Lenten Questions, Week 4
Instructions: Use these questions, some or all, as you seek to understand how the Biblical story forms your faithful identity. Each Sunday, you will have an opportunity to symbolically share what you have learned by offering your written response as an act of worship.
Joshua 5:9-12
Arriving in the Promised Land, the people of Israel take up their identity as God’s people, Passover being part of that identity. (Read more of the passage to see other rituals that the people now embrace in their new identity.) How do our Christian rituals form your sense of identity? What would you need to know in order to make a stronger connection between identity and worship?
Moses (and God) reassures the people that the shame of Egypt is behind them. What might be considered shameful in their past identity as slaves? Since during their journey the people look back to Egypt with nostalgia, what do you think they found attractive in this weak, “shameful” existence? Do we ever settle for a lesser identity like the people did?
Once they get to the Promised Land, the manna, the food God provides, ceases. Now they will get their food through their own work which, according to the story, is better. How does this understanding of work compare to the way we usually think of our employment? What about work might be a blessing? How does work lose its blessed nature? What blessing have you known?
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Jesus tells this story to the “older brothers.” What do they need to understand about the father? What makes it so hard for the older brother to welcome his repentant brother? How does this compare to your experience? How is responsibility a joy or a burden?
The younger brother has two “conversions” one when he is received back by the father, and an earlier one when he comes to his senses. Have you ever found admitting to a mistake or sin to be life-giving? What makes this choice so difficult?
The father’s love for the younger son is extreme in all sorts of ways. The “older brothers” Jesus speaks to have not experienced this love. What about you? What does the love of God mean in your life? What do you wish you knew about God’s love?