The Last Supper

This morning in Kids' Word we will hear and share the story of the Last Supper from John's Gospel.  John's gospel is unique from the other three in that it tells the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet in the Upper Room, the other three gospels focus more on Jesus words of institution which we hear every week as we gather for communion:

While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after he had broke it, gave it to them and said, "Take; this is my body." Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it.  He said to them, "this is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Do this in remembrance of me."

If you are reading our story from the Bible to your class today, you will notice a number of clauses preceding the action of Jesus:

• Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from the world and go to the Father, 
• Having loved his own, who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
• The devil had put in the heart of Judas to betray him.
• Jesus, knowing that all things were given into his hands, that he had come from God and was going to God
• Got up from the table, took off his outer robe and tied a towel around himself

It is easy to get a little bit bogged down in these words, they are awkward but, it is important to pause over them.  

Up until recently Jesus had been performing miracles - why, he had just raised Lazarus back to life! He had stood his ground before religious leaders, defended himself in gruelling debates. He entered Jerusalem and was greeted by people crying out: 'Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!' He had toppled tables in the temple and was looking like a leader: strong and focused. But an inescapable darkness pervaded and had infiltrated into his closest group of friends. There was a betrayer in the ranks and Jesus knew his name. 'The hour' had come for him to go to the Father from whom he came: "He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being."(John 1).  Having loved his own, he loved them to the very end - to the end of this work, to the end of himself, to the end of the ages.  And as he gathered together in the Upper Room with these friends whom he had shared his life with, whom he loved, for this last meal, there was sorrow and there was love.

And so he got up from the table, took off his outer robe and tied a towel around himself.  In doing this he became like a slave, like a servant among them. He filled a basin and knelt down before each of his disciples and washed their feet.  This is a story about vulnerability and intimacy, it is about love that lays down rights, positions of authority, and power and serves others.  In this action Jesus reversed the social order - the disciples had no category for what they were in the midst of. Remember, they showed up in the Upper Room and quickly prepared the feast of Passover. They came from busy days and when they sat down and caught their breath they might have been more than a little unprepared for how the evening unfolded.  Jesus had taken the place of a servant and washed their feet. His words were potent, thick with meaning, their grief was catching them off guard, their words were sticking in their throats.

If you have said good bye to a loved one, been blessed by a person leaving your midst, shared that last meal together with a dear friend, gathered together one last time and found that a song was the only way to express what was in your heart, then you know the intimacy, the tenderness, the fragility, the beauty, the tearing away you feel inside yourself.  When you find yourself in that place, it is both the last place you want to be and the only place you want to be, all at the same time.  In this moment you feel like you are a witness to a greater grace, a greater truth and somehow you are held by a greater love.

In his last hours Jesus continued to reveal the glory of a God who become a baby - vulnerable, little, powerless.  Who, as a grown man, stooped low before them and washed the feet of his beloved friends.  This is a story that foreshadows the ultimate laying down of Christ self on the cross.  We hear this in the exchange between Peter and Jesus:
"Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"
Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing but, later you will understand."
Peter said, to him, "You will never wash my feet"
Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me."
Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but my hands and my head also."
Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, is entirely clean.  And you are clean.  Though not all of you.  For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "not all of you are clean."
I have deep sympathies with Peter here.  He is a bewildered leader, trying to understand, trying to take control, perhaps struggling with the intimacy of this evening, how did Jesus become his servant?  But when Jesus tells him: "unless I wash you, you have no share with me, " he panics, I didn't mean that "wash all of me, Jesus."
This washing of which Jesus speaks is not the literal washing of feet but it is the washing of sin through Christ's atoning work on the cross through which we are made clean and joined to Christ. We are instructed by Jesus' action of foot washing and we can spend some time on that with our classes, it is significant.  But let us not lose sight of the primary meaning, "that the Eternal Word, which was in the beginning with God has become flesh, not only to dwell among us, full of grace and truth (John 1:14) but also to love us and serve us to the the outermost limit, even to death on the Cross."  

Hear the words of Paul in Philippians:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death -
even death on a cross.

Now let us turn to Jesus words to his disciples after he washed their feet:

"Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord - and you are right for that is what I am.  For if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have set you an example, that you should also do as I have done to you.  Very truly I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.  If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them."

