First Thoughts: Peace. Kindness. Compassion. Bitterness. Confusion. Despair. It's impossible to deny the power of words to evoke certain feelings and images and memories in our minds. But the scripture tells us that the power of words goes beyond merely creating a reality in our minds; the power of word, which is at the center of all creation, physical, spiritual, and otherwise. In this passage from John, the word is made synonymous with Christ. Christ is the word, the part of God that creates the world and then lives within the world. Here we have the divine paradox: a Creator God whose profound greatness transcends everything we can know or understand and a God who lives inside our humanness, who understands us and can be understood by us perfectly. Clearly then we can't understand the entire truth of our Creator, but we also know that a small piece of that Creator lives within us -- the original word that spoke us. The scripture tells us that the word walked among us and we didn't recognize it. It begs the question: "Do we recognize it hidden at the core of our own lives? Will we allow the word to speak itself, to announce itself, to make its/God's will manifest in the world?" God continues to create new things in this world and has equipped us to participate as co-creators. Will we dedicate our gifts, our works, and our lives to accomplishing this calling?
Teaching On Your Own: (Walks around, nose in book. Continues to pace until "bumps" into one of the children.) Hey, where did you guys come from? Oh! We're at church. You'll never believe where I just was. I was on a huge boat in the middle of a stormy ocean, and we were about to be attacked by a group of sharks! Pretty exciting, huh? This author is really great. Of course I'm doing a good job too, you know, because I'm using my imagination. See, the author and I are a team. The author wrote the words to the story, but as I read the words I'm creating the scene in my mind. So together we're making the story come alive. It reminds me of our passage today.
The gospel of John tells us that the world was created by God's word. Do you remember the creation story from Genesis? God said stuff like, "Let there be light," and the light just showed up. Everything God said just appeared. Just like an author, God used the word to create everything around us and that includes human beings as well. But I think it goes further than that. I think that special energy God used to create everything, that word of God, actually still lives inside us. It's like this: God has written this great story of creation, and we're in the story, but we're also the ones reading it. So if we read God's story the way you were reading that book -- you know, really involve our hearts and minds -- we're helping to make the story more real. I think God has given us the power to help God create the world around us. I think God wanted to create people who would be partners with God in loving this world and making it better. Do you realize how important you are to God's plan? We're all important, like pieces of a giant puzzle God is fitting together. The more we work at it -- the more we try to live lives that are loving, brave, and kind -- the more beautiful the picture becomes. And to think that it all starts with just a few words.
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 reads a book)
Leader 1: Hey (name). (Leader 2 not responding) Hello? Hello!
Leader 2: (suddenly looks up) Oh, hi!
Leader 1: Where were you?
Leader 2: Oh, I was on a huge boat in the middle of a stormy ocean, and we were about to be attacked by a group of sharks!
Leader 1: No wonder I had a hard time getting through to you. You were creating a whole world in your mind.
Leader 2: Not really. The author's the one who created the story, I was just reading it.
Leader 1: Actually you and the author were working together. The author wrote the words to the story, but as you read the words you were creating the scene in your mind. So you were working like a team to make the story come alive.
Leader 2: Yeah, I guess that's true.
Leader 1: It reminds me of our passage today. The gospel of John tells us that the world was created by God's word.
Leader 2: Hey, I remember that! In Genesis, God said stuff like, "Let there be light," and the light just showed up.
Leader 1: Right. Just like an author, God used the word to create everything around us and that includes human beings as well. But I think it goes further than that. I think that special energy God used to create everything, that word of God, actually still lives inside us.
Leader 2: What do you mean?
Leader 1: It's like this: God has written this great story of creation, and we're in the story, but we're also the ones reading it. So if we read God's story the way you were reading that book -- you know, really involve our hearts and minds -- we're helping to make the story more real.
Leader 2: You're saying God has given us the power to help create the world?
Leader 1: I think that's why God made us in the first place. God wanted to create people who would be partners with God in loving this world and making it better.
Leader 2: Wow. I never realized how important I was to God's plan.
Leader 1: We're all important, like pieces of a giant puzzle God is fitting together. The more we work at it -- the more we try to live lives that are loving, brave, and kind -- the more beautiful the picture becomes.
Leader 2: And to think, it all starts with just a few words.
Closing Prayer: Authoring God, we are the story you've written. Help us to join with you in writing your story on our hearts and minds so that we can join with you in making this world a place of peace and love. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a home or classroom environment, spend some time reviewing the creation story from Genesis 1. Note that not only did God speak to create the world, God also spoke a blessing over each thing God created, saying: "It is good." That means God was pleased with every piece of creation -- every plant, animal, and person. Clearly God's words are powerful and able to do amazing things. Now go back to the gospel of John, which also tells us that the word is with God and is used by God to create everything. But also in John the word is equated with the life of Jesus -- the man of God who lived with people, who acted in power, and who taught everyone he met that they could act in God's power as well. Jesus seemed to know that the word God used to create everything was also alive in him, and this is something he taught us too. God has entrusted us with an important task: to help God make the world a kinder and more loving place. This is a big responsibility. How do we start? As our lesson suggests that we start with our words. If we regularly use words that are angry or critical of others, or if we're always putting ourselves down, we're helping to make the world an angrier, less happy place. On the other hand, if we consciously decide to use our words to encourage others, to express gratitude and appreciation, to speak positively about ourselves and others, we're helping to shape the world in a way that supports new life and happiness.
To help the children reflect on the importance of words, you can lead them in this exercise. Give them a piece of paper and some crayons or markers. Start by asking them to close their eyes. Then read to them a series of negative words or phrases, like "You are so dumb," "No one really cares about me," "Things are just getting worse and worse." As the children continue to keep their eyes closed, ask them to imagine what the world looks like when these are the words that are spoken all the time. When they've had a few moments to imagine the scene, invite them to spend some time drawing what they imagined on the paper. When they're done drawing, invite them to turn the paper over and close their eyes again. This time read to them a series of positive or affirming phrases, like "You are a beautiful person," "I am so grateful to have you in my life," "Life is full of adventure," "God is bringing great things to my life." Again ask the children to imagine what the world looks like when these words are spoken all the time, inviting them to draw these impressions as well. When they're done, give the children time to share what came up for them in both parts of the exercise, sharing their artwork as they wish. Ask them to decide which world they would rather live in. Explain that what happens in their minds when they think of the positive or negative phrases is the same thing that happens in the world around us when these phrases are spoken. Suddenly the words we share -- and the words we choose not to share -- become very important, don't they? Close with a prayer.
