Year A - Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (February 23, 2014)

Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18

* At the beginning of the service, identify HOLY as the word of the day and challenge children to count the number of times it is used in worship.  Hear their counts as they leave the sanctuary and congratulate them on their effort.

* Unlike the NRSV, Today’s English Version (The Good News Bible) does not assume that the reader knows about gleaning and other old practices.  That makes it easier for children to follow.

* Invite the congregation to join in reading the scripture by saying the “I am the Lord” phrase each time it appears.  Print the text in the bulletin and explain the meaning of the phrase in this context before reading together. 

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Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18

Leader:         The Lord told Moses to say to the community

                            of Israel,

Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 

When you harvest your fields,

     do not cut the corn at the edges of the fields,

     and do not go back to cut the ears of corn

          that were left. 

Do not go back through your vineyard

     to gather the grapes that were missed

     or to pick up the grapes that have fallen;

     leave them for poor people and foreigners.

All:                 I am the Lord your God.

Leader:         Do not steal or cheat or lie.

Do not make a promise in my name if you do not

           intend to keep it;

that brings disgrace on my name.

All:                 I am the Lord your God.

Leader:         Do not take advantage of anyone or rob him.

Do not hold back the wages of someone you have

      hired, not even for one night. 

Do not curse a deaf man or

      put something in front of a blind man so as

to make him stumble over it.

Obey me;

All:                 I am the Lord your God.

Leader:         Be honest and just when you make decisions

                              in legal cases;

       do not show favouritism to the poor

             or fear the rich. 

Do not spread lies about anyone, and

when someone is on trial for his life,

       speak out if your testimony can help him.

All:                 I am the Lord.

Leader:         Do not bear a grudge against anyone,

       but settle your differences with him,

so that you will not commit a sin because of him.

Do not take revenge on anyone or continue

           to hate him,

but love your neighbour as you love yourself.

All:                 I am the Lord.

                                                                              Today’s English Version

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BE HOLY

* Most children are told (and want) to be cool, smart, happy, good…   But Moses is calling them to be “holy.”   Most of them have no real idea of what that means.  Some may connect “holy” with extra good, maybe even overly good people and therefore do not want to make it a goal for themselves.  They will need help defining the word.

One starting point is the way the word is used to describe God.  If the word appears anywhere in the sanctuary, point it out.  Look at the Holy of Holy Bible.  Consider starting worship by singing “Holy, Holy, Holy” and then talking about what we sang about God. 

Next work with the fact that we are made in God’s image and are meant to be as like God as we can be.  That means we are supposed to be holy.  The specific commands in the text provide examples of what God does and calls us to do.

Or, point out that holy means set aside for God.  Just as the Bible, the communion table, etc are set aside for the service of God, we are also set aside to be God’s people.  That means we are holy.  At our baptism we are set aside for God. 

* To explore how we are set aside for God at our baptism and thus holy, select a few key phrases from your congregation’s ritual.  For me, it would be “you are Christ’s forever” and maybe “do you renounce evil.”  Talk briefly about what each phrase says about how we live every day at school and how we treat other people. 

* Side bar:  Many children hear the word holy most often in expletives -  holy smoke, holy mackerel, holy cow, and probably a number of phrases you’d rather not utter in the sanctuary, but which one of the children will say if given a chance.  It is possible to note these phrases illustrating with a few of your choice, then point out that they make no sense at all.  They are simply things we say when we are so frustrated or angry that we have to say something flashy.  Rather than use holy which refers to God to do this, we can use other words.  Some children make up long twisted words or phrases like “horseradish pickles.”  A case can be made that using holy in this way is misusing God’s name.  This is definitely a side bar and not the heart of today’s worship themes.

 

Psalm 119:33-40

* This is the second of the Psalm 119 readings.  It continues the alphabet poem with today’s verses starting with the Hebrew letter “he.”  If you did not introduce all the synonyms for Law in Psalm 119 last week, go to Epiphany 6 (Yr A) 6 for an idea about doing so this week.

* All the lines of this section start with a verb asking God’s help in living by the Law, or for today’s purposes asking for help in being holy.  After reading the lines the poet offers, make up some of your own and challenge worshipers to create lines of their own, e.g.

Teach me how to tell the truth – all the time

Show me how to be a good big brother

Remind me to be kind even to people who are not kind to me

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

* The “you” in this passage is the church not any individual.  The church is God’s temple, where God is present and known.  The writer is exploring the value of the church and the responsibility of leaders and members to care for it, protect it, even keep it “holy” (tying into the Leviticus reading).  Children are ready to hear this message, but will not be able to find it from the text as it is read.  Instead, they will depend on worship leaders to identify and explore the theme.

