3 Betrayal –
sharing prayers of confession for our own betrayal of Jesus
Sharing Friendship 30
minutes
As
people arrive light refreshments are served.
Place two glasses [or paper cups] as this week’s ‘table ornament’ for
reflection on the table among the refreshments.
They will need preparing before hand.
On one glass the following words are written: ‘take this cup away from me’. On the other glass the following words are
written: ‘Yet not what I want, but what
you want’. The inscription can be done
very simply – pen on a paper cup, label stuck to a glass … or more artistically
with ink or paint on glass. This idea
was prompted by a wonderful piece of art in ‘Made Flesh’, an exhibition in
School of Art at the University of Gloucestershire at which Greenbelt awarded a
prize of £500. Susan Saratin’s piece
consisted of four glass goblets engraved with this text. It will be helpful to have a low table in
the middle of the room, or at some appropriate focal point, where the two
glasses can be placed as the second part of the session begins. You will also need paper and pens for the
section ‘Sharing Prayer’.
Once
the group is settled and everyone has arrived gather the group together and
begin to focus the conversation a little more.
·
go
round the circle and invite each person to recall some of the things that they
have been doing over the last week, and share anything special that has
happened.
·
go
round the circle a second time and invite people to recall anything they have
done in the last week in response to the thoughts and prayers that were shared
last week.
Sharing Reflections on the Bible 30
minutes
Take
the first glass and read the inscription … Take
this cup from me. And place it on
the table at the centre of the circle.
Then take the second cup, Yet,
not what I want, but what you want.
And place it alongside the first on the table.
This evening
we are going to focus on the most personal
of prayers – the prayers we share
when we are at our lowest, the prayers we share that have an honesty which is
sometimes confined to our own inner thoughts as we make confession, the prayers
we share that release the deepest sense of peace which Christ promises us. The idea for our two glasses came from a
wonderfully thought-provoking exhibition at the School of Art in the University
of Gloucestershire. Susan Saratin’s
piece was made up of four glass goblets inscribed with the words of Jesus in
the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus came to
break barriers down and to build
friendships up. He reached out to people
whose needs were very great ... and expected his followers to do likewise. What he had to say challenged those who heard
it ... and pricked their conscience too.
Matthew gathers the teaching of Jesus together into five great addresses. The first, the Sermon on the Mount, begins with the Beatitudes and ends with a
parable contrasting the wisdom of those who act on the words they hear from
Jesus and the folly of those who do not:
Read Matthew 7:24-27
The last
address delivered by Jesus in that fateful last week in Jerusalem begins in
Matthew 23 with warnings of woe to those who are religious in a wrong way and
ends with a parable contrasting those who follow Christ faithfully as they
reach out to people in need and those who do not.
Read Matthew 25:31-46
What do you
make of these two stories? Are you
challenged to be a wise builder and a sheep?
Or are you humbled and conscious of being too often like the foolish
builder and a goat? What are these
stories saying that can feed into our time of prayer as we share in prayers of confession for our own
betrayal of Jesus?
Allow
the group simply to share their responses to these questions - as leader you
might look out for some of these points ...
Points
to look out for in Matthew 7:24-27 and Matthew 25:31-46
· look
at Matthew 7:24 - invite members of the group to identify the ‘words of Jesus’
in the Sermon on the Mount which they find most challenging and most humbling.
· in
the light of Matthew 7:24-27 do you think that the Sermon on the Mount sets out
an ideal that can never be achieved or a practical set of guidelines for the
way we live our lives?
· focus
on Matthew 25:35-36 and 42-43. When do
we see Jesus hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick or in prison? If we are overwhelmed by a sense of
inadequacy in the response we make what do we do about it? How does that prompt us to pray?
· notice
the way Jesus has little time for those who think that they are righteous and
good and all the time in the world for those who are all too conscious of their
inadequacies - compare the response of the righteous and the response of the
others in 37-39 and 44.
