, writing on Post-it notes

ways we can make God’s love tangible in the broken places

and raw edges of the world.

Loving our neighbours. As we grow in our love for God with our emo-

tions, our spirits, our bodies and our minds, we are sent out to fill the

world’s broken places and smooth its raw edges with the love of God.

We are participants in what could be called the greatest love affair in

the whole world – God’s great love for God’s groaning creation. What a

privilege!

As the Spirit of God puts the pieces of our lives together, we can seemore clearly God’s design for life:

• Love is our calling.

• Love is life’s business.

• Love is our purpose.

• Love is to live for people who are created in God’s image and

restored in Christ’s likeness.

How do we make the most of our lives? Why are we alive? Whatmust we do to live life fully? The answer isn’t found in tasks, accom-plishments, control or conquest. The answer can only be spoken inthe language of love – love for God and others and ourselves – all inresponse to God’s unstoppable love for us.

Following this reading, all the participants are invited to walk to thefront of the room and “fill up” the pit on the drawing on the wall with their Post-it notes.


Let us invite a few people to share their thoughts with the entiregroup:

• What does it mean to love others as we love ourselves?• How have you experienced this in your life?

• Do you struggle with this? how?


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Love in action

Read and consider:

Monserrat Castro Garcia is a street girl. She is a child cast out of a

society of people that are too busy to look down and notice the dirt

etched in her face, the hollowness of her eyes. She sits next to a trash

can, feeling no more special than thrown-out goods.

She is 13. She doesn’t know what it’s like to attend school regularly or

live with a stable family. Instead, she bears the scars of rape, lives with

the guilt of robbing others, and depends on cheap drugs to get her through the days. She grew up on the streets. She says, “My mother

would send us to get money for her drugs. We would beg and clean

windshields .” When Monserrat was nine years old, her mother was thrown

into prison and Monserrat was on her own. She is one of 140,000

children in Mexico and 40 million abandoned children in Latin America

who live on the streets. Monserrat and her group regularly visit World

Vision’s street children’s centre, Niños de la Calle (children of the street),

for a break from the harsh realities of street life. This transitional housefor six to twenty year olds provides an alternative lifestyle to their other

world, but only if they are willing to abandon drugs. “They understand

me here. I think they love me,” Monserrat says . “They tell me I can move

in, but the street wins me.”

World Vision street counsellors Mirna Montalvo and Gustavo Penaloza

are part of an outreach team that works on the streets, talking and

listening to the children – and sometimes finding solutions. “It’s little by

little we tell them that God loves them. We start by saying ‘God bless

you.’ Then we wait,” says Penaloza. Although she feels her prayers are

not always answered, she says, “I think God is big and does miracles.”

The street counsellors are tender, says Monserrat’s brother, and “love us

because they are Christians.” Penaloza says, “There’s hope for Monserra.

There’s always hope, as long as there is life.”


• Discuss as a group Penaloza’s statement, “There’s always hope,as long as there is life.” Do you believe that?


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Study 2: Loving others with all we have 15

• Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:4–8: “Love is patient; love iskind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. Itdoes not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; itdoes not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth. It bearsall things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures allthings. Love never ends.”

Consider and discuss what needs to happen in us for us to be ableto love others with that kind of love.

Personal reflection

• Consider this: Which person – or situation – could God besending you this week to express this great love? What specifi-cally do you think God is asking you to do?

• Pray for God to pour out divine love in you. Ask God to show you again that you are unconditionally loved, invited andequipped to express God’s love into this particular situation,in this particular week.

Conclude by worshipping together (7 minutes)Read aloud in unison: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envi-ous or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way;it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Cor. 13:4–8)Sing together a song celebrating God’s love for us.Pray together, asking God to pour out God’s love in each of you –

so you know you are loved, unconditionally loved, and that thislove is passed through you to others.

As you leave…

Try to be conscious this week of how the deepening realisation thatyou are exquisitely loved by God can transform how you perceiveand respond to others – for a response is what is required.


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2

GreatCommission


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20 Part 2: Great Commission

Life that leaves us trapped in our personal inadequacies and insecuri-ties is not good enough. Circumstances that paralyse people in need-less suffering and inherited injustices must be overcome. We desiretransformation – deep and enduring change for ourselves and forothers.


As an entire group invite people to call out areas of the world where they long for the transforming love of God to penetrate. Asthey are named, write them on a white board or flip chart.The great news is that God is not content to leave us – or the

world – in a confused state of suffering and alienation. Since thefirst expressions of sin and brokenness scarred the beauty of theCreation, God has been in pursuit of transforming change. Amazingly, God’s vision for change involves us. God’s strategy forchange is to propel us into the world as agents of change. Ourcalling, our commission, is to be empowered by God to be agentsof change. Jesus makes this clear in the final words of Matthew’sgospel.

Listen to the final words of Matthew’s gospel and underline

anything that strikes you regarding God’s purposes for our

life.

“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which

Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but

some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven

and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all

nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of

the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have com-

manded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the

age.’” (Matt. 28:16–20)


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Study 3: Agents of change 21


Discuss as an entire group• This passage is often referred to as the Great Commission and

interpreted as the evangelistic mandate. What strikes you asyou read the passage?

• What comfort do you take from the fact that, even then, “somedoubted”?

• Consider this Oxford Dictionary definition of the word com-mission: “commission: n. the authority to perform a task orcertain duties; an instruction, command or duty given to sucha group or person; an order for something, esp. a work of art,

to be produced specially.” Does this definition shed any lighton Jesus’ command to his followers?

