t There are two sets of oddly
divided texts this week and next week. One way to deal with them is to combine the
two texts about David and Bathsheba so that you read about both the sin and its
consequence on one Sunday and combining John 6:1-21 and 24-35 to explore the feeding
of the 5,000 and its meaning on the following Sunday. The David stories would fall on July 26th
leaving the feeding story and the beginning of the four week exploration of its
meaning for August 2, which is a communion Sunday in many congregations. Given that, I am posting all the suggestions
for both double sets of readings on both Sundays – a little repetitive, but
maybe easier to find what you want when you want it.
t With today’s gospel we start a five week series of
readings from John about the bread of life.
One commentator said that the synoptics tell us the story of the Last
Supper. John does not tell the story,
but includes a whole chapter on its meaning.
That invites us to do a lot of worship
education about Communion during
August. And, there is lots to point out
and explain to the children with the adults listening in and learning,
too. I’ll make a Communion connection
for each text. These could become
children’s times, be worked into the real sermon, or be practice sessions just
before the Eucharist liturgy.
The Texts
2 Samuel 11:1-15 (and maybe 11:26-12:13a)
t If you combine today’s story of David’s sin with next
week’s story of God’s judgment, the story gets a little long. To keep interest have it read dramatically by
a David reader and a Nathan reader as
follows:
David 2 Samuel 11:1-15
Nathan 11:26 – 12:4
David 12:5-6
Nathan 12:7-10
(I’d omit vss 11-12)
David 12:13a
t This story is heard very differently by people of
different ages and sexes. For children,
David’s sin is not adultery, but stealing a man’s wife, then having him killed
to cover up his theft. It’s a matter of breaking the rules. Young children assume that rules are made by
the biggest, most powerful person in the room and are non-negotiable. To them this story says that even great King
David should have followed the rules. No
one is above Gods’ rules. As children
grow through elementary school, they realize that many rules are indeed
negotiable. Almost every group they are
part of makes or clarifies its rules.
They empathize with David’s wish to choose the rules he did or did not
follow. In their own ways they follow
his logic to get what they want.
“But
the big kids do it, and I’m really a big kid now…I’m a fourth grader!...”
“But
it’s my birthday…” and I thought the usual rules wouldn’t apply today
“But
I wanted it sooooo much!”
“Sure,
I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t think anyone would mind just this one time – I’ll never do it again, promise.”
t If you have been adding props to a David figure each
week, today add two connected black hearts with David or D or one and Bathsheba or B on
the other.
Psalm 14 or Psalm 51:1-12
t The RCL matches Psalm 14 to the first half of the
David – Bathsheba story and Psalm 51 to the last half. Children will catch little of Psalm 14’s
insistence that we are all sinners. For
them Psalm 51 is a much better choice.
t Most children have little grasp of their own
sinfulness. They know they do the
occasional bad thing, but are not overwhelmed by it. Few have had the opportunity to steal a wife
or murder. So,
introduce Psalm 51 as the psalm David prayed after he had stolen Bathsheba and had her husband
killed. The children can begin to
understand now why the images in the prayer fit David and thus be ready to
claim it for themselves when they need it later.
t Children hear the poetic images in Psalm 51 literally. So, “create in me a clean heart” sounds like
“cut me open, take out my heart, scrub it down, and then stick it back in
me.” Ouch! Point this out and then explore what it
really means. Describe how we feel dirty
and yucky when know we have done things that are wrong and that have hurt other
people. We feel so rotten that we want
to hide. Then describe how clean and
fresh and new we feel when we admit what we have done and do whatever we can to
fix the hurt we have caused. An unhappy
family road trip with fussing over toys, food and space in the back seat might
be a good illustration of these dirty and clean feelings.
t If you plan to use parts of Psalm 51 in the prayer of confession, gather the
children before praying it. Briefly tell
the children the story behind it and put its meaning into your own words. Then, pray it together.
The
prayers of confession generally come early in worship. It would be possible to pray them this week
without comment at that time. Then, pray them again after a sermon in which
their meaning has been explored in detail.
During the sermon you might walk through that part of the liturgy
explaining the sequence of confession, assurance, response, and passing the
peace. You might even practice any sung
responses. Repeating the whole process
after this explanation will give it more meaning today and help worshipers of
all ages participate in it more fully in the future.
t After exploring David’s story and prayer, use verse 11 in a responsive prayer of confession for the whole congregation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Leader: Lord of all the world, there are so many things we
want. We want to eat the best food, we
want to wear stylish clothes, we want to do what we want when we want to do
it. We want to be popular and successful
and rich and beautiful. We want. We Want.
We want.
All: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and
right spirit within me.
Leader: God of justice, too often we will do anything to get
what we want. We will break any
rule. We will lie. We will cheat. We will steal. We will even hurt other people so we can have
what we want.
All: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and
right spirit within me.
