To be honest, I feel exactly the same way she does when I read it. But we should be careful here. Culturally, we’re expected to consider how we feel about something to be the truth. However, what we feel isn’t often the truth of the matter. So we’re left with this practice of feeling, which is vital, and asking questions of those feelings.

You may feel differently. That’s because our feelings are often influenced by our context, and the set of experiences we are surrounded by at a given time. You may be looking for order and clarity at this point in your life. My hunch is that the Didache community was looking for that too. That’s why this document seems so detailed and practical in its approach to living the Way of Jesus. Where some might find it constricting, others might find it refreshingly clear.

It will be important for us to give one another the space to work out how we relate to this document. It will also be important to ask ourselves good questions. My best questions come from my interaction with the Jesus I find in the gospel stories. That is why I’ve mostly picked gospel passages for us to read in relationship to the Didache. One thing that’s clear about Jesus in the gospels is that he too is not too keen on rules, nor does he follow them very well (according to the religious leaders of his day). However, he also is certainly NOT an “anything goes” kind of religious figure either. Jesus somehow seems to make a way for the right kind of rules to govern life that isn’t obsessed with keeping the right kind of rules.

1. Where did you make some connections with statements, ideas, and/or principles that made sense?

2. Where did you find yourself at variance with what was said, implied, or commanded?

3. Did your reading of the Didache illicit any questions in your mind? What were they?

4. Do you perceive a “communication breakdown” between the world from which this document emerged, and our world today? What might those breakdowns be?

Think about these a bit, and we’ll navigate them during class this Sunday morning. Have a great remainder of the week!

This past Sunday was our introduction to the class and one another, and briefly to our subject matter: The Teaching of the Twelve, a.k.a. the Didache. The next nine sessions will be as follows: (The Scripture references are selected for you to read and hold in dialog with that section of the Didache.)

2/28/10 Session 1 – Initial Reactions, Responses, & Questions – Remember,  you’re reading the Didache this week… right?

3/7/10 Session 2 – The Way Of Life – Didache 1:1-4:14, & Matthew 22:34-40

3/14/10 Session 3 – The Way of Death – Didache 5:1-6:3, & Genesis 3:1-10

3/21/10 Session 4 – Baptism & The Supper – Didache 7:1-7:4, 9:1-10:7, & Luke 3:21-22, Matthew 9:9-13

3/28/10 Session 5 – Prayer & Fasting – Didache 8:1-8:3, & Mark 1:35, Acts 4:23-31

4/4/10 Session 6 – Hospitality – Didache 11:1-13:7, & Luke 19-1-10

4/11/10 Session 7 – Gathering – Didache 14:1-14:3, & Acts 4:32-35

4/18/10 Session 8 – Leadership – Didache 15:1-15:3, & Matthew 20:25-28

4/25/10 Session 9 – Watchfulness – Didache 16:1-16:8, & Luke 12:35-40

You will get a handout at the end of class each week that will allow you to prepare for the upcoming conversation that following Sunday.

If you would like to pursue more in-depth study on our theme, “The Teaching of the 12,” you can pick up a copy of the book by Tony Jones. This is not required reading, but it will add to your discourse with the material and with your classmates.

The purpose of this lesson series is to enter into conversation with ancient wisdom as people living in a complex world. We’ll do so by  holding two things in dialog with one another:

1. The way of life and faith lived in the first century.

2. The way of life and faith lived today.

We won’t shy away from the differences, or the evolution of faith and practice that has transpired over the past two millennium.

Stay tuned for a course outline coming next.

I look forward to this conversation with you!