We don’t have the authority to go in our own name. Our ambitions,determination or even our best intentions are no match for the GreatCommission challenge. We go in the name of Jesus with the author-ity of Jesus. The integrity of a the commission depends on the au-thority of the one who mandates it. As the Son of God, Jesus has the

credentials to assert: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18; see also Col. 1:15–20).

Listen as we read the following comments on the Great Com-

mission. As you listen, circle anything about these emphases

that is new or surprising to you as aspects of the Great Com-

mission.

A careful look at the mandate is surprising. The scope of Jesus’ author ity

is not limited to matters in heaven and our personal salvation. Jesus’

authority extends as well over all things on earth. The scope of the Great

Commission extends to every aspect of life in the world. Accordingly, the

commission commends four dimensions of “earthly” transformation and

change:


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Study 3: Agents of change 23

• Ask several volunteers to share their insights with the entiregroup.

• Return to the list of areas in the world that need God’s trans-forming love. Select three or four and invest several minutesin prayer together for God’s love to penetrate these raw edgesand rough places.

As you leave…

Find one person this week outside this study group with whom youcan share an insight you have gained regarding the scope of the Great

Commission. Don’t debate the insight with the person. Simply de-scribe it and ask for his or her reaction.


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Study 4

Pursuing change

in all its fullness


• Everyone should have a copy of the workbook and a journal.• Provide enough sheets of paper and coloured pens for every par-

ticipant and tape to post drawings on the walls.• Participants can take turns reading aloud the text in the work-

book.

In the last session we were confronted with a commission. We arecalled out and set apart as God’s people only to be re-launched intothe world with a mandate for change. We saw that the Great Com-mission is about more than we might have thought. And it may beasking more of us than we imagine.

To reduce following Jesus to personal salvation is an incompletegospel. The gospel is highly political, economic, spiritual and so-cial – every aspect of our lives and societies is to be converted. Infact, not just people, but nations, principalities and powers are torepent and become new in Christ.


Invite several participants to share their experience of discussing

with one person the broad scope of the Great Commission.


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Study 4: Pursuing change in all its fullness 25

Divide into four groups, with each group taking one of the fourspheres of Christ’s transforming authority from the last session:political; cultural; spiritual; and social. Note the synonyms for transformation from Roget’s Thesaurus: “transformation n. change, con-version, metamorphosis, transmutation, alteration, remodelling.”

• Discuss how you understand transformation. What does itmean in relation to God’s work?

• Using a large sheet of paper and coloured pens, draw or writedescriptive words about what the coming of God’s kingdom would look like in the particular sphere your group is discuss-ing.

• Post your drawings and thoughts. Walk about and discuss with group members what they are trying to convey. What doyou see in the words and drawings of other groups? What dothey see in yours?

Change Agents

Read and consider:

Diamako Coulibaly is a highly influential woman in Sourountouna, Mali –

not because of her wisdom or investment in her community, but be-

cause of her practised hand in destroying women’s bodies. In the last 40

years, she has performed female genital mutilation (FGM) on nearly

10,000 girls.

Coulibaly’s skill has given her a reliable income her entire life and built

her reputation as the best exciseur in Sourountouna. But after decades

in a country where almost 94 percent of women between 15 and 49

undergo debilitating FGM, she struggles with the effects of mutilating

thousands of young girls.

World Vision is boldly working to transform the spir itual and social lives

of women in Sourountouna. In a place tainted with deep cultural and

religious attitudes toward FGM, World Vision is advocating for change.World Vision is partnering with Islamic and Christian leaders, already


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powerful agents for change, to work against the belief that religion and

excision are inextricably linked.

Coulibaly says that World Vision informed her of the “long-term conse-

quences of excision and that it can cause many problems for girls.”

Although faced with unemployment, she has made the difficult decision

to shut down her lifelong business. She refuses to perform any more

operations in her community. Coulibaly acknowledges that “if the former

mutilators like me would speak in different villages, the practice would

stop.” She believes this would happen because “they know us who have

been doing excision for many years and they will listen to why we have

stopped.” Partnering with World Vision, Coulibaly now uses her strong voice to stand against FGM. She recently led her entire community to

hand over its surgical weapons, make a public decision to stop FGM,

and sign forms promising to no longer practice excision. To offset

Coulibaly’s financial loss, World Vision provided an opportunity for her to

start a new business of selling sheep.

Almost 64 percent of respondents in a World Vision survey said they

were interested in being involved in World Vision’s training on FGM.Change – at the hand of one or at the hands of many – comes through

an acknowledgement of God’s love for all God’s children and courage to

initiate change through the power of God’s strength.


• As an entire group list the changes necessary to end the prac-tice of FGM.

• Discuss whether this is an aspect of the Great Commission.• What is required to be effective agents of change?

The fulfilment of this commission depends on our capacity to doit. The focus of this passage isn’t on ourselves and what we must do. Jesus proclaims, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). The Great Commission begins with the affirma-

tion of Jesus’ authority over all things, and it ends with the affirma-tion of his presence with us everywhere. Just as we don’t engage the world in our own name and authority, neither do we serve with ourown capacity and strength – but with his.


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Study 4: Pursuing change in all its fullness 27


• Identify one new idea that you want to explore more deeply.• Identify one in which where you not only want to know more,

but long to do more.• What steps do you want to take?

Pray as a group, stepping into God’s transforming commission. Ask for God’s direction for one another as you become agents of change.

As you leave…

As you move through this week, think about how the spheres of potential transformation overlap, and how you move among them inyour daily life and work. Remember that love is the guiding prin-ciple. Be conscious of both small and large opportunities to partner with God in the work of transformation.


