Year C - Proper 25, 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost (October 27, 2013)

Happy Almost Halloween!  For older children Halloween is all about testing their courage with haunted houses, ghost stories, and gory costumes.  But, for younger children, it is all about the costumes.  “What are you going to be?” is the chief question in the days leading up to Halloween.  So, with younger children begin by asking this question and hearing about their plans.  Some children will have known for weeks “what I’m going to be.”  Others will still be deciding.  A few will not have given it a thought.  After hearing about costume plans, address the whole group with “something I want you to remember on Halloween.”  Tell them that no matter what costume they wear, you want them to remember that they are always THEMSELVES.  They are God’s loved children.  Speak briefly of the fun of wearing a costume that makes them look like someone else.  Remind them that they are still THEMSELVES.  Tell them to remember that AND to act like God’s loving children every minute of the day.

Remember to include Halloween in the church’s prayers with prayers for safety for Trick or Treaters and those who dare haunted houses.  Also pray that all will remember to act like the children of God they are behind their masks and costumes.

Go to Spooky Halloween Organ Councert and Tour and A Book for Halloween and Other Scary Days for two more Halloween ideas.

I found only one Halloween connection to today’s texts.  See it in Psalm 84.

The Texts

Joel 2:23-32

u  Maybe the best connection for children is the visions and dreams promised in verse 28.  Identify dreams as possibilities and ideas about what could be.  Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech illustrates the importance of a dream in shaping life for both individuals and communities.  Read at least one of King’s dreams and note ways we are doing better now than we were when he said them.  Explain that the dream words become a way to measure how close we are getting to the dream.  According to Joel such dreams are gifts from God and therefore should be valued and worked with.  

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”  Martin Luther King

u  Display a Native American dream catcher or a picture of one.  Describe its use as a dream sorter.  Bad dreams are supposed to be caught in the web.  Good dreams slip through.  We have to sort our dreams, keeping only the truly good ones.  Encourage children to sort their dreams with stories of dreams you have had during your life, some of which you have set aside (I dreamed of being a ballerina, but set it aside when I realized I was way too tall.) and other dreams which you have held for years (I share the Habitat for Humanity dream of a decent house for every person.  It hasn’t come true yet, but I keep working with other hoping it will one day be true.).

u  Two well-known hymns that explore dreams and can be child accessible with a little help.

“Be Thou My Vision” offers a straight forward prayer but is stated in Elizabethan English.  So, before singing it, read through the first verse and put it into your own words: 

Be Thou my vision, O Lord (joy) my heart

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art –

Thou my best thought, by day or by night

Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light.

Becomes something like

God, your plan for the world is my plan.

No one is more important to me than You are.

You have the best ideas to think about.

Whether I am awake or asleep, You light up my world.

Before singing “Open My Eyes That I May See” read through the repeated chorus challenging young readers to join in on that for sure.  Point to “illumine me” putting into phrases such as fill me up with your vision, let me hear your message, and help me claim as my own your dreams for me and for the world.

u  Read all or part of God’s Dream, by Desmond Tutu.  To keep the focus on God’s dream rather than our response and shorten the story a bit, start reading with “Do you know what God dreams about?” stopping after “God dreams that we reach out and hold one another’s hands an play one another’s games and laugh with one another’s hearts.”  Skip to “God dreams that everyone of us will see that we are all brothers and sisters…” reading from there to the end.  (Today this not only explores God’s dreams in Joel but addresses the Pharisee’s judgment of the tax collector.)

Psalm 65

u  There are so many random praises in this psalm that it is hard for children to follow them.  They are most likely to hear one or two that make sense to them.  One way to focus their attention on one or two of these phrases is to provide them with a page with the words of all or part of the psalm printed in the middle.  (Choose a translation such as the Contemporary English Version which uses words children understand more easily.)  Invite children to illustrate the psalm by drawing in the margins things they read about in the psalm or that the psalmist makes them remember with praise.  As they leave the sanctuary, take time to talk with those who worked on this project about what they drew and/or post their artwork on a special bulletin board near the worship space or outside your office door.

u  Even non-readers can join in on all the Alleluias in “All Creatures of Our God and King” – especially if they are specifically invited to do so.

Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22

This text is for the adult Bible students.  Several of today’s other texts speak much more clearly and easily to children. 

