VBS 09 Day 3- God 's Word grows in you and in me

eu·reka:
interjection

1. I have found (it): believed to have been uttered by Archimedes when he discovered a way to determine the purity of gold by applying the principle of specific gravity
2. I've got it; yes; that's it: used to express triumphant achievement, success, or discovery

We've been shouting "Eureka!" as part of our program whenever the leader (Bethany) announces the key idea for each night. I explained to the 5/6 graders how in African American churches there is often a call-and-response interaction between the preacher and the congregation. When he wan't to know that they understand what he is teaching, he asks them to shout "Amen." Amen, is a Hebrew word which means "may it be so, so it is, let it be so, or, this is true." (Lutherans read "this is most certainly true" a lot in the chatechism.)

Both Eureka and Amen might be great ways to say "I GET it!" when you understand what's being talked about. That fit with the night's lesson because it was about whether you "get it" or not.

The Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:1-15) is the one parable that Jesus told which He went so far as to spell out and explain to His diciples peice by peice, which is ironic because the whole point of the story is that a lot of people miss the point.

Steven Corbert is actually a fairly liberal comedian, but he's become famous by satirizing ultra conservative pundits who take themselves too seriously. Ironically, there are tons of far right-wing Republicans and Libertarians who think he's for real. They love him and believe much of what he says... they don't seem to realize that he's making fun of them.

Similarly, British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has had two movies (Borat and Bruno) in which he pretends to be hopelessly clueless stereotypes of characters making a serious as a heart attack doccumentary. He's then able to record ordinary people responding to his characters either with ridicule and intolerance, or by revealing themselves to be just as clueless as his characters are. Some people just don't get it.

In the parable of the sower, Jesus is warning us that sometimes we just don't get it. And sure enough, the original 12 disciples didn't get it so He had to spell it out for them.

The seed is God's Word.

Some of us are trampled down paths (verse 5). We've been walked on and worked over, so no sooner do we hear God's Word than the devil snaches it away and it's as if we never heard it.

Some of us are shallow, rocky dirt (verse 6) (more like the deserts of Phoenix where I grew up than the deep, dark, nutrient rich top soil here in Iowa). We get all excited and seem enthusiastic about this great new thing; "Jesus" or "Faith" or "Christianity" and it sprouts up fast- how exciting, the latest Christian book, some newtrend or self-improvement fad, a TV evangelist, or a great Christian rock band or concert--- woo hoo, aint this great? But, once life get's tough (and it always does) then we abandon the faith, we feel like Jesus must've been just another religion, and it comes to nothing.

Some of us are a wild weed patch, full of buffalo burrs or thisles or maybe, lush banks of kudzu or why not- gorgeous rose bushes--- whichever way you dice it, the seed comes and it make grow, but it's choked by what's already growing in us. We may believe and even try to be like Jesus, but life gets in the way. There are just too many things we don't want to give up. Maybe they're actual things (material posessions) maybe they're bad habits, selfish attitudes, patterns of behavior, sins- maybe they're people, toxic relationships, bad influences- somehow or other, the worries and/or pleasures of this world just don't allow our faith to get the sunlight or nutrients it needs to grow.

Ah, but some of us, are decent worm poop. Soft, turned over, cleared off, composted, damp and ready to recieve the seed. And if we do, God can get a great yield out of His seed. 100 times, Jesus says.

And so what? What yield? Sunflower seeds? Corn kernels? Soybeans? Apple trees? Wheat?

Fruit, Spiritual Fruit. John 15:1-3 says that Jesus is the vine, we are the branches and God the Father is the gardener. Remember yesterday he turned us from water to wine, maybe we're wine grapes. Galatians 5:22-23 tells us the kind of fruit we are to produce, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. THAT is some good fruit.

It almost makes you wonder if in Genesis 1:28, when God told us to "be fruitful and multiply," He wasn't really talking about having babies, at least He wasn't JUST talking about having babies.

It certainly seems to me that having the Holy Spirit produce this kind of fruit in us would lead to doing a lot of good works and following good paths that God prepared for us in advance (Ephesians 2:10).

But, you have to have ears to hear. Amen? You can't just half listen or treat God's Word like it's just more background noise. That's the difference between just hearing and actually listening and paying attention. The only way to be good soil, is to till up the trampled path, to pick out the rocks and pull out the weeds. The only way to produce good fruit is to commit to seting aside time to spend with God, reading His Bible, praying to him, worshiping and listening. If we refuse the seed, how can we expect to produce any fruit? He who has ears, let him hear. Amen?

In light of that important lesson- would you please consider making time to get into God's Word? Plan on coming to HS Bible Study this fall. Our theme's going to be "you, like living stones, are being built into God's house" 1 Peter 2:5

We'll use Room 101 off the Church Lobby instead of the kitchen in the basement. Let's really try to get into Gods Word in a major way before you all go to New Orleans for the National Youth Gathering next summer.

And since it's still a month and a half away, why don't you start praying that all the kids in our congregation will start coming to HS Bible Study on Sundays this Fall too. Nobody wants to be alone. Jesus tells us, where two or more are gathered in His name He is there with them (Matthew 18:20)!

VBS 09

This year instead of being the "Bible Story Teller" for PK-6 for Vacation Bible School at our church, my wife asked me to be the Bible Study Leader for 5-6. This is a... challenge. Even though I've taught 7-12 for 16 years now, this age level is a classroom-management... challenge.
Somehow, God will get us all through it.