* As background for the text, identify leaders in your congregation. 

Identify the elected leaders and give a brief child-friendly description of their responsibilities.  Ask those who fill those offices to stand so the children and others can see them. 

In addition, identify some of the unelected leaders.  Name some people who take care of the church by quietly doing specific jobs, e.g. people who set up the sanctuary for worship, people who take a turn in the church nursery, people who maintain the church’s library or kitchen, or anyone else who does work that cares for the church. 

* If you pray for the leaders of your congregation, be as specific as possible.  Name the offices and pray about the work of those in that office.  Though you may not want to name names of unelected leaders you can pray for those who do very specific tasks.

Thank you God for the people who work so hard on the worship planning team to provide prayers and songs and readings that guide all of us every day. 

God, be with the deacons as they visit people who are sick and sad and lonely.  Help them find the words to say that will remind people how much you love them and how much we love them.  Keep them safe as they deliver food and run errands for people.

* Use the finger-play “Here is the church, Here is the steeple, Open the doors to see all the people.”  The second verse (with fingers on the outside instead of inside) is “You can have a church, and not have a steeple, But you can’t have a church without any people.”  After demonstrating the finger play and inviting everyone to go through it with you, keep your fingers up and wiggling.  Announce that today we are thinking about the fingers, the people of the church, that is us.  Point out that every one of us is responsible for the care and protection of the church. 

* Sing about the church

Ask a children’s choir or class to sing “We Are the Church” by Avery and Marsh.

Scroll down on this page to We Are the Church to see the words and tune from the Methodist Hymnal.

 

 Sing “God of Grace and God of Glory” as a prayer for the church.  To challenge children to sing every “grant us wisdom, grant us courage” in the refrains, even if they can’t keep up with all the verses because we the church really do need wisdom and courage to be the church everyday. 

Matthew 5:38-48

* Today’s “Jesus said” poster is obvious.  “Love your enemies.”  As you add it to the other posters or put it on display admit that it may be the hardest thing Jesus ever said.

 

* “Love you enemies.”  Love here is a verb that means treat with respect.  To most children love is a feeling or the way you act when you feel good about someone.  Jesus’ teaching is that we should treat everyone, even people who are not nice to us, with respect.  We must remember that no matter how they are treating us, they are God’s children and we need to treat them with respect.  This takes some explaining!

* Several stories in which children refuse to participate in revenge are worthy sermon illustrations.

The Story of Ruby Bridges, by Robert Coles, tells the true story of a seven year old African American girl who was escorted to school every day for months by federal marshals through angry yelling white crowds as schools were desegregated in the American south.  Each day she prayed asking God to forgive the people who were yelling at her.  Children may have heard this story during Black History month at school as an example of how hard it was to end segregation.  Revisit the story in worship as an example of a girl who chose to forgive rather than retaliate.  Check this out from the public library if it available – it is Black History month.

The Christmas Menorahs: How A Town Fought Hate, by Janice Cohn, is too long to read in worship (40 pages).  Read it in advance and tell the story in your own words during the sermon.  A hate group threw a rock through the bedroom window of a Jewish boy in Billings, Montana.  There was a menorah lit in the window.  In response the children of the town drew menorahs to put in their own windows.  The local newspaper printed a full page menorah for other families to color in.  It was the community’s way of standing up to a bunch of bullies.  The book includes the legend about the King of Denmark wearing a yellow star when the occupying Nazis decreed that all Jews must wear a yellow star.  Available in many public libraries.

Enemy Pie, by Derek Munson, is a picture book describing how Dad helped his son get rid of a neighborhood enemy by baking an enemy pie.  The secret ingredient in the pie was that the son had to spend the entire afternoon with his enemy being nice to him.  Of course the enemy was dispatched by becoming a friend.  The story could be told briefly in your own words during the sermon or could be read in its entirety in 10 minutes.  While it is a bit simplistic, the story teaches a clear message and is enjoyed by listeners of all ages.  Though the story is not widely familiar, I found several copies in the local public library.

