First Thoughts: Many people would agree that the star for this holiday is the Thanksgiving meal. Those who prepare the food might plan for weeks, creating strategies and lists, to make sure everything comes out just right -- and at the right time. People who eat the meal make their plans too, maybe even dieting the week before so as to be ready for indulging in pumpkin pie and homemade stuffing. Our Thanksgiving meals are meant to celebrate the abundance of the harvest, the provision of the earth that sustains and nourishes our physical life. It is the other piece of Thanksgiving, the "giving thanks" part that sustains and nourishes our spiritual life. In today's scripture Jesus tells his disciples not to work for food that perishes but for food that gives eternal life. As we prepare our bodies and kitchens for turkey and sweet potatoes, let us also prepare our hearts for the great feast we will encounter: time with family and friends, an opportunity to publicly declare our gratitude to each other, a chance to grow in compassion for those who need more abundance in their lives. This is the food that never perishes, and the life that eternally blesses.
Teaching On Your Own: (wears apron) Hey everybody, guess what I've been doing? Yeah, cooking. How did you know? Oh, I've got my apron on! Every year I spend a full week getting ready for Thanksgiving. I make pumpkin pie, sweet potato casserole, homemade stuffing using my grandmother's old recipe, and -- of course -- I pick the biggest turkey I can find! I really like Thanksgiving. Don't you? There's only one thing I don't like -- it ends so quickly. Everybody sits down, we have a prayer, and within fifteen minutes all that food is gone. And I have to wait a whole year before I get to do it again. Wouldn't it be great to have a Thanksgiving celebration that went on forever? Our scripture passage today tells us how we can do that. Of course, we all need to eat food like I fixed: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, because that's how we keep our bodies alive. But there's another kind of food even more important to us: the Bread of Life. Do any of you have a recipe for the Bread of Life? Of course not. Do you know why? The Bread of Life isn't something we make. It's something we receive from God. Jesus said he was the Bread of Life. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, how to love God and each other, and how to celebrate their lives every day, and those things make our hearts strong and healthy. Just like we eat regular bread with our mouths and it gives our body strength, we take the Bread of Life into our hearts and souls and it gives our whole life strength. God offers it to us every day, and as long as we keep taking it into our hearts, the meal goes on forever. How do you think we would feel if we receive the Bread of Life every day? Pretty good, right? Happy and blessed? And full of thanks! There you go -- Thanksgiving every day! That means I need to change out of this apron and put this on instead (tucks napkin under chin). Let's eat!
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 wears apron)
Leader 1: Hey, (name), have you been cooking?
Leader 2: I sure have. How did you know?
Leader 1: The apron...?
Leader 2: Oh, right. Every year I spend a full week getting ready for Thanksgiving. I make pumpkin pie, sweet potato casserole, homemade stuffing using my grandmother's old recipe, and -- of course -- I pick the biggest turkey I can find!
Leader 1: You really like Thanksgiving, huh?
Leader 2: What's not to like? (sighs) Well, there is one thing I don't like -- it ends so quickly. Everybody sits down, we have a prayer, and within fifteen minutes all that food is gone. And I have to wait a whole year before I get to do it again.
Leader 1: Hmmm. How would you like a Thanksgiving celebration that went on forever?
Leader 2: That sounds like fun, but how?
Leader 1: In our scripture passage today, Jesus talks about a meal that never ends. Of course, we all need to eat food like you've fixed: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, because that's how we keep our bodies alive. But there's another kind of food even more important to us: the Bread of Life.
Leader 2: The Bread of Life? I'm not sure I've ever made that. Do you have a recipe?
Leader 1: The Bread of Life isn't something we make. It's something we receive from God. Jesus said he was the Bread of Life.
Leader 2: What did he mean by that?
Leader 1: Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, how to love God and each other, and how to celebrate their lives every day, and those things make our hearts strong and healthy. Just like we eat regular bread with our mouths and it gives our body strength, we take the Bread of Life into our hearts and souls and it gives our whole life strength.
Leader 2: And that meal goes on forever?
Leader 1: Just as long as God keeps offering it to us, as long as God keeps on loving us and helping us and as long as we keep taking it into our hearts.
Leader 2: If we eat the Bread of Life every day I bet we'll feel pretty happy and blessed.
Leader 1: And full of thanks! There you go -- Thanksgiving every day!
Leader 2: Better change out of my apron for this! (tucks napkin under chin) Let's eat!
Closing Prayer: God, we thank you for the food you've put on our tables, and for the food you've given us in our hearts. Help us to express our thanks for both, and to grow strong in our hearts, souls, and bodies this Thanksgiving. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this message in a home or classroom environment, spend time talking about the Bread of Life, particularly how we can receive it from God. How does God teach us and let us know we're loved? In church, during prayer, reading the Bible, playing with friends, when we eat, when we sleep at night, when we see a beautiful sunrise or a lovely flower, and so on. What is God's message of love in each of these situations? We can see that God as placed the Bread of Life all around us; we just have to pay attention to it and let it into our hearts.
Try an activity in which you come up with an event where the Bread of Life is in front of you like at lunchtime. Have everyone act out a way they could eat the meal without receiving the Bread of Life, pretending to gobble the food up very quickly. Now have them act out a way they could eat their meal while receiving the Bread of Life. Have them pretend to pick up each piece of food and think about it for a minute. Let's say the food is an apple -- imagine the tree that grew the apple, supported by the sun, bathed by the rain, the person who gently picked the apple and put it in a basket, the grocer who placed the apple in the grocery store stand, the parent who purchased the apple with the child in mind. In each of these moments, God's love was present. Now invite the children to pretend to take a bite out of the apple, keeping all this in mind. What is the difference between the two ways of eating? You can use a couple of other scenarios asking for the children to think through how they can receive the Bread of Life in every circumstance.
For a craft idea, print out the "Bread of Life" template. You will need a copy of the first page for each student and then enough copies of the second page so each student will have two or three extra bread loaves. You can invite the students to cut out their extra loaves themselves or cut them out for the children in advance. (If you want to make it more crafty, you can use one of the extra loaves as a tracing template, allowing the children to trace around it on construction paper and cutting them out of that medium.) Ask the children to come up with two or three ways in their daily lives when God offers them the Bread of Life and record their ideas on the extra loaves. For non-writers you can write it for them or invite them to draw a picture of their idea. Finally invite them to glue or tape their extra loaves to the "Bread of Life" page. Close with prayer.
