Exodus
17:1-7
> Before reading
this text, go to the Moses display and pick up the walking stick. (If you do not have a display, simply produce
a walking stick as the prop of the day.)
Review or ask worshipers to recall how that stick has been used in the
long Exodus story. Prop it against the
lectern urging worshipers to listen for how it to be used again today. Then read the story.
You may want to
keep it handy to pick up as you recall in the sermon all the ways God had cared
for the people and to express dismay that they still didn’t trust God to keep
doing so. I can almost hear God, like a
parent asking whiney, misbehaving children, “do I have to get out the staff
again.”
> Turn this story
into readers’ theater with a narrator (probably the worship
leader), Moses, God, and the whole congregation reading the words of the people
in the wilderness. This is one text in
which it is helpful for the narrator to read the “he saids” because each one
includes descriptive details.
-----------------~~~~~~--------------------
Exodus 17:1-7
Narrator: From the
wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages,
as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the
people to drink. The people quarreled
with Moses, and said,
People: Give us water
to drink.
Narrator: Moses said to
them,
Moses: Why do you quarrel
with me? Why do you test the LORD?
Narrator: But the
people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and
said,
People: Why did you
bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?
Narrator: So Moses
cried out to the LORD,
Moses: What shall I
do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me."
Narrator: The LORD said
to Moses,
The Lord: Go on ahead
of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your
hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will
be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and
water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.
Narrator: Moses did so,
in the sight of the elders of Israel. He
called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and
tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"
NRSV
-----------------~~~~~~--------------------
> Because this
story is so like last week’s whining for food in the wilderness, go to Proper 20 for
some more ideas.
> After reading
this story add a rock draped with a thin blue ribbon stream to the Moses
display.
Psalm
78:1-4, 12-16
> Children will not
hear the psalmist’s statement about the importance of stories as the
psalm is read. Before reading it aloud,
take time to identify at least one story that is important to your nation (the
writing of the Declaration of Independence in the USA), one story that is
important to your family (in mine it would be how my husband and I met), and
one story that is important to us as Christians (maybe the Moses story or the
Christmas stories). Note that we often
tell stories in worship and that the psalmist thinks that is wonderful and
important. Then read verses 1-4.
> As you read
verses 12-16 invite worshipers/children on steps to raise a hand each time they hear
something from the story of Moses leading the people out of Egypt. Each time you see a hand, pause to ask that
person what the connection is and celebrate it.
If no one catches a connection, read it a second time and look pointedly
at your listeners. If no one speaks up,
ask another question or point to the item in your Moses display to help jog
memories. This provides both a review of
the story to date and encouragement for worshipers to listen for stories they
know in the psalms.
Ezekiel
18:1-4, 25-32
> This is a
complicated passage dealing with an idea that does not make much sense to most
of today’s children. Since there are
other texts that speak more clearly to children today, I’d save this one for
the adults.
Psalm
25:1-9
> One commentator
said that this psalm includes the whole of the Christian life. That means it would take a lot of explaining
to unpack each phrase for the children.
So instead of expecting them to get the whole psalm. I’d focus on verses 4 and 5. Use them as a congregational response to a
series of prayers of confession or as a congregational response to the Assurance
of Pardon.
Teach me your ways, O Lord;
make them known to me.
Teach me to live according to your
truth,
for you are my God, who saves me.
I always trust in you.
NRSV
Philippians
2:1-13
> The other time
this passage appears in the lectionary is on Palm/Passion Sunday. It is used there as a theological statement
about Jesus’ kingship. Today it is used
more as a hymn that reminds us of God’s great love. Introduce it with words about favorite songs
that we sing when we need to feel God near us.
Recall the two year old girl who fell down a very deep well some years
ago. When they lowered a microphone to
see if she was making noises that would prove she was alive, they heard her
singing “Jesus Loves Me.” This hymn
tells more specifically how Jesus loves us.
People have recited it for centuries in scary situations when they
needed to remember that God loved them and took care of them.
> A trained dancer could take the directions below as a starting point to creating
movements that interpret the psalm as it is read. Or, children could be asked to come forward
to help present this text to the congregation.
