Hosea 11:1-11
G “I’m
punishing you because I love you”
could be the sermon title for the day. Just remember that it makes more sense
to parents than to children who have trouble believing parents who say this
while punishing them. Also, remember
that some children have unloving parents or violently punitive parents.
G The
child is the bad guy here. It might be wise to point out to children that
just as all children are sometimes loving and kind and other times naughty,
stories about children in the Bible sometimes show us children being loving and
other times show us children who are not loving. The children described by the prophet Hosea today
are very rebellious.
G Before reading this text tell worshipers that they
need to know a secret and a story to understand what you are about to
read. It might go something like this.
We
are about to read some very famous words from the Bible. In them God is compared to a parent punishing
a much loved, but very rebellious child.
You need to know one secret and hear one story before these words make
sense.
The
SECRET is that the child who is about to be punished isn’t just one person nor
is the child young. The child is all
God’s people – and they had been really, really rebellious. God is about to let them be conquered and
taken prisoners to Assyria. It is sort
of like God was giving all the people a big “time out.” That’s the secret is “child” is really all
God’s people.
Now
the STORY – the story is that when God’s people were slaves in Egypt hundreds
of years before this, God had freed them and led them through the wilderness to
a new Promised Land. While they were in
the wilderness God taught them what it meant to be God’s people. God gave them the 10 Commandments and taught
them how to live together and how to love God.
It was kind of like teaching a baby to walk. Unfortunately, when they
got to the Promised Land the people forgot what God had taught them. They lied.
They cheated. They stole from
each other. They even worshipped other
gods. God loved them too much to let it
go on.
What
I am about to read is God telling the people what is going to happen. So, listen for words about a loving parent
and a rebellious child and for words about Egypt and Assyria.
Psalm 107:1-9, 43
Psalm 107 is a road song. Pilgrims climbing the
steep, hot road up to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple, would recite it as
they walked in groups, rather like some of the songs families sing in cars as
they travel today (think “Banana-nana-bo bana”). It has a clear pattern of verses describing
the trouble some people faced and were saved from by God and a chorus calling
on them to “thank the Lord” for their deliverance. Today’s “verse” describes the problems that
befall those who wander in the wilderness – like the people Moses led through
the wilderness to the Promised Land.
Turn it into a responsive congregational reading. Before reading it, tell worshipers to imagine
themselves in a crowd singing on the hot, steep road to Jerusalem. For maximum effect have the whole congregation
stand and walk in place as they read the psalm together.
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Psalm
107:1-9, 43
Leader: O give thanks to the LORD, for he
is good;
for his steadfast love endures
forever.
People: Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
those he redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
Leader: Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to an inhabited town;
hungry and thirsty, their soul
fainted within them.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he
delivered them from their distress;
he led them by a straight way,
until they reached an inhabited town.
People: Let them thank the LORD for his
steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
For he satisfies the thirsty,
and the hungry he fills
with good things.
Let those who are wise give heed to these things,
and consider the steadfast love of
the LORD.
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
F To take this even further make up new verses about
people getting in trouble and being rescued today. Even challenge worshipers of all ages to make
up their own verses celebrating God’s loving care in the tough times.
F This psalm is probably in the lectionary today to
reflect God’s care in the wilderness, but it could be paired with the parable
and teachings about prayer in last Sunday’s gospel reading to celebrate
God’s response to prayer. The road trip
song format provides an opportunity to explore a prayer concern shared by both
children and adults.
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23 and Psalm
49:1-12
G The writer of these texts is an older person with
lots of life experience to ponder.
Because they lack this depth of experience children have trouble
understanding writers’ deep and honest cynicism.
G If you do work with the Ecclesiastes text in worship,
checking out several translations of the word vanity will be essential. To children and youth, vanity means “I think I
am really cool, pretty, smart, …”
Translations that say that all is pointless, meaningless, useless rather
than vanity help younger listeners get the writer’s point.
G Hhmm… in finding “Lester” for the gospel reading
about greed, I read a number of other poems in Shel Silverstien’s Where the
Sidewalk Ends and found almost every one of them to be a delightful
antithesis to the Ecclesiastes point of view.
Children will not get that, but I mention it for it might be worth with
the adults.
Colossians 3:1-11
F With children, start with “greed (which is idolatry)”
and jump directly to the gospel parable.
The images of death in and being hidden in Christ baffle children. Since the lists of sins are fairly general
and abstract, I’d not expect children to respond much to them.
F If
it is Back to School Sunday in
your congregation, pick up on the rules Paul urges the Colossians to keep every
day. Children who are very alert at this
point to the rules for their new classes, teams, and clubs, are ready to be
challenged to live by God’s rules wherever they are. Though Paul does not refer to the Ten Commandments
as a group, he refers to a number of them.
Follow his lead by working through the commandments putting them into
words that especially apply to school.
You might even make your version into a bookmark to laminate and give to
each child. Below is my stab at this –
and yes, I know some of them are limited expressions, but maybe appropriate for
children as school begins.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
God
is God – even at school!