When Jesus calls us to wash each other's feet he is calling us to love, to serve and to forgive one another.

Jean Vanier writes about the practice of washing feet and his experience of it at his l'Arche community, I want to leave this with you as it touched me deeply.

To wash a person's feet
is a gesture that creates and expresses a communion of hearts.
I became aware of the importance of this gesture
when I left my community and lived a sabbatical year in one of our homes
that welcomes people with severe disabilities.
Among them was Eric.
We had met him at a local psychiatric hospital.
When he arrived he was a lad of sixteen;
he was blind, deaf and could not walk or speak.
He was not toilet trained.
I have never seen so much anguish in a young person
as I saw in Eric.
There was a desire in him to die;
he would not keep food down in his stomach.

Many of those with disabilities
Who are welcomed in our l'Arche communities
have a broken self image.
They have been seen as a disappointment for their parents;
they are not wanted as they are,
so they feel they are no good.
If people are not loved,
they can feel that they are in fact not loveable,
that they are somehow bad or evil.
Our hope is welcoming such people
is to help them transform their broken or negative self image
into a positive one and find self-esteem.
The vision of l'Arche is to help people rediscover their value,
their beauty, their importance

But how could we help Eric make this transformation
when he could neither see nor hear nor understand?
The only way to communicate with his was through touch.
Through the way we touched, held and washed his body
with respect and love,
we were able to communicate and reveal to him
that he was precious.

I can imagine with what tenderness
Jesus touches the feet of his disciples,
looks into their eyes, calls each by name and says a special word to each one.
When he speaks at the meal, he speaks to them all
But as he kneels humbly before each one and washes their feet,
he has a personal contact with each one.
He reveals to each one his love,
which is both comforting and challenging.
He sees in each one the presence of his Father,
whom he loves and serves.
The love of Jesus reveals that we are important,
that we are a presence of God
and are called to stand up and do the work of God:
to love others as God loves them,
to serve and to wash their feet.

May God be with you as you share this story of the Last Supper with your students this week, as we remember the love that goes to the end, love that has stooped down low and delivered us from sin and death and love that has given us life that begins now and has no end.

Prodigal Son

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.  And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Then Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons.  The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them.  A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country and there he squandered all his property in dissolute living.  When he had spent everything he had, a severe famine took place throughout the country, and he began to be in need.  So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of the country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.  He would gladly have filled himself with pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.  But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."  So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.  Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe - the best one - and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, for this son of mine was dead and its alive again; he was lost and is found! And they began to celebrate.

"Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house he heard music and dancing.  He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.  He replied, 'your brother has come and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' Then he became angry and he refused to go in.  His father came out and began to plead with him.  But he answered his father, 'Listen for all these years I have been working a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command, yet you have never given me so much as a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.  But when this son of yours comes back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.  But we had to celebrate and rejoice because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.'"
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This story is well known and it often comes to us in the season of Lent.  It is a desperately human story. It is a story that speaks to our struggles, to our longings, to the sin that entangles us and others in it.  It speaks to the dysfunction that is coursing just below the surface in our own family relationships, that is blowing up in our faces or perhaps has settled into remote and dishonest ways of relating with one another.  But, woven into the gritty realities of our lives is the story of God - a story of love, forgiveness, restoration, a story that culminates in a great gathering, a feast of celebration.  The story of the prodigal has captured people for thousands of years, it has inspired artists, because it reveals who we are and who God is. It also calls us into maturity, inviting us to become the father, to extend the table, to offer grace, forgiveness and love.