Introduce the passage as the words to a very old song about the kind of leader
Jesus is. Before reading it once,
suggest that they listen for movements.
Then, reread it inviting the children to join you in the movements
below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Philippians 2:5-11
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who,
though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something
to be exploited,
Raised hands and face upturned toward heaven
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in
human likeness.
Rock a baby in your arms
And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became
obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.
Arms out to the side as if on cross
Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that
is above every name,
Raised hands and face upturned toward heaven
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven
and on earth and under the earth,
Kneel and bring hands together in prayer
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father.
Stay on knees and raise hands and face to heaven
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matthew
21:23-32
> Actually,
children are less interested in the discussion about authority in verses 23-27
than they are in the parable about the
two sons in verses 28-32. They are
interested in Jesus’ story and his question.
If you can be sure their comments will not be laughed at by the
congregation, ask them how they would answer Jesus’ question. Follow up with “why do you think that?” Be ready to be a little surprised by where
this takes you and ready to lead the conversation back around to the answer the
crowd gave Jesus. Then simply adopt Jesus’
instruction at the end of other parables “Go and do likewise.”
> Whether you read
the whole text or just the parable, ask two teenage boys and an adult man to
pantomime the parable as it is read.
If they are sitting on the first row, they come to a place up front one
at the time as their part of the story is read, then stay in place until the
end of the reading when they return to their seats together. Have one rehearsal with them to decide
movements and to help them plan posture and facial expressions that will communicate
what is going on.
> “Will”
whether it is “my will” or “thy will” often needs a simple explanation. Before reading the parable, say emphatically
several statements featuring the word will, “I WILL go to the gym today.” “I WILL finish my homework.” “I WILL ….”
Insist that in each sentence you are saying what you intend to do, what
you WILL do. Next rephrase the sentences
so the WILL is a noun, e.g. It is my will to go to the gym today.” Then encourage worshipers to listen for Jesus
to ask the question “who did his father’s will?” and to figure out their answer
to Jesus’ question.
“Thy will be done…”
> After explaining
the meaning of the word “will” and exploring the parable, point to the phrase
“thy will be done” in the Lord’s Prayer.
Put the phrase into your own words, e.g. “we are praying that everything
that happens in the world be what God wants to happen.” Then either create or share a prepared litany
prayer in which the congregation’s response is “This will be done.” Include global and personal concerns, e.g.
God, people of
different races seem to have trouble getting along in all parts of the
world. But we know that you created us
all to be brothers and sisters.
Thy will be done.
Loving God, you
have told us to love other people as we love ourselves. But, that is not easy. We know what we want and need and it is hard
to pay attention to what others want and need.
Thy will be done.
Note: Though the full phrase is “thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven,” focusing on the first words allows children
to focus on WILL and avoids the need to expound on the last words.
> “The Big Brag,”
by Dr. Seuss (one of the other stories in Yertle the Turtle and Other
Stories), describes an argument between a rabbit and a bear. Each claims it is the very best beast, the
rabbit because he can hear better than others, the bear because he can smell so
much farther. A worm pops up claiming
that he is the best because he can see farther.
He can see all the way around the world to spot the two silliest
creatures who have nothing better to do than argue about which one of them is
better. This story captures for children
the silliness of the
argument the Temple authorities tried to draw
Jesus into. (It took John Lithgow about
10 minutes to read it on the video I checked out of the library because someone
else had the book.)
> In 2011 it seemed
to me that the word of the day was REPENT.
I saw it threading through all but the Exodus text and made much of
it. I seemed to be somewhat alone in
that. My lectionary group politely but
firmly ignored me to discuss authority at great length. And, I did not see the repentance theme in
commentators. Oh well. I still think it has possibilities and so
include suggestions related to repenting below.
REPENT and REPENTANCE are related to the words
CHANGE and TURN. To repent is to change
your ways or turn from one thing to another.
Based on what they hear in church, most children assume that repent
means to be sorry for something you have done.
Today’s texts insist that while being sorry is a good starting point,
the real repenting doesn’t start until we start making changes. So if you display a word poster, print it
in letters that indicate movement.
Introduce the word/word cluster at the very beginning of the service,
giving a brief definition and urging worshipers to watch for the word/words in
the songs, prayer, readings, etc. of the day.
