I had just finished talking impassionedly about Hell and Heaven and Life After Death. I had used a modern, clean, inspiring presentation on Canva, full of subtle sunrise scenery, and had even showed a Bible Project video about the Kingdom of God. I had aced this Zoom Youth Group meeting; these kids were now SO informed about our Christian beliefs. Pretty much ready for immediate Confirmation… Anybody see a Bishop? Let’s make honest Episcopalians out of ‘em.
I was patting myself on the back for clarifying EVERYTHING when the little black box labeled Nicoles_iphone started to speak. “Um, Megan, could you please go over the part about Jesus being a sacrifice? I didn’t really get that part.”
Really, Nicoles_iphone? The very foundation of our faith? The reason we are called Christians and can even talk about heaven and hell and the kingdom of God in sans-serif bullet points over a stock photo of the morning? That’s the part you’re asking me to elaborate on (but quickly, since we’re already five minutes over schedule and Kelan has to sign off to go to basketball)? Sure. Let me just distill 2000-plus years of theology into the next 30 seconds.
I saw a cartoon once where two fish meet each other in a fishbowl, and one says, “How’s the water today?” The other one says, “What’s water?” A better illustration comes from Good Omens by Neil Gaiman: “People in Trafalgar Square can’t see England.” This is me. I grew up a Trafalgar fish, soaking in all of this faith stuff, never really questioning it, because it just is. I forget that Christianity is weird:
Hey, guys, how was school this week? Got any big exams coming up? Cool. Today we’re going to talk about a guy who came back from the dead a long time ago in preparation for you guys being able to ritually eat him and drink his blood so that you, also, can come back from the dead if you happen to die before the world as we know it comes to an end (which it will). Let’s get started with a round of Kahoot!
If I put myself in a fourteen-year-old’s shoes, it is very, very understandable to not really ‘get’ Christ being a sacrifice. We don’t offer sacrifices today – not even vegan alternatives – so there’s not really a good frame of reference. And if I’m honest, 90% of my reaction to the question was panic about whether I could do it justice.
I outlined the concept behind animal sacrifices in the Old Testament and talked about how sacrificing lambs and other animals wasn’t super efficient because you had to keep re-upping all the time. Christ was a sacrifice once and for all, permanent, indelible, meaning all of our sins forever are paid for, meaning we don’t have to offer any animal sacrifices ourselves. If you hear Jesus referred to as the Lamb of God, that’s why. Plus, then he rose again, which means death was broken and that’s why we can talk about heaven and hell and eternal life.
It wasn’t the most thorough explanation ever. I’m not sure that they all got it, but I’m not sure that we all fully do, either. This stuff is hard. I reminded myself that this will not be the only time in the lives of the youth in the group that they hear the foundational tenets of Christianity. I tried my best, appreciating Luke 12:12 all the more, and figured I could always field follow-up questions.
“Does that help?” I asked.
“Yes, it does,” Nicoles_iPhone said. “Thanks.”
Thanks be to God.
— MeganPrestonMeyer
I was patting myself on the back for clarifying EVERYTHING when the little black box labeled Nicoles_iphone started to speak. “Um, Megan, could you please go over the part about Jesus being a sacrifice? I didn’t really get that part.”
Really, Nicoles_iphone? The very foundation of our faith? The reason we are called Christians and can even talk about heaven and hell and the kingdom of God in sans-serif bullet points over a stock photo of the morning? That’s the part you’re asking me to elaborate on (but quickly, since we’re already five minutes over schedule and Kelan has to sign off to go to basketball)? Sure. Let me just distill 2000-plus years of theology into the next 30 seconds.
I saw a cartoon once where two fish meet each other in a fishbowl, and one says, “How’s the water today?” The other one says, “What’s water?” A better illustration comes from Good Omens by Neil Gaiman: “People in Trafalgar Square can’t see England.” This is me. I grew up a Trafalgar fish, soaking in all of this faith stuff, never really questioning it, because it just is. I forget that Christianity is weird:
Hey, guys, how was school this week? Got any big exams coming up? Cool. Today we’re going to talk about a guy who came back from the dead a long time ago in preparation for you guys being able to ritually eat him and drink his blood so that you, also, can come back from the dead if you happen to die before the world as we know it comes to an end (which it will). Let’s get started with a round of Kahoot!
If I put myself in a fourteen-year-old’s shoes, it is very, very understandable to not really ‘get’ Christ being a sacrifice. We don’t offer sacrifices today – not even vegan alternatives – so there’s not really a good frame of reference. And if I’m honest, 90% of my reaction to the question was panic about whether I could do it justice.
I outlined the concept behind animal sacrifices in the Old Testament and talked about how sacrificing lambs and other animals wasn’t super efficient because you had to keep re-upping all the time. Christ was a sacrifice once and for all, permanent, indelible, meaning all of our sins forever are paid for, meaning we don’t have to offer any animal sacrifices ourselves. If you hear Jesus referred to as the Lamb of God, that’s why. Plus, then he rose again, which means death was broken and that’s why we can talk about heaven and hell and eternal life.
It wasn’t the most thorough explanation ever. I’m not sure that they all got it, but I’m not sure that we all fully do, either. This stuff is hard. I reminded myself that this will not be the only time in the lives of the youth in the group that they hear the foundational tenets of Christianity. I tried my best, appreciating Luke 12:12 all the more, and figured I could always field follow-up questions.
“Does that help?” I asked.
“Yes, it does,” Nicoles_iPhone said. “Thanks.”
Thanks be to God.
— MeganPrestonMeyer
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