Shout Out to Sunday School Teachers

Excerpt from Psalm 105: 1-6, 37-45

“Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold, and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.”

Reflection by Anthony B. Robinson

It occurs to me this being Saturday, and early in September, there may be a fair number of folks preparing their first Sunday School lesson of the year today (or tonight). Thank you. Thank you for teaching, for telling the story, for loving the kids, and for helping all of us in the church to fulfill our baptismal promises to our children and their parents. It matters.

The long 105th Psalm basically tells the story of Israel and thus the story of God, or part of it. One of the main things we are up to in Sunday School is helping people learn and love the stories, the great stories of our faith.

Some opening lines from the novel Ceremony by Native American author, Leslie Marmon Silko, have stuck with me. “I will tell you something about stories . . . They aren’t just entertainment. Don’t be fooled. They are all we have, you see, all we have to fight off illness and death. You don’t have anything if you don’t have the stories.”

Imagine that: stories as health care! Stories to strengthen our immune system, set our broken bones and mend our torn hearts.

As people of faith, we have lots of amazing and wonderful stories. Together they make up one big story. It’s the story of a God who created this good world and all of us in love and won’t ever give up on us. It’s the story of a God who has the first word and will have the last one, and that word is “Yes.” It’s the story of a God who finds a way when we don’t, and who will be the way through life’s many dangers, toils and snares.

So Sunday School teachers (preachers and parents), tell the stories. Furnish the imaginations of your children and adults with the stories. They aren’t just entertainment. You don’t have anything if you don’t have the stories.

And Sunday School teachers: thank you.

Prayer

Dear Lord, bless all those who are your storytellers tomorrow. Grant them such grace that they may be so caught up in your story as to forget themselves and be truly found alive and anew in you. Amen.

About the Author
Anthony B. Robinson, a United Church of Christ minister, is a speaker, teacher and writer. His newest book is Stewardship for Vital Congregations, published by The Pilgrim Press. Read his weekly reflections on the current lectionary texts at www.anthonybrobinson.com/ by clicking on Weekly Reading.

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