Of all the Year C August sets
of lectionary texts, this is the one most filled with Back to School
connections. If this is not Back to
School Sunday in your area, you might want to consider using these texts on the
Sunday that is.
Jeremiah 1:4-10
> This is the first of NINE! weeks of readings from
Jeremiah. That is a long
series! The thread that runs through it
is the story of the changing self-understanding of the Jewish people as they
lived through Exile. That leads to
fairly adult discussions about judgment and what it means to be God’s people –
not easy for for children to grasp.
Furthermore, the readings include few stories or easy to display
objects. So, there is little to suggest
an ongoing banner or display linking the Sundays of the series. I’d let each reading stand on its own and
explore their fairly unique messages.
There is more in those individual messages than in the series of them.
> This reading is best read by a teenage boy. It is a good challenge for a guy with a
dramatic flair. Rehearse with him so he
will read it well. He might even
thoughtfully touch his lips as he reads verse 9. Read from the CEV to avoid the blush-inducing
word “womb” and for the clear description of what lies ahead for God’s people.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > >
Jeremiah
1:4-10
The Lord said:
“Jeremiah, I am your Creator,
and before you were born,
I chose you to speak for me
to
the nations.”
I replied,
“I’m not a good speaker, Lord, and
I’m too young.”
“Don’t say
you’re too young,” the Lord
answered. “If I tell you to go and speak to someone, then go! And when I tell
you what to say, don’t leave out a word! I promise to be with you
and keep you safe, so don’t be afraid.”
The Lord reached out his hand, then he
touched my mouth and said, “I am giving you the words to say, 10 and
I am sending you with authority to speak to the nations for me. You will tell
them of doom and destruction, and of rising and rebuilding again.”
CEV
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > >
> At the beginning of the school year, God’s words to Jeremiah
speak to children clearly. Children are
not to say “I am only a kid. I’ll be
a disciple when I grow up. I am in
school, not yet ready to do God’s work in the world.” Instead, we can tell them that God needs them
exactly where they will be – in classrooms, on the bus, at the lunch table, on
the playground, etc. They are to be
God’s people in those places. God is
depending on them. They are the only
people God has to work there.
> God tells Jeremiah “Do not be afraid of them”
(verse 8 in TEV and NRSV). Identify who
the THEM might be at the beginning of the school year, e.g. demanding teachers,
kids who are smarter than you are, kids who are better athletes, bullies,
etc. Then read the whole verse including
God’s promise to be with Jeremiah and help him.
Insist that the verse is a great Back to School verse and use it as a congregational
response to petitions in a back to school prayer.
> Add either “Do not say you are too young” or “Do not be
afraid of them” to your prophet quotes display.
> This text could turn into a Back to School sermon
addressed directly to the children knowing that adults will listen, resonate
with it, and apply pieces of it to their lives at work and in their
communities. To build Christ-based self-esteem in children (and older worshipers) explore
the fact that Jeremiah did not feel ready to do what God wanted. “I’m just a kid! No one will listen to me! And I don’t know what to say.” Insist that God sometimes calls us to do
things we feel we are not ready to do or that we are not brave enough to
try. That happens in classes and just
hanging out at school. When it does, our
challenge is to remember what God told Jeremiah – that God had given him
everything he needed and God would be with him helping him know what to do and
say.
Yes,
we usually preach to the adults hoping the children will catch ideas here and
there. But, it is possible to do the
reverse – and back to school time is a great opportunity. Every adult in the room recalls back to
school experiences and can adapt your message to the students to their adult
situations. Most adults enjoy an
occasional such sermon. And, families
with children feel they are a very real part of the church when they hear them.
> Especially if you have been blessing the backpacks and
need a fresh twist on it, this year bless the child rather than the backpack. A hand on the head with words such as “NAME,
God made you and knew you before you were even born. God is with you every day at school. God loves you and calls you to love people
you meet each day.”
> Sing “God of Grace, God of Glory” to pray for the wisdom and
courage to use our gifts to do God’s work.
Point out to the non-readers the repeated chorus “grant us wisdom, grant us
courage” before singing.
Encourage all worshipers to sing it with Jeremiah and Jesus
> Before singing “Here I Am, Lord” teach the chorus
to the children. Then have the adults
sing the verses and the children sing the chorus as a prayer for the new school
year.
> Turn Jeremiah’s call into charge and benediction –
Ask all who will be students (and those who will work at schools?) to
stand. Say to them: Hear the word of the Lord. I knew
you before I gave you life. I chose you
before you were born. I send you now to
school. Be my people there. Share my love with everyone you meet
there. Stand up for my ways in
classrooms, in locker rooms, on playgrounds, in lunchrooms, and on the bus.
Ask all who will not be at school this year to stand. Say to them: Hear the word of the Lord. I knew
you before I gave you life. I chose you
before you were born. Do not say “I am
only a housewife” or “I am the least important person where I work.” Be my people.
Stand up for my ways. Share my
love with the people you meet every day.
