Easter

Awww Easter! Such a wonderful celebration! This year I decided to put some of my training from seminary into practice. Instead of the usual classrooms, I created a tomb, such as it was, as part of a large classroom. Lying in the tomb was a sheet to represent the linen cloth wrapped around Jesus. I used the resurrection eggs, but this time handed them out to the children to bring up at the appropriate time in the story. This, I felt, would keep the children actively involved in the "story". What was surprising to me about the morning was how little the children knew of the story of our Lord Jesus and His death and resurrection. True, some of these children have not heard the Easter story every year or maybe ever. However, some of the children have been raised in a church setting from birth. I passed around vinegar and asked the children what it was. Many guessed glue! Some even were brave and tasted the vinegar but were uncertain as to what it was. After opening the egg w/ the spear, I asked what flowed out of Jesus side. They guessed blood but couldn't get the water. I even gave them hints like "it's something you drink". Then I got blood and wine, as the response. It was eye opening to me to think that this most important foundation of Christian theology, it not known by our children! When I asked why Jesus had to die on the cross, it took several attempts to come up with sin. Wow, Jesus death and resurrection is the basis of our faith! This Sunday just served as a critical reminder to me that our children don't need to just learn stories! They need to be pointed to God through every lesson that is taught! It's great if they can recite the story of Noah and his ark. But if they do not understand how this story fits into the big picture of the redemption story, then as teachers, we have NOT done our job! Many curriculum's today do not have a bible story but instead contain a moral truth. Even there, we must be ever so careful. If our children understand that they must serve others but don't understand why, then they have no foundation to stand on! We certainly have our work cut out for us as ministers of Christ! We need to remember that we do not want children that can recite bible stories and moral characteristics without understanding the why behind them.