Monday, March 19, 2007

"he died for our sins"

That was the common refrain at the Confirmation retreat while we talked about what made Jesus important.
This was very funny (and a little annoying) to me.
Why, you ask?
well, because the Bible Study unit we're working on is about Jesus' LIFE and TEACHING!

I finally told my group: Jesus died for 6 hours. He lived for 33 years. He was resurrected and has been hanging out "at the right hand of the Father" for about 1980 years (ish). And the only thing you can talk about is that he died for your sins? Which sins are you even thinking of?

It's great that the confirmands have a really good sense of forgiveness--I love that they feel forgiven and loved and covered by grace. What we're working on is seeing that Jesus LIVED for us and ROSE for us, not just died. (come on, Romans 8, come on!! You can help us!)

The group planning our worship at the retreat (which included communion) decided they wanted to do a baptism/footwashing-like forgiveness ceremony. During the silent prayer of confession, everyone used a red dry-erase marker to write a sin (or a reminder of a sin or other thing they feel guilty about) on the palm of their hand. We then passed around a bowl of water and each person washed the hand of the person next to them, saying the words "you are forgiven." (the text was Matthew 18.21-22, about forgiving someone 77 times, and also the forgive-and-you-will-be-forgiven thing.) At the end we said the "usual" declaration of forgiveness, ending with "know that you are forgiven and be at peace"--and then passed the peace. We sang Jesus Loves Me, then had communion together. It was actually a really beautiful 20-minute worship experience. I am really proud of each group planning devotions/worship and that we set aside 10-20 minutes three times during a 24 hour retreat. The youth seemed to really enjoy it too. I've had lots of positive feedback from parents already. Impressive since I just sent really tired kids home 13 hours before the Sunday thing started!

Other memorable moments...let's see....being asked if rock-climbing would be okay during their nature walks. when the response was no, being asked if "stone climbing" would be okay instead. ha! ....finding out that one of the youth stole the pinto beans of another youth (we were playing a game with them) in order to win....watching eighth graders get to know each other better....watching two people dive for the last cookie, both screeching as only teenage girls can as they grabbed for it (the cookies were REALLY good!)....having one of the moms drop the bag containing 2 dozen eggs (to be used to make breakfast) as we were packing the cars to leave....me, wishing that I had stuck to my original plan to have a two-night retreat.

and now, worn out from that and worship with Amazing Grace (twice) and youth Sunday planning and a baby shower and some time missing my mom really a lot, I must sleep. I was trying to stay awake until 9.30. My computer clock says 9.34. It's time for bed.

ta!

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Well, the jig is up. Now you know who I am because STUPID BLOGGER always defaults to the lesser used of my blogs!

    Please don't give away my secret...or come after me or something creepy like that :)

    Anyway, as I was saying, I am surprised you were able to get the ink out of their hands. Dry erase markers seem to stick on my skin forever!

    Thanks,

    girl

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  3. Teri, I appreciate this post, esp. the confirmation class "died for our sins" default response. I get the same thing - this past Sunday we worked on the class faith statement which will be used this Sunday (youth sunday - our contribution) and on the Sunday of confirmation. Was very hard to get my very bright group of 8th graders to get descriptive (what does "Jesus taught us how to live" mean?, I asked. "How might your statement explain more/what does it look like for someone who doesn't know about Jesus?," I continued. The four confirmands looked at me as if I was an alien and told me to write it myself since I evidently had something in mind for them to say. Hmmm...how to remain engaged but not aggravated....and to let the learning stay theirs (It is your statement, not mine, I perhaps unhelpfully replied). THey got it done. It is what it is - an offering to God and a statement of what they were willing to put on paper on Sunday March 18 2007. So be it. And I keep on praying and thinking about faith and human development and resistance and experiential learning and sometimes it feels like pulling teeth. Sigh. And I missed my mom and dad a lot this weekend - dad moved to his new house in TN on Friday.

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  4. Are adults any easier?

    I think talking to 1st to 3rd graders produces the most profound, authentic discussion. After that the "canned" answers & phrases start to appear.

    Often, superficial equals safe. Authentic equals vulnerable

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  5. "I finally told my group: Jesus died for 6 hours. He lived for 33 years. He was resurrected and has been hanging out "at the right hand of the Father" for about 1980 years (ish). And the only thing you can talk about is that he died for your sins? Which sins are you even thinking of?"

    Love. This.

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