Table Talk Questions
Table talk is where you think and talk about specific questions around the table with your friends, with your family, on Zoom or wherever you can meet. Here are this week's Table Talk Questions:
- What do you think about heaven?
- What kind of ideas do you have about heaven?
- What do we understand by Heaven?
- What do we think about this idea that life here on earth is a bit of a struggle?
Join in the Table Talk Questions on Instagram and Facebook during the week
Message Transcript
Do you ever think about your future? Do you wonder what it holds? For you, for the rest of the world? Well, that is what we are going to get into today! Stick around as we look at the teachings of Jesus to talk about your future, what is in it and whether or not it is doing to be good.
We are in Mark’s gospel, chapter 13...where Jesus and His disciples are leaving the temple, heading outside and as they did....
Mark 13:1
... one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”
The disciple here is talking about the temple that was in Jerusalem at the time. It was a magnificent building, even by today’s standards.
Josephus, a Jewish historian at the time of Christ noted that “whatever was not overlaid with gold was the purest white” Herod himself had donated a golden vine for one of its decorations, and its grape clusters were as tall as a man. Some of the white stones were almost 12 m high and 5.5m wide - or 37’ x 18 in old money. It was as solid as it was magnificent.
So Jesus’ reply to the disciples would have been a little bit shocking. Jesus told them that the temple would be destroyed - every single stone. Despite it’s size, strength and splendour. And it was destroyed, about 40 years after this conversation. The Romans destroyed it in response to a large Jewish revolt and according to Josephus, it was an absolute massacre by the Roman army.
So this prophecy of Jesus causes the disciples to ask about the future - exactly what is going to happen?
And then Mark records quite a long message of Jesus’ predictions and prophecies about the future. It’s the rest of Mark chapter 13. And rather than read them verse by verse, we are going to look at one of two key points but I do encourage you to read the whole chapter. If you don’t have a Bible, just google Mark chapter 13 and it will come up with sites like Biblegateway.com that have free online access to multiple translations.
And for me, this whole conversation that Jesus has with disciples brings up two key questions that I think we all have:
- What does my future hold?
- Is it good?
As a species, we have a really unique ability - we can think in different time zones - we understand the past, the present and the future. And how we think about the future is also critical. Scientists call this prospection.
So what does the Bible say about the future?
In one of the most quoted verses of the Bible, Jesus said this,
Matthew 6:33-34
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow...
It would be easy to worry about tomorrow. especially in the times that we live. We can easily worry about a great many things to do with our future: will I have enough money? What will my health be like? Will I be alone? But Jesus tells us something quite radical - He tells us that we don’t have to worry about tomorrow or the future. We don’t have to be anxious about it - which may sound easier said than done, right?
But notice what Jesus said the key to this whole deal is - seeking the right things - it starts with the Kingdom of God.
If we spend our time seeking & building wealth, guess what - we will worry about tomorrow. We have seen how within the click of a finger, pensions can be halved in value and our job security thrown away because of a virus.
And you know what, wealth isn’t a necessarily a bad thing but out of balance - out of position - if it is the main things we seek, if it is what we spend our life building, we worry about our future.
But when we learn to seek God first - guess what, we learn that we can trust Him for our tomorrow. We start to worry less about our future because we have faith in the God of tomorrow, the God who knows the end from the beginning. We can trust He will guide us, that He has a plan for us. A purpose for each of us.
Which is awesome.
But is it good????
Well, there are two-time frames we have to look at to answer that question: the first, is our future as we live out our days here on earth. The second time frame is the not-so-secret weapon of being a Christian - let’s call it eternity.
So let’s look at our time here on earth a bit more.
In Mark 13, Jesus is unnervingly honest about the future. He talks about famines and wars, and brother turning on brother. He talks about natural disasters and persecution. He talks about pain and suffering. It is a far cry from the “Come to Jesus and you’re life will be just peachy” vision that has often been sold in the church. It is a far cry from the Self-Help doctrine of if you can see it you can have it.
Jesus paints a very different picture. He talks of struggle. Which isn’t all that sexy if we are honest!
And we can all agree with the idea that life can be a struggle. I was without a job, with a new baby and large amounts of debt. We know what it is to struggle. Like you I have had to deal with grief, loss and even betrayal. I have had to deal with sickness and complex life questions.
