First Thoughts: Perhaps the very last verse of this rich and lengthy passage is most intuitively understood by children. Understood, yes; but followed? That's hard even for adults. In this passage Jesus provides guidelines for the way we are to behave in the world, so that we might be part of the building of God's kingdom. We are to do these things even in the face of contradictory forces in the world. This can be a real challenge, since it is easy for us to become distracted by the bad behavior of others and as soon as we become distracted by it, we join in with it! I am reminded of that saying from Gandhi, "You must be the change that you want to see." Jesus' ethic is very clear: We are to dedicate ourselves full time to living gospel lives, holding onto the vision of a fulfilled kingdom even when that vision seems most far away. We are to be joyful when faced with conflict, peaceful when faced with violence, loving when faced with contempt, and ethical when faced with unfairness. The degree to which we commit ourselves to Jesus' way is the degree to which we effect change in the very nature of the world around us. Ask God to give you a vision for your children this Sunday as the powerful agents of peace and joy God created them to be and offer yourself as one who can illumine this vision for them.
Teaching On Your Own: (yawns deeply) Boy am I tired! Did you guys go trick-or-treating last night? Well, not me. There was no fooling around for me. I was a volunteer supervisor. I had a group of little trick-or-treaters assigned to me. It was my job to keep them safe as they went around the neighborhood. (yawns) It was a lot of work. See, I needed to keep them all together, but they were so excited that they couldn't be still. Then when I tried to get their attention, they were all giggling and shouting and making so much noise they couldn't hear me. I tried yelling to get their attention, but they just got louder and louder. You know, maybe I should have tried something else. I remember in school whenever our class would get too rowdy, our teacher used to talk in a really low voice. Have you ever had a teacher do that? What happens? When we realized she was talking softly we got quiet too, so we could hear her. It reminds me of Jesus' lesson today for us.
Jesus said we are to do unto others what we want them to do to us. Have you heard that before? What do you think it means? It means we need to figure out how we want others to treat us: kindly, fairly, gently. Then we act that way ourselves. Jesus wanted us to realize that we're the ones who make a difference in our world. If we act with kindness, we make a kinder world. If we act unkindly, we make an unkind world. Sometimes that means we have to do the very opposite of what others are doing, like whispering when little children are screaming. But change in the world only happens when people are willing to change themselves. The great leader Gandhi once said, "You must be the change that you want to see." What do you think? Can we "be the change"?
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 yawns deeply, looks tired)
Leader 1: Hey (name). You look tired. Did you stay out too late trick-or-treating last night?
Leader 2: Oh, no. There was no fooling around for me. I was a volunteer supervisor. I had a group of little trick-or-treaters assigned to me. It was my job to keep them safe as they went around the neighborhood. (yawns) It was a lot of work.
Leader 1: I can see that, but what made it so hard?
Leader 2: I needed to keep them all together, but they were so excited that they couldn't be still. Then when I tried to get their attention, they were all giggling and shouting and making so much noise they couldn't hear me. I tried yelling to get their attention, but they just got louder and louder.
Leader 1: Maybe you should have tried something else. If you wanted them to get quieter, maybe you should have gotten quieter.
Leader 2: Hey, you know what? I remember my teacher used to do that in school. When the class got too rowdy she would talk in a really low voice.
Leader 1: What happened?
Leader 2: When we realized she was talking softly we got quiet too, so we could hear her.
Leader 1: It reminds me of Jesus' lesson today for us. Jesus said we are to do unto others what we want them to do to us.
Leader 2: I've heard that before, but what does it mean?
Leader 1: It means we need to figure out how we want others to treat us: kindly, fairly, gently. Then we act that way ourselves. Jesus wanted us to realize that we're the ones who make a difference in our world. If we act with kindness, we make a kinder world. If we act unkindly, we make an unkind world.
Leader 2: If we shout, we make a louder world.
Leader 1: Exactly. Sometimes that means we have to do the very opposite of what others are doing...
Leader 2: Like whispering when little children are screaming.
Leader 1: But change in the world doesn't happen until people are willing to change themselves. The great leader Gandhi once said, "You must be the change that you want to see."
Leader 2: Be the change. I think I'll work on that!
Closing Prayer: Loving God, help us to follow your example of kindness and compassion even when others around us aren't living that way. Help us to understand the importance of being the change you wish us to be, so the world can discover its change as well. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a home or classroom environment, ask the children to name ways they want to be treated by others. Make a list of these favorable treatments, and then ask the children to come up with the opposite treatment. For example, if one favorable treatment is "Share toys with me" the opposite would be "Doesn't share toys." Go through the lists asking the children if and when they behave these ways themselves. Ask them to imagine what it would be like for them to change all their negative behaviors. Would it be difficult? Invite the children to act out different scenarios, starting with one in which they exhibit a negative behavior (like yelling at someone). Ask the children to brainstorm which positive behavior might be substituted, and invite them to act that out. Point out that as we offer kindness to others, we're really making a "kindness energy" that is spreading out into the world. We can't always see it immediately, but our faith tells us it is true. To illustrate this idea, you can use the following activity.
Gather the children in a circle and pick a starting point. The first child makes some sort of facial expression to the person on his or her left, who then passes on the expression to the next person. When everyone has had a turn to be the starting point, ask them to reflect on what it was like seeing their own expression spreading around the circle. This is what really happens in the world every day -- everything we do is reflected back to us and is spread around. This means it is important that we do our best to live in love and kindness. Remind the children that sometimes even when we act with kindness, others do not change their behavior. Jesus tells us we're to continue our kind behavior even then, knowing that we are making the world a better place as we do so. Remind them as well that this is hard work, and they can always ask for help and ideas from their friends at church. Close with a circle prayer in which you pass a smile and blessing around the circle saying something like "God bless you" or "You are loved."