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Part 3

GreatRequirement


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Study 5: Great expectations 31

Study 5

Great expectations


• Everyone should have a copy of the workbook and a journal.• Provide a small prize for one small group (for example, pieces of

fruit).• Participants can take turns reading aloud the text in the work-

book.

It is one thing to picture ourselves standing with the early disciples,receiving the Great Commission. It can be easy to draw transforming spheres on big sheets of paper. It is quite another to go out and actu-ally to do it. In this session we will examine our calling. What exactly is God asking of us?

In every situation we enter we want to know what is required of us. What is expected? Jobs have performance indicators; families expect

certain behaviour; coaches in all sports have fitness standards. We areused to requirements, but we perform best when we know in ad-vance what they are.

Mercy

Humility

Justice


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32 Part 3: Great Requirement


• Discuss in pairs some of the behavioural expectations youlearned growing up from your family, friends or other influ-ential people in your life.

• What was expected of you? Why?

When it comes to life, what’s required of us? How do we know if weare on the right track, doing what is expected of us? Every person,regardless of how privileged or impoverished, wants to know the an-swer to this. It is the fundamental human question. The biblical an-swer to this question is shockingly simple and profoundly practical.

Read in unison:

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?” (Mic. 6:8)

The prophet Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah, Amos and Hosea,proclaimed God’s call for our spiritual life. He says it shapes oursocial engagement. In his village Micah had daily contact with poorpeople who were exploited by the rich and powerful. He watchedindignantly as they lost their houses and had their lands seized. InMicah’s mind the corruption among religious leaders and the inhu-mane treatment from business and political power brokers were rootedin a woeful lack of justice, kindness and humility. His prophetic voicenot only addressed serious matters in his immediate context but pro-claimed a timeless standard of what God expects from people whoseek to live faithfully.

This call to justice, kindness and humility reaches widely and appliesspecifically. It has personal, interpersonal and societal implications. If Jesus’ command to his disciples was the Great Commission, then God’s

words through the prophet Micah must surely be the Great Require-ment. It is one command expressed in three dimensions that define what is good: (1) do justice, (2) love kindness (often translated “mercy”),and (3) walk humbly with God.


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Mercy and justice – intimate friends. Few of us desire to be pun-ished or cast out. When our attitudes and actions are wrong, we in-stinctively hope for mercy. We prefer to be treated as we don’t deserve. We desire to be embraced in love.

However, in the long run, doing wrong and receiving perpetual mercy and forgiveness may not help us. Excessive mercy overprotects usfrom the consequences of our actions, and disaster will eventually strike. The greater crisis, however, might be not experiencing theright sized gifts of mercy. We might not learn how important it is togrant the gift of mercy to other people in our lives.


Discuss in pairs: (5 minutes)• Is there anything about this description of justice that sur-

prises you?• How does this meaning of justice compare to the common

understanding (and practice) of justice in your society?Combine pairs into groups of four: (8 minutes)

• Without making any physical contact, create a sculpture withyour bodies that you think expresses the relationship among justice, mercy and humility.

• Take turns as groups looking at each other’s human sculp-tures.

As an entire group, vote on the sculpture that most creatively showsthe relationship among justice, mercy and humility, and give a prize to that group.

Throughout this study we have been focusing on God’s call in ourlives to be agents of change, participating in God’s transformation of every aspect of life. God’s will is to make life right. God wills justice.Expecting justice is actually good news.

Read Psalm 85:10 in unison:

Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;

righteousness and peace will kiss each other.


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Study 5: Great expectations 35

Pray as an entire group, praising God for being a God of mercy,truth, justice and peace. Name before God specific situations wherelife needs to be made right for people.

As you leave…

Be aware of justice and mercy this week. Cut articles from newspa-pers that illustrate issues of justice and mercy. Bring them to the nextsession.


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Study 6

Making room for mercy


• Everyone should have a copy of the workbook and a journal.• Depending on the size of your group, tape together large sheets

of paper and mount them on a wall. Write across the top “GreatCommandment, Commission and Requirement.” Have tapeavailable for participants to post newspaper clippings.

• Bring a bucket of soil to use at the end of the session. Depend-ing on the size of your group, you may need several containers

(so that eight to ten people can gather around each).• Participants can take turns reading aloud the text in the work-book.

As we enter the room, attach the newspaper clippings we broughtportraying issues of justice and mercy to the poster in the front of theroom entitled “Great Commandment, Commission and Require-

ment.”

In our last session we looked at the harsh reality of injustice and thehard work of living right. Micah cried out against injustice and is-sued a message for God’s people about how to live right. Loving kind-ness, or mercy, is part of Micah’s radical call. But what exactly ismercy?

The root of the Hebrew word for mercy is also the root of the wordwomb. A womb is where life is borne. Mercy also brings life forward. And here is where mercy and justice come together as intimate friends.


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Study 6: Making room for mercy 37

Mercy extends second chances. Justice makes life right and allows usto begin again. When mercy and justice embrace, we are the recipi-ents of life-giving and life-transforming gifts from God. When wehave the privilege of extending mercy and justice to others, we aregifts from God in their lives.


• Describe in your journal a situation when you received mercy from someone? How did it feel?

• Is there someone in your life who would benefit from receiv-ing a gift of mercy from you? a family member? a work col-

league? friend, foe or neighbour?• Is it easier for you to receive the gift of mercy or to extend itto others?

Small-group Reflection (7 minutes)

• What is the relationship between justice and mercy? Take pa-per and coloured pens and, as a group, draw that relation-ship.

• Post the drawing on the wall for all to reflect on and enjoy.

