Her name was Mrs. Robertson. She was my second-grade teacher. She walked with a limp because she had contracted polio. Mrs. Robertson helped every child in our second-grade class know that we were valued members of a community of learners.
One of the lessons I learned from Mrs. Robertson occurred during a gift exchange by the students of the class prior to the winter holiday break. Somehow, in the process of preparing for the exchange, my name had been misplaced, so when the time arrived for the gift exchange, I was the only child who did not receive a gift. As I watched the other children admiring their gifts, I wondered why I had not received a gift like everyone else. It was not that I was facing an existential crisis, but I did wonder. As I watched and wondered, I heard Mrs. Roberton call the class to attention as she announced that a mistake had been made and that my name had been omitted from the gift exchange. She apologized for the error and presented me with a toy truck that she must have purchased just in case. Mrs. Robertson then told the class how proud she was of how I had responded to what had happened. It was a lesson learned.
Lessons learned. Danny Dutton was 8 years old when he responded to a Sunday School assignment on writing about why he believed in God. Here is what Danny wrote:
“One of God’s main jobs is making people. God makes them to put in place of the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. God doesn’t make grown-ups. Just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way God doesn’t have to take valuable time teaching them to walk and talk. God can just leave that up to the mothers and fathers. I think it works out pretty good.
God’s second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, as some people, like preachers, pray other times besides bedtime. God doesn’t have time to listen to the radio or TV on account of this. As God hears everything, not only prayers, there must be a terrible lot of noise into God’s ears, unless God has thought of a way to turn it off.
God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere. Which keeps God pretty busy. So you shouldn’t go wasting God’s time by going over your parent’s head and asking for something that said you couldn’t have.
Atheists are people who don’t believe in God. I don’t believe there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren’t any who come to church.
Jesus is God’s son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and doing miracles and trying to teach people about God who didn’t want to learn. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him. But he was good and kind like his father and he told his father what they were doing and to forgive them and God said okay
His Dad (God) appreciated everything he had done and all his hard work on earth, so he told him he didn’t have to go on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. Now he helps his Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing which things are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God with. Like a secretary, only more important, of course.
You can pray any time you want and they are sure to hear you because they’ve got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.
You should always go to Sunday School because it makes God happy, and if there’s anybody you want to make happy, it’s God. Don’t skip Sunday School to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. That is wrong. And besides the sun doesn’t come out at the beach until noon anyway.
If you don’t believe in God – besides being an atheist – you will be very lonely because your parents can’t go everywhere with you like camp, but God can. It’s good to know God’s around when you’re scared of the dark or when you can’t swim very good and you get thrown in real deep water by big kids. But you shouldn’t just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put here and God can take me back any time God pleases.
And that’s why I believe in God.”
Lessons learned. In today’s scripture reading from Deuteronomy, Moses reminded the former slaves of Egypt about lessons learned through their exodus out of Egypt. Reciting words of faith known as Shema, the Hebrew word that means “hear,” Moses taught:
The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Keep the words God has commanded.
It is the words of the Shema that provided the foundation for Jesus’ response when the lawyer asked him, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” Citing lessons learned from one generation of faith to the next, Jesus taught the lawyer:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
We worship today because we believe in lessons learned from one generation of faith to the next. Lessons learned from an 8-year-old Sunday School student about loving God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind as he writes about why he believes in God. Lessons learned through the kindness of a second-grade teacher that is remembered 63 years after. Lessons learned as our community of faith partners with and prays for God’s blessings for the students, teachers, and school staff who are valued members of a community of learners known as Perrymont Elementary School.
May God bless us as we live by lessons learned.
Lessons Learned
by Pastor Marc Brown
September 8, 2024
Accompanying Scriptures: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 & Matthew 22:34-40
Fort Hill United Methodist Church
Order of Worship for September 8, 2024
Scripture Lesson Deuteronomy 6:4-9 & Matthew 22:34-40
The Good News “Lessons Learned ”
Prayer
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