LEADER'S GUIDE - Lutheran Bible Ministries



Light on the Lessons

Micah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany; Cycle A; February 2, 2020

Leader Guidance

Materials Needed

+ Bibles for everyone (variety of translations often useful)

+ Lectionary sheets (very convenient if you use them in worship)

+ Chalkboard, newsprint, overhead, or another means for displaying information and recording thoughts.

+ Basic reference books for use as needed: Bible dictionary, Bible atlas, concordance, a one-volume Bible commentary.

+ Copies of hymn “Sent Forth by God’s Blessings” (LBW 221, ELW 547)

I Getting Started

Have the lessons read aloud while others follow the text. Pray for concerns suggested by participants, and then ask the Holy Spirit to be present with enlightenment and insight. Sing, or say together, “Sent Forth by God’s Blessings.” After the prayers, turn to the questions.

1. Responses will vary. This is an attempt to summarize the faith. This can’t really be done, of course, but it is good to see what participants view as the core of their faith. The exercise prepares people to discuss Micah 6:8.

2. While responses will vary, “wisdom of the world” means all that is not of the Gospel. While Paul said such wisdom does not provide a path to salvation, it is nevertheless important for us. Being “in but not of” the world, we use worldly wisdom every day, but do not look to it for salvation.

3. Responses will vary. This is to help participants appreciate that one’s inner peace can contradict one’s outward circumstances.

II Check the Texts

1. Micah 6:1-8

Help participant perceive and appreciate the “courtroom” setting for this passage.

A. Titles will vary, but not the speakers: 1-2, the prophet (as prosecuting attorney) speaks, “Call the earth to hear God’s charges”; 3-5, God (as plaintiff) speaks, “After all I did for you, why do you leave me?”; 6-7, the people (as defendants) plead their case, “How can we make it up?”; and 8, the prophet speaks the summary judgment of the court, “Summary of the case.” Verse 8 urges the people simply to keep up their end of the covenant by doing justice.

B. God’s basic accusation is unfaithfulness to the covenant. Verses 3-5 recite God’s actions on behalf of Israel in delivering them from Egypt and bringing them to the Promised Land. Balak sought to keep the Israelites out of Moab but his prophet Balaam blessed Israel instead. Shittim and Gigal refer to crossing the Jordan.

C. Note that the people (verses 6-7) think that ever more elaborate and extensive sacrifices and rituals will heal their breach of the covenant. They offer to sacrifice wealth (calves, the future of their herds, and oil) and then up the ante to sacrifice their own first-born, who would be heir of their future.

D. Great corruption ranged among the elites and the ruling classes who oppressed the poor. Coming from a small town, Micah may have been more sensitive to injustices that city dwellers took for granted. He predicted Jerusalem’s doom (verse 12) at the hands of the Assyrian king, Sennacherib. However, in 701 BC, Hezekiah bought him off and saved Judah. More than a century later, Micah’s words were recalled as the Babylonians threatened Jerusalem. Jeremiah spoke doom as clearly as Micah did earlier, and the earlier prophet was quoted in his defense (Jeremiah 26:18-19).

2. 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

A. Paul aims to heal divisions at Corinth. In verses 18-31 he invites them to move away from the esoteric teachers (a cause of division) and return to the basics. “Perishing” = outsiders; “being saved” = Christians. Paul views salvation as complete only when Christ returns and the living and the dead join him. Until then, we are “in process.”

B. In Isaiah 29, God speaks to criticize Israel for hypocrisy; the people think they have God nailed down, but they don’t, for God has surprises still to come. Paul’s “wise people” are also those in the community who misunderstand the God ward relationship. The “wisdom” Paul attacks is that of Greek speculative philosophy. Many people like to “think their way to God” and deem a concept as simple as God’s gift of salvation in Christ inadequate.

