Sunday Stretch: Vol. 119 - Lent IV

Start off your week with a grounded take on Bible, prayer, the world, and your life ...

Hi Readers,

Welcome back to the Sunday Stretch. By the time you read this, my book will have been out for nearly a week! But I’m writing to you before it comes out. The journey has been a a wild one, and this recent week has been very, very full.

In the midst of book promotions, I dropped the ball on something family-related. It wasn’t a huge deal, but, I felt really bad. And I also realized, swirling in all of my conversations about the dangers of a narrow, violent, angry masculinity - and my own impossible standards for myself — I’d neglected the important message of today’s Gospel reading.

You’ll read more below - but the idea can be summed up in the importance of one word: forgiveness.

May you give and receive forgiveness this week, for yourself, too.

Let’s get to the texts!

Invitation for local readers: I’ll be preaching and sharing in book discussion between and after services at Edina Community Lutheran Church this weekend at 9 and 11 a.m.

And invitation for Southern California readers: I’ll be at Laguna Beach Neighborhood Congregational Church on Tuesday night at 6:30.

Hope to see some of you there!

Content Note: The Sunday Stretch will be off next week due to Spring Break. See you back here on April 13 for Palm Sunday!

Bible Stories

Joshua 5:9-12

Josh. 5:9 The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal^a to this day.

The Passover at Gilgal

Josh. 5:10 While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. ¹¹ On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹² The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

The promise of manna is a beautiful and challenging promise. God gives enough for the day: no more, no less. And the promise of manna was not forever. In this text, as the Israelites receive the produce of the land, manna ceases.

Questions to Ponder

Research more about manna: what was it likely to have looked, tasted, smelled, felt like? Would you have wanted to eat it alone for many days?

The Israelites ultimately got sick of manna and asked for meat. Can you sympathize with them? Or do they seem ungrateful? Why or why not?

Why did Moses warn the Israelites against hoarding manna?

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

2Cor. 5:16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view;^a even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view,^b we know him no longer in that way. ¹⁷ So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,^a not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰ So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This text always reminds me of one my youth pastors growing up, Todd. I’m not sure why: I think it was used as a theme verse for one of the many activities he managed to provide for the teenagers in our church. Looking back, I can see what an undertaking all of it must have been. But this was the 90s, and so I associated church with abundance in many ways: and I still remember the youth room with the worn couch, and the photos of teenagers covered with mud while taking mission trips for Habitat for Humanity. Todd brought a hopefulness and enthusiasm to youth ministry that is represented well in this passage. It describes hope for the Church’s ability to be reborn, to change and adjust with new ages. Sometimes that hope seems harder in the 2020s. But this passage reminds us that the newness is God’s promise of reconciliation and resurrection, even if we have to see it through our own “older” eyes.

What does Paul mean by “in Christ?” Do you see yourself as living “in Christ?” Why or why not?

What is the difference between knowing Christ from a “human point of view” vs the new way that Paul writes about here?

Do you think Paul was writing realistically or idealistically here? Why?

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Luke 15:1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Luke 15:3 So he told them this parable:

The Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother

Luke 15:11 Then Jesus^a said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³ A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. ¹⁴ When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶ He would gladly have filled himself with^a the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ ²⁰ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹ Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’^{a 22} But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:25 “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. ²⁷ He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ ³¹ Then the father^a said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

As I mentioned above, today’s Gospel reading is one of those that really stands on its own. It doesn’t leave us much mystery or need for storytelling: its own storytelling is so rich that the story of the Prodigal Son has endured over the centuries as a narrative immensely well-known inside and outside of Christianity.

We all have our own personal responses to this story. As an older sister, I couldn’t help but relate to the older brother! But I came to see, as I got older, that my relation to this older brother was really an internal lesson: about the difficulty of offering grace and forgiveness to myself. And now as a parent, I relate to the relief of the father: the son is home again. Let’s play music and dance. There is no greater gift than the presence of one another.

What’s your first personal reaction to re-reading this story? Why do you think that is?

What vision of masculinity does this passage lift up? Does it conflict with the overriding cultural depiction of masculinity in your context? In what ways?

Are some people more easily forgiven than others? Why or why not?

BONUS QUESTION: Do you see a role for repentance in this story? Is it significant? What is the relationship between repentance and forgiveness?