First Thoughts: This is a story we commonly use to demonstrate the importance of gratitude. We imagine Jesus asking with sorrow why only one of the healed lepers returns to say thanks. But there's another piece to the story -- the piece about following and breaking rules. When Jesus heals the lepers he instructs them to report immediately to the priests so they can be declared clean and restored to their community. This is the proper and correct course for things, and the nine who follow these instructions are doing the "right" thing. But they aren't praised for it. It's the one whose heart is too full to follow instructions, the one who "breaks the rules" and returns to express his gratitude -- this person touched Jesus' heart. How bound up are we in the rules of worship, relationship, or proper etiquette? What are the things stopping us from expressing our heart's truest expression? Maybe this is the lesson for us, to remind us that our hearts hold the truest version of ourselves and that we are at our most magnificent, our most powerful, our most beautiful when we allow our hearts to lead us -- whatever others expect us to do. Spend some time asking God to strengthen and open your heart, giving you the courage to let your heart lead in your lesson today.
Teaching On Your Own: (holds trophy) See what I have here? My soccer team won a tournament this weekend and all of the players on my team got trophies. Have you ever won a trophy? It is lots of fun. But it was also little embarrassing. They presented us the trophies on a stage in front of everybody. They called out our names one by one to get our individual trophies. We were supposed to just take our trophies and sit down, but when it came time for me to get my trophy I thought about how much work our coach has put into teaching us, how patient she has been with us when we were learning new skills, and how she never got angry when we made mistakes... Well, I couldn't just sit down. Instead I ran over to our coach and gave her a big hug. I didn't do what I was supposed to do, and everybody laughed at me. Guess I'm not that great at following instructions, kind of like the man in our story today.
The Bible tells us that Jesus healed ten men who had a disease. Once they were healed, Jesus told them to go straight to the priests to show them they were healed. Nine of the men followed Jesus' instructions, but one didn't. Instead, he came back to see Jesus. He just couldn't run off without thanking Jesus for what he had done. Do you think Jesus was mad that the man didn't do what he was told to do? He wasn't! Jesus was happy to see the man's heart was so full of gratitude. Sometimes following our heart is more important than following instructions. You know, now that I think of it, my coach did have a really big smile on her face. Maybe my heart made the right decision after all. What do you think?
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 has trophy)
Leader 1: Hi, looks like you have a trophy there.
Leader 2: (proudly) Yeah, my soccer team won a tournament this weekend and we all got trophies.
Leader 1: That must have been exciting.
Leader 2: It was. And a bit embarrassing.
Leader 1: Why was it embarrassing?
Leader 2: They presented us the trophies on a stage in front of everybody. They called out our names one by one to get our individual trophies. We were supposed to just take our trophies and sit down, but...
Leader 1: But what happened?
Leader 2: When it came time for me to get my trophy I thought about how much work our coach has put into teaching us, how patient she has been with us when we were learning new skills, and how she never got angry when we made mistakes...
Leader 1: Yeah? So what happened?
Leader 2: Well, I couldn't just sit down. Instead I ran over to our coach and gave her a big hug. I didn't do what I was supposed to do, and everybody laughed at me.
Leader 1: Sounds like in this case not doing what you were supposed to do was actually the right call, like in our lesson today.
Leader 2: What do you mean?
Leader 1: The Bible tells us that Jesus healed ten men who had a disease. Once they were healed, Jesus told them to go straight to the priests to show that they were healed. Nine of the men followed Jesus' instructions, but one didn't.
Leader 2: What did he do?
Leader 1: He came back to see Jesus. He just couldn't run off without thanking Jesus for what he had done for him.
Leader 2: Was Jesus mad that the man didn't do what he was told to do?
Leader 1: No, Jesus was happy to see the man's heart was so full of gratitude. Sometimes following our heart is more important than following instructions.
Leader 2: Now that I think of it, my coach did have a really big smile on her face.
Leader 1: I thought so. Turns out your heart made the right decision after all.
Closing Prayer: Loving God, help us to trust our hearts, knowing that's where you have planted your love in our lives. Even if it sometimes means we feel embarrassed or silly, help us to remember it is always right and good to say thank you to you and to others. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this lesson in a home or classroom environment, talk a bit more about the original story. Explain that the sickness all the men had was called leprosy, and it was a disease of the skin. It was considered very contagious in Jesus' day and nobody knew how to cure it. If someone had leprosy they had to move out of town, away from their family and friends -- away from everybody -- so they wouldn't make anyone else sick. Ask the children if they can imagine what it would be like to have this horrible disease. When the men saw Jesus they begged for him to help them. Jesus just gave them some instructions: he told them to go and show themselves to the priests. What might these men have felt when they heard this? They weren't supposed to go into town, and Jesus told them to go right into the middle of town to find a priest. Even though they were probably confused and a bit scared, the men did what Jesus told them to do, and on the way to the see the priest they realized their disease was gone. They were healed. How might the men have felt then? They were probably so excited they ran all the way to find the priest, so the priest could say they were cured to return to their families. It's easy to see why nine of the men did just that, following Jesus' instructions. But one man turned back, his heart so full of gratitude that he had to go and thank Jesus for what he'd done. Ask the children if they've ever felt gratitude for something wonderful somebody did for them and invite them to share the story. Remind the children that when the man turned back he really wasn't following Jesus' instructions, but his heart told him going back to see Jesus was more important than following the instructions right then. Ask the children to think of other times when our heart might lead us to do something different than what we're supposed to do. For example, maybe boys aren't "supposed" to hug each other, but if one boy has a favorite pet die, his friend might follow his heart and hug the boy anyway. Maybe a game has certain rules, like baseball where three strikes means you're out; but if someone is having a hard time learning to bat, the team might follow its heart and decide to give that person more chances to hit the ball.
For a craft idea, help the children create a "Follow Your Heart" spinner game. You will need the activity page printed out on cardstock (one for each child), scissors, crayons or markers, and brads. Allow each child to color in the wheel and cut it out along with the arrow. Punch a small hole in the arrow and in the center of the wheel and attach it with a brad. Give the children a chance to share situations in which they feel grateful for something, and then spin the wheel to decide which action they want to take to express their thanks. Close with prayer.
