First Thoughts: We are now embarking on a new part of the Christian life, the journey to the cross. We begin this season liturgically with the imposition of ashes on our foreheads. It can be rather poignant to place ashes on the heads of our young ones, but it can also be powerfully sacred. The ashes remind us that all of life is transitory, nothing is permanent or lasting, save this: how much love we offer others, and how much love we allow ourselves to receive. Faced with the ashes, things become very simple. We no longer suffer conflict with how we ought to spend our time, the best way to use our finances, or how we should acquire new possessions. Everything boils down to a single question: "Does this action serve love?" This is Lent's lovely invitation to us: be released of the nonessentials and become one with God's movement of healing and compassion. Accepting the invitation does come with sacrifice, but it doesn't take long for us to realize that the sacrifice is really superficial in nature. What is deepest, what is most important, what is lasting remains intact. Spend some time in prayer, opening yourself to the lesson of the ashes and carry your intention with you in your time with the children.
Teaching On Your Own: Hey everybody, see what I have? I won it for being the best citizen in my school. Want to know how? Our school had a clothing drive, and I brought in the most bags. Five whole bags of clothes! That's a lot, right? They weren't really good clothes. I had outgrown most of them and several had grass stains and tears in them. Some were even missing buttons. But that's the great thing about trash bags: nobody could see what was inside. They just saw how much I brought. You should have seen my friends and my teacher. They were soooo impressed with my generosity. Don't you think I was generous? What does it mean to be generous? Being generous means we share with others because we really care about them. Now that I think about it, I wasn't giving the clothes because I wanted to help people in need, but because I wanted to impress my friends and win the prize. I didn't even give good clothes. If someone gets my torn shirt with no buttons they're probably going to be pretty disappointed, huh? Maybe I should re-read the lesson from our scripture passage today.
Jesus is telling his disciples what it means to live the way God wants us to. God wants us to share with others, pray, and worship, right? But we need to do those things for the right reasons. If we only share because we want to make ourselves look good, that isn't being truly kind. If we only pray when others can see us because we want to impress them, that isn't really talking to God. If we only come to worship to show others how good we are, that isn't really praising God. When you get right down to it, the only thing God really cares about is whether our hearts are loving. Anything that doesn't come from love isn't worth much. Sounds like I didn't really live up to that with the clothing drive, huh? Guess I'll have to try again on this generosity thing. The good news is that we're all works in progress, and God never stops working!
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 has the prize with him.)
Leader 1: Hey (name), what's that you have there?
Leader 2: This is my prize for being my school's best citizen.
Leader 1: The school's best citizen? How did you manage that?
Leader 2: Our school had a clothing drive, and I brought in the most bags. Five whole bags of clothes!
Leader 1: That was very nice of you.
Leader 2: Well, they weren't really good clothes. I had outgrown most of them and several had grass stains and tears in them. Some were even missing buttons. But that's the great thing about trash bags: nobody could see what was inside. They just saw how much I brought. You should have seen my friends and my teacher. They were soooo impressed with my generosity.
Leader 1: It doesn't sound like you were very generous to me.
Leader 2: What? But I brought in five bags.
Leader 1: But being generous means we share with others because we really care about them. You weren't giving the clothes because you wanted to help people in need, but to impress your friends and get a prize. You didn't even give good clothes. How do you think someone will feel if they get a torn shirt with no buttons?
Leader 2: I guess not very good.
Leader 1: Maybe you should take a lesson from our scripture passage today. Jesus is telling his disciples what it means to live the way God wants us to. God wants us to share with others, pray, and worship, right?
Leader 2: Right.
Leader 1: But we need to do those things for the right reasons. If we only share because we want to make ourselves look good, that isn't being truly kind. If we only pray when others can see us because we want to impress them, that isn't really talking to God. If we only come to worship to show others how good we are, that isn't really praising God. When you get right down to it, the only thing God really cares about is whether our hearts are loving. Anything that doesn't come from love isn't worth much.
Leader 2: Wow. Guess I need to try again on this generosity thing.
Leader 1: Sounds like it, but don't be discouraged. We're all works in progress. Happily, God never stops working!
Closing Prayer: Loving God, help us to serve you with our full hearts. Teach us to be kind and generous not so others will think we are good people, but so we can become truly good people in your eyes. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a home or classroom environment, spend some time talking about the imposition of ashes. Make sure you have some ashes available in your classroom. If the children have already participated in an Ash Wednesday service, you can invite them to look at the crosses on their forehead. If not, you can give the children a chance to receive the ashes from you or just look at them. Ask the children what they know about ashes. Ashes are what is left over after a fire; they remind us of things that are lost. We use ashes here to remind us that everything we can see, touch, and taste in this world is only here temporarily. Everything we see will break, be lost, or just fall apart. It's important for us to be reminded of that so we don't get confused about what's really important in the world. Ask the children what they have in his or her life that's really important and make a list. Then go through the list and ask which of these things is lasting (love for family and friends, God's love for us) and which things aren't lasting. So what should we spend the most time on? It's easy to become confused, though, and to become too attached to things around us that don't last, like toys, money, or things that entertain us (TV, videogames, and so on). Share this quote with the children, "Anything you cannot give away you do not own; it owns you." If we're going to be truly free to live in love, we have to be free to let go of anything that gets in our way. Invite the children to think of something right now that they think they can't live without. Now invite them to think about that thing turned to ashes. How do they feel? They might feel sad, angry, or fearful, but remind them that the truly important things still remain. They are still themselves, still loved, still precious in God's sight.
For a craft idea help the children make a matchstick cross. Provide the children with cardstock and 29 matches (already struck). Break off the burnt end of one match and break it in half, creating an "X" pattern on the middle of the paper and glue it. (You might want to prepare some of these matches in advance.) Spread a thin layer of glue into each corner of the "X." With burn tips facing out, lay seven matches side-by-side into the glue in all four corners. Point out to the children that the cross is lined in ashes on the burnt tips of the matches but that the center of the cross is intact. The same is true for us. Although our possessions don't last, the center of our lives is always safe, held in God's care. Close with a time of prayer.