Our story begins with a father and his two sons, the younger son wants to split from the family - "give me the share of the property that belongs to me," he demands.  And with these words the young son sets a trajectory for his life and for his family that will both reveal and open up deeps wounds, a trajectory that everyone must contend with.  The family must divide and sell land so that this young man might have his share and make his own way in the world.  The older son is left to manage what remains, to re-envision a future on the farm, to care for his parents.  'How dare he,' the older brother fumes - his head throbbing, his heart pounding  'but, this is just like him. He never pulled his weight around here; he has always been propped up on the backs of everyone else. Why is Father letting him do this to us.  We are getting walked on and disrespected.  We are becoming that family.  I am getting sideways glances and looks of judgement, disapproval and pity everywhere I go.'  All of this reminds the older brother that this isn't just a personal pain or a family pain,  there is a public dimension to this too - he feels the shame of the community.  'Father never should have let this unravel... He should have controlled this situation.  This has gone too far. What will this foolhardy boy of ours do with his share of the inheritance? Go and squander it all in Rome? He is a disgrace to his family and to the community.'  Feelings of self righteousness and anger settle deeply into the older son, it all becomes a part of the narrative he has been telling himself: 'I am the responsible one.  The one who does what is right, who is always keeping things together or putting them back together or cleaning up the mistakes of others. I am the one who really takes care of this place.'

But to the younger son this isn't just about him and what he wants, he hasn't arrived at the point of leaving without some deep complication and heavy consideration - he is tired of being bossed around, squeezed out and treated like a second class citizen in his own family. He does not see a way forward with his family. Beyond his desire for self determination there is a sense of futility and despair.  He wants something that he doesn't think he can find at home - love, acceptance, significance, belonging.  These things are just out of reach, just beyond the farm, he is sure. And they are so important he will just about bankrupt his soul to get them.  The problem he soon discovers, is that the further he travels from home the more disoriented and lost he feels.  He tries to numb the pain, he tries to buy his way of the hole he has dug for himself but, he soon discovers he is in so deep he is running out of air with no way out and no one to rescue him.  He is forced to look at some hard truths: he isn't the greatest manager, he isn't as entrepreneurial as he had liked to think and he is not a hard worker. It is all true.  He has squandered everything.  Maybe his family weren't the only ones to blame, maybe some of this is his own doing.  And deep in the muck - broke and surviving on pig slop; working for people who stripped him of his dignity, he decides to take a risk and return home.  Yes, he would own up, he would make it right. He would ask to become one of his Father's servants.

The young man summoned the courage and began the walk home, hungry and weak.

On his way home, he began thinking about the past, ruminating on the false ideas he had about his Father and himself, cursing his blindness and arrogance.  He was filled with sadness for all that he had wasted, for how he had treated people.  He began to feel anxious about how he might be greeted, about what might be waiting for him at home - he knew a refusal would be justified - 'how could I have asked for everything only to return with nothing and ask to be received.' And yet a faint hope persisted almost against reason, might his father would give him a second chance?  'Is it possible?' he wondered?

As his home came into sight he was filled great grief and deep relief - everything he had left was there, waiting.  And then he heard something familiar, it was the unmistakable voice of his father calling to him from up the road. How did his Father see him, he was still a half mile from home?  It was as though his Father had been calling for him, looking for him, all this time.  His heart began to quicken, his knees felt like they might collapse beneath him.  And then he saw the old man, his Dad, running as fast his old legs would carry him, his robes flapping and his arms outstretched - he appeared unselfconscious, unashamed of himself or his boy, almost desperate.  The boy fell to his knees, heavy sobs wracking his body as his father threw his arms around him and kissed his neck.  The words that were on his heart tumbled out of his mouth as the tears fell down his face, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'  He buried his face in his fathers robes and let out all of the pain of the past but, the pain did not overwhelm him anymore; he felt something he had never felt before - love. Love that stopped all the bleeding, all the pain, love that healed and made whole. In his Father's arms he received it for the first time, love, that had always been there for him, but  that he had never felt worthy of, that some part of him had always refused.  And now on this dusty road  home, he received it as pure gift.  He felt no shame in his vulnerability, in fact in his weakness he felt something new gathering in him, a new kind of strength, a new kind of courage.  A new man was emerging from the robes of his father, like a butterfly from a cocoon - new and beautiful and pulsing with life. A crowd was beginning to gather, his father was calling his hired men, 'get my son a robe, and some sandals, put a ring upon his finger. Let's feast tonight!' And with these words the son's dignity was restored and his sonship was claimed.

