Ordinary Time 13: Hezekiah

As Christina taught about this period in Israel & Judah’s history, she said, “Empires always demand absolute allegiance.”

Where has your absolute allegiance been requested, required, or demanded? In what ways do or don’t those spaces line up with what you know of empire?

To which of those spaces have you given some form of absolute allegiance? What has been the fruit of that allegiance in your life and the lives of others?

Considering your experience and understanding of the United States today, do you see it as an empire? Why or why not? How does it feel to examine and/or acknowledge the Empire-ness of the nation in which you live?

If you do acknowledge the U. S. as an empire, what does that mean for how you make sense of your own lived experience, as part of the machine of Empire? In which ways might that frame help you make sense of your own life? In what ways does it challenge you?

In her sermon, Christina stated, “No empires last forever.” Given the chaos of our country right now, how do you feel about the idea of the eventual downfall of every empire, including the one in which you live?

As she closed her sermon, Christina said, “God’s priority is God’s kingdom,” and then posed this question: “Are you standing in the way?”

How do you respond to this question? What does it mean for God to prioritize God’s kingdom? What does it look like for someone to stand in the way? What does it look like for someone to get out of the way? What does it look like for someone to actively prioritize God’s kingdom too, especially living in the midst of Empire?