Adult Object Lesson: Luke 12:49-56
Gearing Up for the Battle
The gospel this week is kind of tough to understand. Read it a few times and you may conclude, “I guess you had to be there.”
Jesus speaks with tired frustration to his disciples. The Crucifixion is looming. He can see it coming. He’s been preparing his followers, but He tires of their inability to understand what is so clear to Him.
He is apprehensive. Why aren’t they?
So Jesus take a few desperate stabs at preparing the faithful for the difficult days that He knows are coming not just in His life but in theirs (and ours) as well.
He delivers an unpleasant message.
What? The church will not be a group of happy campers forever?
Here’s a possible way to demonstrate the various points that Jesus touches upon.
Have a young person come forward wearing some sort of sports gear. Just a helmet can work—or a baseball cap and bat. Choose a sport that your congregation relates to— football, baseball, hockey. Make sure that your model appears ready to play. That’s why a helmet is better than just a jersey. Idle fans wear jerseys. You want to create the sense that your guy or gal is ready for action.
We’ll use football as an example.
Ask your people to identify what they might expect when they see someone wearing a football helmet.
Answers might be fall weather, cheerleaders, rough talk, hot cider in the stands. Surely someone will say something about the battle they hope to witness. This is your opening to talk about teamwork and division, peace and competition. You can talk about the pressures of competition and the mission of winning. Mention the fear of defeat or even the fear of pain. And there is always the hope of a glorious victory.
All of this was probably on Jesus’ mind when He spoke the words of today’s gospel.
You can continue this discussion as long as you like. Lead its direction. Talk about strategizing within the team and the tensions that might result. Jesus is telling us that working together can be hard!
Foreshadow next week’s lesson and talk about the umpires and referees (judges).
We know all of this will happen from the moment we see players appear in uniform.
And if we don’t, Jesus wants to know why we can’t see what’s right in front of us.
By the way, how is your church’s teamwork these days?
OK, everyone. Put your helmets on!