And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” Matthew 13:52 ESV
It may surprise you to learn that I began Bible story telling, not with my special friends at nursing home, but with 5-8 year old boys at church. Royal Rangers was a program similar to the Boy Scouts, that our denomination offered and one day I came to sign our son up for class. Now I am not the parent who just drops his kiddo off, so I stayed to see what was going on. The man who leading the group was so delighted to have another adult around to help, that he disappeared on the third week and ta-da, I became their new leader!
Needless to say my transition from, hey I want to help, to “Whoot there it is!” you’re in charge, was rough. Kids climbed up walls, bounced off each other and in general made me crazy. But in the midst of the mayhem when I was getting ready to tear out my hair, God began to teach me how to get and keep their attention with stories. In today’s scripture, Jesus gives us the inside scoop on how to teach others about His kingdom, and He calls it giving away our treasure.
So what makes something our treasure, and who are those scribes instructed in the kingdom? Now, I’ve been to college and have a piece of paper somewhere that will prove it, but what I really treasure is those lessons learned from when God answered my cries for help in the storms of life. He seems to specialize in using our problems as His classroom and in each one He gives us a treasure of grace to share with others. Also notice that Jesus points out, we need both new and old treasures. So don’t get too comfortable where you are because life is rarely smooth sailing for long. The Biblical weather forecast is for new storms on our horizons because each one offers us a new gift of God’s grace. So whether you are trying to keep the attention of a classroom full of eight year old’s, or are having a zoom session with seniors who can’t seem to figure out where to click so they can see the video, God wants to use you in ways to spread His treasure around. So what is your story? I know there are lots of great teachers out there among my readers, so why not share one of your treasures with us today?
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I laughed out loud at your description of how you got to be the leader. I’m sure that happens more than we know…
Yes, stories are our treasures! When I taught middle and high school, I knew just what to do when the class was starting to get … unfocused. All I had to do was say, “Did I ever tell you guys about the time …” and things would settle down fast. If not, there was always one kid who would yell, “Quiet, everybody! She’s gonna tell a story!” I’m not sure they realized that within each story was something I was teaching them, but we’ll keep that our little secret. 😉
Thank you! Yep that’s perfect! I was hoping to hear from teachers as I am sure your treasure chest is packed full of jewels like this. Blessings!
Humor & honest have always worked for me
Paster Pete, there are times when I read a parable such as this one in Matthew and wish there were some examples of this in practice. That is exactly what your post provided. Thank you! The statement that lingers most is “God wants to use you in ways to spread His treasure around.” I had to smile at how you ended up teaching Royal Rangers (my girls participated in the flip side of that- Missionettes) as it is a similar story to how I ended up teaching 2-3 year old Sunday School. I began by volunteering as an assistant when my youngest was in the class and by the next year found myself being asked to be the teacher. I’m a middle school teacher by trade and was completely out of my element which made me 100% dependent on Jesus to help me minister to these precious little ones. Truly, 100% dependence is the very best place to be. Each week, He gave me the grace and wisdom I needed to manage a class that ranged from 10-20 children and amazing ladies to assist me along the way. The greatest treasure was hearing their little voices singing “Jesus Loves Me” each week and watching their eyes light up when I went around the room said each child’s name followed by “Jesus loves you.” You could see the look of anticipation and delight when their turn came.
You’re bringing a tear to my eye. Those are indeed precious memories. Now I look around on Facebook and see some of them as middle aged pastors! But in my mind they are still tearing around on our camp outs, yelling and doing everything except sleep after the fire died down at night. When all is said and done those are the most valuable things God gives us.