The Lesson-Sermon: Its Application in Sunday School Teaching
Just what place does the Lesson-Sermon have in Sunday School teaching?
It cannot be a minor one, for Mrs. Eddy tells us that the very prosperity of Christian Science largely depends upon the lesson. (See Manual of The Mother Church, Art. Ill, Sect. 1.)
However, experience has proved that a routine reading of the lesson throughout the class session, or using the hour to have pupils explain what citation after citation means, does not constitute genuine teaching, nor do these approaches measure up to the Manual requirement (see Art. XX, Sects. 2 and 3) of adapting our instruction to the needs of the pupil. Furthermore, instead of increasing the pupil's interest in and enthusiasm for Christian Science, these practices may leave the pupil with the impression that the study of the lesson is a weekly chore to be fulfilled, rather than an infinitely expanding joy and a God-given source of solutions to his problems.
The other extreme, equally undesirable, would be to make no mention at all of the lesson during the class session.
A better plan would seem to be for the lesson to come into play at whatever time and in whatever fashion is best fitted to the needs of the class. When this approach evolves from the teacher's own deep love for the lesson and his practical application of it during the week, it establishes a model the pupils can emulate.
Here are some ideas that have been successful in helping pupils appreciate and employ the Bible Lessons on a regular basis. We group them roughly according to the age of the pupils.
The Very Young
Even though children may not be at the reading age yet, they can be taught that the lesson exists, that it uses the Bible, together with Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, and that very beautiful and helpful statements are to be found in both books.
The pupils are ready, even as tots, to listen to Bible stories from that week's lesson and to learn by heart such well-loved passages from Science and Health as "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need" (p. 494). This will help them look forward happily to the time when they can read the lesson for themselves.
Even the youngest can learn to recognize both these great books by sight, and to handle them lovingly and reverently.
Little ones are attracted by the cross and crown on the cover of the textbook, and it is not hard to teach them something of the meaning of each in terms of their own experience. They are ready to understand what nourishment is, and can be taught that the Lesson-Sermon provides spiritual food, fresh food, every week. The story of the manna that fed the children of Israel is pertinent to this.
The Older Pupils
The study of the lesson in real depth can be initiated at a surprisingly early age. We sometimes underestimate the pupils' ability and willingness to delve deeply into Christian Science. If we do not provide them with as much of the "meat" of the Word as they are able to digest, we may forfeit their interest.
We can show them that a thorough study of the lesson will open unexplored areas of thought and that through their study and practice they can become true pioneers of this age. Mrs. Eddy says in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany (p. 158), "We live in an age of Love's divine adventure to be All-in-all."
A number of teachers have written to The Mother Church concerning this subject of employing the lesson in Sunday School teaching. One says, "Working always to understand and practice Christian Science more effectively through my own study of the lesson and mentally staying with the lesson all day, all week, I find I am able to impart to the class the lesson's utility and power.
"During the class session I employ passages in the current lesson to guide our thought and discussion. I have never been at a loss to find something in the lesson to meet every need that arises in our class."
She finds this slightly indirect approach to the lesson very successful with her pupils.
Another teacher who gives prominence to the lesson in her Sunday School plans says that her pupils are encouraged to study the lesson during the preceding week so that their discussion in class may be enlivened and enlightened by what they have learned. She shows her pupils, moreover, how to explore the lesson in some depth, and to put it into practice.
This exploratory work might include exploring in a good dictionary the accurate —sometimes varied—definitions and origins of key words in a sentence, words like infinite, image, perfect, adamant. Then the pupil can be encouraged to see how these important words, and the ideas they represent, can be applied to daily life. For example, a study of the word "infinite" could enlarge a teen-ager's perception of God, so opening up wider opportunities for employment or for happy and wholesome friendships.
Another avenue of exploration might be to take a familiar phrase from Science and Health, such as "spiritualization of thought" (p. 382) and study what Mrs. Eddy writes on this subject elsewhere. This will imbue the pupil's thought with basic truth and the conviction that it has power and can be demonstrated. If he happens to believe that he is a slow learner, or if he finds himself bullied by schoolmates, his growing comprehension of what spiritualized thought can accomplish will show him the healing way.
Or the pupil might spend time thinking about a Bible story included in the current lesson, thinking about the historical environment in which it occurred, about the character of the chief actor in it. Appendix B in the Concordances will show him what Mrs. Eddy may have written about the incident. Then he might ask, "How can this story apply to my own character and life?" The friendship between David and Jonathan might well teach the pupil to look for qualities of steadfastness and faithfulness in his own friendships, for example.
Young people can be taught to study the lesson more deeply by asking themselves challenging questions, such as "Why do I think that particular Bible story was included in this lesson?" Or, "What does this citation in Science and Health explain about the Bible story?" Sometimes questions about relationships are helpful, i.e., the relation between one citation and the next, the relation between the Golden Text and the lesson itself, the relation between the subject of the lesson and the problems of today. Finally, teachers can acquaint pupils with concordances, dictionaries, and other reference books, and show them how the resources can be used in connection with the Lesson-Sermon.
In addition to learning how to explore the lesson more deeply, pupils can be helped to see its protective power. For example, with the older classes, it is helpful to keep in mind that young people need special defense today against the belief that moral laxity is freedom. The lesson provides them with this daily defense. It can serve as a silent watchman of consciousness; young people can be led to recognize this fact about the lesson and to be blessed thereby.
There is a need for each of us to nullify the world's resistance to the Lesson-sermon. Uncounted numbers throughout the world study this lesson daily, and thus general human consciousness is perpetually being stirred to higher levels. Mortal mind claims the power to resist whatever reveals its nothingness, and this resistance may appear as unwillingness on the part of pupil or teacher to study the lesson. Or it may appear as an inability in the teacher to discern a natural, easy way of bringing the lesson to bear on a class discussion. As we see that the culprit is powerless animal magnetism, not person, we find ourselves quite able to overcome this resistance.
The lesson unites all students of Christian Science in a mutual spiritual unfoldment. It is the Christian Scientist's course of study. It cannot be left out of Sunday School. The teacher who has studied the lesson and made it part of his consciousness throughout the week teaches more understandingly and more understandably. The pupil who has done so brings to the class an enlightened state of thought that is likely to accept fresh ideas without resistance and that is ready to explore new mental concepts.
Our Bible Lessons are a superbly practical means of self-education in Christian Science, and certainly no pupil need leave Sunday School at the age of twenty without having a thorough appreciation of this great gift. These lessons are unique in the world today. Their divinely inspired topics meet the varied claims of the carnal mind with the spiritual facts of divine Mind, and they do so with mighty power!
Recommended Bibliography
1. Manual of The Mother Church: Article XX
2. The Christian Science Journal: 1973 Series, "How I Study the Lesson-sermon"
3. Pamphlet: "Speaking to You: The Bible Lesson"
Would you like to share your experiences in teaching from the Lesson-Sermon? We welcome ideas and examples of their use so that in turn we may share them with others. Write:
The First Church of Christ, Scientist
Department of Branches and Practitioners
Sunday School Section
Christian Science Center
Boston, MA, U.S.A. 02115
[Prepared by .]
[This column appears quarterly in The Christian Science Journal.]
He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and
he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart,
so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity:
for God loveth a cheerful giver.
II Corinthians 9:6, 7
