derekmaul

Grabbing the “teachable moment” (Sunday morning at the improv)

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. – John 1:17-18

– writer Derek Maul lives, learns, worships, teaches and tries not to be too much of a heretic in Tarboro NC

Teaching is an interesting phenomenon. It requires a lot of work, a lot of preparation, a lot of passion, a lot of interest from the people who are there to learn and – this is the scary part because these can only happen “in the moment” – constant thinking on your feet and reading the room and paying attention and innovation and improvisation.

Then sometimes you still fall flat on your face!

All of those “in the moment” things also depend on preparation and discipline, even if they are not part of the lesson plan. It’s a lot like improvisation in jazz, meaning it can’t or won’t happen unless you first put in the legwork learning the scales and memorizing progressions and developing a skillset.

In other words a teacher can’t “wing it” unless they have a vault-full of relevant content and a cultivated ability to both read a room and pull up the right material.

In a sense, then, good teaching is a lot like standup comedy. In fact quite a lot because there is also a degree of heckling involved!

But at least in my Sunday school class the heckling is kind!

This week’s lesson:

So I am teaching/facilitating a class focused on the seven “I am” statements of Jesus in John’s Gospel. These are especially helpful because these truths are how describes himself, standing as his own witness.

  • I am the Light of the World.
  • I am the Bread of Life.
  • I am the Shepherd of the Sheep
  • I am the Gate for the Sheep.
  • I am the Vine (you are the branches).
  • I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
  • I am the Resurrection and the Life.

This Sunday (November 24) we talked about “the way the truth and the life,” and part of that conversation involved the following, from the very beginning of John’s account (John 1:18), “No-one has ever seen God.”

Really? But did not God walk with Adam and Eve on a regular basis in the Garden? Did not Moses talk with God, and did not God’s shadow pass by on the mountain? And when Jacob wrestled with God at Peniel, did he not “see God face to face and yet my life was delivered”?

So Sunday morning, instinctively, I grab a marker and go to the whiteboard. There I draw a circle representing the Earth. Outside – beyond the atmosphere – I draw another large circle. Then I put a few stick figures on the Earth.

  • “In the Old Testament,” I say, “where does God tend to be?”
  • “Removed… somewhere else… outside,” someone responds.
  • “That’s right. When God appears it is either ‘in the heavens’ or as some representation that is gone as quickly as it comes. Moses goes up the mountain, God appears in the burning bush, the focus is always reaching up and out toward the deity.”

I continue, drawing a huge arrow from outside to inside, where I place another figure, this time with a halo.

  • “What’s happening here?”
  • Several class members nod. “That’s Jesus,” they say.
  • “Colossians 2:9,” I point out, “says, ‘For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.’ All. The. Fullness. Of. God” (Colossians 2:9)

As we talk about this, the idea crystalizes in my mind. Because the coming of Jesus allows us to clearly see God. Philip, still not quite getting it even at the Last Supper, asks Jesus to “Show us the Father!”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’”? – John 14:8-9

– teaching self portrait 1996

Jesus goes on to explain that the reason he has to leave them is so that – and this is so cool – each one of us can do the same thing that Jesus has done, and that is to tell the truth about God simply by living the Good News story. Because Christ lives in us, we can share his glory!

For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. – Colossians 1:27

So this is what teaching is! Teaching is all of the preparation and the prayer and the research and the conversation and the history and the interaction and the presence of good questions coming together. And then we all learn.

I certainly learned something Sunday morning.

Peace and love – DEREK

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