Today’s readings are all
about committed discipleship. Elisha
takes up Elijah’s mantle or leaves his oxen behind, Paul calls the Galatians to
live all of their lives for Jesus, and Jesus refuses to accept the excuses of
several would-be disciples.
F For children message is to be a disciple everywhere
they go. This is not as easy as it sounds. Particularly younger children tend to see
each place they go as a separate world with separate expectations, rules and
possibilities. This is especially true
during the summer when their time is divided among more venues that are rather
different – say the sports team, grandma’s house, a series of camps and child
care groups, and so forth. In this
situation the challenge for them is to be God’s loving, caring person in all of
those places. They can’t be God’s people
at home and church but think only about winning and being stars on the sports
field. The two big rules for disciples (Two
Great Commandments) apply in all venues all the time. Early summer is a good time to revisit that
reality.
G Go to Lectionary Tales for two discipleship stories. “We Ain’t Gon’ Let Nobody Turn Us Around”
recalls the voters’ rights marches in Alabama.
The second tells how a dog is trained to keep his eyes on his
master. Children need to hear the first
story from the dwindling number of people who can remember and recount it as an
event in their own lives. Children who
are learning to direct animals maybe by riding a horse or training a dog are
caught by the dog story. Both stories lead
to a variety of discussions about commitment.
E There are lots of discipleship songs that capture the
interest of children.
If “Be
Thou My Vision” is sung regularly in your worship point out “high king
of heaven” and tell the Scottish story about St. Patrick and High King
Logaire. Find the story at Cyberhymnal .
Go
to Natalie Sim's blog Singing from the Lectionary and scroll down to the Galatians songs for the music and a sound
sample of the Cameroon chorus “Stand, O Stand Firm.” Use the sound sample pattern of praying for
places where standing firm is needed to create your own responsive prayer. The congregation sings the chorus in response
to spoken or sung prayers about standing firm at the pool, in Syria, and other
places where it is needed at the moment.
“Lord
I Want to be a Christian,” “Take
My Life and Let It Be,” and “Will You Come and Follow Me” are
also good choices for children.
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
F Last week God spoke to Elijah only in a still small
voice. This week God comes to Elijah
with a fiery chariot ride into the sky.
For many children all that is required is enjoying the different ways
God comes to us.
 |
Loutherbourg, Philippe-Jacques de, 1740-1812 ;
Byrne, William, 1743-1805. The Macklin Bible --
The Ascent of Elijah, from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
[retrieved June 17, 2013]. Original source: A gift to Vanderbilt
University from John J. and Anne Czura
|
G To enjoy all the details of this story, present at
least two great artist’s renderings of Elijah heading off in his
fiery chariot. These two come from the
Vanderbilt collection. I chose one for
its literal portrayal and the second for its inclusion of all the parts of the
story all jumbled up together. Compare
and contrast them with worshipers. If
you have kept an Elijah display, select one to place at the end of the
display. If you have not kept an Elijah
display, simply display one or both prints at the front of the sanctuary.
 |
He, Qi. Elijah is taken up to Heaven,
from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity
Library, Nashville, TN.
act-imagelink.pl?RC=46088
[retrieved June 17, 2013].
|
E Give out crayons being sure to include lots of fire
colors and black and challenge worshipers of all ages to create
their own pictures of this story.
Help them get started by asking "What
are the most important items in the story?"
and "Who
is in the picture?"
Either
inspect artists’ work as they leave the sanctuary or invite them to add their
work to a gallery by taping it to the altar rail or other designated spot.
F With some help, children also appreciate Elisha’s
taking up Elijah’s mantle. First they
need to hear that a mantle is a jacket or coat.
Elijah had been Elisha’s hero and the person he most wanted to be
like. So, as Elijah dies he leaves
Elijah his jacket to wear as he becomes a prophet. It is like a younger player being left an
older player’s team number or team shirt or like a musician leaving her student
her instrument. If you have some similar
gift
from a mentor, show it and talk about what it means to you. Encourage children to think about their
heroes and heroines and what they are learning from them.
G Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson, offers a parallel story about several
children. Twelve year old Jesse
introduces his little sister May Belle to the secret kingdom he had shared with
his best friend Leslie, who had died. In
so doing he finds the courage to move forward.
This is a novel, so could not be read in worship, but the story could be
told. (This award winner is available in
most public libraries.)
E “Swing Low,
Sweet Chariot” is a song all
children used to learn in school. That
is no longer true. So, introduce it explaining
the connection to this story before it is sung by a choir or the congregation.
Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20
F “I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord, I will
remember your wonders of old.” In the
children’s book Wilfred Gordon MacDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox, a little
boy helps an elderly woman who has “lost her memory” by filling a box with
items that recall his memories – a seashell from the beach, a bird feather,
etc. As she handles each of these items
they indeed do bring her back to her own memories of the beach, a bird,
etc. So what if a preacher collected a
box of items that recall wonders of God.
Some could recall personal experiences.
Others could point to communal even historic memories – maybe a baby in
the manger from a crèche, a cross necklace, a picture of a place you felt very
close to God, etc. The sermon becomes a
sharing of these items and a challenge to worshipers to collect their own memories of the
wonders of God they recognize.
Paper and pencils or crayons might encourage worshipers to draw or write
a list of these items as they listen to the sermon. (Mem Fox’s book is not readily available in
stores, but can often be found in public libraries. You may want to read it in worship, or it
might simply be good preacher preparation reading.)
1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21
G I suspect this story is included as a balance to the
gospel stories of the would-be disciples.
Unlike them Elisha breaks up his farm equipment and eats the oxen that
are essential to his doing his old work.
For children it would be like selling all your baseball equipment in
order to buy soccer gear. If you
discover that you don’t like or do well at soccer, your baseball stuff is still
gone.