What does good look like? As we listen to the following re-

flection on justice, mercy and humility, look at the newspa-

per clippings posted in the front. If the Great Requirement

defines what is good, then what would goodness look like in

those situations?

We don’t do justice well when we approach others self-righteously,

judgmentally or critically. Nor do we improve life for others if we simply

extend mercy, forgiving all wrongs and never making anything right.

Justice can be harsh when expressed on its own. Mercy alone can be

unprincipled and lacking in substance. The two are connected, not only

in Micah’s great answer to the big question of what is required of us, but

in practice.

When people around us advocate for our well-being (for our life to be

made right), and when they extend mercy rather than press for retribu-

tion, we are humbled in their presence. Experiencing God’s mercy gen-


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erates humility. And therefore, the third dimension of the Great Require-

ment is to walk humbly with our God.

The word humility shares the same root as the word humus, which

means “soil.” In humility we walk on level ground with others, our feet

treading the same soil. Whatever our social standing may be, we do not

think we are more important or more highly valued by God than any-

one else. We share a common need for mercy and a common longing

for justice. In our pursuit of justice we walk with those who have been

victimised – and even with the victimisers.

So, what does the Lord require of us? What is good? To walk hum-bly with our God, and to stand on level ground with all people on

earth. To receive mercy, and to live mercifully in our relationships

with others. To make life right by seeking to create just societies in

which individuals, families and communities can reach their God-

given potential. This is our Great Requirement – one command

expressed in three dimensions.

Let us gather around the newspaper clipping poster in the front of the room and pray , either silently or aloud, for whatever is needed inthose situations. Pray that the people do, and experience, what isgood.

The following story is about someone who has experienced all thatand more.

Justice-Mercy-Humility

Read and consider:

Chilufya was raised in a supportive family. She had the good fortune of

graduating from college and becoming a travel agent. However, her

parents both died, leaving her responsible for a younger brother. Unable

to find a job in the travel industry, she finally succeeded in gaining em-ployment as a shop clerk. She was relieved to provide food, an apart-

ment and money for school fees for her brother.


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Study 6: Making room for mercy 39

However, shortly after beginning work in the store, the manager made

sexual advances to her, demanding favours. She refused and lost her

job, her apartment, food and support for her brother’s schooling. In

desperation she and her brother moved in with a friend. The friend

demanded that Chilufya contribute to expenses and introduced her to

an alternative way of earning income.

Choosing between homelessness and starvation for her and her brother

or the defilement of selling her body, she chose the latter. She went to

work on what is known in Africa as the AIDS Highway. It stretches

north-south through the heart of Africa, and it can take a truck driver

nine months to make the round trip journey between Uganda and South Africa. Bureaucracy and bad roads bog them down. Each border cross-

ing can bring a three-week wait – unless the drivers are willing to bribe

customs agents. Bored and lonely in these sleazy border towns, the

young men seek other forms of diversion. Thus they contract – or spread –

HIV/AIDS. They carry it back home with them to their wives. The sex

workers are often driven by desperation to this demoralising and now

deadly occupation – prostitution is the profession of last resort as they

seek income to support their siblings and children.

“I was brought up a Christian, but I do not attend church now,” explains

Chilufya. “When I am near a church, all I can see are the things I have

done. How can God even look at me, knowing what I have been doing?

This is never what I wanted. I know I can’t keep on doing this. I can’t

keep on doing it.”

World Vision has renamed this highway the Corridor of Hope and has

established drop-in centres in the border towns. It is a meeting point for

the drivers with education programmes on the dangers of HIV/AIDS.

For the women, World Vision also provides drop-in centres, including

counselling programmes, health clinics and education about HIV/AIDS.

During the day the women enjoy the camaraderie and dignity gener-

ated by playing on football and volleyball teams. Yet at night they suc-

cumb to the indignity and danger of climbing into drivers’ truck cabs.


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Discuss in groups of four: (10 minutes)• What are the biggest challenges for World Vision staff and

other caregivers in expressing justice, mercy and humility toChilufya and others along the AIDS highway?

• How does Micah’s definition of what God requires of us andis declared good influence you and your sense of Christianpurpose and vocation?

Write in your journal: (5 minutes)• What are several challenges you face in your own context as

you live out justice, mercy and humility?

• How is God calling you to grow in your integration of thethree?

Let us gather in groups of eight to ten, each around a container of soil. Pass the container and invite each person to take a small amountof soil and place it in the palm of his or her hand.

Affirm your faith in unison by saying:

Justice, mercy and humility meet as my hands touch this earth – theneeds of the world – to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, whohumbled himself to the point of death on the cross. We humble our-selves before God and before one another, that God might bring lifeand goodness to the world through us.

Pray together the beloved prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi:

Lord make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.


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O heavenly Father, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled

as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to

love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are

pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

As you leave…

The harsh reality of situations like Chilufya’s can be overwhelming. Yet we have the privilege of learning about, experiencing and ex-pressing to others tastes of transformation, deep change. We haveseen the evidence of God’s power to bring about mercy, justice, hu-

mility and love where before there was little. This week, keep youreyes and ears open for evidence of the fruits of Micah’s call in God’sspheres of transformation.


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Part 4

GreatCompassion


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Study 7: The twin virtues of compassion and conviction 45

Study 7

The twin virtues

of compassion and conviction


• Everyone should have a copy of the workbook and a journal.• Provide a flip chart or large sheets of paper that can be attached

to the wall and saved for the next session.• Participants can take turns reading aloud the text in the work-

book.