Psalm 84:1-7

u  Use this psalm to compare Halloween haunted houses to the house of God.  Show a cardboard silhouette of haunted house.  Together talk about what that house is like and how it would feel to go into it.  Then show a silhouette of a generic church.  Read verses 1-7 challenging listeners to identify what is different about the two houses.  Enjoy the differences and identify which house is better to live in.

2 Timothy 4:6 8, 16-18

u  Tell the back-story before reading this text.  Invite listeners to imagine Paul sitting in prison in Rome knowing that he will probably soon be killed and writing his young friend Timothy whom he helped get started as a minister.  Then read the message thoughtfully, imagining yourself writing the letter, pausing at points to search for the right words for what you want to say. 

u  In Charlotte’s Web, by E. B. White, Charlotte the spider speaks shortly before her death to Wilbur whom she mentored very much as Paul spoke to Timothy in this passage.  She speaks about why such relationships are important.  Read the excerpt below or more from Chapter XXI of the book to explore the value of such relationships between the generations.  Charlotte said

”I’ve always been rather quiet.”

“Yes, but you seem ‘specially so today.  Do you feel all right?” (Wilbur replied)

“A little tired, perhaps.  But I feel peaceful.  Your success in the ring this morning was, to a small degree, my success.  Your future is assured.  You will live, secure and safe, Wilbur.  Nothing can harm you now.”….

“Why did you do this for me?” he asked.  I don’t deserve it.  I’ve never done anything for you.”

“You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte.  “That in itself is a tremendous thing.  I wove my webs for you because I like you.  After all, what’s a life, anyway?  We’re born, we live a little while, we die.  A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies.  By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle.  Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.” 

Luke 18:9-14

u  Two basic truths underlie the meaning of this story: God loves us and we are all sinners.  The Pharisee understands only one of them – God loves me.  He sees only his strengths and good deeds and tells God all about them.  It is a one sided conversation.  The tax-collector however understands both of them.  He is well aware of his weaknesses and sins.  (Lots of people point them out to him regularly!)  If that was all he knew, he wouldn’t be at the Temple at all.  But he also knows that God loves him in spite of his sins.  So he comes to God to confess and leaves OK with God.

u  To give the tax-collector’s prayer a physical reminder, put each truth in one hand then fold the hands together in prayer.  Either use your own hands or invite listeners to use their hands.  In either case, hold one hand palm cupped up to hold the truth that God loves us.  Briefly describe God’s creation of each one of us with our special gifts and talents.  Keep that cupped hand in place while raising the other hand up in the same position to hold the truth that we are each one of us sinners.  Move your hands up and down in relationship to each other to note that on some days we feel more loved and lovable and on other days we feel more sinful.  Then fold the hands together as if in prayer.  Jesus tells his listeners to be honest with God.  When we come to God honestly admitting our sins and trusting that God loves and forgives us, we are OK with God – and also OK with ourselves and the people around us. 

u  Instruct people to look at the other people all around them in the sanctuary - the people in their families, their friends, the people they see every Sunday but who aren’t friends, and the people they do not know at all.  Then tell them that every one of those people is a sinner.  Each one says and does things that hurt others, themselves and God.  Sometimes they mean to do those things.  Other times the mean words and deeds just pop out.  Even they are surprised at what they have done.  Then direct everyone to look again.  Point out that God loves every one of the people in the room.  God made them and knows them, even the awful things they do, and God loves them.   When we are honest with each other and with God about both the awful things we do and God’s love for each one of us, things work out OK. 

This is more powerful for both the children and the rest of the congregation if it is done as part of the Sermon because children are part of the whole rather than a “we” looking at a “them.”  It also invites the adults to participate in the activity rather than observe it.

u  The unrecognized sin of the Pharisee was that he saw none of his own faults and all of those around him.  The old word for that is scorn.  The word is not familiar to children and there are few better substitutes, but there is plenty of scorn in their world.  To explore this scorn or looking down on others,

u  Quote and discuss common phrases, labels and names as examples:

You’re not as (good, fast, smart, pretty….)  as me!

You’re just a (jerk, baby, …ask the children to add labels used in their school)

Names that belittle – shorty, four eyes, pipsqueak, etc.

Be ready to discuss what is hurtful about the names and labels and think ahead about how you will handle terms with racial or sexual connotations. 

