Prepare
This lesson from Luke comes just as Jesus turns toward the cross. The dark times he alludes to are not in some far-off future. His arrest and crucifixion are only days away.
These verses are not a springboard to the future, a map to God’s plan for this world, nor a dire warning to God’s people of what lies ahead. They point not to some future time but to our present fears, addressing the deepest parts of our doubt, grief, anger, guilt, and pain, whether we believe them deserved or not, whether the source lies within us, or with someone who has hurt us deeply.
Jesus’ words, and more importantly, Jesus’ promise, are about today, this day.
Opening Exercise:
What is it you worry or wonder about the most? Your deepest fear, the recurring doubt, or insecurity you hold?
Don’t share this with the group but be mindful of it as you listen to Jesus speak to his disciples about dark times ahead. He gives them only one instruction, listen for it.
Text Read Aloud
My Greatest Fear… Realized
The passage begins with the disciples admiring the beauty of the Jerusalem temple, recently renovated by Herod the
Great. It was a structure many saw as a testimony to God’s power and providence, and, as public works often are, a reminder of Herod’s own power and ambition. Things quickly turn grim as Jesus speaks of the temple’s destruction and dark times ahead for not only the world, but for those who follow Jesus’ teaching. He tells them they will endure great suffering.
The disciples are quick to ask when this will happen and what signs to watch for. However, the signs Jesus speaks of are vague and imprecise enough to fit all times throughout history. There has never been a time when the world was free of war and insurrection. The darker truth is that there is never time when those who follow Jesus have lived problem free lives.
Jesus never hid the high cost of discipleship. Persecution need not come from those lording over us. Fear, doubt, and insecurity relentlessly pursue us in life. As to suffering and betrayal, those too, wait in ambush throughout our life’s journey. Not in the abstract but in our families, our relationships, our lives.
Following these grim and dire words, Jesus surprises once again with a prescription and a promise. The odd prescription, “…make up your minds not to prepare…” is more of a non-prescription. In essence, “Don’t worry about it.” And the promise is Jesus himself, “…I will give you words, I will give you wisdom… not a hair of your head will perish.”
Reflective Questions
- What kinds of hardship or warning does Jesus say his followers will face, and what does he promise them in return?
- Why do you think Jesus tells his followers to “make up your minds not to prepare your defense”? What do you think that means?
- Jesus gives what sounds like an impossible task, not to worry when our hopes and dreams lie shattered and crushed. Who comes to mind as someone who has exhibited faith, trust, or hope in the face of great adversity?
- What person or place can you turn to today with the troubled parts of your life?
Closing Activity
Two Options:
- Think back to when you were very young, before school or in early childhood. What was something you were afraid of then that turned out not to be true or not worth fearing? Share that story with someone else or the group.
Then, reflect together:
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- What helped you realize you didn’t have to be afraid?
- How might that experience help you trust God now when fears or worries rise up?
- Give each person a small stone (to represent the temple’s destruction). Ask them to hold it while reflecting silently on something in life that has felt like it’s “falling down” or uncertain. Then, read aloud Jesus’ promise: “Not a hair of your head will perish.”
Invite participants to set down their stone in front of a cross or candle as a symbol of placing their fear and trust in Christ.
Final Prayer
God,
Help us trust your promises when they don’t feel real in our lives. Thank you for those people in our lives whose wisdom and faith strengthens ours. Open our ears and our hearts so we can reach out with words and actions encouraging others when they feel helpless and hopeless. Amen
Bio
Pastor Bob Chell’s Dad took him to watch fire fighters train on an abandoned house when he was very young. He thought—and worried—for years that fire fighters drove around in their trucks looking for houses that were in disrepair burn down. Now retired, he pastored congregations, campus ministries and a prison congregation.
