Teachers Know Their Place in the Faith Story

God wants to be known by you and by each of us. Do you remember the story of Moses and the burning bush in Exodus 3? Moses was in Midian minding his sheep and, he thought, minding his own business when he saw a strange phenomenon that riveted his attention. A plant was on fire but was somehow spared from burning to a crisp. When Moses turned aside to have a look, he encountered the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and was called upon for a huge task: bringing God’s name and God’s purposes in a new way and at a new time to the Hebrews enslaved in Egypt. Moses had several excellent excuses not to do so—and pointed out every one of them to God—but God insisted that he go. Moses met God in that fiery shrub, and his life was never the same again.

Or consider the apostle Paul, an ardent and faithful Jew who devoted all his energies to putting an end to the Christian movement (Acts 8:3; 9:1-2)—until God intercepted him on the road to Damascus. Saul, or Paul, was stunned and temporarily blinded by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who claimed Paul’s life as his own (9:3-16). From that moment on, Paul could not do anything other than preach and teach Christ. He met God as if struck by a lightning bolt in the middle of a highway, and Paul’s life was never the same again.

Taking a Place in Telling the Story

God takes initiative to be known, as in the burning bush; but God also relies on us to share in that initiative. Telling or teaching others about God is one of the central tasks of education and is at the heart of your call as a teacher. Passing along the faith has a long history. How else could we follow what the earliest Hebrews or Christians taught so many centuries ago? We may thank our forefathers and foremothers in the faith for taking seriously their responsibility to teach their children and others about God. Now you have joined that long procession to teach the faith to others.

Not Just to Moses and Paul

Throughout all time, God has demonstrated ways of self-revealing and has instructed the faith community to pass along their faith through their own means. We receive, learn about, understand, incorporate, feel, see, and come to know God because God chooses to be known and because others have intentionally taught us about God. We may think of passing on the faith as Christian education, and all Christians have a stake in the success of our educational efforts. As a teacher participating in generation after generation of this long heritage of faith, you have a key role to play with the congregation and other teachers in the spiritual formation and well-being of the people in your care.

God Known by the Ancients

God, of course, is revealed and known in different ways throughout the Bible. Some people feel that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are somehow different. They reason that God has changed between the Testaments, or even that there are two different Gods or versions of the same God. Not so. God is One. God is the Only God (see Deuteronomy 6:4), but God has an infinite number of ways of being known. Indeed, to try to describe God with just one set of words, images, or descriptors is to underestimate and under-characterize God woefully.

In order to share God’s story with others, we must first have an understanding of how we ourselves conceive of God. For that, we look back. Each of the Testaments employs a different type of literature. The Hebrew Scripture (the Old Testament), includes historical, prophetic, legal, and poetic writings. God is revealed through the Hebrews’ long period of development as a people, their captivity and release from Egypt, their acquisition of land, and their fortunes (and misfortunes) at the hands of neighboring nations.

• The ancient Hebrews likened God to a rock (Isaiah 26:4); a stronghold (Nahum 1:7); an eagle (Deuteronomy 32:11-12); a shepherd (Ezekiel 34:15); a refuge (Jeremiah 17:17); a mother (Isaiah 42:14); and many more images from life and nature.
• The Psalms offer a rich source of images and characterizations of God and God’s interactivity with humankind.

God Revealed Through Christ

The New Testament reveals God chiefly through the life and ministry of God’s Son, Jesus the Christ. Much of the writing is narrative and story, as in the Gospels, or is in the form of correspondence, such as the many letters attributed to Paul.

• In the Gospel of John, Jesus is shown as a teacher (3:1-21); a prophet (4:7-42); a healer (5:2-18); a friend (11:1-44); and a servant (13:1-20).
• In Paul’s writings, Jesus is seen in a more "cosmic" role, as an exalted figure in the heavens (1 Corinthians 15; Colossians 1:15-23), and as one who brings unity and peace (Ephesians 2:11-22).

God as Spirit

A third important way to understand God is as the Holy Spirit. Christians are Trinitarians, which means that we accept the idea of "God in three persons, blessed Trinity." The Spirit is referred to as the Advocate or Comforter (John 14:26), who will teach and remind us of all that Jesus said.

When Your Students Ask

The Hebrews understood themselves to be wholly in God’s care. Their identity as a people and as a nation was first communal, not individual. They were the people of God, to whom a land and a faith had been given. This faith is understood through the Law—the first five books of the Bible, known to the Jews as the Torah.

When your children ask you in time to come, "What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?" then you shall say to your children, "We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand." (Deuteronomy 6:20-25)

Goals of Education in the Faith Story

• To know God.
• To teach the Law and basic tenets of faith (faith formation).
• To make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).

Your Place in the Story

You, like countless others through the centuries, have accepted the call to tell the story of Jesus. Remember, you are the latest participant in a history of over thirty centuries!

Early Christian Primers: The Gospels

• Matthew: Catechetical purpose.
• Mark: Concise and urgent.
• Luke: Concern for the oppressed and outcast.
• John: Emphasis on signs and symbolism.

The Sunday School

Since the late 1700s, Sunday school has been a vital part of Christian education, originally intended to teach poor children to read and learn catechism.

Conclusion

You have a place in this heritage; and in your own way, you make your mark on human history. God desires to be known, and thus desires your success. Jesus instructed his disciples in the essential story, and the Holy Spirit strengthens us and reminds us of all Jesus taught.