The Greatest

This week in Church School (2/1)

Pre-K to 4th grade: Jesus speaks of True Greatness (Luke 9: 46-48 Children's Bible Stories #280)

Grade 5: Transfiguration of Jesus (Luke 9: 28-36 CBS #295)

Grade 6: The Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37)

Grade 7-8: Temptation of Jesus (Luke 4: 1-15)

This week is quite a week for "greatness." Smack dab in the middle of movie award season, we hear a lot about "Best Picture," "Best Actress," and depending on the magazine "Best Dressed." This Sunday many of us will celebrate a sporting event that comes complete with the title "Super," in which clever big-budget advertisements may steal the show. And we know that between the couches and commentators, there will be many discussions of "who is the greatest." 

For the kids in the younger classes on Sunday, we will be talking about greatness. We know that kids learn from all over what "greatness" looks like: on the soccer field or the big screen, in the classroom or in a video game, in business or in fashion. Kids have all kinds of voices telling them what it means to be "great." And even in these times when extravagance seems out of place, perhaps we too are holding an image of "great" as something shiny, flawless, and rich.

In the Bible story for the week, Jesus hears an argument about which of them is the greatest, and instead of engaging in the discussion, he turns to a child nearby and says simply "Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all you is the greatest."

Jesus answers the disciples posturing, by kneeling to care for another. Jesus answers the debate by lifting up the forgotten and the vulnerable. Jesus answers the claims to greatness, by revealing greatness in the "least" among us. 

For this week, how can we teach of a greatness that does not have the most friends or score the most points? How can we talk to our kids about a kindness, that seems to make debates about "greatness" unnecessary? And perhaps, how can Jesus see "greatness" in us, even when we are feeling like "the least of these."