Advanced Level, Block 7—Idolatry and Division
Week 69
Jeremiah—Tenderhearted toward God’s People
Point to Emphasize: Are we tenderhearted towards others?
Reference Reading: Jeremiah 1:1-16, footnote 111, 131
Memory Verse: And be kind to one another, tenderhearted… (Ephesians 4:32a)
Story Sample
To start our time today we need to read our memory verse together. Now, I will relate two different instances where there is someone who is wrong and someone who reacts. These are from my own life while the last one is from the Bible. We will discuss both situations and see who was wrong and how someone reacted. Did they react in anger and were upset or were they upset but tenderhearted? After each instance is shared we can then talk about how you might have handled the matter. [Storyteller-you may turn #1 and #2 into the third person to use them or you can use your own examples.]
#1. In my family, we did not use bad words. My mom said that if anything dirty came out of our mouth, she would wash our mouth out with soap to make it clean. Well, she only had to do that once to me and I would never use that word again. But as I got older there were students and teammates around me who used these bad words all the time. Once we had a basketball coach who did not allow us to use those words when on the team. I was a good player and even the captain of the team. It was nearly the end of the season, so our coach knew all of us well. We were playing against a good team and could not seem to get ahead of them the whole game. During the last few minutes, I made a blunder and lost the ball. I was so mad at myself that under my breath I used one of those words. Our coach called a time-out to tell us what plays we should try and to encourage us that we had not lost the game yet. There was still time to win. As we left the huddle to return to the game she said to me, “and I hope I did not hear what I thought I heard out of your mouth. Cause next time I’ll bench you.” OUCH! That smarted more than if she had yelled at me. [Have the children discuss this.]
#2. When I was about your age I got a “talking doll”. Now, I only had two dolls at that time since I was not really very interested in playing with dolls. But this one was so cool! It was the first of its kind. When you pulled the string on its’ back its mouth moved and the doll spoke a sentence or two. My younger sister was always asking me if she could play with this doll. I would let her pull the string so the doll would talk but only when I was there with her. Even though we shared a room she was not supposed to touch this doll unless I was there. Not long after I got this doll, I went into our room and noticed that it was missing. I had heard my younger sister in the hall bathroom splashing water in the tub as I had walked to our room. Right away, I rushed to the bathroom and pushed the door all the way open. I yelled, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?” There was my doll in the tub getting a bath from my younger sister. I was so upset and yelling for my mom as I grabbed the doll out of the water, drying it off with a towel. Of course, all my yelling and my grabbing of the doll upset my sister and she started crying. I pulled the string and the worst of my thoughts came true. The talking doll no longer talked. It kind of sounded like someone trying to talk underwater: blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It is a good thing that my mom was in the bathroom by then because I don’t know what I might have done to my little sister who was cowering behind her. All I could do was to continue telling my mom what had happened. I was so mad! I was still yelling at my sister for what she had done. [Have the children discuss this.]
Now we come to a situation in the Bible. Throughout all their history it had been rare that the children of Israel had fully followed after God. But He came to them over and over and over again because He loved them. God raised up many through the years to speak His Word so that the people would return to Him. In doing this He showed how patient and tenderhearted He was towards His people. He really wanted them to love Him and follow Him. But when they forsook Him, He would need to discipline them.
Jeremiah was born a priest but was called to be a prophet. He was seventeen years old when Jehovah caused him to speak for Him. This was during the reign of Josiah. Josiah had fully turned to God but most of the children of Israel had not. Jeremiah looked at how the Jews lived—he saw how most of them had forsaken God. He saw their idol worship, their greed, their lying, their stealing from one another, their breaking of God’s commandment concerning marriage, and even murders among themselves. What do you think Jeremiah’s reaction was? [Let them answer. Was he compassionate like God OR did he condemn and judge them?] Yes, Jeremiah was compassionate. We might say that what he saw among the Jews broke his heart. He had a tender heart towards God’s people; it saddened him that they lived as they did. They rejected Jehovah’s warnings that he spoke to them and this caused Jeremiah to weep for them. Because of that, Jeremiah is even called the weeping prophet. The people of God had gone so far away from being a people of God. They had become pitiful! But Jeremiah never thought in his heart, “Oh those pitiful idol worshippers deserve the discipline that will come if they don’t turn back fully to God. I don’t care what becomes of them.” He always hoped that they would turn to Jehovah.
Jeremiah was tenderhearted towards God’s people. Some think of this as a weakness. But God is tenderhearted towards us. And we should be that way toward others. This does not mean that there is no discipline. No, discipline should come when we are wrong. I hope that during the “doll story” you kind of hung your head and didn’t feel so good about the similar way you’ve reacted to others in the past. We need to admit that we often are so harsh with others. And I hope you can go and have a conversation with your parents about the anger and the lack of compassion in your heart. Remember we are told to be tenderhearted and kind to one another.