This week’s service honored our Teachers as they kick off a new school year. Click here to read the text for today. James Chapter 1.
There is a difference between Teaching and learning. It is not measured in Words. The entire messages of James 1 might be best taught in this one Charlie Brown cartoon?
What little I know about educational theory can be summed up in three concepts; There is a difference between teaching and learning-you hope they both happen at the same time, The self-fulfilling prophesy-people often become exactly what you tell them, and the “Null” curriculum-what you teach people whether you mean to or not as you teach a stated lesson.
God, the ultimate educator uses all of these in the curriculum of Scripture, the working deads of the church and the “null” curriculum in the witness of the holy Spirit. God teaches to all of our learning styles. God’s lessons are EVERYWHERE and the means of wisdom, not just the words of wisdom. This is the fuel and motivation of our holy calling as Christian Disciples. The holy calling of our teachers is a witness of this calling being worked out in everyday living.
As writer Rafe Esquith said…
Not all of those in this holy calling are as famous but are just as important.
I asked some of our educators to answer the question, “What drives you out of bed in the morning to do the work of education?” Here are some of the answers…
Yeah Right! If you are in education for the bucks or the easy hours you are crazy. I wish that teacher pay reflected the impact they have on every corner of our lives. Sadly, the holy calling of teaching does not pay in accordance to the talents and education levels of our teachers. The thousands of dollars and hours spent by teachers without anyone knowing about them speak of a passion that goes beyond just having a J-O-B.
Being relevant, having impact, getting to watch the world change, one child at a time is the real motivator. Often the payback is in hugs.
More often our heroic teachers send a student out into the world without knowing how it will work out. Still, you get to watch that student, “get it”, and know you fulfilled your calling and mission.
James, the writer of the book, did it all wrong as an educator, he had no credentials but that of a servant, assumed the worst trials and immaturity of his students, was paranoid about temptation, exalts the poor, insults the rich, crowns those barely hanging in there and assumes that no one understands God. But the real lesson God has for us here is simple. Faith is something you do, something you work on, something you live in and not just something you know. He says simply, DO YOUR FAITH and you will have it. He drives it home!
SO WHAT?
That’s all fine but once we are saved, what does it matter. Our master teacher, Jesus Christ comes to each of us with a holy mission to share Him with passion and purpose. It is personal. Our salvation, “done” and not talked about influence others to the healthy, live giving, practical and eternal life in Christ. It is not just for us, it is to go through us to all of those bulldogs around us and beyond that need Christ’s love so desperately. Someone is counting on you and I to faith into practice.
Thank you for reading. I hope this post inspires you but it is not substitute for attending church worship, whether here at Cheatham Memorial UMC or your own home church! Blessings to you on your journey in Christ.
Source Link: http://thethoughtfulpastor.com/2015/08/31/the-sermon-on-the-run-a-listening-calling-from-james-chapter-1/