God
is more important than anything
–
even grades or friends
Always
say God’s name respectfully
Don’t
get too busy for church
Speak
of your father and mother with love
Don’t
hurt anyone
watch where you
sling your book bag and
lookout for the
younger kids
Be a
loyal friend
Do
not steal
either other
people’s stuff or the answers on their work
Don’t
tell lies about other people
either to get
them in trouble or make yourself look good
Don’t
get jealous of what others have or what they can do
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Luke 12:13-21
G This passage includes a conversation which leads to a
story. Help children hear them
both by announcing this before you read and/or by pausing dramatically between
the two as you read. You might even
raise a hand with your finger pointed up (the traditional teaching pose) as you
read “Then he told them a parable.”
G Be brave. Totally cover the Table and the usual
symbols displayed on it with all sorts of stuff – clothes, hats,
electronics, sports equipment, books, video/CD, board games, fast food
containers and fancy cooking equipment, and whatever else are “hot items” in
your congregation this summer. Be sure
to include things that appeal to worshipers of all different ages. At some point in the service, remove the
items one at the time discussing ways we get too attached to them. Leave a clear Table dominated by the
appropriate symbols. Savor it publicly
noting that everyone probably feels a little relieved to have it cleared of the
stuff that got in the way of the symbols we love. This could be done as a call to worship (a call
to clear away all the stuff to focus on what is really important), the lead up
to prayers of confession about our misuse of our stuff, a children’s time, part
of the real sermon, even as a response to the scripture and sermon.
G Identify and discuss “gotta haves.” Name several things that at different times
in your life were “gotta haves” for you – a certain kind of bike or electronics
or clothes. Identify reasons for wanting
those things – everyone else had one, they looked really cool, you just knew
they would make you special, etc. Tell
about some things that turned out to be as great as you thought they would be
AND some that were really disappointing.
Challenge worshipers to identify what they wanted for Christmas last
year or what they wanted most on their last birthday. Consider whether the ones they got turned out
to be as satisfying as they expected them to be. Conclude with comments about the inability of
stuff to make much difference in our lives.
G If it is back to School shopping season in
your congregation, talk about what is needed and what is wanted for going back
to school. Together sort through which
are necessities and which are greedy wants.
Pray for wisdom while shopping for back to school clothes and supplies.
G Behind this parable is the question, “how much is
enough?” One way to explore just a part
of this is to ponder the size of the servings at communion. Children often have trouble connecting all
the language about feasting with the tiny piece of bread and sip from the
cup. Those bits don’t even rate as a snack,
much less a feast. So, at some point
present what is offered and admit that it is not very much. Then recite and laugh about some of the feast
language in the ritual words. Finally,
ponder the fact that it really is enough to do what it is meant to do. Just a taste of bread and a sip from the cup
remind us of God’s enormous love and our place among God’s people. Insist that sometimes just a little is not
only enough, but a feast. Wish aloud
that the barn builder in the parable had known that.
G Children’s books about greed include the
following. If you have other favorites,
add them in comments.
The
Biggest House in the World, by Leo Lionni,
tells the story of a snail who kept growing a bigger and fancier shell house
until the shell became so heavy he could not move on to find food. Like today’s scripture it is a story within a
story. The whole book can be read in
about 4 minutes. But it would also be
possible to read only the story within the larger story and thus pare back
reading time.
“Lester,” a poem in Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk
Ends (page 69), tells the story of a person who given a magic wish kept
wishing for more wishes. By the time he
was old he had a huge pile of wishes none of which he ever used. The last line is “He waste his wishes on
wishing.”
The
Fisherman and His Wife, a Grimm Fable
retold by Rachel Isadora and illustrated with colorful African prints, tells of
a fisherman who saved a magic flounder.
His wife demanded an ever escalating number of wishes starting with ever
larger homes then powerful titles. The
flounder granted each one. At the end of
the book she demands that she be God.
The flounder complies and the fisherman finds her in their old stinky
pigsty. Reads aloud in 6 minutes.
The
Greatest Treasure, by Demi. Once there was a rich man named Pang and a
poor man named Li. Li, his wife and 5
daughters were happy. Li often played
the flute for them. Pang spent all his
time counting his money. He, his wife
and 5 sons were unhappy. To keep Li
quiet so he could count his money Pang gave Li a large bag of coins so his
worry over the coins would keep him quiet.
It did. Li began worrying about
so much there was no time to play and dance with his family. Finally he remembered that happiness is more
important that coins. He returned to
sack of coins thanking Pang but telling him they almost robbed him of his
greatest treasure, his happiness. He
also gave Pang part of his treasure – a flute each for Pang, his wife, and
children. At first Pang was stunned. When his wife and children began playing
their flutes, he finally joined them.
This picture book reads aloud in 6-7 minutes and probably goes better
with next week gospel about treasures, but could also be read today.
WARNING: Many of the ideas and resources for exploring
greed today might also be used with next week’s gospel about treasures. So, think ahead a little.
This is the first of weekly
reminders during August to be aware of when your children go back to
school. That is a HUGE event in the
lives of children every year. Congregations that find ways to recognize and
bless it in the congregation’s worship tell children and their families that
they are an important part of the congregation.
Go to Back to School -2013 for more general ideas to add to those connected to today’s
texts.
