find there is important. That means that even the strange stuff, the hard to understand stuff, is important. This week we looked at two stories and a few rules from God and saw what truths we could learn from them and possibly get another look into the person of God.
Of course, to kick off our first story, we had to watch a music video by Ray Stevens to get us in the mood.
The Streak
Yes, we started with Naked Noah and read Genesis 9:18-29. Then we discussed the story with the kids. So what’s happening here in this story? What was wrong about the actions of the younger son? What was right about the actions of the older sons? What was wrong about the actions of Noah? Did Noah's actions change the way that the older sons responded? Why do you think that Noah responded so harshly to the
younger son’s actions? What do you think we can learn from this for our lives?
The Bible stresses the importance of obeying your parents and having respect for those who are in authority over you. That is why this is such a neat story. The guy that God has chosen to be the head of the new world gets drunk and passes out naked in his tent. This isn’t the picture of the Bible hero that most people think of when they think of Noah. But even though he messed up, he chastises his son for not treating him with respect. In the same way we should always treat our parents with respect, even when they are doing things that are wrong.
Next, we moved on to Elisha being made fun of for being bald. We not only read 2 Kings 2:23-24, but we also had the youth act out a skit to demonstrate what happened in this story...bald jokes and and bad humor added for emphasis of course. What is the taunt of him? What are they saying by speaking about his bald head? Do you think this curse of Elisha to be a little harsh? Do you think the youth who escaped ever made fun of bald people again?
These youth treated Elisha with contempt because of his age. Once again, we see God treating this as a very big deal. So the question you have to ask yourself is do you treat this as a big deal? Do you think that being disrespectful to your parents or to your elders is something that warrants harsh punishment?
We played the Messy Hair Game then to get the blood pumping and the ants out of pants. We put shower caps on three of the kids and let the others use shaving cream and their hands to create a crazy hairstyle for each youth.
But back to all seriousness. What about the price of dishonor? We started talking about respecting parents. Most teenagers will just roll their eyes and mutter about how their parents “just don’t get it” or something similar. To badmouth your parents is common for teens (in this world). But it is against God’s plan. We looked at some of God's punishment for rebellious children in the Old Testament.
We read Deuteronomy 21:18-21. What is a parent to do if they have a rebellious son? What is the punishment for being a rebellious son? Do you think that is justified? Death because you don’t listen to your parents is a pretty harsh sentence. But again, we find that God is teaching something here. He is teaching about more than just being nice to your parents. He is teaching about himself. Our parents are a reflection of God here on earth. That is why God set up the family so that we could understand Him better. That is also why He thinks it is so important for us to treat our parents with respect.
What about kids who have bad parents...parents who at the very least don’t believe in God or who don’t follow Him? What are they supposed to do? Keep on respecting them! Why? Because you are commanded to and because God honors those who follow His commands. Honor Your Father and Mother (Exodus 20:12). What are we commanded to do? Why does the Bible say that you should honor your parents? What does “honoring” your parents look like?
Honoring your parents is more than just being nice to them and not yelling at them. It is about living in such a way as to bring them honor. When people look at your life, when they see the way you act, the way that you live does that bring honor to your father and mother? Do you treat them with respect when you are with them and do you live in such a way to bring them honor when they are not around?
We watched a YouTube about David Nasser then. In it Nasser talks about the reaction of his Muslim family on the night that he was being baptized as a Christian. Instead of bragging about his bravery, Nasser speaks about how he wishes that instead of just walking out the door he would have honored his father and stayed home like he was told to do.
David Nasser
We closed with a discussion, asking them some questions and requiring total honesty from them. So what about you? Do you live in a way that is honoring to your parents? Do you treat your elders with respect? God may not be sending any bears your way, but I do know that you are called to live with respect towards your elders and if you do then you are living how God intends for you to live.
We passed out an “Honor Meter” test then and asked the students to work on them silently for a few minutes. After they had a minute or two to fill them out, we talked through each statement. A sample of one of the statements is, "I speak to my parents in a respectful tone, even when they are yelling at me." "I treat my parents with honor when in public. If I have a disagreement with them, I speak to them calmly and privately." Needless to say, there was lots of conviction in the room!
Great and practical lesson!
