Week Four Questions

FIRST READING

• The Book of Chronicles looks back on Israel’s history in an attempt to make sense of it, most especially attempting to make sense of the Babylonian Exile. Are there moments of your life that you suffered through that only made sense after the fact? Are you experiencing any of those moments right now?
• This reading offers a reason for the Exile: so that the land could retrieve its lost sabbath and find rest. How has your idea of “rest” grown, after considering it last week? How does rest — and solitude, sacrifice, and fasting — connect to God’s plan?
• It seems that God attempted to allow the Israelites to freely return to Him, but they would not listen to the prophets and messengers sent by God. Why do you think God desires us to freely respond? Why doesn’t God intervene in our suffering all the time? 

• Paul points out that God brought us to life with Christ even when we were still dead in our own sin. How do you feel when thinking about the idea that God loves you even before you have it all together?
• Paul continues that, because of this, we cannot boast in any of our own works. On the contrary, God’s grace is freely given. Why do you think we have a tendency to try and “earn” God’s love for ourselves?
• In a brilliant turn, Paul concludes that we are not saved by good works, but that we are saved for good works. What good works do you feel God might be calling you to do, especially as your Lenten journey continues to deepen?

• Jesus refers to the story of Moses’s lifting up the bronze serpent in the desert, which brought healing to the Israelites after serpents were sent to punish them for their complaints in the desert (“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”). How do you feel knowing that God desires to forgive and restore us, rather than brood on our own sinfulness?
• Jesus compares the Cross to this bronze serpent and tells Nicodemus that the Son of God was sent not to condemn the world but to save it and reveal God’s love for it. Do you wrestle with the idea that God wants to love you and not condemn you? Can you give God permission to love you as you are — right now?
• What other connections do you see between all the readings for this week?
• How do they connect to the idea of fasting in any way?

• Bob Schuchts defines healing in terms of a restoration with our three primary relationships: with God, with ourselves, and with others. How would you define healing? What other words or ideas come to mind when you think of healing?
• Schuchts describes the story of the healing of the lame man by the pools of Bethesda, especially focusing on Jesus’ question to him: “Do you want to be healed?” Why do you think we sometimes resist what’s good for us, i.e. our own healing? Do you want to be healed?
• Schuchts concludes that healing is a process that will ultimately be complete in the fullness of the presence of God in Heaven, but that it’s a process that can begin even now. What are the next steps on your own journey of being healed by God? How can you connect your practice of fasting to these next steps?