Sermon for August 3rd, 2025 - Revision history

Iraneal at 02:57, 3 August 2025

2025-08-03T02:57:24Z

Iraneal: /* Back to School Sunday: Psalm 30 */

2025-08-03T02:52:54Z

‎Back to School Sunday: Psalm 30

Iraneal at 02:47, 3 August 2025

2025-08-03T02:47:39Z

Iraneal at 02:30, 3 August 2025

2025-08-03T02:30:25Z

Iraneal at 02:28, 3 August 2025

2025-08-03T02:28:32Z

Iraneal at 02:25, 3 August 2025

2025-08-03T02:25:55Z

Iraneal at 02:18, 3 August 2025

2025-08-03T02:18:24Z

Iraneal at 02:13, 3 August 2025

2025-08-03T02:13:41Z

Iraneal at 02:10, 3 August 2025

2025-08-03T02:10:09Z

Iraneal at 02:05, 3 August 2025

2025-08-03T02:05:32Z

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 There are teachers, and there are educators.  What’s the difference?
-The English word “teach” comes from the old Germanic word taikjan, which in turn comes from the Latin word *dico.*  If you know Spanish, think of the Spanish word “dicho” which means to speak, say, or tell.  So a teacher (originally) was someone who taught students, by speaking, telling, or explaining things to them.  Many teachers today still do.  Interestingly, the English word “dictator” comes from exactly the same root as the word teacher.  A dictator is someone who tells you what to do!
+The English word “teach” comes from the old Germanic word taikjan, which in turn comes from the Latin word *dico.*  If you know Spanish, think of the Spanish word “dico” which means I speak, say, or tell.  So a teacher (originally) was someone who taught students, by speaking, telling, or explaining things to them.  Many teachers today still do.  Interestingly, the English word “dictator” comes from exactly the same root as the word teacher.  A dictator is someone who tells you what to do!
 But an educator is a little bit different.  The word educate comes to us directly from the Latin word *educere* which means to draw out, to lead out, or to lift up.  The implication is that the educator recognizes what is already inside the student, and draws it out.  Or another way to look at it—the educator sees where a student is, and lifts her up to a new perspective, where she can form her own conclusions.

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 When we are doing well, when we feel safe and happy, we often develop the sense that we don’t need to be educated—that since we have accomplished everything we want to accomplish, we have therefore learned everything we need to know.  This is true of all ages, but if you’ve ever tried to educate or parent a teenager, you especially understand how this looks.
-Verse 7: “By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.”
+Verse 7: “By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; but you hid your face; and I was dismayed.”
 This is another technique of a great educator:  Hiding your face.  As parents and teachers, sometimes we are too quick to jump in and solve the problems of our children, or provide them with the answer that has worked best for us—instead of letting them wrestle with it for awhile, and come to their own resolutions.  Make no mistake, if you try this approach, there will be dismay and tears at first:  “I can’t do it.”  “I give up.”  “It’s too hard.”  “You don’t care about me!”  I actually love David’s over-the-top response in verse 9:  “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?”  Who are you gonna argue with if I’m gone? This is David’s subtle way of reminding God “Hey, wait a minute!  I thought we were in this together.”

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 *What’s the tallest building in the school?  The library.  It has hundreds of stories.
 *Why does it take pirates so long to say the alphabet?  They spend a lot of time at C.
-*The teacher asked the student to name something great they have in school today that they didn’t have 10 years ago.  The student said, “me.”
+*On the first day of school, the teacher asked the students to name something great they have in school today that they didn’t have 10 years ago.  One eager student piped up and said, “I know, I know!  Me.”

@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 Verse 7: “By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.”
-This is another technique of a great educator:  Hiding your face.  As parents and teachers, sometimes we are too quick to jump in and solve the problems of our children, or provide them with the answer that has worked best for us—instead of letting them wrestle with it for awhile, and come to their own resolutions.  Make no mistake, if you try this approach, there will be dismay and tears at first:  “I can’t do it.”  “I give up.”  “It’s too hard.”  “You don’t care about me!”  I actually love David’s over-the-top response in verse 9:  “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?”  This is David’s subtle way of reminding God “Hey, wait a minute!  I thought we were in this together.”
+This is another technique of a great educator:  Hiding your face.  As parents and teachers, sometimes we are too quick to jump in and solve the problems of our children, or provide them with the answer that has worked best for us—instead of letting them wrestle with it for awhile, and come to their own resolutions.  Make no mistake, if you try this approach, there will be dismay and tears at first:  “I can’t do it.”  “I give up.”  “It’s too hard.”  “You don’t care about me!”  I actually love David’s over-the-top response in verse 9:  “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?”  Who are you gonna argue with if I’m gone? This is David’s subtle way of reminding God “Hey, wait a minute!  I thought we were in this together.”
 And of course, David is not wrong either.  Education is a subtle, flowing dance, with plenty of back and forth, give and take.  It’s knowing when to hide your face for a time, giving your dance partner space to try a new move, to show off (or trip, fall, and get back up again).  But it’s also knowing when to step back in, leading and drawing out the best in each other.

