This week we're doing a series on things you can learn in church in just one day. It'll focus on last Sunday, the 27th of October. We'll talk about the events our church hosted and some simple lessons that came from them.
Part 1 talks about Sunday School. Though we're not talking about all of Sunday School. Though all ages of kids met together this Sunday for a special event, our Adult Sunday School class still met separately. So if you want to learn what they talked about you'll have to ask them! It's worth noting, though, that even these stories only paint part of the picture.
Last Sunday our Sunday School students gathered for a special Halloween treat. At 9:00 a.m. we all trooped over to Pastor Dave and Careen's house to watch Room on the Broom. This short movie is based on a children's book of the same name. It tells the story of a kind witch and her cat who apparently do everything together. Their favorite activity is soaring high in the sky on the witch's broom. But the witch also has a bad habit of losing anything that isn't stapled to her forehead. In the course of a day's flying she manages to drop her hat, hair ribbon, and wand. Each time the lost item is found by a different friend: dog, bird, frog. Each new friend asks if there's room on the witch's broom for them to go flying too. Even though her cat strenuously objects, the kindhearted lady always says, "Yes!" Eventually they deal with a broken broom, a looming dragon, and all sorts of adventures together.
The movie is filmed in wonderful British stop-action style. The music, artwork, and voice acting are wonderful. It's an amazing piece of work.
More importantly, we asked the students what this story might tell us about God. Part of it was easy. There's always "room on the broom" with God! No matter how many friends we have, more are welcome. The witch's unfailingly kind response to the animals reflects God's invitation to us. "Of course, you're always welcome!"
The witch's cat provided even more insight into faith and church. From the beginning, and nearly throughout the whole movie, the cat was opposed to the addition of new animals. Kitty loved precedence, the relationship with the witch, the prime place on the broom! Those other animals were messy, annoying, unwelcome. Every time the witch said, "Yes!" to one of them the cat slapped his forehead in chagrin. He immediately began ordering them to get out of his space on the broom, to sit towards the back, to stop making noise and fussing and messing up the ride.
Kitty can reflect our attitude about church. We don't hate other people, we just love the way we do things! We want to preserve that way and our special relationship with God. Therefore we're tempted to cite precedence and tradition, to keep other people off the broom...or at least out of the driver's seat!
It's worth noting that as soon as each animal got permission to get on the broom, they quickly joined the cat's side when the next animal wanted on. Cat said no to dog. After dog got on anyway both dog and cat said no to bird, and so on.
We have to remember that God, our broom driver, keeps up his "Yes!" no matter what. Our job isn't to talk him out of it in favor of keeping us special and exclusive, but to happily make "room on the broom" for all he might invite. Kind and welcoming, ready to celebrate the amazing flight...that's our job description as people of faith.
This was a great lesson for all ages, from the youngest who mostly just enjoyed the movie and learned that kindness matters to the oldest who are exploring their own relationship with God and his church. It's just ONE of the things that you can learn in just one day at church!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
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