First Thoughts: As we approach the glory of the resurrection, we must also engage the trauma of the cross. Since Jesus prepared his disciples for this tragedy by sharing the Passover meal with them, our focus will be on the meal for today's lesson with the children. Jesus' Passover teaching is clear: Whatever happens in the days ahead, he will always be with them. The ritual he leaves them isn't an elaborate prayer service or a temple-bound sacrifice, but the simple sharing of food. When they break the crust of bread together, drink from the same cup, or gather in simple prayer, Jesus is there among them. The simplicity of the ritual is its power. It is accessible to anyone who eats, drinks, and lives in community, which is to say it is accessible to all. Too often we complicate religious ritual, making it too elaborate and separate from our ordinary experience. Too often as well we treat our everyday rituals -- brushing teeth, kissing our children good-bye, preparing meals -- as though they have no holiness in them. Jesus wants us to know that God is present with us in every regular moment of our lives, through the great tragedies, the holy victories, and through every moment in between. When we are fearful like the deserting disciples, fickle like the denying Peter, or morally collapsed like the betraying Judas, God is with us in each moment, offering us the bread of compassion and the cup of restored life.
Teaching On Your Own: (searches around as though looking for something, looks under pews, scans in the air, looks disturbed) Hey everybody. I've lost something very important. It's a small gray stone, and I need to find it! My best friend gave it to me. He moved away last year. We wanted to remember each other forever so I gave him a rock and he gave me one. We decided to keep them in our pockets so every time we felt the rock, we could think about each other. But now my stone is gone. What am I going to do? You know what? Maybe I could just pick up another stone to put in my pocket. It was just an ordinary stone, so it wouldn't be hard to replace. After all, it's not as important that I have the exact same stone as that I remember my friend, is it? Any rock that reminds me of my friend is a special one. It's hard when we have to say good-bye to someone we care about, isn't it?
In our story today Jesus was trying to say good-bye to his friends. They were having a meal and Jesus knew it was the last time they would ever all be together. He wanted them to know that even though he was going to be gone, part of him would always remain with them. He broke the bread and passed it and the cup of wine around and told them whenever they ate bread or shared the cup together, whenever they prayed or remembered him together, he would be there. Even today we still practice sharing the bread and cup together in church knowing that Jesus is with us too. Most of us eat three times a day and often we eat with people we know and care about. So whenever we're doing that, we know Jesus is with us. It's just that simple. It's good to know that we can stay connected to people we love even when they're not around anymore, especially when times get hard. When Jesus was killed it was really hard for his friends but still they stuck together. They ate and prayed together, and Jesus was still with them. Jesus always is!
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 acts as though he's searching for something, looks under pews, scans high in the air, looks very disturbed)
Leader 1: Hey (name), are you looking for something?
Leader 2: Yes, I'm looking for something special -- a rock!
Leader 1: Oh, is it a valuable gemstone or a fossil maybe?
Leader 2: No, it's just a regular gray rock. What makes it special is the person who gave it to me.
Leader 1: Who is that?
Leader 2: My best friend. He moved away last year. We wanted to remember each other forever so I gave him a rock and he gave me one. We decided to keep them in our pockets so every time we felt them we could think about each other.
Leader 1: That's a really nice idea. But do you really need the exact same rock? Since it is just a regular rock you can always replace it with another one. It's not as important what rock you have as that you remember your friend, right?
Leader 2: Yeah, I guess you're right. Any rock that reminds me of my friend is a special one.
Leader 1: It's hard when we say good-bye to someone we care about, isn't it? In our story today Jesus was trying to say good-bye to his friends. They were having a meal and Jesus knew it was the last time they would ever all be together. He wanted them to know that even though he was going to be gone, part of him would always remain with them. He broke the bread and passed it and the cup of wine around and told them whenever they ate bread or shared the cup together, whenever they prayed or remembered him together, he would be there. Even today we still practice sharing the bread and cup together in church knowing that Jesus is with us too.
Leader 2: That's like my friend and I putting the rocks in our pockets.
Leader 1: And it's just as simple. Most of us eat three times a day, and often we eat with people we know and care about. So whenever we're doing that, we know Jesus is with us. It's that simple.
Leader 2: It's good to know that we can stay connected to people we love even when they're not around anymore.
Leader 1: Yes, especially when times get hard. When Jesus was killed it was really hard for his friends but still they stuck together. They ate and prayed together, and Jesus was still with them. Jesus always is!
Closing Prayer: Thank you, God, for being with us in the simple and ordinary moments of our lives. Whether we carry a stone in our pocket or break bread with our friends, we know that you have filled those moments with your presence and we are never alone. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a home or classroom environment, ask the students what they know of the Easter story. Fill in any gaps that they may have. Although you don't want to overemphasize the darker pieces of the narrative, try not to shy away from them either, particularly if your church doesn't practice a Good Friday service. Inform the students of the disciples' desertion, Peter's denial, Judas' betrayal, as well as the way in which Jesus died. Allow them to ask any questions they have about the story. (In my experience students have a lot of questions in this area.) If you don't know an answer to a question, say so and offer to follow up with them or refer them to someone who might be able to answer the question. You might provide black strips of cloth for each student, which they can make into wrists or armbands. Explain that although black is a color we associate with death it's also a color associated with new birth. The grave is dark, but so is the womb. When Jesus was saying good-bye to his friends, he knew that they were going to experience a loss, but he also knew that loss would lead to a new beginning. He gave them the ritual of sharing a meal together to give them the strength to stick together when the new beginning came.
You can close your time with the students in sharing a simple meal of bread and juice. (If your church does not allow children to officially participate in communion, you can call this a fellowship meal.) Have the students wash their hands first, and then invite them to sit in a circle. Have them pass the loaf around to each other allowing each child to pull off a piece while the one serving says, "Jesus is with you." If your students are old enough to do so without making a mess, invite them also to pour the juice into each one's glass, saying again "Jesus is with you." (If not, you perform this part of the ritual yourself.) Ask the students to think about what it would be like if, at every meal, they remembered that Jesus was with them. Ask them for their favorite foods and invite them one by one to say, "Jesus is with me in my peanut butter and jelly sandwich" or "God is with me in my pizza." Close with prayer.