The Concordia Publishing House (CPH) material this year is called "Gadget's Garage," because God's Always Doing Great Exciting Things (G.A.D.G.E.T.) Gadget is a slightly nerdy teenager who makes a robot named "Gizmo" out of spare parts in his garage.

The theme verse is Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." This is one of my personal favorites. I've written about it on this blog before. I like it because I think it explains the meaning of life. Eph 2:8-9 explain that we are saved only by God's grace through faith in Jesus, but verse 10 explains why God created us in the first place.

Our first Bible Study was on the creation story in Genesis 1-2. The memory verse that night was Psalm 139:10 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; works are wonderful"

The challenge from CPH was, how does God show His love for us in the creation story?
Whew, it never really occurred to me. I figured that this story was narrative, not Gospel.

I thought about explaining C.S. Lewis' 4 Loves; Storge (affection), Philia (friendship), Eros (romantic), and agapē (unconditional)- but I thought that might be a little complicated for 5th & 6th graders and still had no clue how to fit it into Gen 1-2.

Then it hit me Christian author Gary Chapman wrote a huge best seller called 'the Five Love Languages.' Words, Time, Touch, Service, and Gifts.

The CPH materials helped with this a little (even though they never mention the 5 Love languages directly). For one thing, they pointed out how God created everything except man and woman. Gen 1:3-25, every time He made something He used words, "let there be," and once He's made anything He used words again, "it is good." But then when He made us, He was hands on, you could say He used touch. It took time to do all this, 6 days and then He rested on the 7th- He took time to enjoy what He had made. That took care of three of the five love languages.

I also had the kids consider the order in which God created things. Humans were last. When you buy a new pet and bring it home from the pet store, what order do you do things? Generally people set up the aquarium before they go get the fish or turtle or lizard or snake, right? You may or may not bring a cat or dog home without setting up a bed and litter box first, but few people go get a hamster, rat, gunea pig, sheep, pig, horse, or cow without having a stall or corral or box or pen or hutch ready to go first. This may be arrogant, but I think the God started with the end in mind. I think He made all this night and day, heavens and earth, plants and animals stuff for people. That's service- come to think of it, it's also gifts. (Gen 1:26-29)

As a parent, I get frustrated when my kids leave their bikes out in the rain. I worked all those hours to earn the money and then we spent all that time picking out just the right one that you fit on just right and liked the looks of, then we spent all that time with the training wheels and running along side teaching you how to ride it and this is how my time, money and effort is repaid? Sitting there out on the sidewalk getting rained on so it can rust? Not to mention out in the open where anyone could steal it?

God must really be hurt and offended when we squander His gifts be being such poor stewards of His creation. Our first job was to take care of it- Gen 2:15 "God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."

I think that being created in His image, His likeness (Gen 1:26-27) fits great with Eph 2:10, being created to do good works which God prepared ahead of time for us to do. He does great, amazing things, He made us to do great amazing things. He loves us in what He says to us, what He gives us, what He does for us, and by being with us and we should live our lives sharing out time, encouragement, service, and resources with others. That's what we're here for.

Sanctification; Purpose

Here's a little follow-up on the entry on 1 John 3:16-18 that I wrote yesterday-

When I was in college, The History of Modern Philosophy was a difficult but fun class. The best thing to come out of Doc Meyer's Philosophy class was the revelation that most of philosophy was about philosophers using big, flowery words. Gaining the skills necessarily to analyze and scrutinize such "thick" language was immeasurably valuable for all the other classes we'd eventually take in college, not to mention deciphering all the fine print and legal copy on ads and contracts you're confronted with as a grown-up.

One of the ways we made fun of all the jargon was by greeting each other with one philosopher's challenge (sorry, I don't remember which philosopher it was) we'd see each other and say "Are you fulfilling your 'predicate' today?" A layman's version might be something along the lines of, "are you fulfilling your purpose today?" or maybe, "are you being who you're meant to be?"

A core Bible verse for Lutherans is what we call the Sedes doctrinae, the seat or base of much of our doctrine, Ephesians 2:8-9. Luther emphasized that salvation comes only through faith in Jesus, not by being good enough or by not breaking the commandments because every single human being is imperfect, we're all going to be selfish or stupid sometime. Grace through faith. If you attended a Lutheran school, you had that drilled into you. Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone. Beautiful.

Just like I said yesterday that John 3:16-18 is about "justification" (God's work FOR you) and that 1 John 3:16-18 is about "sanctification (God working THROUGH you), Ephesians 2:8-9 is about justification, and the very next verse, Ephesians 2:10 is all about sanctification.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ~Ephesians 2:8-10

Evangelical speaker and author Chuck Swindoll once explained sanctification as setting something aside for it's original intended purpose. On the one hand, I sanctify a keyboard by typing with it and we sanctify a cup everytime we drink coffee from it. We are sanctified whenever we let God set us aside to do what He created us to do.

Ephesians 2:10 makes clear that God made us to do good. 1 John 3:16-18 tell us that our purpose is to be like Jesus, servants sacrificing for others. Not in order to get into Heaven, not to save ourselves. And not because we SHOULD or OUGHT TO now that Jesus has saved us and we get to go to Heaven, but because that's our predicate, that's what God created us for, to be like His Son. Loving, forgiving, healing, feeding, clothing, comforting, helping, teaching, humbly doing what He does in His ministry of reconcilliation. It's not about the law, its not even in loving response to the Gospel, it just doing what we were meant to do, being who we were created to be.