Ephesians - Identify ...Continued from page 1
The Navigators
THINK
“I took all this in and thought it through, inside and out.” (Ecclesiastes 9:1)
• How about you? Have you tried to make yourself into something the world would like better than the way God created you? Think through your reasons for being content or dissatisfied with the way God made you.
• “I ask ? ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ . . . to make you intelligent and discerning . . . so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do” (Ephesians 1:18). Do you think Paul prayed that we would rediscover who God intended us to be? Why or why not?
READ
From Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle4 A Coal in the Hand My son-in-law, Alan Jones, told me a story of a Hassidic rabbi, renowned for his piety. He was unexpectedly confronted one day by one of his devoted youthful disciples. In a burst of feeling, the young disciple exclaimed, “My master, I love you!” The ancient teacher looked up from his books and asked his fervent disciple, “Do you know what hurts me, my son?”
The young man was puzzled. Composing himself, he stuttered, “I don’t understand your question, Rabbi. I am trying to tell you how much you mean to me, and you confuse me with irrelevant questions.” “My question is neither confusing nor irrelevant,” rejoined the rabbi, “For if you do not know what hurts me, how can you truly love me?”
THINK
“I took all this in and thought it through, inside and out.” (Ecclesiastes 9:1)
• Whoa! What’s your reaction to the story of the rabbi? Think about the people who say they love you. Do they know what hurts you?
• Do you know what hurts you? Rest assured, that’s not an “irrelevant question.”
READ
From The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen5 Claiming Childhood
(Nouwen’s reflections take place in the aftermath of an encounter with Rembrandt’s painting The Return of the Prodigal Son.)
The younger son’s return takes place in the very moment that he reclaims his sonship, even though he has lost all the dignity that belongs to it. In fact, it was the loss of everything that brought him to the bottom line of his identity. He hit the bedrock of his sonship. In retrospect, it seems that the prodigal
had to lose everything to come into touch with the ground of his being. When he found himself desiring to be treated as one of the pigs, he realized that he was not a pig but a human being, a son of his father. This realization became the basis for his choice to live instead of to die. Once he had come again in touch with the truth of his sonship, he could hear ? although faintly ? the voice calling him the Beloved and feel ? although distantly ? the touch of blessing. This awareness of and confidence in his father’s love, misty as it may have been, gave him the strength to claim for himself his sonship, even though that claim could not be based on any merit.
THINK
“I took all this in and thought it through, inside and out.” (Ecclesiastes 9:1)
• In one way or another, we’ve each been the prodigal. Think back to a time when you left and then returned. What did you lose while you were gone? Do you think you lost a certain kind of dignity during that time? Think on this awhile.
• Maybe you’re still away from home or the Father or whatever. Or maybe you’ve returned home (literally or figuratively). What happened that brought you to your senses?
PRAY
Slowly read the following poem a couple of times. What speaks to you? Ask God to bring a word or phrase to the surface. Then allow that word or phrase to begin your prayer. It might seem awkward at first. Fine, let it be awkward. But stick with it.
A Story That Could Be True
If you were exchanged in the cradle and
your real mother died
without ever telling the story
then no one knows your name,
and somewhere in the world
your father is lost and needs you
but you are far away.
He can never find
how true you are, how ready.
When the great wind comes
and the robberies of the rain
you stand on the corner shivering.
The people who go by ?
you wonder at their calm.
They miss the whisper that runs
any day in your mind,
“Who are you really, wanderer?” ?
and the answer you have to give
no matter how dark and cold
the world around you is:
“Maybe I’m a king.”
?William Staford
LIVE
These words from Stafford’s poem serve as a reminder of this section’s theme ? identity: and the answer you have to give no matter how dark and cold the world around you is: “Maybe I’m a king.”
You’ve read from the journal entries, letters, and poems of others. Now it’s your turn. What does God want you to live when it comes to identity? Use the space below to write a letter to yourself. You might want to date the letter so you can later reflect on where you were and what was going on in your life regarding identity.
Date ________________
Dear ___________________
Copied from Living the Letters: Ephesians by The Navigators, © 2007. Used by permission of NavPress, www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.