* If the children are sitting near you, hold out your hand and ask the child to slap your hand.  After the slap act surprised and say, “You slapped me!  I owe you one.”   Then insist that the child hold out his or her hand.  Gently slap it.  Then say, “Oh no!  Now you owe me a slap.” and offer your hand.  Continue for several rounds.  Then, stop yourself before you slap the child’s hand.  “This could go on forever.”  Announce that you are owed a chance to slap, but you are not going to take it.  It is the only way you can stop the slapping.  Thank the child who slapped with you.  Then, note to everyone that this was a rather silly demonstration of something serious we face all the time.  If someone hurts us, we want to hurt them back.  If they call us a name, we call them one back.  If someone breaks something of ours, we want to break something of theirs.  If someone slaps or hits or kicks, we want to slap or hit or kick back.  The problem with that is that everyone forgets who started it and keeps on hurting each other.  Jesus tells us we have the power to stop all the hurting.  Even if we deserve a chance to hit or kick or call names back when someone hurts us, we can refuse.  It is one of the hardest things Jesus asks us to do.  Note briefly that this doesn’t mean we should let anyone who wants to hurt us do so any way they can at any time they want.  What Jesus says is that we should find another way to get things straightened out.  Lots of time we need help to figure out that way.  Jesus knows that and urges us to get all the help we can, but not to hit, slap, kick, hurt back. 

* Sing about loving enemies

Before singing the The Servant Song (“Brother, sister, let me serve you…”), give worshipers a moment to make a silent list of the people it is really hard to get along with.  Then challenge them to sing the song for those people.  Even read the first verse and point out that it is also the last verse – and not easy to sing/pray for the people on our lists.

There are two verses in Carolyn Winfrey Gillette’s hymn “Up On a Mountaintop”  (words at Up On a Mountaintop) that fit these verses especially well.  Take time to read them and illustrate them with everyday child or household situations before inviting worshipers to sing the whole song.

If any hurt you, then you may resist,
But not with hatred or weapon or fist.
God's way is stronger than any you face;
Stand up and love them! And give them God's grace.

Love those who hate you and pray for them, too.
God's mercy reaches out far beyond you.
Seek, as God's people, God's wholeness each day
So you can witness to God's perfect way.

Year B - The Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 13, 2012)

Acts10:44-48

This is the tail end of the story of Peter being called in a vision that involved lots of food to witness to Cornelius, a Gentile with whom Peter a Jew would not eat.  The whole story, which is very interesting to children, appears in the lectionary on The Fifth Sunday of Easter in Year C.  I’d either go with whole story today or save it for next year because the details are what make this important story so memorable.  Today’s text, however, is filled with generalities and summaries.

If you are going to read and talk about just this text, consider reading the rest of the story from a children’s Bible story book to set the context.  One good choice is “Cornelius Becomes A Christian” from The Family Story Bible, by Ralph Milton.  Stop just before “Peter looked at Cornelius.  He looked at the other people…”.  Then, invite everyone to listen to what happened next and read the text from the Bible. (This reads aloud in only 2-3 minutes.)

Psalm 98

U  To capture the exuberance of this psalm gather all the rhythm instruments and noise makers you can.  Invite the children forward to help the congregation read the psalm.  Pass out the instruments.  The children’s job is to make noise with the instruments and shout Alleluia! each time you point to them.  Practice once or twice.  Then read verses 1-3 without pausing.  Pause after each of the remaining verses for the children to praise with their alleluias and instruments.  The verses may be read by a liturgist or by the whole congregation. ( The latter is louder and more in keeping in the spirit of the psalm!).

To do a low key children’s choir promotion, ask the children’s choir director to be the children’s conductor while you lead the reading parts.  Include all the children, not just those in choir.  Who knows?!  This might inspire the non-choir children to try it out.

U  Print selections from the psalm in the center of a page.  Give pages to the children and invite them to illustrate the verses during worship.  At the end of the service talk with children about their illustrations as they leave the sanctuary.

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Praise the Lord!

Sing a new song to the Lord;

he has done wonderful things!

By his own power and holy strength

he has won the victory….

Sing for joy to the Lord, all the earth;

praise him with songs and shouts of joy!

Sing praises to the Lord!

Play music on the harps!

Blow trumpets and horns,

and shout for joy to the Lord, our king.

Roar, sea, and every creature in you;

sing, earth, and all who live on you!

Clap your hands, you rivers;

you hills, sing together with joy before the Lord,

          because he comes to rule the earth.

He will rule the peoples of the world

with justice and fairness.

                                                                            From Psalm 98 (TEV)

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U  After reading the first lines of the first verse of the psalm and pointing out that it is the chorus of a hymn, sing “Earth and All Stars.”  The children enjoy the repeated chorus and also enjoy all the specific, modern items that are called to praise God.

1 John 5:1-6

U  Neither this passage nor the gospel reading for today will be understood by children as they are read.  The children will count on worship leaders to explore the message for them.

