First Thoughts: Our churches are good at a lot of things. We support good works with our mission money, we stock our nurseries with loving caretakers and gently used toys, and we offer a place where many generations of people can worship together. One thing we're not great at, though, is teaching people to count the cost of a life lived in faith. We tend to focus on all the benefits of the faith walk: having a sense of meaning in our lives, knowing that God is with us, having a community of faith to rely on. We tend to skip over the downside. Our faith can create division and conflict between others and ourselves. It often requires us to change our priorities, letting go of our plans in favor of God's. It means continuing on even when God feels more absent than present to us. Jesus warns his followers not to make this mistake. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of a conversion experience. What is more difficult is learning how to sustain an ongoing commitment to faith when it becomes challenging or boring. However this lesson isn't discouraging us from beginning a faith journey; it is encouraging us to take it seriously. The interesting paradox is when things are more difficult for us, we value it more. Consider a time in your life when you really had to work for your faith. Can you see the fruits that have come out of that time? Carry your sense of fruitfulness with you in your time with the children.
Teaching On Your Own: Hey everybody. Guess what happened to me? My best friend's birthday is coming up and I wanted to do something really special for him. So I went to the store and found a brand new baseball bat I know he wants. Then I found a great card and several balloons. Then I picked up a box of his favorite cookies. That's a lot of stuff, isn't it? Yeah. I guess it was more than I thought because when I got up to the counter to pay, the cashier told me I owed $35. I only had $3! I had to put everything back -- except the card. Guess I should have read Jesus' lesson today first. Today Jesus told his disciples that before they decided to lead a life of faith they needed to count the cost. What do you think it means when Jesus says to count the cost? Following Jesus was hard, and they needed to decide if they were really ready to do what it takes. Now I'm sure there were times when hanging out with Jesus was a lot of fun, but there were other times when it was scary or sad. Sometimes people made fun of them or told them they were wrong. Sometimes even good friends would turn their backs on them, because they were doing something so different with their lives. Jesus said that if the disciples weren't ready to take on all that, it was better for them just to turn back now and wait until later when they were really ready. If I had figured out in advance how much it would cost to buy all that stuff, I could have started saving my money a few weeks ago. Then when I went to the store I would be really ready.
Jesus did want people to go with him and to serve God together. But he also wanted them to take it seriously and to make choices they were ready for. Sounds like counting the cost is a smart thing to do, right? Jesus usually did give pretty good advice!
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 looks down)
Leader 1: Hey (name), you look like something is bothering you. Is anything wrong?
Leader 2: Yes. My best friend's birthday is coming up and I wanted to do something really special for him. So I went to the store and found a brand new baseball bat I know he wants. Then I found a great card and several balloons. Then I picked up a box of his favorite cookies.
Leader 1: Wow. That sounds like a lot of stuff.
Leader 2: Well, he IS my best friend. Anyway, when I got up to the counter to pay, the cashier told me I owed $35.
Leader 1: And how much did you have?
Leader 2: I only had $3!
Leader 1: So what did you do?
Leader 2: I had to put everything back -- except the card.
Leader 1: Sounds like you could have used the lesson Jesus taught his disciples today.
Leader 2: Really? Why?
Leader 1: Jesus told his disciples that before they decided to lead a life of faith they needed to count the cost.
Leader 2: Count the cost? What does that mean?
Leader 1: Following Jesus was hard, and they needed to decide if they were really ready to do what it takes.
Leader 2: But I thought hanging out with Jesus was fun.
Leader 1: I'm sure it was sometimes. But it was also scary sometimes, and sometimes people made fun of them or told them they were wrong. Sometimes even good friends would turn their backs on them, because they were doing something so different with their lives. Jesus said that if the disciples weren't ready to take on all that, it was better for them just to turn back now and wait until later when they were really ready.
Leader 2: Like me. If I had figured out in advance how much it would cost to buy all that stuff, I could have started saving my money a few weeks ago. Then when I went to the store I would be really ready.
Leader 1: Right. Jesus did want people to go with him and serve God together. But he also wanted them to take it seriously and to make choices they were ready for.
Leader 2: I guess counting the cost is a smart thing to do.
Leader 1: Jesus usually gave pretty good advice!
Closing Prayer: Thank you, God, for inviting us to join you in this life of faith. Help us to prepare our hearts for the job ahead, ready for the challenges as well as the joy of being your servants. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a home or classroom environment, talk a bit more about what it means to count the cost. Counting the cost reminds us that whenever we decide to do one thing we have to give up something else. Talk about things that don't cost much: a piece of gum, giving someone a smile, thanking your mom or dad for making you breakfast. These things do cost us a bit of money, time, or energy, but not much. We can decide to do them without thinking too much about it. Give the children time to brainstorm on other things with small costs. Now think of things that cost us more: making lunch for someone, cleaning your room and making the bed, buying a gift for somebody. These cost us a little more, and we might have to spend some time thinking about whether we really want to do them. Since we're going to have to give up more time, energy, or money, we're going to spend more time considering or planning what we really want to do. Allow another brainstorming session, thinking of things that have a medium cost. Finally, talk about things that cost us a lot: giving up a Saturday to clean someone's house, asking your parents to give your Christmas gifts to other children who are needy, agreeing to spend your recess time at school helping another student learn a math lesson. These acts cost us a LOT of time, energy, and resources. Before we agree to do them we have to decide if we're really okay with the cost. Allow the children to come up with other high-cost ventures. Talk a bit about what it cost the disciples to follow Jesus. They left behind their friends, family, and jobs. They went into towns where people sometimes didn't like them. They had to give up the plans they had for their lives to allow God's plan to take over. But, of course, those who were willing to pay the cost and follow Jesus were able to be great blessings in the world. Lots of people were be healed, helped, and understood how much God loved them.
To illustrate this lesson, offer the children a craft activity. Provide each child with a copy of the activity template, three metal washers (like you would find in a hardware store), and crayons or markers. The template has six circles on it. Three of them have representations of three gifts God wants from us and three are blank. The three gifts represented are love, time, and treasure. Invite the children to color these in and also to draw pictures corresponding to these gifts in the blank circles. Help the children come up with different ideas for each of the gifts. For example, in one blank circle they might draw a circle of two people holding hands (love). In another they might draw a picture of one person reading to another (time). In another they might draw a picture of the collection plate at church (money). Finally, have the children cut out the circles and glue them to both sides of the washers, creating "coins." (Depending on how you print out the template, you will need to provide different size washers, to match the sizes of the circles.) Help the children match the right illustration circle with the right gift circle, so they have one complete coin for each of the three gifts. Join hands when you're done, asking the children to hold out the coins in their hands, and offering a blessing on their gifts to God.