In our last session we heard the hard story of Chilufya’s impossiblechoice. We considered the connections among justice, mercy andhumility, and we pondered how the world would be different if Micah’scall for all three was heeded. It seems so simple, yet, if there is any-thing we all know, it is that life is not simple. To follow Jesus, andheed Micah, takes uncommon courage and deep conviction.

People are divided about which road leads to deep change. It is notstraightforward and simple. The challenges of life are confusing, and we disagree over how best to respond.

Socially – we debate when life begins and ends.

Politically – we struggle to legislate policies that balance the pro-

tection of individual rights with those that best serve the commongood. We battle over human rights, who is right and wrong – and if there even is right and wrong.


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46 Part 4: Great Compassion

Globally – when issues like the pandemic of HIV/AIDS or debtcancellation are pushed onto our agenda, we tend to react either withdogmatism or confusion.

Religiously – Christians separate ourselves in different churches,respond to God with distinct spiritual styles and distinguish our-selves from one other with our lifestyle choices. The divides among the world’s religions are deep and sometimes dangerous.

Interpersonally – Family life can be complicated and painful. Ourchildren may not follow the path we would prefer. Marriage is some-

times precarious and threatened. Relationships with co-workers canbe a constant challenge, and even some neighbours can be a night-mare.


• As a large group, make lists within each of these five areas of the most pressing and most divisive issues faced in your com-munity. Write your lists on a large sheet of paper and post it

on the wall. (Save these for the next session.)• From the various challenges listed above, write in your jour-

nal a summary of two or three issues or concerns that espe-cially trouble you as an individual. What differences among people are hardest to overcome? How do these issues makeyou feel? What would make them easier for you to deal with?

• In pairs, talk about what you have written.

As we listen to the following comments, keep these personal

issues in mind and note any insights that might help us ad-

dress them differently.

Virtues in tension. The virtues of compassion and conviction help us deal

creatively – and redemptively – with the complexities we face.

Conviction is the building material for an informed and strong conscience.Conviction instills confidence in who we are, what we believe and how to

behave. The virtue of conviction allows us to be true to ourselves and to

face complex issues with confidence. Without conviction, our lives can be


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permissive and without boundaries – and we may not be able to cope

with the pressures of conflict and suffering.

Compassion gives us the ability to see life through others’ eyes and to

enter into others’ experience. Literally, compassion means “to suffer with.”

The virtue of compassion makes room for others. It enables us to re-

spond with respect and sensitivity to people, even those with whom we

may disagree. Compassion marks us with empathy. Without compas-

sion, we can become judgmental and harsh – and we may not be able

to build positive relationships with people whose life experience is dif-

ferent from our own.

Here’s the dilemma: People who live with high levels of compassion

often have low levels of conviction. People with high levels of conviction

often have low levels of compassion. When either virtue exists without

the balancing strength of the other, we are vulnerable to behaviour that

damages others.


• In small groups discuss the following figure. Offer examplesof people or groups who you feel reflect varying combina-tions of conviction and compassion.

• Talk with one another about which virtue is dominant in yourlife. Are you comfortable with your pattern?

• How might a balance of conviction and compassion help youaddress one of the issues about which you wrote in your jour-nal?

C O

N V I C T I O N

COMPASSIONhigh

high

lowlow

Confident and

judgmental

Uncriticallyinclusive and

accepting

Community amid

diversity


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Balancing conviction and compassion

Listen for issues of conviction and compassion in this familiar

scene from the Gospels.

“Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again

to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began

to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had

been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they

said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of commit-

ting adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such

women. Now what do you say?’ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and

wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him,

he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is

without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once again he bent

down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one

by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the

woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her,

‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘Noone, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and

from now on do not sin again.’” (John 8:1–11)

It is not only in our own times that life can be complex. Reflect onthe dilemma Jesus faced in his day. His swift thinking and quick action was a life-or-death matter for the woman accused of adultery.In this situation the religious “heavyweights” – the “do no wrong”scribes and Pharisees – are using the woman to collect evidence in anattempt to build their case against Jesus. Turning the setting into a courtroom, Jesus kneels down to ponder the predicament. With a single statement he makes it clear that everyone is tainted with sin.Everyone is guilty. When morality is the issue, no one has the rightto throw stones at others.

In this situation we see Jesus at one of his most powerful moments. After protecting the vulnerable woman from her accusers, he turnsand frees her from the threat of condemnation. But compassion is


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not the only virtue at work in the situation. Jesus’ conviction alsoenters the drama. “Give up the behaviour that will destroy you. Goand sin no more.”


In a large group have two volunteers take the roles of two Phari-sees. Role play a debate in which one argues the position of con-viction and the other compassion regarding what should be doneto the woman.

• Discuss how Jesus’ intervention averted a crisis for the womanand created a crisis for everyone else. How did he defuse the

situation without de-emphasising either conviction or com-passion?• Look at the list of pressing and divisive issues that you created

earlier in this session. How do deep convictions tend to esca-late the tension? What would compassion look like in thesesituations?

As you leave…

We have come a long way since the first session, when we consideredthat we are God’s beloved children. We have moved through whatsuch love means to us, and what a love like that could mean to the world. This week, think and pray about the familiar story of the woman who was not condemned but rather was met with both com-passion and conviction. Ask God to help you find the Christlikebalance of those two virtues in your own life.


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Study 8

Love is hard work


• Everyone should have a copy of the workbook and a journal.• Attach to the wall the lists developed in the previous session.• Participants can take turns reading aloud the text in the work-

book.

