Lent in Sixth Grade Sunday School
Waiting too long to post takes away my foolish bravery about putting thoughts out into the world, and so I haven't written much lately. It's time to break that streak.
We are marking the season of Lent in our 6th Grade Sunday School class. Every Sunday we light six candles for the six Sundays during Lent. We turn out the electric lights. We read a lenten reading, and then blow out one more candle each Sunday of Lent to symbolize the darkness that is broken by Easter. Then we are silent for a moment to take it in. Because today is Palm Sunday, today we blew out all six of the candles. In our low light basement classroom the darkness was startling...as was the light, when we moved on to the next part of our lesson.
Today the sixth grade class heard John 18 and 19. We sat outside on park benches in the playground and read a section at a time, and talked about it. The kids, who are gradually becoming taller than me, have insight beyond their years and I find myself humbled at the honor of being present to hear their questions and their insights.
Reading this particular passage about the betrayal and execution of Christ has been especially timely because our pastors, Kay and Anita, used the same chapters for their sermons the last two weeks. Those sermons have not been put online yet, but in a couple of weeks you will be able to hear them here. Today I echoed many things Kay taught us last week, and after class was over I enjoyed hearing Anita flesh out more fully the rest of the things we talked about together on the playground.
Anita talked about how Jesus spoke truth to everyone and some people heard it and acted on it while others turned away from it, finding it too threatening or too risky. The children and I did not talk in terms of truth, but we did marvel at how Pilate seemed to understand Jesus better than the religious leaders. And yet he could not bring himself to do what he knew was right. I told them that it makes me watchful, and careful to try not to miss the truth the way religious leaders did then. We also talked about what might have gone through Peter's thoughts, and why he was afraid to tell the truth. One of us asked if Peter in that moment was still a Christian or not. What a deep question! We remembered later parts of Peter's life as we thought about what it meant to deny Christ three times.
Jesus said to let the children come, because to such belongs the kingdom of God. As we sat with our Bibles open together on the playground, my role was more to add information when something needed clarity and to keep the space safe for asking questions and sharing ideas. The teaching was a community project with all of us learning together. They may be children, but God's spirit uses them.
I was also in charge of getting the palm branches distributed for the processional in worship today. These amazing sixth graders feel a bit too old to be included in something the tiny children do. They aren't too old. We adults aren't too old. We could all be waving our palms and marching in, and reflecting on what it means. But the sixth graders ARE too old to not play a stronger part, so we all were in charge of the processional. I gave them the information that I had been given about when and how things needed to happen and asked for their help. They organized the smaller children, handed out the palm branches, and led them around the church. They were ready for responsibility and did a great job, better than I could have done without them.
Back to the subject of truth, my friend Hannah is living out her faith in a tough neighborhood in Chicago. She lives her life so fully that she rarely has time to blog, but she wrote one recently that I want to pass on...A burden too great. Check it out if you get the chance.
We are marking the season of Lent in our 6th Grade Sunday School class. Every Sunday we light six candles for the six Sundays during Lent. We turn out the electric lights. We read a lenten reading, and then blow out one more candle each Sunday of Lent to symbolize the darkness that is broken by Easter. Then we are silent for a moment to take it in. Because today is Palm Sunday, today we blew out all six of the candles. In our low light basement classroom the darkness was startling...as was the light, when we moved on to the next part of our lesson.
Today the sixth grade class heard John 18 and 19. We sat outside on park benches in the playground and read a section at a time, and talked about it. The kids, who are gradually becoming taller than me, have insight beyond their years and I find myself humbled at the honor of being present to hear their questions and their insights.
Reading this particular passage about the betrayal and execution of Christ has been especially timely because our pastors, Kay and Anita, used the same chapters for their sermons the last two weeks. Those sermons have not been put online yet, but in a couple of weeks you will be able to hear them here. Today I echoed many things Kay taught us last week, and after class was over I enjoyed hearing Anita flesh out more fully the rest of the things we talked about together on the playground.
Anita talked about how Jesus spoke truth to everyone and some people heard it and acted on it while others turned away from it, finding it too threatening or too risky. The children and I did not talk in terms of truth, but we did marvel at how Pilate seemed to understand Jesus better than the religious leaders. And yet he could not bring himself to do what he knew was right. I told them that it makes me watchful, and careful to try not to miss the truth the way religious leaders did then. We also talked about what might have gone through Peter's thoughts, and why he was afraid to tell the truth. One of us asked if Peter in that moment was still a Christian or not. What a deep question! We remembered later parts of Peter's life as we thought about what it meant to deny Christ three times.
Jesus said to let the children come, because to such belongs the kingdom of God. As we sat with our Bibles open together on the playground, my role was more to add information when something needed clarity and to keep the space safe for asking questions and sharing ideas. The teaching was a community project with all of us learning together. They may be children, but God's spirit uses them.
I was also in charge of getting the palm branches distributed for the processional in worship today. These amazing sixth graders feel a bit too old to be included in something the tiny children do. They aren't too old. We adults aren't too old. We could all be waving our palms and marching in, and reflecting on what it means. But the sixth graders ARE too old to not play a stronger part, so we all were in charge of the processional. I gave them the information that I had been given about when and how things needed to happen and asked for their help. They organized the smaller children, handed out the palm branches, and led them around the church. They were ready for responsibility and did a great job, better than I could have done without them.
Back to the subject of truth, my friend Hannah is living out her faith in a tough neighborhood in Chicago. She lives her life so fully that she rarely has time to blog, but she wrote one recently that I want to pass on...A burden too great. Check it out if you get the chance.
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