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.
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.
Psalm 65
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.
”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.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Click on Comments below to leave a message or share an idea