C. Only the worst criminals were executed by crucifixion; it was the most shameful death. So how could it possibly bring redemption? Also, the notion of sacrifice was being questioned in thoughtful, Greek circles, so they might seek a more sophisticated road to salvation than the brutal Cross. In verses 24-25 Paul simply asserts the paradox that God acted through the Cross, thus inverting the usual concept of “wise” and “weak.”

D. Paul continues his “inversion of values” (also the theme of the Beatitudes in the Gospel). Rhetorically, his appeal to the amazing truth of “strength in weakness” would appeal to the bulk of the Corinthian community who belonged to the underclass.

3. Matthew 5:1-12

A. Chapters 5 – 7 comprise the Sermon on the Mount. Many see it as a picture of an ethical life, Micah 6:8 expanded. But if so it is hard to live by; see 5:27-30, 38-42. The Sermon offers an ideal view of “kingdom ethics,” how people could live in a world restored by God’s power and cleansed of sin. When we measure ourselves against these injunctions, we fall short and see our sin clearly. That takes us back to Paul: the Cross, not ethics, brings God to us.

B. Luke has four blessings and four woes, after the “blessing-curse” pattern in Deuteronomy; Matthew has nine blessings. Luke has Jesus addressing people directly (Blessed are you who…); Matthew’s beatitudes read more like principles.

C. “Blessed” could suggest that God directly blesses certain difficult conditions in life, such as poverty or persecution. “Happy is…” puts the focus on the faith-attitude of the one experiencing the condition.

D. The second clause states what God will do. One might paraphrase all the beatitudes this way: “Happy is the one who waits on the Lord to fulfill his promises.” The beatitudes are calls to faith rather than ethical principles.

E. Luke mentions only the “poor,” while Matthew has “poor in spirit.” Both refer to the masses of people who had few personal resources to address their cause and meet their needs, so they had to rely on God totally. The term also applies to the masses of people too busy scratching a living to spend much time in religious activities, as could the wealthier elites in the cities.

F. Moses was called the humblest and meekest of the meek, meaning he was very devout. Or it could mean turn the other cheek. Basically, the “meek” trust God; again, the words calls us to faith rather than suggesting an ethical principle.

III What Does It All Mean?

1. Responses will vary.

2. Responses may vary. We need to recover the biblical notion of arguing with God. The Psalms are rich with examples of prayer that challenges God. What are some issues the group would like to test in court? (E.g., why let the good die young?)

3. In response to what God has done for us in Christ, we love God (worship) and our neighbor (service and justice). Both worship and justice are acts of thanksgiving, responding to God’s prior love rather than attempts to win God’s love. We can see Christ in our neighbor, and our neighbor in Christ. Both worship and justice are essential, but perhaps one or the other appeals more strongly to a certain individual. We all face the danger of universalizing for everyone the particular slant on the faith that suits our psyche.

4. Responses may vary. Paul and Matthew are making the same point, with Paul using terms such as “foolish” or “weak.” We come to God as homeless beggar or we don’t come to God. We are utterly dependent on God’s grace, revealed so sharply through Christ. God did on the Cross what we could never do for ourselves. Thus, our life is one of love for God and neighbor gratefully given in response for God’s overwhelming love. The Christian life is defined by thankfulness.

5. Responses will vary. Have participants mark their scale. Ask the highest and lowest to tell why they chose their rankings. Attitude or perception, how we “read” our situation, really shapes that situation. Spiritual growth can be thought of as an on-going reshaping of our attitude toward more reliance on God and less on ourselves.

6. Responses will vary. When talking about justice, refer to Luke 3:10-14. There John defines just behavior in terms of each person’s station in life. So, justice is more than an abstraction. It consists of actual, just behaviors that are open to us in our particular situation. Justice for a stockbroker might take on a different shape than justice for a farmer.

IV Into the Week

As time permits, use #1 as a way to get a summary of the session. Share experiences with using the suggested daily prayer. Work on memorizing Micah 6:8.

Copyright © 2020, Lutheran Bible Ministries. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to make photocopies for use in church-related study groups.

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