Psalm 16
E See general ideas about commitment at the beginning of
this post.
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
F Children will not follow this rather long, complex
reading but will depend on worship leaders to lift up one or two parts of it
for them.
G “Fruits of the
spirit” and “works of the flesh” are
not easy images for children to grasp.
Most of today’s children have little appreciation of fruit as the end
product of a rather long and carefully tended agricultural process. For them it is simply one kind of food bought
at the store. “Works of the flesh” are
really the result of human nature left to whims. That too makes little sense to children. So, instead of using the images, simply
compare the lists of words that apply to God’s people and activities that God’s
people avoid. Write each one a separate
mini-poster. Work through all of them
with children talking about what each one is and sorting them into the two
piles – those for God’s people and not for God’s people. After making your piles, read the verses from
Paul and marvel at how well they match.
Kid’s
version of “works of the flesh”: Dirty thoughts
and deeds (maybe, depending on the age of the children), hatred, fighting,
jealousy, anger, selfish, quarrels, “you can’t be in my group!”
Kids’
version of “fruits of the Spirit:” loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind,
generous, loyal, gentle, and self-controlled.
G Make a verse for each of the fruits of the Spirit for
the song “I’ve Got a Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart.” Maybe some of the following:
I’ve
got a joy…
I’ve
got the love of Jesus…
I’ve
got the peace that passes understanding...
I’ve
got patient gentle kindness…
I’ve
got faith and loyalty…
For the final verse sing “And
if the devil doesn’t like he can sit on a tack…and stay” just for fun.
E For those of us in the United States the week before
July 4th it will be impossible to explore Paul’s thoughts about freedom
without dealing with our national priority on freedom. Paul's freedom and national ideas about freedom are often very different kinds of
freedom. Talking about them with adults
requires subtle differentiations that are way beyond the understanding of
children. Paul’s bottom line is that
freedom from slavery to your own wants and wishes lets you love others freely
and results in a happier life. That is
not only a counter-cultural mystery, it is also very abstract thinking for
children.
Luke 9:51-62
F Verses 51–56 and 57-62 are rather separate
stories. If your focus is on commitment,
read only verses 57 -62. Use four
readers, one for each would-be disciple, one for Jesus, and one (probably the
usual liturgist) as the narrator. If
possible encourage each would be disciple to memorize his or her line and plan
how they will stand and how they will say it to bring it to life. The script below is from the CEV because its
inclusive language for the would-be disciples encourages us to use readers of a
variety of genders and ages. Older youth
and adults however make better readers for this than children. The Narrator reads from the lectern while the
would-be disciples stand to one side of the chancel and Jesus stands on the
other side facing them.
FGE FGE FGE FGE FGE FGE FGE FGE FGE FGE
Luke 9:57-62
Narrator: Along the way someone said to Jesus,
Reader 1 (stepping forward one step): I’ll go anywhere with you!
Narrator: Jesus said,
Jesus: Foxes have dens, and birds have nests, but
the Son of
Man doesn’t have a place to call his own.
Reader one
steps back.
Narrator: Jesus told someone else to come with him.
(Jesus
points at Reader 2 who steps forward)
But the man said,
Reader 2: Lord, let me wait until I bury my father.
Narrator: Jesus answered,
Jesus: Let the dead take care of the dead,
while you
go and tell about God’s kingdom.
Reader 2 steps
back.
Narrator: Then someone said to Jesus,
(Reader 3 steps forward hailing Jesus)
Reader 3: I want to go with you, Lord, but first let me
go back and take care of things at home.
Narrator: Jesus answered,
Jesus: Anyone who starts plowing and keeps looking
back
isn’t worth a thing to God’s kingdom!
Reader 3 steps
back.
Narrator: This is the Word of the Lord!
Contemporary English
Version
FGE FGE FGE FGE FGE FGE FGE FGE FGE FGE
E Imagine a fourth would-be disciple who is a child. When Jesus calls the child to follow him, the
child responds “I’m just a kid. All I
can do is learn about you now. I’ll be a
disciple when I grow up.” To this Jesus
replies, “But, I need you now. I need
you to stand up for me at the swimming pool, in the locker rooms, on the camp
busses, and all those other places where the grown-ups are not really
there. I need you to be my disciple
now.”
F When the story in verses 51-56 is unpacked for children
it has a powerful message for them. The
Samaritans told Jesus and the disciples that they were not welcome in their town. Children have lots of experience with being
shut out of secret clubs, tight groups of friends, teams, etc. So they understand James’ and John’s desire
to “let them have it.” What they need to
hear is Jesus’ refusal to strike back at those who had cut him out and to
ponder the fact that as Jesus’ disciples we are to do likewise.
 |
| Kramskoĭ, Ivan Nikolaevich, 1837-1887 . Study for Christ in the Wilderness, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54213 [retrieved June 19, 2013]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/duckmarx/402675938/. |
F The commentators all make a big deal about Jesus
“setting his face toward Jerusalem” here.
The rest of the readings from Luke take us closer and closer to
Jerusalem and Jesus’ death and resurrection.
One way to build on that would be to create a labyrinth or prayer path. It might be in the sanctuary if there is
space or in a classroom that is not being used during the summer. At the entry point place/draw a face of Jesus
with a determined look on it. At the end
of the prayer path or the center of the labyrinth place/draw a golden
cross. As the summer progresses add
words or pictures to the path related to stories “from the road.” Invite worshipers of all ages to walk this
path before or after worship occasionally during the coming months as a way of
remembering Jesus’ journey toward Jerusalem and thinking about their own lives
as Jesus’ disciples. (Yes, the readings
from this journey continue through November.
That is a lot of readings! So,
this might be a summer labyrinth/prayer path.)
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