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 David hints at this tendency in verse 6 of the Psalm:  “As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”
-When we are doing well, we often develop the sense that we don’t need to be educated—that since we have accomplished everything we want to accomplish, we have therefore learned everything we need to know.  This is true of all ages, but if you’ve ever tried to educate or parent a teenager, you especially understand how this looks.
+When we are doing well, when we feel safe and happy, we often develop the sense that we don’t need to be educated—that since we have accomplished everything we want to accomplish, we have therefore learned everything we need to know.  This is true of all ages, but if you’ve ever tried to educate or parent a teenager, you especially understand how this looks.
 Verse 7: “By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.”

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 Right after that, in verse 5, David mentions (almost in passing) the wrath of the Lord:  “His anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”
-A good educator has many tools in the proverbial toolkit.  Humor, honesty, patience, creativity, and yes—sometimes even anger.  Not uncontrolled, unrestrained or cruel anger… but focused, righteous anger that lasts for just a moment, in the context of steadfast and lifelong love.
+A good educator has many tools in the proverbial toolkit.  Humor, honesty, patience, creativity, and yes—sometimes even anger.  Not uncontrolled, unrestrained or cruel anger… but focused, righteous anger that lasts for just a moment, in the wider context of steadfast and lifelong love.
 Two other great educators in my life were my parents, my first teachers.  My mother’s anger was quiet and determined—she didn’t have to say anything, but you could read it in her body language.  Sometimes that anger was directed at me… and sometimes it was directed at teachers or school administrators who told her that I was incapable of learning… because I was incapable of sitting still in a chair, or keeping my mouth shut while the teacher was talking.

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 The English word “teach” comes from the old Germanic word taikjan, which in turn comes from the Latin word *dico.*  If you know Spanish, think of the Spanish word “dicho” which means to speak, say, or tell.  So a teacher (originally) was someone who taught students, by speaking, telling, or explaining things to them.  Many teachers today still do.  Interestingly, the English word “dictator” comes from exactly the same root as the word teacher.  A dictator is someone who tells you what to do!
-But an educator is a little bit different.  The word educate comes to us directly from the Latin word *educere* which means to draw out, to lead out, or to lift up.  The implication is that the educator recognizes what is already inside the student, and draws it out.  Or another way to look at it—the educator sees where a student is, and lifts her up to a new perspective, where she can from her own conclusions.
+But an educator is a little bit different.  The word educate comes to us directly from the Latin word *educere* which means to draw out, to lead out, or to lift up.  The implication is that the educator recognizes what is already inside the student, and draws it out.  Or another way to look at it—the educator sees where a student is, and lifts her up to a new perspective, where she can form her own conclusions.
 Teaching assumes a void—the student is an empty vessel in need of filling up with information and explanations.  Educating assumes a relationship, a back-and-forth interaction between two capable and intelligent beings.

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:10, 3 August 2025
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	One more school joke?		One more school joke?

−	Why does it take pirates so long to say the alphabet? ~~The~~ spend ~~too much~~ time at C.	+	What’s the tallest building in the school? The library. It has hundreds of stories.
		+	Why does it take pirates so long to say the alphabet? They spend a lot of time at C.

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:05, 3 August 2025
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	Today we give thanks for great educators, for great students, for loving parents and beloved children, and for the God who binds us all together in love, lifting us to new heights and drawing out the very best in every one of us.		Today we give thanks for great educators, for great students, for loving parents and beloved children, and for the God who binds us all together in love, lifting us to new heights and drawing out the very best in every one of us.
		+
		+	One more school joke?
		+
		+	Why does it take pirates so long to say the alphabet? The spend too much time at C.