The Fire Ant Gazette - A Midland, Texas Blog

Teaching Lesson
Category: Faith...
Posted Thursday, June 08, 2006 at 01:26 PM [GMT-6]

I'm sitting on the floor -- actually, on a large piece of flannel cut in the shape of a bearskin rug -- next to a wall and in front of a small easel, with the remaining 180 degrees of space occupied by fifteen second graders, boys and girls. I've just finished lecturing to them about the contents of the third chapter of the gospel of John, which describes the nighttime meeting of Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, with Jesus, as Nicodemus attempts to discern just who Jesus is and what he's offering. I've gone through a rigorous discussion of justification and sanctification, of the concept of atoning grace and salvation through faith rather than works and other fundamental doctrines of our religion, all of which are touched upon in this passage. I feel that I've made an impact on these children with my wise and insightful apologetics, and I know they'll leave different people than when they arrived. I ask if there are any questions, and one little girl sitting next to me politely raises her hand. "Yes, Kim (not her real name), what's your question?" I ask, anticipating another opportunity to clarify important doctrinal issues for her and the other children whose rapt faces are turned to mine.

"Mr. Eric," she sweetly queries, "why do you have so much hair in your ears?"

A month ago, during an extended spasm of illucidity, I agreed to tell a "Bible story" during our church's Vacation Bible School (VBS). I figured that a lot could happen in a month, what with 6/6/06 coming up and the Mavericks in the NBA playoffs. Besides, they told me that I would be telling the story of Elijah, one of the more colorful characters in the Bible from whose life I could surely extract thirty quality minutes to keep a group of eight year olds enthralled. (Or maybe it was Elisha. Anyway.) Then I discovered that I had a scheduling conflict, which they could accommodate (drat!) and as a result I ended up with Nicodemus and Jesus (or, as our pastor likes to call it, "Nic at Night" [and, yes, I wasn't too proud to use it in my own telling]). So, instead of cool chariots of fire and stuff, I had a Jewish legalist who talked about re-entering his mother's womb. I felt a palpable sense of impending doom.

You'd think that by now I would have come to understand that God works in mysterious ways. This morning -- the morning that finally arrived despite my earnest pleading for an interventional Apocalypse -- I received two words, two very unexpected words.

First, as Abbye and I entered the park that part of our morning walking route, one of our church staff members was exiting. He was wearing a VBS t-shirt, so I told him that I was headed that way in a little while to tell a Bible story to second graders. He stopped and said that he'd done just that yesterday and had learned an important lesson: things really go better if you sit on the floor with the kids. Simple, right? It had never occurred to me, but I immediately saw the logic.

Then, as I got in the car to head to church, I got this word in an almost audible fashion from You Know Who: "Whatever it is that you're going to say will be much less important than the fact that you took the time to show up and say it." He was right (duh...); it's a cliché but that doesn't make it untrue: your availability is more important than your ability. It's especially important for Christian men to show up in these kinds of venues, where almost everything is being done -- and done quite well, of course -- by women. Some of these kids don't have dads in their families, or if they do, they don't hear them talking about Jesus and God and the Bible.

So, armed with a minor practical tip from a friend, and a major principle from the Father, I set off as if I knew what I was doing.

John 3 really is a rich passage of Scripture. William Barclay devoted 26 pages in his commentary to the 36 verses that comprise the chapter. It deals with a lot of theological, soteriological, and doctrinal issues, and because Jesus does most of the talking, it's really important to pay attention. (The chapter also contains what is arguably the most memorized verse in the Bible.) But, sadly, it's not the kind of passage that provides a riveting retelling for younger kids.

Nevertheless, I got down on the floor with 'em, talked a bit about Nicodemus's background and why it was so unusual for him to be meeting with Jesus, and then talked a bit about what it means to be born again. And you know what? They paid attention. Sure, we chased a few rabbits -- one boy's response to my question about the definition of a miracle offered up his personal experience of when his grandmother gave him a Sony PlayStation for Christmas, and we talked about how fast you'd have to ride a motorcycle in order to jump the spiritual chasm that separates us from God -- but that's not only expected but desirable.

We mostly managed to stay out of the doctrinal quicksand and stuck with the basics, and the allotted half hour passed very quickly. And, as usual, I came away feeling like I had picked up all the blessings of the morning.

And, for the record, nobody mentioned ear hair.

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Comments

Well done with that! I'm sure you were great! I find it's the kids that are easy to speak to, it's the adults that scare me lol.

Posted by: Rachel at June 8, 2006 05:47 PM

Yes, very well done and well told!! A lot to cover in 30 minutes, but so true about just showing up. I'd say those kids got a lot more than they bargained for. Nice work! :-)

Do you suppose Jesus had a lot of ear hair? ;-)

Posted by: Gwynne at June 8, 2006 06:17 PM

Eric, I'm always encouraged by the number and the quailty of the people who step forward to do their part for VBS ... it's good for them, it's good for the kids, it's good for the community ...