So Jesus is clear about the struggle, so what does he tell us to do? What advice does He give us?
The first thing that He talks about in all midst of this struggle, the advice He gives us is to work hard at making sure that we are ‘not lead astray’ or deceived., which may be a bit surprising.
This can happen in a number of ways. We can face toxic levels of hardship and that leads us to question why God would allow suffering, and why doesn't He do something about it? This question can cause many people to go astray because the truth is there aren't always easy, one-line, Instagram worthy answers that we can latch on to. We have to wrestle with it, sometimes for many years.
But that is not the only way we can go astray, or be deceived. It can be much more subtle - a bit like the sea beating against a rock. Eventually, the rock is worn away. And the relentless promotion of culture and values that are not Biblical and cause us to wander from the truth, to slowly move away.
Christianity is a constant course correction. Which is why it’s so important for our spiritual health to stay connected with each other, and to challenge each other.
Of course, life isn’t all bad (thank you, Jesus). Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus tells us that He has come to give us life in all its abundance. I like the sound of abundant life!
But abundant life doesn’t equal easy, problem-free life.
If there is one thing that is clear from this passage, and one thing that I want to be deeply honest with you about - especially if you are just starting out to explore Christianity - being a Christian is not an easy route - it is going to demand that you face life head-on with courage and faith.
Of course, we all have to face life, regardless of our beliefs. It's just that as a Christian, I believe that He is with me as I face life and that I can draw on His strength for the courage and faith that I need. And that is a game-changer.
You see Jesus, in this passage talks about how the disciples will be rejected and beaten by their own people. That doesn't sound great, does it? But then Jesus talks about how in the midst of that - God will still work out His plans and purposes and that they will stand before Kings and bear witness to Him.
The truth is that God can often change circumstances and events. He heals, He delivers, He brings freedom...He can transform laws and nations. It is also true that God might not deliver you out of something, but might deliver you through something. There maybe kings that He wants you to stand before. He might not always transform the event in our lives, but He will definitely transform you in it if you let Him.
As I said, easier said than done! And this is a truth that I have to constantly remind myself of.
But here’s the thing...and it is an important thing...we have two time zones to think about. The first is our time here on earth. The second is eternity.
As Christians, we believe that life on earth is just the beginning. Jesus talks about heaven. He talks about the resurrection. He talks about eternity. And I don’t know about you but as a Christian, I can often forget that. I can get so caught up in the day-to-day, in all of my head noise, in all of what is or is not happening in Lockdown, in Brexit and in my business that I forget to lift my head up and put it all in context - ultimately, I’m going to heaven. That is the remarkable hope that I have.
The Bible tells us that
Hebrews 6:19
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast...
This hope is sure and steadfast. The temple looks sure and steadfast, but it wasn't. Really, it is only God that is sure and steadfast, and it is there we should put our hope. That’s why we don't have to worry about tomorrow.
Hope anchors our soul. What a beautiful phrase. Hope anchors our soul. Does your soul feel anchored? Is it sure and steadfast? Or does your soul feel like it is adrift, lost and unsure? Hope, or eternal hope, anchors our soul.
This is great stuff, right? So what does my future hold? I don’t know the details, but I do know that God has a plan, that I don’t have to worry about it, especially when my life is in balance. My long term future is heaven, and that hope anchors me in today.
Revelation 21:4
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
That sounds pretty good! You see there is coming a day where God does stop the pain and the suffering. He does do something. And this is one point that we cannot escape from, one point that Jesus keeps coming back to time and time again and it is this: our story has an insanely good ending. This is the not-so-secret weapon of Christianity, it is the ultimate prospection - when we think about the future, we think of heaven.
At the end of our time here on earth, whenever that be, and through whatever we have faced, we have this enduring hope - that heaven awaits. That place that is pain-free. Where those that were unable to walk on earth can run down the streets and slide in their socks along streets of pure gold. It's in that place where the lonely are in family, the colours are constant and the hope is real.
That’s what awaits us. That’s the end of the story. Heaven. Whatever that is and whatever it looks like, I for one cannot wait for it. I often forget about heaven. I’m often so focused on the hear and now that I forget to lift my head up and see the bigness of God, and the glorious eternity that awaits.
What does my future hold? And is it good? When I think about heaven- you betcha it is!