In our last session we explored the connection between compas-sion and conviction. Neither stands well alone. Together, though,they are powerful, as we witnessed in Jesus’ radical response to the woman caught in adultery and the Pharisees caught in unloving ac-cusation. Let us now go deeper into the hard work of connecting compassion and conviction.

Our world needs both virtues. Life works well when the virtues of conviction and compassion co-exist in us and find expression in fami-

lies and communities. When either virtue is taken to excess, untemperedby the other, it ceases to be a virtue and can cause problems.

Conviction, driven by truth, can be rigid and inflexible. It can leadto arrogance and intolerance. The challenge for Christians is to holdour views and beliefs strongly without denigrating others who holdequally strongly to their contrary views.

Compassion, driven by love, can be uncritically inclusive. Accep-tance of others can tumble into permissiveness and moral ambiguity.Here the challenge for Christians is to extend empathy without laps-ing into uncensored compromise.


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Study 8: Love is hard work 51

The hard work of love

Read and consider:

Margaret stares at the man entering the gates of World Vision’s Chil-

dren of War rehabilitation centre in Gulu, Uganda. She is wide-eyed

with disgust. He is the same man who, some time ago, ordered that

she be maimed, sparing her death only because he believed killing a

pregnant woman would bring him bad luck. This man ordered her

ears, nose and lips to be cut off, leaving her to die alone. She also wit-

nessed his child soldiers hacking her friends to death with machetes. Her

scars remain.

As he approaches, Margaret frantically rises. She says that she will kill

him if he is not removed from her presence. She walks away, refusing to

be near him.

As Margaret and the man are separated into different rehabilitation

centres, World Vision counsellors begin working on their spirits. The man

initially denies that he committed such atrocities. The counsellors at thecentre try to lessen Margaret’s anxiety and explore with her the choice

to forgive. Her enemy is probably also a victim of the suffering the

Lord’s Resistance Army has inflicted throughout Uganda. He may have

been forced into war at a young age himself.

Margaret and this former commander are brought together weeks later,

this time on different terms. With humility, the man confesses his actions

and asks to be forgiven. Staring back at him with overwhelming emo-

tion, Margaret is flooded with pain over the physical torture she en-

dured. She had been on the brink of death, a sliver away from losing not

just her own life, but also that of her unborn child.

On that day, for Margaret, compassion overshadowed revenge. On the

wall of World Vision’s Children of War Centre, where healing brings new

life to Gulu’s people, there are photographs of that day. Margaret for- gave. The man from her past is holding her little boy, James, in his arms.

Margaret is smiling as best she can, without lips.


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In small groups discuss Margaret’s situation.• What options did Margaret have?• How does her situation compare with the passage from John

8 studied earlier?• How did the outcome of the situation express the combina-

tion of compassion and conviction?

Work together on the table below.• First, turn back to the last session and re-read the section “Life

is complex.” In it, we identified five “life challenges”: social,

political, global, religious and interpersonal. Identify one cat-egory that especially interests or concerns you.• Discuss examples of both compassion-driven behaviour and

conviction-driven behaviour in this area to illustrate the dif-ferences between the two virtues. Complete at least one sec-tion of the chart.

Issue to address

Social

Political

Global

Religious

Family/interpersonal

Conviction-driven behaviour

Compassion-driven behaviour


• Let us hear from two small groups what a combination of conviction and compassion would look like in response to a specific issue.

• Discuss as an entire group ways in which balancing convic-tion and compassion enhances our response to life’s complexi-

ties, conflicts and sorrows.


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Study 8: Love is hard work 53

As you leave…

We have all made mistakes in this area. We have struck out withconviction against something we believe to be wrong, only to dis-cover that we have left compassion at home. We have stayed quiet when we wish we had the courage to speak because we were filled with compassion yet didn’t have enough conviction to take a risk.Before we meet again, reflect more on the challenge inherent in theconviction/compassion connection. It is not easy. But it can make allthe difference in the world. And all the difference to the world.


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Part 5

GreatGenerosity


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Study 9: Grace in action 57

Study 9

Grace in action


• Everyone should have a copy of the workbook and a journal.• Participants can take turns reading aloud the text in the work-

book.

As we sift through the compassion/conviction challenge and findthe balance that helps us respond as Jesus did to the woman caughtin adultery and her accusers, we may discover that God’s calling inour lives becomes clearer. We may see opportunities to respond toMicah’s call to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly everywherearound us. Using the courage of conviction and the beauty of com-passion, we respond. And what does this response require? Grace. And lots of it.

The charitable God: The word charity shares the same Greek root as

the word grace. To practice charity is to put grace into action. Graceis God’s action to restore us to fullness of life and draw us into recon-ciled relationships with God and with one another. God is the origi-nator of charity – grace in action.

Everyone wants to be helpful. Few like being on the receiving end of other people’s charity. Most prefer to give. In fact, every religion inthe world calls for charity. Giving alms to the poor is a fundamental

mandate. Christians do not have an exclusive claim to generosity. Allpeople have some desire to be generous, for all people are created inthe image of the generous God.


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58 Part 5: Great Generosity

As we hear this selection from 2 Corinthians, underline anything that is distinctive about the Macedonians’ generosity.

Read and consider:

“We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God

that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia: for during a se-

vere ordeal of suffering, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty

have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can

testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond

their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this

ministry to the saints – and this, not merely as we expected; they gavethemselves first to the Lord, and by the will of God, to us.…

“For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he

was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you

might become rich.…

“It is a question of fair balance between your present abundance and

their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order thatthere may be a fair balance.” (2 Cor. 8:1–5, 9, 13–14)


• As an entire group, list common motives for charity • Discuss why, and how, our motivation for giving matters. What

difference does it make?• Are some motives destructive or hurtful?