JESUS MAFA. The Pharisee and the Publican, from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. 
http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48268 [retrieved September 27, 2013].

u  Direct attention to the Pharisee’s hands in this African artist’s illustration of this story.  One hand says “look at me.  See how fine I am.”  The other says, “Look at him.  I am soooo much better than he is.”  His hands explain the look on his face.  This man thinks that he is always right, that his ways are the best ways, and that very few people are as fine as he is.  Jesus says that God is not impressed with this attitude.  Even though the man does some fine things on God’s behalf, God is not impressed.  (Either print this picture in the bulletin or enlarge it and post it at the front of the sanctuary. )

u  Read this scripture as readers’ theater with male readers.  The Narrator may read from the lectern with the other 2 at center front.  Or, all three may stand center front with the Narrator in the middle of the other two.  Or, the Narrator may be in the lectern, the Pharisee at center front and the Tax collector off to the side.

& & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & &

Luke 18:9-14

Narrator:  Jesus told a story to some people who thought they were better than others and who looked down on everyone else: Two men went into the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

Reader 1:  The Pharisee stood over by himself and prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not greedy, dishonest, and unfaithful in marriage like other people. And I am really glad that I am not like that tax collector over there.  I go without eating for two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all I earn.”

Reader 2;  The tax collector stood off at a distance and did not think he was good enough even to look up toward heaven. He was so sorry for what he had done that he pounded his chest and prayed, “God, have pity on me! I am such a sinner.”

Narrator:  Then Jesus said, “When the two men went home, it was the tax collector and not the Pharisee who was pleasing to God. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.”

                                                         Contemporary English Version

& & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & &

u  Use the prayer of the tax-collector “God have mercy” as an opportunity to look at the use of “mercy” in your weekly prayers of confession.  Practice the Kyrie or whatever you sing at the conclusion of prayers of confession, translating it if needed.  Set it in the pattern of ritual – I’m sorry, Forgive me, It’s OK (I won’t treat you as you deserve given what you have done.).

Jesus Loves Me does not use the word mercy, but it is a song the tax-collector could have sung.  Imagine him singing both the well-known first verse and the less known verse below.  Then sing both verses - perhaps as a response to the confession and pardon ritual today.

Jesus loves me when I’m good,

When I do the things I should.

Jesus loves me when I’m bad,

Even though it makes Him sad.

Year A - Second Sunday of Advent (December 8, 2013)

Peace and Hope are the key themes that run through all of these texts.  For children (and most worshipers) the key to both themes is found in the Isaiah reading and echoed in the others.

Music of Peace and Hope

'' “Canto de Esperanza/ Song of Hope” which is short and upbeat chorus celebrating hope and peace is easy for children to learn and repeat with the congregation.  Sing it as you light the Advent Wreath for Hope or as the Benediction at the close of the service.  Take time to practice it once before singing it several times.  Rhythm instruments are a great addition – especially in the hands of rehearsed players.

'' If you are devoting time each week of Advent to exploring as well as singing one Christmas carol, “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” is a good choice for today.  Many of the words and phrases are hard for young readers, but if you walk through the carol putting the words of each verse into your own words, the children (and older worshipers) will begin to get it and sing it with more understanding.

1. One quiet night there really were angels singing.
2. Those angels could be heard over all the unhappiness and evil on earth.
3. People who are having really hard times are called to listen to the angels and remember that God is working for a time when all will be peace, i.e. keep hope.
4. A reminder that Isaiah had it right.  God is working toward a time of peace.

Chrismon for Today

'' The star Chrismon ornaments today become signs of hope.  Connect them to Wendell Berry’s poem “The Peace of Wild Things” (find a copy at Gratefulness).  He speaks of hope in terms of “feeling day-blind stars above him.”  Like Isaiah he knows the stars are there even when he cannot see them during the daylight and trusts that God is there even when it feels like God is nowhere around.

The Texts



Hicks, Edward, 1780-1849. Peaceable Kingdom, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=53085 [retrieved August 30, 2013]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Edward_Hicks_-_Peaceable_Kingdom.jpg.

Hicks, Edward, 1780-1849. Peaceable Kingdom, from Art in the Christian Tradition,

a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.

http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=53085

[retrieved August 30, 2013]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Edward_Hicks_-_Peaceable_Kingdom.jpg.