Discussion Transcript
Sally:
So Matt, I always used to find it really hard, this sort of thing talking about heaven. And I just, I just couldn't comprehend it. And I kind of imagined all of this sort of, you know, clouds and harps, and all that kind of stuff. And I just thought, it doesn't really sound that great. And I'm supposed to be getting really excited about this. And I'm supposed to, you know, be really sort of looking forward to this and it and it doesn't sound that great. And then I kind of spoke to someone who was a little bit more real about it and kind of said, what, you know, imagine what would be your sort of best day on earth, what would be the best thing that you enjoy doing and people that you enjoy spending it with? Imagine? It's a million times better than that. Imagine this world as it was meant to be, this world without pain, this world without suffering. And, and that that kind of really helped me understand a lot more about heaven.
Matt:
Yeah, it's a big one, isn't it? How do you think about eternity? How do you think about heaven? What is that? Because you know, the way it is portrayed a little bit in some of, you know, some of the, the ideology that we have it doesn't, you can be honest, isn't sound interesting, do you know what I mean? It's kind of like, why is there any fun? And so you then get all these sort of statements, don't you - hell is going to be a lot more fun than heaven and stuff like that? And you kind of think we've missed the picture. If that's the way we end up thinking, we've misunderstood something somewhere.
Sally:
And we've we've actually misunderstood the key heart of God and what God is like, if we think that God's the sort of the boring one and the one that doesn't want us to have any fun and all that, you know, we've we've completely misunderstood who God is, if that's what we think.
Yeah, absolutely. No, we totally have. And so, I mean, I read a few of the verses, you know, like Jesus talks about abundant life. Well, that's, that's in heaven as it is on Earth. Right. And, you know, Jesus talked about when we, when we pray, pray, God's Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In other words, Heaven is much better, and we're trying to get what's there down on earth with our prayers. And I think that scripture we read in revelations about there's just no more pain, there's no more tears, there's no more struggle, there's no more suffering.
Sally:
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Nicholas, put in the comments, I'm looking forward to having a body that's healed. And that that's massive, isn't it? When you're, if you're someone that deals with sickness and pain in your life, then to kind of know that there is a time when that won't be the case is amazing. And
Matt:
This is a massive one, because we talk about the topic of feeling quite a lot. And we believe, as a church, we believe as a group of Christians that actually when we pray, God can heal us. And we still believe that God does do miraculous healings. But we know that people still live with pain for many years, despite many prayers, you know, and there is this real split going on. But like you're saying, as Nicholas said, ultimately, irrespective of what happens here on Earth, there will be a day when the pain stops. And I love that analogy of sliding down the streets, in your socks, in the streets of heaven, just for people that couldn't walk, you know, and they're going to be able to do all these kind of crazy things. And so sometimes it happens, you know, we pray and we see the miracles here. But just because we don't see them here, doesn't mean they're not gonna eventually happen.
Sally:
Yeah, yeah, I think I, you know, I've talked a lot about my mum dying young, and when she had a lot of lung problems, and so found it difficult to breathe. And as she was walking, I just imagined her sort of running in heaven and like being free to be able to do those things that she couldn't, she couldn't do here, which is pretty amazing. She was really really unmusical. But she always wanted, always wanted to play the cello, a dream of hers, but she was like really kind of musical. She couldn't even clap in time and things like that. And I imagine I imagine how with this kind of ability, you know, this kind of God given ability to just play on the cello and kind of, you know, just things like that. Just really helped me to kind of put into perspective It might actually be like, I wrote down a quote, actually, by an author that I really liked called Paul Young. And he says, Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.
Matt:
I really like that. That's a great quote. And when you said you've got a quote there by an author, Paul Young, I have to be on may be showing my age. I was thinking of the singer - wherever I lay my hat.
