1-Oct-23 (Matthew 21:23-32)

How does it feel when you get asked a hard question? [Wait for answers]
Have you ever been asked a question when you knew the person wasn't really interested in your answer and just wanted to catch you saying something wrong?
In today's story from the gospel, Jesus gets asked one of that type of question by a group of people called the Sadducees. It was a trick question.
They thought that they'd trap Jesus no matter what he said, but Jesus gave them an answer they didn't expect. He said they weren't even asking the right question. He even said that they should be more concerned about who God is and who God wants them to be than in trying to trick people with hard questions.
Sometimes, in the church, we talk a lot about things that take some real thinking to work out and there's nothing wrong with that. The thing is, we have to make sure that we're asking questions in order to find out more about God and more about the people we need to be rather than just arguing over questions and answers.
We can waste a lot of time arguing when we could be helping each other be more like Jesus and know more about God.
Let's talk to God about that.

God, we thank you for Jesus, who showed us who you are and how we should behave toward each other. Help us not to get distracted by arguments and pay attention to who you are and who we should be. Help us to help each other understand more about you and learn more about loving each other.
We pray in Jesus' name.
AMEN.