· notice
the way that Jesus’ words of woe in Matthew 23 are aimed at those who think
that they are righteous; compare also the words that lead into the parable of
the two builders in Matthew 7:21-23.
Allow
a good period of time sharing reflections on these passages. Be sensitive in
this discussion: it will probably
highlight how much there is to do, and how little we can accomplish. It is important to lead on from that sense of
inadequacy to the next reflections ...
Jesus had
little time for those who thought they were righteous, but all the time in the
world for those who were conscious
of their own inadequacies. Are there any stories of Jesus which speak
to you about the forgiving love of God
that Jesus offers to those who let him down?
Prompt the group to think of the
forgiving love of God in stories such as Zacchaeus, the Woman caught in
adultery, and focus especially on the saying on the cross, ‘Father, forgive
them ...
In the light
of these reflections on the Bible how should we shape the prayers we share for
ourselves in the light of our own inadequacies?
Finish
this part of the evening by inviting people to share thoughts that can feed
into the last part of the evening, sharing prayer. It may be helpful to highlight the value of
prayers of confession, followed by thanksgiving for the forgiveness of God,
followed by prayers seeking the strength of God’s Spirit to follow more closely
in the footsteps of Jesus.
Sharing Prayer 30 minutes
Play
some quiet, reflective music. Place the
two glasses on the table in the centre of the circle, or in some appropriate
place. Read out the inscriptions on each
glass as you place it on the table.
Read Matthew 26:30-50 [choose a translation
which includes the word ‘Friend’ as the first of Jesus’ words in verse 50 and
stop at that word. E.g., New Revised
Standard Version.
Play
the prayer meditation ‘Betrayal’ from Jesus
forever the same, the third part of the Video, Jesus, today, tomorrow, forever?
We are asked to think for a moment of
something that troubles us in our own hearts.
It may be something which we feel has let Jesus down, it might be a
friend we have let down, a secret we have let out, a confidence we have broken;
it might be a person we passed by, a need we ignored, a victim we had no time
for; it might be a homeless person we avoided when we turned our eyes away.
Let
everyone have a small piece of paper [eg a post-it note] and a pen. Play some quiet music ... leave the music
playing as you explain ....
Now let’s think of one thing that
troubles us in particular ... and write it down on the piece of paper. This is simply a personal note ... no one
else is going to read what we have written.
Pause
for a moment until everyone has finished writing. Now fade out the music.
Now we are invited to crumple our piece
of paper into a tiny ball - you may like to shred it first! On the table are two glasses - one says,
‘Take this cup away from me’. The other
says, ‘not what I want, but what You want’.
Think for a moment: which glass
would you like to put your piece of paper in?
Whichever glass is chosen ... let’s think in our mind’s eye that we are
off-loading into God’s hands the things.
To each of us Jesus has words of
comfort and of peace to share.
Play
the part at the end of Act 2 of Jesus
for Today on the Video where the Women share Words of Comfort and Peace
from John 14-16.
Read Philippians 4:4-9
Take
the Trade badge, which people have been invited to wear.
May this cross and these scales of
justice remind us
of those who are hungry and
of those who are thirsty,
of those who are strangers and
of those who are naked,
of those who are sick and
of those who are in prison.
Put a new spirit within our hearts
of commitment to our community and to
our world.
Be with those let down by society,
by employment, by their families,
by friends and neighbours and by
themselves.
Be with those let down by the world,
by an unjust sharing of the world’s
resources,
by injustice in world trade.
Put a new spirit within our hearts
of commitment to our community and to
our world.
Guide those in positions of power and
influence
empower those who serve with
sensitivity and compassion.
Our community is your community,
our world is your world,
divided by 2000 years but nothing more.
Problems and needs just the same,
fear and isolation just the same.
Then
you forgave,
now
your forgive
Jesus, unchanging,
Jesus, forever the same.
Amen.
Say the Grace together.
After
a short pause, play some quiet music once more.
Have copies of the prayer meditation ready for people to take home. Have available the Trade badge for anyone
else who may be prompted to wear it.
