{"id":8500,"date":"2019-03-20T12:01:28","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T17:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=8500"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:41:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:41:06","slug":"preaching-the-gospel-for-the-first-time-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2019\/03\/20\/preaching-the-gospel-for-the-first-time-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Preaching the Gospel for the first time … again"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"kids-listening\"
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I sat down in front of 15 pre-K students for our bi-weekly Bible story time, expecting more or less to follow our routine. Every Wednesday and Friday I join them for a 15-minute story session, telling toddler-friendly versions of Sunday\u2019s scripture or the classic Bible stories that adults clean up and present to young children: Adam and Eve, Noah, Daniel and the lions\u2019 den and the rest. After the story I field questions for a few minutes (I’m most often asked whether or not I think someone\u2019s new shoes were cool), end with a prayer and head back up to my office to prepare for my afternoon lessons with the older kids.<\/span><\/p>\n

But this day we did not follow our routine. This day was Good Friday, and I had brought for them a story called \u201cA Very Sad Day\u201d which, albeit in simple terms, described Jesus\u2019 crucifixion. It concluded, \u201cSo the soldiers took Jesus away. They nailed him on a wooden cross and left him to die. Jesus\u2019 family and friends were very sad. They had lost a very special person.\u201d I closed the story and waited for questions. There were none. That should have told me that something was off … they always had questions. But I didn\u2019t notice. Maybe it was the routine; maybe it was the hunger from fasting that day; maybe it was just the inexperience of being a first-year educator. Nonetheless, I didn\u2019t notice the lack of questions or the looks on their faces. <\/span><\/p>\n

I went back to my office and began to prep for the afternoon. After about 10 minutes I got a phone call. \u201cHello, Mr. Steven. Hi, its Mrs. C., in the pre-K room. Could you come back, please? Something is \u2026 not right. Please come down. Right away.\u201d I went right away.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I arrived, the class was in pandemonium. One kid was at the sand center, just dumping sand on the floor. One kid was punching a wall. Two kids were on the floor, hugging each other and crying. Another was spinning in a circle. Another was ripping up paper from his notebook. They all looked upset. I turned to Mrs. C. with a quizzical what-in-the-world face. And she looked at me and said, \u201cThey\u2019re really upset. About Jesus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I gathered the kids on the story carpet, and started asking what they were feeling. <\/span><\/p>\n

The chorus of tiny voices responded \u201c<\/span>Mad. Sad. Why?\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I struggled to understand what exactly was going on. \u201cI don\u2019t understand. Our stories have had death in them before. You know what death is. We had that whole conversation when Charlie\u2019s grandpa died.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is different<\/span><\/i>.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause Jesus is the best. It\u2019s not fair. He didn\u2019t do anything. He\u2019s the best.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe best at what? Tell me what you mean?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the best.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cBut,\u201d I continue, \u201cis this a surprise? You guys come to Mass. Haven\u2019t you heard the parts at the end about when this happens?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

They blink, uncomprehending. I guess not. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut I know we\u2019ve talked about this before. I mean, look, there, that crucifix on the back of the wall. That\u2019s a statue of Jesus. Did you not know that statue was about this story?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s <\/span>Jesus!!\u201d <\/span><\/i>one little girl screamed. The tiny voices descended into a clamor of shock and outrage.<\/span><\/p>\n

I felt myself losing control of the situation so I quickly interrupted them all. \u201cWell, wait \u2026 wait. If you haven\u2019t heard this story before then you haven\u2019t heard the next one either! Do you know what happened next?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

They sat in quiet and skepticism before asking the question “No … what happens next?”<\/p>\n