I think it's a really fascinating one, I think Heaven is just is more than just a comfort for those that have lost someone. I mean, it's it is a great comfort, you know, I had to take my uncle's funeral last year. And that's a tricky thing to do, you know. And you talk about the hope of the resurrection, you talk about the hope of heaven. And, and, you know, we talked about how he was, he was a big football fan, Sheffield United fan. And there's this beautiful passage in Hebrews, it talks about how in heaven, we have this great cloud of witnesses, it talks about this great cloud of witnesses which surrounds us. And the picture it uses is kind of like the Coliseum, you know, where you're doing all these races and athletic things on the floor. And, and the guys in the stand and a woman in the stand and the angels and everybody they're all just cheering you on like yes, you can do this, you've got this. And this is beautiful analogy in it, I can just see my uncle in those stands, you know, like he was at a football match, I can see him in those stands. And Heaven is a beautiful thing to think about when you have to when you think about loved ones and lost ones. But I know I'm heading there. It's like I said in the talk, sometimes I forget that. And sometimes I forget that I am an eternal being sometimes I'm so focused on here and now that I forget that actually this glorious eternity awaits. And
Sally:
It's a massive challenge when when life is so busy, and you know, we're we're really just constantly from all sides thinking about different things, it is hard to keep in that perspective. I think also, we need to kind of make the point that we're not saying that you shouldn't feel sorrow, or you know, you shouldn't kind of feel it, of course, it's horrible to be sick, it's horrible to be to live with a chronic illness to lose family and friends, those things are awful. And God isn't sort of saying, Oh, you know, don't worry, it'll be fine. And it you know, he has compassion, he, Jesus Himself went through much sorrow in his life. And, and he's with us in that and he understands that, and that's being human, that is absolutely fine. But having that hope, makes it I don't know if say more bearable, but certainly it helps.
Matt:
Yeah, I totally agree. It totally helps. You're right, and I hope brought this out in the talk, there's this real dichotomy between life now, which is both good and struggle, and it's this real, you know, constant challenge. We need faith and we need courage and, and all these things to make it through and, and, you know, God answers prayer. But sometimes we've got to, we wrestle with things. For a while, God doesn't always you know, Zap us, here and there's this there is this tension. But on the other side of that there is this Heaven, that we have to look forward to this hopeless eternity. And it's great. It is fantastic. What's Nicholas put here? But in the pain, I get to witness to people in the same place, and yeah, that's true, actually. And this was so so Nicolas, put in the comments here about the fact that she is in pain, sometimes she struggles, but in that, she gets to do amazing things. And, you know, this is what we talked about in that passage where the disciples, you know, they were sort of rejected and cut, cut off by their people, by the Jews, the Jewish leaders, they were beaten in the synagogues. And I mean, all kinds of bad things happened. But in the midst of that, it talked about how they would stand before kings and even in the midst of all this horror and tragedy, God was still able to make something good come out of it, I don't think for one minute God caused the horror and the tragedy, but I do think that in the midst of it, something quite extraordinary happened and they got stand before kings. And, and that was one of the questions you know, maybe God's got some kings for us to stand before I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. But it's, it's it's a fascinating one
Sally:
I'm still I'm still waiting for Nicholas important question of the day. So if you could put that in the comments for us, please, Nicola so that we can, we can discuss that before we need move on. I'm sure it's really sure it's really important. But no you're right.
Matt:
I'm sure it's a real deep thing. Yeah. Yeah. Well, while she's busy typing that. Can I talk so quickly about Table Talk? Something we calling Table Talk? Yeah. So all we want to do is bring back a little bit this idea that we had a few minutes ago, something between Sunday, this idea of thinking about some specific questions based around the talk and talking about those questions around the table, like sitting down after the service, or at some point during the week with your friends with your family, or on zoom or whatever and asking a simple question. What do you think about heaven? What what kind of ideas do you have about heaven? What do we understand by Heaven? And just thinking that through? What do we think about this idea that life here on earth is a bit of a struggle? So what we're going to do is we're going to take these tabletop questions, and we're going to put them on Instagram, and Facebook will put them on social media. And you can have a conversation about those. And then at some point, during the week, there'll be a video where one of us also talks about those questions just brings our answers. So just keep an eye on that from social media. Now we've done that little notice.
Thanks, Matt. Now on to more important things. Yeah. Is a hot dog, a sandwich? This is a very important question. And I want to say no, say no, because I don't I don't want it to be a sandwich. I don't like the idea of it being a sandwich. So no.
Well, I don't think it's a sandwich because a hotdogs in a bun. And a sandwich is bread.
So if you had a role with ham in it it would that not be a
bread roll?
That's a ham roll.
So sandwich can only be a sandwich because it's slices of bread?
No, someone's about to catch me out
What about baguettes with steak in it? Is that a sandwich?
sandwich when you? Huh?
Yeah, you would? Oh, I guess I'm still gonna say you see, Gemma Orange just said the same thing sandwiches sliced bread?