Isaiah 11:1-10

'' Though the hope comes first in the text, the peace that begins in verse 6 with all the animals is the part that speaks most clearly to children.  Advent liturgy is filled with references to Isaiah’s lion and the lamb image.  Isaiah’s promise that God intends peace for both animals and people is as powerful for children as it is for adults.  Children, especially those who live caught in the crossfire at home, at school, and in their neighborhood, find deep comfort and hope in this promise.  But they need to explore its physical details before they can grasp its message.  

'' Download Edward Hicks painting of the Peaceable Kingdom from the Vanderbilt Divinity School library at This LINK .  The site offers the painting in three sizes for free download and use in non-commercial ways as long as the attribution is printed with it.  Today you might print it as large as possible to share with a small group of children who gather for a children’s time and/or print it as a bulletin cover or smaller illustration within the order of service.  (BTW this wonderful site provides a selection of free art to download for each Sunday of the lectionary year.) 

'' Show the painting to the children.  Help them identify the animals they see in it.  Talk about the problems some of those animals have getting along, e.g. lions tend to eat lambs for dinner.  If no child notices them, point to the people in the background.  Note that when Mr. Hicks painted this picture Indians and white settlers were at war, but that the people in the picture seem to be talking peaceably.  Finally read Isaiah’s promise that one day all animals and all people will get along (vv.6-9 only).

'' After presenting Hick’s picture, encourage children to create other pictures of animals that usually don’t get along, being together.  Children can put pictures in offering plate, bring them forward to talk to pastor while the offering is being collected, or work on them during sermon, then come forward before the congregation’s prayers to discuss their work and have their hopes added to congregation’s prayers.

'' Or gather animal figures in surprising pairs to place around the empty manger just for today.  You might add photographs of people who often do not get along to also place in surprising pairs at the manger.  Conclude the discussions by rereading verses 6-9 and praying for peace.  (Borrow animal figures from the nursery toy box or ask children to bring stuffed animals for this.)

'' Light the second candle of the Advent wreath for God’s promised peace.  Reread Isaiah 11:6-9 as you light the wreath.  Pray for peace at home, at school, at work, in the nation, in the world….

'' If you are thinking together about being Advent candles, this week encourage worshipers to be Advent candles for Peace, i.e. to look for situations in which they can be peacemakers.  Challenge them to notice people who are not getting along, to think of one thing they might do that could help them get along better, and to pray for peace between them.

'' The HOPE in the earlier verses also speaks to children.

'' They need help identifying two different kinds of hope.  Start with “I hope I get a bicycle for Christmas” as something I hope will happen but which I can’t be sure of.  The second kind of hope is the hope based on things you can be sure will be true – one day.  Isaiah says that one day God’s kingdom will cover the whole earth with peace and justice.  We can count on that.  Because we can count on it, we don’t get totally hopeless when things are not going well AND we can do our part to make the promise come true.

'' If your congregation uses hopeful blue rather than penitential purple during Advent, point out all the blue in the sanctuary today.  Explain that it is the blue of the sky just before dawn.  Note that Isaiah is telling people that we are living “just before the dawn” of God’s peace and justice.  Even though it feels dark and cold now, we know for a fact what is coming.

'' To further explore the significance of the dark before the dawn, read “the First New Year” in Does God Have a Big Toe? By Marc Gellman.  The story describes Adam experiencing his first sunset and learning about time.  The message is that God is planning for a future.  The sun will keep coming up.  We can trust that.  (The story can be read aloud in 6 minutes with time for laughter.)

'' I can’t quite figure out all the details in my head, but am wondering if a congregation could plan to tie their Christmas gifts with gold ribbon only.  The gold would be a reminder of Isaiah’s promise of God’s coming peace and justice.  If anyone has ideas about how to develop this, I’d love to hear them.

This is my photo.  You may use it

for non-commercial purposes.

'' Pictures help children understand what a Jesse tree is.  Show them a picture.  Challenge worshipers to watch for and bring in pictures of Jesse trees in your community.

'' To understand the significance of this image, worshipers need a brief clear account of the Old Testament situation to which Isaiah wrote.

When the Babylonians conquered God’s people, they burned their city, killed most of the important people, even lined up all the king’s sons to kill in front of him just before they poked out his eyes.  YECH!  That was a terrible thing to do!  They did it because they wanted God’s people to know that they had no hope.  Their old nation was as dead as an old dead tree stump.  Isaiah agreed that it looked that way at the moment, but he reminded people that some old tree stumps send up fresh shoots that grow into new trees.  He insisted that that would happen with God’s people.

