Adult Object Lesson: September 2, 2012
Be Doers of the Word
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9, Psalm 15, James 1:17-27, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Today’s object is a hand mirror.
Begin the talk with something about you in obvious disarray. Your hair might be disheveled or your shirt buttoned wrong or you might have a mismatched or missing earring or if you are robed, wear your stole backward. Having created a visual flaw, look into your hand mirror and discover the flaw.
Today’s combined lectionary readings examine God’s reaction to human flaws.
Retell briefly the story of Moses and God’s refusal to grant him the reward of entering the Promised Land after Moses had grown old leading the Israelites through the desert. For all the hard work of keeping a disgruntled people together on an arduous, perilous journey, Moses had to face his failings—his tendency to doubt.
The passage from James reminds us that God gives us the power to do more than hear God’s Word. We must act.
James asks us to look in the mirror. If we look in the mirror and do not like what we see we are compelled to do something about it.
The Gospel from Mark focuses on the interpretation of Jewish dietary laws. Jesus listens to the questions and criticism of the scribes and responds by pointing out that defilement comes from within. It isn’t bad or wrong food that gives the Devil its power. It is what is lacking within our hearts and minds.
Coupled with James insistence that Christians act upon what they learn from scripture the concluding message for today’s object lesson is to look into our mirrors every day. If we don’t like what we see, do something about it.
End your object lesson by fixing your obvious flaw.
Keep your lesson upbeat. Self-examination is difficult even when we have balloon-sized egos. Many people feel bad about themselves as it is. Offer encouragement, help, forgiveness and love as tools to overcome human failings.
Thoughts to keep in mind:
- There is a related message in the signs posted in public concourses, “If you see something, say something.” (If you hear the Word, do something)
- The lessons for today coincide appropriately with Labor Day, America’s celebration of the worker.
- The book of James was such a challenge to early Christians (and even the great reformer, Luther) that it almost wasn’t included in the Bible.