• According to the Scripture reading above, what motivated theMacedonian churches to give?

The goal of giving is more than benevolence. People may have vari-ous motives for charity – to help those in need; to win merit, respector a good feeling; or even to gain a tax advantage. Paul moves thediscussion of generosity beyond kindness and benevolence to some-

thing much deeper – a question of fair balance which creates greaterequity between abundance and need. The goal of charity is justice –making life right!


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Study 9: Grace in action 59


• In small groups discuss what a fair balance has to do withgenerosity.

• How does this shape your understanding of charity?• Share with the entire group your thoughts about the rela-

tionship of a fair balance and generosity.• Share a story from your World Vision work about the role of

generosity in the life of a donor you know or a staff workerfrom another country you have met. How has this exampleempowered you and your work?

Write (5 minutes)• In your journal or notebook, record a time when you werenot charitable or generous. What made you behave that way?

• Write about a time that you were charitable or generous. How did you feel after?

Conclude by praying together for your church, asking that God’sgrace will overflow in generosity.

As you leave…

Think this week about the difference generosity and charity make inthe world. Giving is not the privilege of the wealthy; it a privilege foreveryone. Look for evidence of God’s generosity in those around you. You will probably see it in places you do not expect it.


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Study 10

An issue of justice


• Everyone should have a copy of the workbook and a journal.• Please supply tape, large sheets of paper and coloured pens for

the small-group discussion.• Participants can take turns reading aloud the text in the work-

book.

In our last session we discussed generosity and charity. For those who have much, it is easy to think of giving as a nice option to have,something that makes us feel good. “Isn’t it nice to be able to give?” we might say. This week, we will explore the fact that “nice” doesn’treally have much to do with it.

The goal of giving isn’t simply to be merciful. It is an expression of our fulfilment of the Great Requirement to do justice, the Great

Commission to disciple every aspect of life, and the Great Com-mandment to love our neighbours as ourselves.


Let us read in unison the following Scripture passages:

On overflowing justice:

“Seek good and not evil,that you may live.…

Hate evil and love good,

and establish justice in the gate.…


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Study 10: An issue of justice 61

But let justice roll down like waters

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

(Amos 5:14–15, 24)

On true love:

“We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us – and we ought

to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in

anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need

and yet refuses help?” (1 John 3:16–17)

Discuss these questions in groups of four:

• John points to Jesus as the model for giving. Discuss what itmeans in practical terms for us “to lay down our lives for oneanother.”

• Amos links doing good and seeking justice with the ability tolive (v. 14). What are the consequences of disregarding theneeds of others?

• With the members of your small group draw a picture por-traying the results of generosity that you think God desires.

List some words that also capture the image.• As an entire group, walk about and look at each group’s draw-

ings.

Generosity is contagious. God in Christ sets the ultimate standardfor giving and self-sacrifice. In response the Macedonians gave them-selves to their giving, living God. Receiving grace from God instilled“abundant joy” in their spirits and motivated their generous responseto those living in the midst of poverty. In the Macedonians’ case theirgenerosity didn’t flow from abundant affluence but from their expe-rience of God’s abundant grace.


• In the large group invite a few people to share briefly theexperiences they have had, or have heard of, in which some

people were generous even though they were very poor.• Discuss the impact on our engagement in God’s mission inthe world when we think of our giving and serving not asvoluntary acts of charity but as inspired acts of justice.


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Listen to the following thoughts on the urgency of giving and

ask God to guide your response.

Giving as a life-or-death matter. Selfishness blinds us to opportunities to

serve and enhance other people’s quality of life. Selfishness stifles our

own development and cripples our capacity to love. The consequences

are tragic. The prophet Amos’s words are still true: “Seek good and not

evil, that you might live.” When we refuse to do so, we limp through life –

although God created us to fly.

If our unjust world is to move toward a fair balance, the measures

of our generosity will be both according to our means and beyondour means. Like the Macedonians, out of our gratitude for God’s

grace we will give ourselves to God. We will joyfully extend our

extraordinary generosity to people who live with very little.

Personal reflection (5 minutes)

• In your journal write a short prayer (10 to 30 words) express-ing what you would like God to do in your life to nourish and

motivate a lifestyle of generosity.

Conclude by praying as an entire group. Those who are comfort-able doing so can pray aloud the prayers they have just written.

As you leave…

Commit to praying your prayer each day this week. Ask God to make

you more generous and more gracious to those around you who may struggle in this area.


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Part 6

GreatConfidence


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66 Part 6: Great Confidence

We all have our favourite Scripture verses about hope. As we

listen to the following description of the impact of poverty

on hope, write any Scripture verses that come to mind that

nourish hope.

Social and spiritual poverty starve our capacity to dream. Two critical

factors that determine our social and spiritual well-being are where we

are born and our family. Our geographic and family inheritances are like

a lottery; we are not able to manage or organise them. Though we have

no control over them, they influence who we become and how we expe-

rience life.

For people born into social and physical poverty, the future seems bleak

and options are scarce. Even for those whose families are not financially

poor, emotional or relational “famines” may leave them starving for

hope, feeling trapped and helpless. When these expressions of physical

and emotional poverty are augmented with spiritual poverty, life feels

like a big mistake. It is no wonder that depression can turn life into a

journey of dark despair.

The gospel breaks into this bleak reality with new songs of hope. The

Bible is a book of hope. Hope extends from Noah’s rainbow to the

assurance given Abraham of descendants as countless as the stars. Cour-

age invades history. Those who are marooned in the wilderness receive

God’s promise that they will build their houses in their own land.

