First Thoughts: Once again we are faced with Jesus' radical teaching of compassion and hospitality, teachings specifically extended to those people who wish us harm. This teaching is challenging for a couple of reasons. First, it just feels counterintuitive to be kind to someone who is being unkind to us. Second, we might think it's even unwise. Offering compassion is really an act of opening our hearts, which can feel vulnerable and dangerous. What happens if that person ridicules us, rejects us, or attacks us when our hearts are exposed in this way? I think this is a critical teaching point in the lesson. Aside from the obvious teaching that we should simply do good in the world, Jesus is also showing us something important about our essential nature. We think our hearts are fragile and delicate, but what if they're strong and indestructible? If that were true we would be totally free to live in love in every moment of our lives. We would never feel the need to hide or defend ourselves again. Our hearts would defend us, and our defense would be kindness. What would it be like to live such a free, love-filled life? What would our world be like if more of us lived this kind of life?
Teaching On Your Own: Hey everybody, I'm pretty proud of myself right now. Want to know why? I just solved a bully problem in our school classroom. Here's the situation: There's this girl in my class who's always taking food from the other children at lunch. She just works her way down the table in the lunch room. So last week I knew my turn was coming up. At first I was nervous and I thought I might tell the teacher, but then I had a better idea. That morning, I made an extra lunch with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and my mom's famous chocolate chip cookies. So when the bully came up to me at lunchtime, I brought out the extra lunch, smiled, and asked her if she wanted to eat with me. Boy was she surprised! And I was surprised too, when she said yes. Wasn't that smart of me?
It reminds me of something Jesus taught us to do. He said that we should be kind to people who are mean to us, even going out of our way to be loving to them. He said everybody is nice to people who are nice to them because that's easy. When we act out of love for people who aren't nice to us, it shows that God's love really is in our hearts. And you know what? I did feel like God's love was in my heart. And when I offered the bully the lunch, I didn't feel scared anymore. I felt strong. That makes sense -- God's love is the greatest power in the world. When we can let it into our lives, our fear just melts away. No more fear and I have a new friend. Pretty good deal, right?
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 swaggers on, looks proud)
Leader 1: Hey (name), you look pretty proud of yourself right now. Is something going on?
Leader 2: I just solved a bully problem in our school classroom.
Leader 1: How did you do that?
Leader 2: Here's the situation: There's this girl in my class who's always taking food from the other children at lunch. Every day she moves on to someone else in the lunch room, working right down the tables. So last week I knew my turn was coming up. At first I was nervous and I thought I might tell the teacher, but then I had a better idea.
Leader 1: What did you come up with?
Leader 2: That morning, I made an extra lunch with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and my mom's famous chocolate chip cookies. So when the bully came up to me at lunchtime, I brought out the extra lunch, smiled, and asked her if she wanted to eat with me.
Leader 1: Wow, I bet she was surprised.
Leader 2: She was! And I was surprised too, when she said yes.
Leader 1: That was a really smart idea. It reminds me of something Jesus taught us to do. He said that we should be kind to people who are mean to us, even going out of our way to be loving to them. He said everybody is nice to people who are nice to them because that's easy. When we're kind to people who aren't nice to us, it shows that God's love really is in our hearts.
Leader 2: You know what? I did feel like God's love was in my heart. And when I offered the bully the extra lunch, I didn't feel scared anymore. I felt strong.
Leader 1: God's love is the greatest power in the world. When we can let it into our lives, our fear just melts away.
Leader 2: No more fear, and I have a new friend.
Leader 1: Sounds like a pretty good deal for you.
Closing Prayer: Loving God, thank you for showing us how to live in the strength of your love. Remind us each day that we are able to make a difference for peace and kindness in this world and give us the courage to do it. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a classroom or home environment, take your time going verse by verse through the lesson today, giving time for discussion after each one. Use prompting questions like, "What do you think Jesus means by this?" or "Do you think this is a good teaching? Why or why not?" Encourage the children to brainstorm together to come up with a situation in which someone is being mean to them. Ask them how they feel in their bodies, what emotions come up, and what their thoughts are. If they're like most of us, when faced with conflict they likely go into fight-or-flight mode. Ask them which one they would do. Then explain that we go into fight-or-flight when we're fearful, and Jesus' teaching is a way to show us how to live in love, not fear.
Invite the children to close their eyes for a minute and put themselves back in that situation where they are being treated badly. Invite them to imagine how their hearts look right now. Encourage them to describe the shape, color, and sound of their heart. Ask them if they notice anything unusual or strange about their heart, how their heart feels inside them. Next invite the children to breathe into their hearts God's light and love. Give them a chance to have several breaths until they feel their hearts surrounded by light. Then, looking at the images they have of their hearts, ask them what they need from God right now. Invite them to share as they come up with ideas, making space around each child's sharing. Point out that as they realize what they need, God is already giving it to them. Ask them to look again at their hearts and notice any changes. Affirm any positive shifts in the heart's image -- brighter color, smoother appearance, more regular beating, shift in irregularities, and so on. Point out that this is the picture of their heart when it feels strong and full of love.
Provide the children with craft materials to capture the image of their strong heart. When our hearts are strong we can act with kindness in the world. Sometimes the people we treat with kindness will respond well, like in the story this morning. Sometimes they won't respond well, but that's okay too. Full of God's love, strong in our hearts, we know that all is well with us. Close with prayer.