Well our story doesn't end there because this family has more than two people in it and reconciliation is complicated.  What about that older brother?  How is he going to react to all of this?  After all he has been left to bear the responsibility of the land and his parents since his brother left. There have been struggles on all sides.  He has seen his parents beset with grief, isolated from their community and growing increasingly desperate.  But, he has been managed, he has held it together since his brother left, but that is his role.  That is what he always does - the right thing, the responsible thing.  What will this homecoming mean for him?  It is no surprise that he doesn't come running out to greet his brother and that he doesn't show up to the feast.  It would just taste bitter in his mouth.  His brother is home and all of the pain and anger that he has been absorbing a lifetime is bearing down on him. And the jealousy!  A red hot jealousy at this ridiculous 'welcome home, son' party, is overtaking him.  Where was his ring? His robe?  His feast of honour?  Surely not! 'My father has gone mad in his old age,' he thought to himself.  Who knew the cancer of that stingy, holier than thou attitude that had been creeping in was making him a miser and worse a monster in his soul?  Even though he stayed home and did everything right, today he was a million miles away from his Father, how had he arrived at this place?  How had he become the furthest person out.  This felt like a terrible reversal and the worst part was, he was blindsided.  He never saw this day coming.  He had seen glimpses of this generosity in his Father but he had never really known this side of him.  His father's words to him sounded tinny, : 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.  But we had to celebrate and rejoice because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.'" It was like he was hearing the words in an echo chamber, they were bouncing off every surface and not settling in him.  He was numb and unmoved.

As we share this story with children this week, let's not complicate it, let's see what the children notice about the story.  I wonder what connections they will make - to the old testament story of Joseph, to Jesus, to their own lives.  Let's tell the story of a Father who runs out on the road and throws himself around his child saying, 'let us eat and celebrate, for this child of mine was lost and is found!'  Let's tell the story of the younger brother and the older brother and may we all hear God calling us his children.

I think this story might open up an opportunity for us to spend some time in confession as we pray.  We don't often get to this in our times together and it important in our life of faith and especially appropriate in this season of Lent.  And this story gives us a way of entering into this that is natural as this is a story of forgiveness and restoration.  Children need the practice of confession too - they are often are saddled with feelings of not being worthy, of not being good enough, of disappointing or hurting others and they need space to tell these things to a God who comes toward them in love and welcomes them just as they are and offers them new life.

Here are a couple of resources for prayers of confession/forgiveness:

Merciful God,

You pardon all who truly repent and turn to you

We humbly confess our sins and ask your mercy.

We have not loved you with a pure heart,

Nor have we loved our neighbor as ourselves.

We have not done justice, loved kindness,

Or walked humbly with you ,our God”

Leader:

Merciful God,

You pardon all who truly repent and turn to you

People: 

We admit that we sometimes say terrible things.

We use our words to hurt others and make ourselves look good.

We twist our words to avoid telling the truth.

We yell and whine and bicker.

Forgive us.

Give us new hearts and new words.

Help us turn toward honesty and kindness.

Teach us to speak in peace.

We not only say evil things, we do them.

We grab what we want without thought for others.

We insist on our own way.

We cheat and steal and find ways to feel OK about it.

Forgive us.

Turn us away from temptations and toward you.

Show us new ways of acting.

Teach us to love others as you love us.

Guide us every day.

http://flamecreativekids.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/prodigal-son-messy-church-prayer.html

http://flamecreativekids.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/sorry-whiteboards-sorry-bin.html

Using a sand table and a small stick students may write or draw something they would like to confess, after they have expressed their feeling or thought in the sand, they can move their hand through it obliterating the words and images as a sign of receiving forgiveness.

Be sure to include the assurance of pardon as a part of your time of prayer.

Assurance:

Who is in a position to condemn?

Only Christ,

and Christ died for us,

Christ rose for us,

Christ reigns in power for us,

Christ prays for us.

Anyone who is in Christ

is a new creation

The old life has gone;

A new life has begun.

Psalm 103:8-12
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

1 John 1:4-7

And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

You might even want to speak to why we pass the peace and practice it in your class saying, 'the Peace of Christ be with you', and responding, 'and also with you.'

Passing the Peace is our enactment of the reconciling love and forgiveness of God through Christ.  We are literally touching one another, holding and shaking hands, in humility and in forgiveness, and in repentance.  God’s peace is being shared freely among his people.  We do this before the Eucharist emphasizing the importance of being in right relationship with our brothers and sisters and with God.