“Good Enough” Lenten Sermon Series

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Week 2 HPC @ Home Guide
*Scripture:* Luke 13:31-35
Takeaway: Out of Control

Take some time to share:
• One thing that you are thankful for this week.

• One thing you need.

• How can the group help?

Bible Discussion: Read Luke 13:22-35
Even Jesus got frustrated when folks didn’t behave as he would have liked. We probably aren’t receiving death threats from Herod as Jesus was, but our wellbeing could be threatened by the idea that if we just try hard enough, are nice enough, say just the right thing, life will always go our way. We run around in so many directions, trying to herd the chicks into some imagined semblance of perfect formation (have you ever tried to herd chicks?).

• What was Jesus so frustrated about?

• What did Jesus mean by a narrow door? How can it be that the “narrow door” is actually a less confining entrance into the kingdom of God?

• What if we could let go of needing all things and all people to be “just so” and instead learn to dance with the unfolding of that which is not ours to control?

Application:
Our human propensity for control is perhaps one of the most frustrating aspects of our human brains. What we desire–our longing for particular outcomes–can often keep us driven to exhaustion and distraction. Yes, so much of life’s circumstances are out of our control. Jesus knows he can only bring the message (and is called to do so even in the face of danger), not make the people accept it–to his frustration. In Kate Bowler’s book “Everything happens for a reason (and other lies I’ve loved),” she points out that we try all kinds of theological backflips to reason our way out of the discomfort we feel about suffering. If we can’t control things, then surely God is in control of every little thing, we think. And yet, the logic doesn’t hold alongside a theology of a compassionate, grace-full God. The psycho-spiritual fallout from such “do good = good things happen” control-thinking deems some people failures simply by virtue of the tragedies that happen to them.

• When was the last time you tried to control something & had it blow up horribly in your face?

• When was the last time you tried to control something, had it go other than the way you planned, and benefited from this diversion?

Challenge: As we said last week, the season of Lent is often associated with giving something up. This year, maybe we should think about this in terms of “letting go,” rather than giving up. Let’s try to let go of our need to be in control and trust the process. Let’s try to let go of our need to make sense of everything and wonder. Let’s try to let go of our need to be right and instead be gracious (to ourselves & others).