> It is a good day
to do a little worship education about the confession and assurance of pardon in your
worship. There are at least two
ways to do this.
1. Begin by
pointing to the steps of the rite as listed in the printed order of
worship. Tell in your own words what you
do in each part of the rite.
Explain how today’s words do that.
And, point out that this is the beginning of repenting that must take
place all week long. Only then, invite
worshipers to share in the prayers.
Below is a somewhat child-friendly traditional prayer of confession and
assurance of pardon.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Confession:
Merciful God,
Merciful God,
You pardon all
who truly repent and turn to you
We humbly confess
our sins and ask your mercy.
We have not loved
you with a pure heart,
Nor have we loved
our neighbor as ourselves.
We have not done
justice, loved kindness,
Or walked humbly
with you, our God”
Assurance:
Who is in a
position to condemn?
Only Christ,
and Christ died
for us,
Christ rose for
us,
Christ reigns in
power for us,
Christ prays for
us.
Anyone who is in
Christ
is a new creation
The old life has
gone;
A new life has
begun.
Passing
the Peace:
From The Book of Common Worship
(PCUSA)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+
2. To emphasize
the turning involved in repenting, incorporate turning motions into today’s
prayer of confession. Ask the
congregation to stand facing the back door of the sanctuary while praying the
confessions and to turn to the front of the sanctuary to pray about
repenting. It might go something like
this….
<
^ > ^
< ^ > ^ <
^ > ^
< ^ > ^ <
^ > ^
< ^ >
Leader:
Merciful God,
You pardon all
who truly repent and turn to you
People: (face the
back on block letters, the front on italics)
We admit that we
sometimes say terrible things.
We use our words
to hurt others and make ourselves look good.
We twist our
words to avoid telling the truth.
We yell and whine
and bicker.
Forgive us.
Give
us new hearts and new words.
Help
us turn toward honesty and kindness.n
Teach
us to speak in peace.
We not only say
evil things, we do them.
We grab what we
want without thought for others.
We insist on our
own way.
We cheat and
steal and find ways to feel OK about it.
Forgive us.
Turn
us away from temptations and toward you.
Show
us new ways of acting.
Teach
us to love others as you love us.
Guide
us every day.
< ^
> ^ <
^ > ^ < ^
> ^ <
^ > ^ < ^
> ^ <
^ >
> If your
congregation includes statements or questions about “turning from evil and turning to
Jesus Christ” in your baptism and/or confirmation rites, this is a good
day to explore what they mean.
In my
Presbyterian tradition parents when they bring their children to be baptized
are asked if they turn from evil and turn toward Jesus Christ. Those children are then asked the same
question when they ask to be confirmed as teenagers. Today I’d read the exact questions then note
that when the parents answer the question they are making a big promise. They promise that as the leaders of their
family they will always try to turn away from all the evil possibilities and to
follow Jesus. It is not an easy promise
to keep because being a parent is not easy.
When teenagers are asked the question, they are promising that every day
of the rest of their life whether at home, at school, with their friends,
wherever, they will try to turn away from things they know are bad and instead
turn toward Jesus and live in Jesus’ way.
That isn’t easy either. Finally
I’d challenge parents to keep their baptismal promises, confirmed church
members to keep their confirmation promises and children to practice turning to
Jesus now.
Note: Many children, especially lucky children
surrounded by mostly loving adults, assume that adults get it right most or all
of the time. They assume when they grow
up they will know what to do in every situation and will always do the right
thing. We adults reinforce that
assumption when we pull rank (“Do it my way. I am the adult and know best.”)
and when we say in many ways “one day you will understand… but for now…” Today’s texts challenge us to be honest with
the children telling them repenting is a life-long activity. They might as well practice doing it now
because they will be doing it all through their lives.
> Before singing ’Tis
A Gift to be Simple point out the verbs in the chorus – bow, bend, and
turn. All are ways we repent. Rehearse the obvious motions with these verbs
and invite all the worshipers to do them as they sing, perhaps with the
children leading in the front.
Thank you for your comments. I too have been considering the alternatives to preaching on authority, both for my sermon and my Children's Chat.
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