18/1/09   Epiphany II

Theme: Doesn't he speak funny?

Bible reading

John chapter 1 verses 42-51

Preparation

This assembly is about how important it is not to be prejudiced against people because of their linguistic characteristics - which means it is important that the introduction does not disintegrate into stereotyping of the worst kind. You will know how this should best be handled in your own school circumstances.

Have you got someone on your staff who could demonstrate a regional accent (not the local accent and definitely not a joke accent!)? Alternatively perhaps you may be able to have two short video or sound clips of people with distinctive regional accents from well-known  children's TV shows. (It is intended that these should be English regional accents, not someone who has English as a second language.)

Introduction

Have you noticed that although we all speak English in this country, we don't sound exactly the same? Sometimes we use words that are only understood in our particular part of the country, or we have a different accent. You used to be able to tell where people came from in England by listening to how they spoke, and sometimes people can be very prejudiced against anyone who does not sound exactly like them.

Can you guess where in England these people come from?
(At this point use your video clips or your talented colleague.)

People move around the country more nowadays to find work, or to go away to college and university, and this can mean they lose their special accents, but if you listen carefully there are still a lot of different regional accents around.

The Message

Have you ever wondered if Jesus had a regional accent? Of course he wouldn't have been speaking English, he would have been speaking Aramaic, which was the language of the people in Palestine in his time, but probably the answer is that he did! Jesus came from the north of his country, from Galilee, and people who lived in the capital, Jerusalem, usually thought that anyone who came from Galilee was a bit slow and talked funny. There is even a story in the Bible about how someone said that about Jesus:

Right at the beginning of his ministry Jesus was calling together twelve men to be his special disciples or followers. One of the people he called was Philip who lived in Bethsaida. Philip was so excited about meeting Jesus and about being called to follow him, that at once he ran off to tell his good friend Nathaniel what had happened and to take him to meet the new teacher. Nathaniel was very surprised at the news. He looked down his nose at Philip and said "How can anyone that is any good come from a dump like Nazareth?" Nathaniel really did not believe that it could be worth his while going to meet anyone who came from that place!
Philip kept on talking, and at last he persuaded Nathaniel to go with him to meet Jesus.

As soon as Jesus saw him, he said to him "I know you are an open and honest man!"

"How do you know that?" Asked Nathaniel in amazement.

To his astonishment, Jesus was then able to describe to him exactly where Nathaniel had been sitting when Philip came to find him, even although Jesus had not been there at the time. Nathaniel was overwhelmed with excitement. He became a follower of Jesus at once, and he certainly didn't have any more worries about Jesus coming from Nazareth!

The story tells us just how important it is not to make assumptions about people because of the way they talk or look. If Nathaniel had been influenced entirely by his prejudices he would never have gone to meet Jesus in the first place, and would not have become his follower. Meeting Jesus changed his whole life!

It is important for us too to remember the message of Nathaniel's story; if we decide we don't want to meet someone just because of the way they speak or look, we could miss out on making a really good friend! Then the loss would be ours.

Prayer

Thank God that we are all special and different as individuals, and that is what makes it so exciting and interesting for us to meet new people.