\u201cWait here!\u201d I leaped up, gave a nod to Mrs. C. and sprinted, as fast as I could, faster than I thought I could, up the stairs to my office. I grabbed the toddler Bible and headed back down, faster still. I didn\u2019t want to keep them waiting, not another second. Another teacher saw me running and asked where the fire was. \u201cChrist is Risen!\u201d I yelled over my shoulder, and plummeted back into the room.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"disciples-running\"
“The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection” by Eugene Burnand (courtesy Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I sat back down in front of the kids. \u201cThis is the story of the first Easter. Jesus\u2019 friends buried him in a cave. They rolled a huge stone across the doorway. But when they came back, the stone had been rolled away \u2026\u201d When the story ended they clapped. They cheered. Several pairs hugged each other. One started crying in relief. It was like watching a tiny team of NASA scientists pull of a moon landing.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I finally I walked back up to my office, I lowered myself into my chair and started to think. When was the last time this story had affected me like that? When had it stopped affecting me like that? How had I become someone who not only didn\u2019t see this story for what it was \u2014 the greatest possible tragedy, the boldest possible comeback <\/span>\u2014<\/span> but I had become so accustomed I couldn\u2019t foresee how it would sound to new listeners. All year I had told these young students <\/span>\u2014<\/span> many from non-Catholic homes, many who had never heard these stories except from my telling <\/span>\u2014<\/span> that Jesus was their friend, that he was the best possible man, that he was the nicest possible person. And then I had killed him, without warning, and I didn\u2019t expect them to react?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry God. I\u2019ve stood too close to you for too long and have become careless in your presence. I\u2019m living next to a waterfall, and I\u2019ve ceased to hear the sound. Help me hear again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We live in a world, in a nation, in a culture, where many have not heard the stories of Jesus. This is true even within the church. In my religious education classes it is not uncommon to have high school students who can barely relate to any stories from the Gospel. This can be frustrating at times. But it\u2019s also an opportunity \u2014 an opportunity only missionaries get. We get to tell the story of Jesus to listeners for the first time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just last week I was with 10 high school students in religious education, and none of them had heard the story of the woman caught in adultery. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve never heard this story? It\u2019s beautiful. It\u2019s amazing. Here it is. So, these religious scholars, right, they think they\u2019re holier than everyone else. And they don\u2019t like Jesus taking that away from them. So they lay this trap for him. They bring him a woman caught in the very act of adultery \u2026\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of the story, they are silent. \u201cJesus did that?\u201d one asked. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Jesus did that,\u201d I said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s so \u2026 so \u2026 cool?\u201d questioned another. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cHe is. Very. He did stuff like that all the time. Is it any wonder so many of us love him?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTell us another one!\u201d a third student said.<\/span><\/p>\n

To explain these stories to listeners for the first time can be a challenge. It can be especially frustrating when dealing with Catholic students, to think they\u2019ve made it through 10 or more years of life and not understand the basic story that underpins the faith of the church of which they are a member. But mostly it\u2019s a privilege. To explain to people why you fell in love <\/span>\u2014<\/span> why you are in love <\/span>\u2014<\/span> with the God who saved you? There is no greater honor nor is there a greater delight. <\/span><\/p>\n

But you have to be careful. You have to be sure that you don\u2019t stop hearing them. Because if you do, if you cease to hear the story in the re-telling, then the love goes out of your voice, and it\u2019s not the same story any more. Then you can get blindsided when you hurt people with your careless retelling <\/span>or, worse yet, you bore them. Then you fail to do justice to the story and thereby to the man and the God. <\/span><\/p>\n

So my Lenten prayer for you is that you are able to hear Jesus\u2019 story for the first time … again. There truly is no more powerful story in heaven or on Earth, if only we have the ears to hear it.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ABOUT THE RABBLE ROUSER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Steven-Cottam-baby\"Steven Cottam<\/strong><\/a> serves as youth minister at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. He lives in Mechanicsville, Virginia, with his lovely wife, precocious daughter and adorable infant son. He is an active member of\u00a0Common Change<\/a>, a group which seeks to gather and distribute tithe money in a relational and collaborative\u00a0way. He has been friends with Sister Julia ever since they were students, coworkers, and cooking club members together at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois. His interests and passions include language learning, gardening, coffee, and becoming a Jedi Master.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I sat down in front of 15 pre-K students for our bi-weekly Bible story time, expecting more or less to follow our routine. Every Wednesday and Friday I join them for a 15-minute story session, telling toddler-friendly versions of Sunday\u2019s scripture or the classic Bible stories that adults clean up and present to young children:...","protected":false},"author":3935050,"featured_media":8507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2178641],"tags":[5094169,445890,79492,2416,698755379,401,134051,5536249,698755380,3785,2572,536317501,98211,30351,7413205],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-8500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prayer-and-spirituality","tag-bible-stories-for-children","tag-catholic-education","tag-childrens-ministry","tag-church","tag-easter","tag-faith","tag-good-friday","tag-jesus-crucifixion","tag-lent","tag-love","tag-ministry","tag-relating-to-the-gospel","tag-religious-education","tag-service","tag-story-of-jesus","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/kids-listening-wikimedia-commons.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"

Preaching the Gospel for the first time … again<\/a><\/blockquote>