The boys are wrapping up a week of VBS ... "Adventures with Christ," a cooperative effort going on over at Trinity School ...

Midland is so big, so busy, with so many churches ... there are several with VBS going on this week ...

I remember, in Fort Stockton, a smaller community, with less activities and opportunities for the young people ... but they made the most with what they had! ... For one thing, all the churches checked each other's summer schedules, and tried to avoid overlap ... our kids would be at United Methodist one week, Baptist the next, Presbyterian a couple of weeks after that ...

During the summer, an invitation from a schoolmate for a playdate might involve an activity at the child's church ... not a bad idea

Good for us, good for the kids, good for the community ...

Posted by: Jeff at June 8, 2006 09:36 PM

Rachel, you've got a lot more experience around kids than I do, so I'm not surprised you're more comfortable with them. I'll have to check in with you for tips next time.

Gwynne, I'm not sure Jesus had ears. None of the pictures I've seen of him show them! ;-)

Jeff, VBS is a big deal in many communities, especially the smaller ones. And I think that a lot of parents use them as a rotating daycare resource during the summer. I suppose some people might feel that's an abuse of the system or something, but I can't think of a better place for kids to be, especially if the alternative is home alone. I know FBC welcomes kids from any church, any neighborhood, any situation, and I suspect that's the common attitude among all the local churches.

Posted by: Eric at June 8, 2006 09:50 PM

Sounds like fun. I actually would love to help at our VBS but can't really afford to take a week of vacation to do so. Growing up, our church had late afternoon/evening programs as well during the summer, but that seems to have fallen out of trend.

Still, you're quite right that being there is the most important thing. Good for you for being willing!

Posted by: beth at June 9, 2006 06:16 AM

Beth, I also remember in the "old days" when VBS occurred in the evening, especially in smaller communities where it was hard to find enough workers during the day. As you point out, it doesn't seem like that's an option much anymore.

Posted by: Eric at June 9, 2006 06:34 AM

Oooh... that reminds me. It's time to trim my ear and nose hairs again.

I wish I'd had a teacher who relates to kids as well as you do, when I was going to catechism classes.

Posted by: Foo at June 9, 2006 08:20 AM

Be careful what you wish for, Foo. You've not seen the Dark Side. Without going into detail about the situation, I once had a fifth grade boy look at me with wide eyes and say the following: "You hit me with the holy word of God!!"

Posted by: Eric at June 9, 2006 08:23 AM

"You hit me with the holy word of God!!"

:-) (Wish I could have witnessed that!)

Posted by: Gwynne at June 9, 2006 11:41 AM

I was simply making practical application of the verse that says that Scripture is profitable for reproof and correction. ;-)

Posted by: Eric at June 9, 2006 12:16 PM

RE: The ear hair thing.

I volunteered to read to Jack's first grade class and when it was my turn to read, I found myself in a pickle. I was recovering from disc surgery and was required to wear a neck brace for 12 weeks. It was week #10 and I decided I'd remove the brace while reading, so as not to embarrass Jack or attract any attention to the highly visible "Nicole Brown Simpson" scar across my neck. After reading the story, the children and I were talking about the book and one little boy raised his hand and asked "Why is your neck so long?" Jack jumped up and retrieved my neck brace, asked me to put it on and we proceeded to have a medical q & a for about 20 minutes, with Jack doing most of the answering. (He had helped his dad remove the stitches I got in Lubbock during surgery). It was way more interesting than the book I had just read and Jack enjoyed an increase in popularity afterward, never embarrassed in the least about his "long necked Mother".

Fortunately, I didn't never had to explain who Nicole Brown Simpson was.

Posted by: julie at June 9, 2006 12:50 PM

Ha...that's great, Julie. That's the thing about kids, you've got to be willing (and flexible) to let them tell you how and what they want to learn. Not always, of course...but sometimes the social interaction -- having a relatively sophisticated question-and-answer session with an adult, for example -- can be an important part of their education.

Plus, they probably all knew who Nicole Brown Simpson was. ;-)

Posted by: Eric at June 9, 2006 12:57 PM

Nicodemus is certainly not the most adventursome Bible story to share with children. I, too, am teaching it this summer in VBS...in the evening. Think I will try and tell it in the dark.

Posted by: Karen at June 21, 2006 10:01 AM

Karen, if your church is following the same curriculum we used (and I suspect it is, otherwise this story wouldn't probably be on the agenda), you might also want to stress the courage of Nicodemus in meeting with Jesus, even at night. In hindsight, I'm not sure I addressed that part of the story enough.

Posted by: Eric at June 21, 2006 12:25 PM

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