Jesus makes his entry with assurance that there is good news for the

poor and freedom for the oppressed. The final pages of the Bible pro-

claim that one day all tears will be wiped away and all injustices cease.

Calamity and despair do not have the final word.

The followers of Jesus have great reasons to burst into song. God walks

with us in the present, and the eternal future rings with certainty.

Reflection (20 minutes) As an entire group, invite people to call out their favourite Scrip-ture verses on hope. Then,divide into groups of eight to ten people.


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who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:26, 31–33)

Hope for forever “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.…Listen, I will tell you a mystery!…For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put onimperishability.…Then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’…

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:49–57)


Discuss in the large group what you have discovered in these Scrip-

ture texts.• What new hope do they bring to you?• What hope had you forgotten?• Consider the following definition of hope from the Oxford

Dictionary: hope n & v: expectation and desire combined fora certain thing to occur; grounds for hope, promise; what ishoped for; a feeling of trust. Does your desire match yourexpectation?

As you leave…

Take stock of your level of hope. Are you hopeful or hopeless? Bothare normal at different times and in various circumstances. Focusthis week on what gives you hope. Consider that hope exists whetheryou feel it or not. Re-read the Scripture texts in this session and ask

God to renew your hope.


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Study 12: Singing God’s song . . . today 69

Study 12

Singing tomorrow’s

song…today


• Everyone should have a copy of the workbook and a journal.• Provide large sheets of paper and coloured pens for group work.• Have a song leader (and possibly instrumental accompanists)

prepared to lead the group in singing “Amazing Grace” and “Joy to the World.”

• Prepare handouts with the words of the two hymns for the par-ticipants.• You can have people take turns reading aloud the text in the

workbook.

In our last session we explored hope – the hope that we have andsometimes the hope that we do not have. But whether we feel it or

not, the hope of the Christian is a hope for now and forever. God’sfaithfulness and promises do not apply only to life after we die; they apply to us today. They apply not only to our personal life but to allof the Creation.


• Form the same two groups from the previous session andreview your discussion of the Scripture passages on hope. Share

what you thought about this week as you thought about thoseScriptures and where you are in terms of hope.


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• Capture some of your insights from your discussion on theScriptures and compose a verse for a song that expresses thehope they convey. Choose either the melody of “Amazing Grace” or “Joy to the World.”

• Write your new verse on a large sheet of paper.

God’s mission in the world is to replace spiritual and social/economicpoverty with fullness of life. This assurance gives us overflowing hope.

As we listen to the following reflections, underline anything

that expresses the relationship between hope for the future

and action in the present.

Exchanging poverty for hope – in the present tense. Writing and singing

songs are not adequate responses to people who have no way to es-

cape grinding poverty. The well-intentioned words “I’ll pray for you” will

not put groceries in bare cupboards. We know that the harsh reality of

social and physical poverty calls for justice, generosity and acts of both

conviction and compassion.

Spiritual poverty and relational poverty invite different responses of love

and obedience. God delights in using expressions of creative witness

and the sharing of stories about our encounters with Christ to provoke

others to responses of faith. The gift of friendship to someone who is

relationally starved requires time, but that choice to care can lead to a

treasured relationship.

No one is naive enough to propose that we can solve the world’s pov-

erty problems with the responses of a few dedicated individuals. But

Jesus mandates that we do our part to make life right for others and

that we more fairly balance the world’s resources. Otherwise, we will

hear Jesus ask, “Why do you call me ‘Lord Lord,’ and do not do what I tell

you?” (Luke 6:46).

Hoping boldly in the midst of present problems. Hope is tangiblypractical. Rather than distracting us from the pains of the present,


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Study 12: Singing God’s song . . . today 71

hope motivates us to deal with them. It is our privilege to lift up

the signs of tomorrow’s certainties in the midst of today’s uncer-

tainties. Followers of Christ are empowered by the Spirit toward

what is good, and they can be found at the centre of solutions to

present-day problems.

We can accomplish so much

Read and consider:

“I love to talk about peace. It is so important. We can accomplish so

much,” says Fatmira, a 15–year-old girl in Kosovo. Fatmira longs for peace between Serbians and Albanians. Her siblings were abducted by

Serbs during the Kosovo war. Her home was burned to ashes. Will the

deep ethnic prejudice that still reigns in her homeland ever be dissolved?

Will she grow up with the same fear of Serbs with which her parents

lived?

The patient kindness of a World Vision staff member led Fatmira to join

one of World Vision’s Kids for Peace Clubs. Fatmira likens peace clubs to groups of young birds who have the urge to fly but don’t know how.

Outside the nest it is dark, threatening, frightening, even violent. The

young ones try to fly but they have no teacher and they are thwarted.

They become discouraged. But once again it is the time to try. “We need

to work. It takes work.

Enveloped by a Balkan culture that honours vengeance as a right and

obligation, it is often difficult for Fatmira and her family to look beyond

their personal grief. Peace does not always come easily. Fatmira’s grief

inevitably surfaced when she met Serbian kids face to face at a World

Vision–sponsored conference for Kids for Peace clubs. Feeling confused

while pondering the war, her heart split in two: “One half of me was

remembering my sister and brother and the pain. The other half was

asking myself how to go and greet the Serbian kids.” But with God’s

merciful strength, she chose to accept them. She felt relieved, knowing that “I’m where I always dreamed to be, living in peace, in a good place,

calm, quiet.”


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Fatmira says that she has lots of dreams, not least “for my city to be

united.…Enough hatred. We are fed up with hatred.” Fatmira’s mother

says, “We will realise the dreams of

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