Leader: God, too often it seems that each of our sins leads to
more sins. To hide the shameful things
we have done, we break more rules and hurt more people. We lose our ways in half-truths and broken
promises. Sometimes, the whole world
feels dirty and lost and hopeless.
All: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and
right spirit within me.
Leader: Have mercy on us, O God. In your steady love and your abundant mercy,
forgive our sins.
All: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and
right spirit within me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2 Kings 4:42-44
Elisha’s feeding 100 people
with very little food echoes the gospel story, but adds nothing new and
different. Rather than add it, I’d focus
on just the one gospel story for the children.
Psalm 145:10-18
t In connection with the feeding story, this psalm of
praise becomes a meal time blessing.
Describe mealtime blessings, not as a way to change the food, but as a
way to remind the eaters that all food comes from God. Use this as an opportunity to challenge
households to adopt this practice at least once a day. Assign this as worship homework for the
coming week. Suggest several possible
blessings, including Psalm 145:10, 15-16.
All your works shall give thanks to
you, O Lord,
and all your faithful shall bless you.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due
season.
You open your hand,
satisfying the desire of every living
thing.
Psalm
145:10, 15-16
t Get into the spirit of this psalm by inviting children
forward to enjoy an apple slice or small cookie
with you. When they arrive, identify
with them all the people who were involved in getting this treat to you. Trace it all the way back to God who planned
for the raw materials. In a brief prayer
thank God for all these people and their work and praise God for the raw
materials. Then give out and enjoy the
treat.
Ephesians 3:14-21
t This is Paul’s prayer for the churches of
Ephesus. In
children’s words, Paul asks that
-
the Holy Spirit give them power to be strong inside,
-
Christ live in their hearts so that they may always act lovingly
-
they will get at least a hint of the incredible, too-large-to-imagine love of
God at work in the world.
t Children are more interested in the possibility of praying for the church than they are in Paul’s prayer for his
churches. Invite them to create a prayer
for your particular church.
t Brainstorm prayer ideas together, writing them down as you go. Then, meld them together into one prayer you
offer on behalf of the children.
OR
t Give
children paper and colored pens with which to draw
prayers for your church.
Before passing out the supplies, brainstorm together people or groups in
your congregation for which they might pray and general things they might say
to God about this congregation. Show the
children how to make a scribble prayer by drawing a large loose scribble,
filling in the holes with names (or pictures) of people or groups, then
decorating each hole as you talk to God about that person or group in the
church. Invite the children to work on
their prayers during the sermon and place them in the offering plates when they
are passed.
t It’s a good day to sing There’s
A Wideness in God’s Mercy in connection with this text and/or
the David – Bathsheba story. The words
are simple enough that even middle elementary readers can catch many of them
without help.
John 6:1-21
t See the note at the beginning of this post about
saving this text to combine with next week’s John reading, an
especially good idea if Communion is not celebrated this week but next. To keep the focus on one story, I’d edit the
reading to John 6:1-15 and 24-35 with the briefest of words about Jesus and the
disciples getting to the other side of the sea between the read verses.
t Include an older elementary aged boy among the readers today. If you read only verses 1-15, have them read by the boy. If you read verses 1-21 have the boy read
verses 1-15 and a man read verses 16-21.
If you combine today’s reading with next week’s text, have a boy read
verses 1-15 and a man read verse 24-35.
It might be a good father-son leadership responsibility.
 |
| JESUS MAFA. Jesus multiplies the loaves and fish, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48287 [retrieved June 17, 2015]. |
t The Jesus MAFA
painting of this scene is very
busy. Help children see what is there by asking them first to find Jesus
who is wearing a red robe, then the disciples who are wearing white
robes. Note that everyone else is “the crowd”. Then, ask what all
the white robed disciples are doing. This could get you started into a
sermon exploring the characters or could be sandwiched between two
readings of the story so that worshipers hear the second reading with sharper
attention.
t There are a variety of answers to the question, “Why did Jesus feed the crowd this way? What was he trying to tell us?” To spin them out for children try some of the
following.
Jesus was telling us that he/God is very interested in getting
people enough to eat. That makes it
a good day to feature feeding ministries your church supports. Just as it was surprising that one’s boys
lunch in Jesus’ hands could feed a crowd, so it is surprising how many people
can eat when all of us pool our food and money.
Give out grocery sacks printed with lists of things the local food bank
needs and challenge families to fill them and deposit them at the food bank or
at a designated spot at the church during the coming week.
Another
thing Jesus might have been telling us when he fed the crowd is, “Hey, there is enough food to go around. All you have to do is share!” With children this challenges their desire to
get “their fair share.” Introduce the
term scarcity thinking defining it as meaning there probably is not enough for
everyone and you have to be sure you get yours.
Children engage in scarcity thinking when they ask,
Will I get my fair
share of the fries, the goldfish, the candies….?
When is MY turn? And, will my turn be as long as theirs?
