As children move through Advent, it is easy for them to connect to the excitement and anticipation of Jesus’ birth. They know what it’s like to wait in hope for something amazing to happen. They have felt the joy of receiving an unexpected gift. But a call to repent for the forgiveness of sins? John the Baptist’s strident call is one that is more difficult for children to wrap their heads and hearts around. Yet to understand God’s unconditional love and the lives we are called to live as Christians, understanding repentence is essential. In this lesson, children will explore the ideas of repentance and forgiveness, looking at how they can bring us closer to God and one another.
Starting off
Begin your time with the children by asking each to think of a time when they hurt someone’s feelings. How did it feel when they realized the other person was hurt? Likely many will share that they were sad or concerned. Ask them what they did next? Encourage those who apologized or asked for forgiveness to share how it felt to do so. How did the other person react? What is their relationship like now? Note that talking through missteps with the person who is hurt gives us the opportunity to be close again. Ask the children to keep this conversation in mind as you read the lectionary text together.
Prepare to read aloud Luke 3:1-6. Note that the passage begins with a long list of people and places. The author does this to help the reader know what time period the story takes place and to show that the main character in this story, John the Baptist, wasn’t a particularly powerful person in the traditional sense. All of the people described were prominent government or religious leaders. John was not. Yet he shares an important message. Encourage the children to notice what John tells people as he travels along the Jordan River.
Exploring the passage
Read aloud Luke 3:1-6. After reading, focus on verse 3: “He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Ask the children to consider the definitions of “repentance” and “forgiveness of sins.” Share that these words may sound heavy or scary, but they aren’t. They are important parts of our faith that we practice each time we are in a worship service. We share or “repent for” our missteps during the prayer of confession. We don’t do this because we are ashamed or think we should be punished. We do this because we want to be honest with God and trust that God loves and accepts us. We know that God forgives any and all of our missteps. This is the message John the Baptist is sharing with people.
Have the children reflect on John’s message. How might repenting and receiving forgiveness bring us closer to God and one another? How does it feel to honestly share things with God? How does it feel when we know we’re forgiven? How does it feel to forgive someone else?
Relating the passage to our lives
Help the children connect the passage to their own lives by exploring examples of repentance and forgiveness. Share that it can be very difficult to forgive someone who has hurt you, but it can also be freeing. By forgiving someone just as God forgives us, you can feel better and you have a chance to have a relationship with that person.
Ask the children to think about times when it would be extremely hard to forgive someone. What could a person do that they would struggle to forgive? Talk about what might need to happen for them to forgive that person. Then talk about what the benefits of forgiveness might be.
Conclude your discussion of forgiveness in one of these ways:
- If you are working with young children, roleplay sincere apologies and forgiveness. Talk about what the experience of apologizing (repenting), offering forgiveness and receiving forgiveness feels like. Discuss times in the children’s lives where they might be able to practice these skills.
- If you are working with older children, share an example or two of radical forgiveness. Share this video about survivors of the shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, forgiving the man who killed their friends. (Note: This video is not graphic, but it does mention the shooting and death.)
- After watching the video, discuss this radical act of forgiveness.
As you move through this lesson with the children, notice how they react to the content and the discussions. If you have children in the group who have experienced trauma or who have been victimized, remind them that forgiveness is their choice. While God always offers forgiveness, human victims are under no obligation to forgive those who have hurt them. Rachel Held Evans offers a blog post that details key ideas about the relationship between forgiveness and abuse here.
Joelle Brummit-Yale is the director of children’s and youth ministries at Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian in Chapel Hill, N.C. When not at the church, she can usually be found at home with her son and husband caring for their many animals and developing their family homestead.
