The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness. — Psalm 103:8
Jeremiah 1:4-10;
Hebrews 12:18-29;
& Luke 13:10-17
Can you imagine receiving a sacred call as a child? In our culture, we often ask children what they will be when they grow up, but we do not often ask how God has called them. When Jeremiah heard God’s call, he was only a boy. Initially, he protested that he was too young, but nevertheless, the scriptural account of his life as a prophet narrates how he lived into God’s call. Aileen Weintraub’s book, Never Too Young! 50 Unstoppable Kids Who Made a Difference, offers a compendium of stories about kids who changed the world at young ages. As you contemplate and discuss these stories, you might wonder how God is calling you now. Weintraub offers a few questions at the end of the book that facilitate brainstorming together. If you discern a call from God with your children or grandchildren, how might you support each other as you follow that call?
When we try to hear God, we practice a particular kind of holy listening. It can be hard to hear God’s “still small voice” amid everyday whirlwinds. The author of the letter to the Hebrews exhorts their readers to cultivate this kind of listening and writes, “see that you do not refuse the one who is speaking.” In Don’t Squish the Sasquatch, Kent Redeker and Bob Staake hilariously illustrate the consequences of not listening, of refusing the one who is speaking. Their book connects well to the warning from Hebrews, while also injecting a welcome dose of giggles for young readers. After reading this story, you might wonder together about warnings. What warnings do you hear most often? How can warnings protect us? What happened when you ignored a warning in the past, or when you followed one?
Usually, good listening requires being quiet and attentive. Because it is so hard to find quiet, some places (libraries and places of worship) are often set aside for quiet. Then, when an unexpected noise interrupts the silence, it seems like a rule has been broken! Michelle Knudsen’s story, Library Lion, takes place in (you guessed it!) a library, where being quiet is the rule. One day, the lion breaks the silence with a huge roar, and Mr. McBee, who loves the quiet of the library, throws him out. It turns out that the lion roared in order to get attention for someone who was injured. This story of a rule-breaking lion connects well to the text from Luke’s gospel for this week. Jesus breaks the rules in order to heal a woman in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Even though some of the leaders were angry with him, Jesus demonstrated that showing compassion should not be limited to weekdays. When we show compassion to those around us who are suffering, we do God’s work. Have you ever followed a rule that stopped you from showing compassion to someone? Have you ever broken a rule in order to show compassion? Has someone else ever broken a rule to show compassion to you? How did those experiences affect you?
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