Do they (especially
parents, but also other loved adults and peers) love me as much as they love
them?
Ponder
what Jesus is saying to us when we feel like we have to fight to get our fair
share?
To
help children understand the fact that Jesus was interested in feeding people
more than just food, display pictures of people in several “feeding” professions, e.g.
teachers who feed students knowledge, social service caseworkers who work to
get people food AND clothes, housing, whatever they need to survive, even a
doctor who give people medicine so that they will be healthy. Discuss how each feeds people. Offer prayers for people who feed others.
Two picture books can help you unpack this story
t With preschoolers read Picnic, by John Burningham. It tells the story of two children packing a picnic
basket, meeting three friends whom they include in a day of adventures and
returning home to bed. It is a simple
story that captures the feel of the gospel picnic. People share what they have and have a great
day together. Read the book with young
children, then encourage them to listen to the story of a day Jesus went on a
picnic.
t After reading about the loaves and fishes, read children
of all ages the first part of Extra Yarn,
by Max Barnett. Showing the pictures is
essential to bringing the story to full life.
Stop after Annabelle has knit sweaters for the people and animals with “But
it turned out she didn’t” (run out of yarn, that is). Ask “How is this story like the story in the
Bible?” to start a conversation about the endless ways each of us can make life
better for those around us – and for ourselves in the process. Urge the children to find the book in a
library in order to learn about an evil archduke who tried to steal Annabelle’s
box. But, do not complicate today's conversation by reading it in worship.
t Do a little worship
education about the phrase “Give us this day
our daily bread” from the Lord’s
Prayer. Point out that the pronouns are
plural. We can’t pray just for our own
needs. Identify things in addition to
food that are physical needs for all people. Then, pray a responsive prayer of intercession
for the hungry of the world. The
congregation’s response to each petition is “Give us this day our daily bread.” This conversation could be addressed to the
whole congregation just before the prayer or it could be a children’s time just
before the congregation prays the Lord’s Prayer and other prayers of intercession.
t If you read both the feeding story and
Jesus walking on the water, introduce either or both as surprises. No one
expected they would happen. Wear
something surprising – maybe funny shoes under your robe or a wide clown
tie? Stand before the children asking
what about you is surprising today. Then
ask them what question they asked when they first saw that. With any luck, it will be “why did you wear
THAT?” Congratulate them on asking a
good question. Tell them you wore THAT
to help them recognize the right question to ask when you see something
surprising. Go on to talk about Jesus’
feeding the crowd with one boy’s lunch.
The right question to ask is not “how did he do that?” but “why did he
do that?” or “what does that mean?”
Briefly answer the “why?” question for Jesus’ surprising feeding of the
crowd and encourage worshipers to ask the right question, i.e. the “why?”
question, of other surprising things Jesus does.
t If Communion will be celebrated this
week, display the
Eucharist loaf and perhaps a basket of many kinds of bread. Point out that bread comes in many shapes and
sizes and is one food that people all around the world eat every day.
With very young children, display a basket
of many kinds of bread common to your community (hot day buns, tortillas/wraps,
pizza crust, sliced sandwich bread, dinner rolls, etc.) Enjoy naming all the breads. Then point to the bread on the table. Remind the children that Jesus said to eat
bread and drink from the cup at communion to remember him. Suggest that today they remember that Jesus
fed people. Also urge them to remember
Jesus every time they eat bread every day.
OR
With older children, display a basket of breads from around the world
(pitas, Russian pumpernickel, French baguettes, Indian nan, cornbread,
tortillas, etc.) Identify the different
breads and the people who eat them. Note
that all the people in the world eat bread every day. Point to the bread on the communion table and
briefly ponder the possibility that Jesus chose bread as his symbol very
carefully. He wanted his symbol to be
something we all recognize and share every day.
When we come to the Table we can imagine people all around the world
eating bread with us.
t Allison Bauer, a minster and blogger in Pennsylvania,
claims that there is more to inviting children to the Table than just handing
them the bread and cup. So one Sunday
she gathered the children around the Table to talk about who is invited to the
Table. She then had them issue the
invitation with her by echoing each
phrase of the Invitation as she said it to the children and the
congregation. At open Tables, this is a
great way to emphasize Jesus’ determination to be sure everyone gets to all the
tables of life. Cool idea!
t Before singing Let
Us Talents and Tongues Employ walk through the
message of the repeated refrain. Recall how
frightened Jesus’ friends were after he was killed on the cross – so frightened
they could hardly breathe. Insist that
the all the angels in heaven and all the earth was equally frightened. Then there was Easter morning. Jesus was alive again and they could all
breathe. Read the last phrase noting
that “the Word” can be the Bible and it can be Jesus because Jesus was God Word
in human flesh. Restate the line “Because
Jesus is alive there is enough bread and love for everybody!” Challenge even non-readers to sing the
refrain. With this introduction to the
refrain, older children will quickly begin to catch the meaning of the verses.
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