U  Preschoolers obey people rather than rules.  They do what the oldest, strongest, most important person in the room tells them to do.  When they admire and love that person, they will do almost anything asked.  That person gets to make all the rules.  As they enter elementary school, children begin to understand that rules can be negotiated by the group and that they can choose to obey or disobey a rule.  But throughout their lives they (and we) tend to defer to or obey those we admire and love.  Scouts follow and obey the rules of respected adult leaders.  Young athletes emulate the training disciplines of their sports hero/ines.  Christians follow Jesus and obey his rules.

U  Young athletes aiming for the Olympics often move to live near or even live with their coaches.  Their whole lives - what they eat, where they go to school, and how they train in their sport - are directed by those coaches.  In terms of this text, they obey them in all things.  That is the kind of obedience John is calling us to as Christians.

Sing “Lord, I Want to be a Christian” to commit yourselves to this kind of obedience to Jesus.

John 15:9-17

U  Since children will not follow this as it is read, choose one or two ideas or phrases in it to highlight for them.  Verse 12 (This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you) is a key phrase.  Friendship with Jesus is a key idea that is important to children.

U  To explore verse 12,  display pictures of Jesus' ministry identifying how Jesus loved the people in that picture (healing them, befriending them, teaching them, etc) and how we can love people in similar situations today. 

U  Between the ages of 5 and 10 friendship as practiced by children grows significantly.  At five a friend is someone to play with now.  Whoever will play and work with me now is my friend.   Five year olds proclaim adamantly to be friends forever, but then move on to other friends without recognizing what they are doing.  By the time they are ten these same children have a strong sense of loyalty due friends, appreciate nuances of friendships, and experience deep pain in making and losing friends.  So, at different ages children respond to Jesus’ statements about being his friends differently.  The younger children can simply claim Jesus as their friend.  The older ones can explore what it means to be Jesus friend.  One must be loyal to Jesus, following Jesus’ rules always wherever you are.  One must spend time among the friends of Jesus learning about Jesus and remembering Jesus.  One must do what Jesus wants done. 

Partner is another good term to use to describe our friendship with Jesus.  Partners do things they both think are important together.  Jesus calls us not to be his servants, but to be his partners working with him to love the world.  Describe several ministries in which the children can participate as things we do as partners with Jesus. 

U  Ask the children to lead the congregation in praying about being friends.  If children are comfortable talking with you in front of the congregation, have them join you to get the congregation ready to pray about being friends/loving others.  Together answer the following questions and turn the answers into prayers.  (You may want a scribe with you to record the prayers while you talk with the children.)  When you are ready, read/pray through the prayers with the whole congregation.  Try these or other questions:

What is good about having and being friends?

Leads to “thank you” prayers

When do we have to ask God and our friends for forgiveness?

Leads to confessions of ways we fail to be good friends

What is hard about being good friends?

Leads to prayers for help as we try to be good friends

U  There are LOTS of children’s books about friendship.  I found Four Feet, Two Sandals, by Karen Lynn Wiliams and Khadra Mohammed, on “Children’s Literature: A Resource for Ministry” (http://storypath.wordpress.com/ ).  It tells of two little girls in a refugee camp in Peshawar who come away from a scramble for used clothes each wearing one beautiful yellow sandal with a blue flower on it.  Neither girl has other shoes.  Rather than fight over the sandals they decide to take turns wearing them one day each.  Some days when they are together they each wear one just for fun.  When one girl’s family is moved on to America, the girls decide to each keep one sandal as a memory and as hope that one day they will again share together in America.  (Read it aloud in just under 5 minutes.)

Though neither girl lays down her life physically for the other, each one at one point gives the only shoes she has to her friend.  That is a big thing to give away.  To alert children to this, imagine aloud before reading the story what it would be like to walk miles barefoot and to have no shoes at all. 

U  For older children one of the best known books about friendship is the Harry Potter series.  It is filled with the stories of a group of friends growing up together.  Though these friends happen to be young wizards, their friendship joys and problems are those every child recognizes.  In the last book, Harry does physically lay down his life for his friends.  Go to Harry Potter and the July Worship Planner for details.  Younger children may not have read or seen this rather grown up conclusion of the series, but many older children will and will appreciate hearing the preacher refer to it to make a point in the sermon.

And, yes I know it is Mother’s Day in the US.  One would think these passages about love fit the day perfectly.  But, Mother’s Day is really about mothers, not children.  Young children view all their mothers’ activity on their behalf as simply what mothers do.  They will paste the label “love” on it, if you insist, but really see that kind of love as different from the love Jesus is asking us to commit to others.  So, I don’t have any clear suggestions about how to pick up on the day.  If some of you do, please weigh in.