'' A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope , by Michael Foreman, is one of those stories that can be heard on many levels.  Children will simply connect the grape vine that grows over the barbed wire fence with the shoots that grow out of the Jesse tree stump.  Adults will see that connection but also realize the connection to all the refugee camps in the war-torn Middle East at the time.  So the story would be well worth sharing with the entire congregation as a summary of hope.  If you project pictures during worship, scan the pictures to show as you read.  (If you buy a copy of the book and do not give your scanned show to anyone else to use elsewhere, I am told it is not a copyright infringement.)

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

'' To turn this psalm into a prayer for today’s leaders, begin by brainstorming a list of leaders together.  Include political leaders of all persuasions, leaders in your community, coaches, teachers, and other leaders of children.  Then adapt the first few words of each line (mainly the pronouns) to make the psalm into a prayer for those leaders.  Groups 1 and 2 could be the two sides of the congregation or the congregation and the choir.

h h h h h h h h h h h h

A Prayer for Leaders Based on Psalm 72

Group 1:       Give our leaders your justice, O God,

and your righteousness to their children.

Group 2:       May they judge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice.

Group 1:       May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
                           and the hills, in righteousness.

Group 2:       May they defend the cause of the poor
                              of the people,

give deliverance to the needy,

and crush the oppressor.

Group 1:       May they live while the sun endures,

and as long as the moon,

throughout all generations.

Group 2:       May they be like rain that falls on the mown grass,

like showers that water the earth.

Group 1:       In their days may righteousness flourish and
                           peace abound,

until the moon is no more.

Group 2:       Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,

who alone does wondrous things.

Group 1:       Blessed be their glorious names forever;

Group 2:       May their glory fill the whole earth.

All:                  Amen and Amen.

                                                                        Based on NRSV

h h h h h h h h h h h h

Romans 15:4-13

'' Verse 7 is the summary of this message and the easiest part for children to understand.  (The remainder of the text gets involved with circumcision and Gentiles and Jesse stumps which need explaining.)  Verse 7 makes sense on its own.  “Get along with each other!”

'' Present pictures of a variety of very different people (old National Geographics are a good source).  Offer some odd pairs. Include some international photos and some pictures of people who could be local, e.g. an elegantly dressed person and a roughly dressed person displaying a tattoo.  Ask what would be hard for these people to get along.  Close by reading verse 7 from a Bible (perhaps bringing the big pulpit Bible down and reading from it) and pointing out that we are to be friends with all people. 

If your congregation uses projected pictures, project pictures of unusual looking people during the singing about getting along.

Or, place the paired pictures around the empty manger as you pray for them.

'' Light the second candle of the Advent wreath not just for Peace, but for “Peace Among All People.”  Pray for people who often do not get along.

''  “Help Us Accept Each Other” is a sing-able new hymn that offers prayers for people working to get along with each other.

'' Turn verse 13 into a benediction with arm movements.  Either invite the children to join you at the front to help you send the congregation out into the week.  They do the movements while you say the words.  Or, have all worshipers do the movements standing at their pews while you speak.

May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy

     (sweep hands from toes to face)

and peace through your faith in him.

     (do it again)

Then you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

     (sweep hands from toes up over your head then spread

      outward to hug the whole world)

                                           From God’s Word Translation

 Matthew 3:1-12

'' This year John the Baptist appears on two Sundays in Advent (this week and next).  Today’s text focuses on the most difficult of John’s teachings for children to understand.  So, during children’s time tell John’s story in terms children will understand using your favorite Bible story book.  The Family Story Bible, by Ralph Milton, has a good story about John the Baptist.  I’d use only the first half of the story, saving the last half for Baptism of the Lord Sunday in January.  This story can either be read directly from the book or used as background for telling the story in your own words. 

'' Another way to retell the story of John the Baptist is to pick up a shepherd from the crèche.  Present it to the children noting that there is one person who is never in Nativity sets, but really ought to be.  He probably looked most like the shepherds.  Describe what he wore and ate.  Then tell what he did.  He called people to admit what they were doing that they knew was wrong and did anyway.  He baptized them to show them that God forgave them and would give them another chance.  He also told them God was sending someone very special indeed.  With that, put the figure near the empty manger just for today.