Then addressing all worshipers say: All of you, students, teachers, businessmen
and business women, homemakers, retirees, remember God’s promise to Jeremiah
and to you. God says, “Do not be
afraid. I will be with you to protect
you. I will put my words in your
mouth.” So go in peace. Amen
Psalm 71:1-6
> These verses are filled with not-quite-everyday words about
trusting God in dangerous situations. To
help children recognize the words and therefore follow the prayer of the
psalmist, instruct the congregation to turn to the psalm in pew Bibles or
provide printed copies of the psalm with the key words bolded. Point out those key words noting the
change from the “help me” words and phrases at the beginning to “I trust you”
words at the end. Then, invite the whole
congregation to read the psalm aloud together.
NRSV
words: be my refuge, deliver me, rescue me, incline your ear (i.e. listen) to
me, be my rock and fortress, rescue me (again), I hope, I trust, upon you I
have leaned, and I praise
> Introduce this as a prayer for all the students who are
worried about going back to school.
Recall Harry Potter’s friends Hermoine who was an excellent student and
totally excited about going back to school every year and Ron who was not a
great student and rather dreaded the return to classes. Note that most students are somewhere between
Ron and Hermoine. Read through the psalm
connecting it to scary times at school and savoring the trust at the end of the
prayer. Then invite the whole
congregation to read the psalm aloud together.
Isaiah 58:9b-14
This is one of those passages
that requires so much explaining that by the time you get to the message behind
all the words, the children have wandered off to more interesting
thoughts. So, I’d work with the other texts
with them today.
Psalm 103:1-8
> Hmmm. I grew up
saying “bless the Lord O my soul” and kind of understanding it. But, I really like the CEV’s translation’s
“With all my heart I praise the Lord and with all that I am I praise his holy
name.” So much easier for children! Still the rest of that translation is filled
with male pronouns for God. The NRSV is
so much better on that count! It tempts
me to read verses 1-2 from the CEV and 3-8 from NRSV. Or, maybe it is better to simply read the CEV
translation of verses 1 and 2 to clarify what the psalmist and we are doing
here.
> Challenge young worshipers to follow the psalmist’s
lead in order to create a psalm praising God for all the blessings of their summer. Provide paper and markers. Children begin by drawing a scribble pattern. They then fill in each space with words and
pictures about one blessing of their summer.
Brainstorm possibilities together – swim team, the vacation, a visit
from friends or families from out of town, etc.
Then send children to their seats to create their prayers of summer
blessings. You could invite them to tape
their prayers to the rail at the front (leave roll of tape handy) during the
offering or simply talk with children individually about their psalms as they
leave the sanctuary.
Go
to Praying in Color, by Sybil MacBeth, for fuller directions for this
method of praying with markers.
> Or go more verbal and provide a worksheet on which
children can complete the phrase, “God I praise you for…” several times to
create their own summer psalm.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * *
A
Summer Psalm
With
all my heart I praise the Lord!
God,
I praise you for
____________________________
God,
I praise you for
____________________________
God,
I praise you for
____________________________
God,
I praise you for
____________________________
With
all my heart I praise the Lord!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * *
Hebrews 12:18-29
> According to this text, what we do not see in the
sanctuary is more important than what we do see. So, identify all the things you do see in
your sanctuary. Then begin identifying
what you do not see. Consider everything
from God, the love you each have for God and for each other, the stories you
carry in your hearts, etc. In the end
imagine all the saints of all generations gathered with you, singing with
you. Insist that it is these things we
cannot see that make worship so special and important. When we worship we become part of something
much bigger than just what we can see in the room.
> Especially if you celebrate communion today and your
liturgy includes the phrase “with all the angels, archangels and…,” highlight
it. Point it out in the liturgy and in
your own words explain that communion is about more than just us eating a
little piece of bread and sipping from a cup.
It is about being part of God’s big story that started before the world
was created and will last beyond when the universe is over. What we don’t see is more important than what
we do see.
Luke 13:10-17
> Invite children to stand bent over. Ask what they
can see from there. Imagine how hard it
would be to go to the grocery store or fix dinner this way. Ask one of the bent over children to talk to
you while you are standing up straight to see how it feels. Then have everyone stand up, wiggle, stretch,
and hop a bit. Finally, announce that
today’s gospel is the story of a woman who had been bent over for 18
years.
> Storypath directs us to another way to explore what it is
like to be “broken” and celebrates the way the broken can be fixed. In Goose’s Story Cari Best tells us
about a little girl and an injured goose who she watches through one summer,
waits for through the winter, and enjoys as the goose returns with a mate and
has 7 babies the following spring. It
takes almost 10 minutes to read aloud – a little long for most worship
services. So, use the art to tell the
story in your own words. Stop to read
the pages where she finds the goose and her parents teach her how to keep her
distance. Summarize their summer
activities. Read about the fall
departure. Point out the months of the
year in the winter page spread. Then
read the final two pages. After reading,
it note that Jesus met a woman who was also disabled and that he loved her as
much in his way as the little girl loved the goose in her way. Then read the gospel lesson.
> Usually at the beginning of the school year there is a
good bit of name calling as groups of children establish the pecking order
for the year. Sometimes the names are
not mean to hurt, but simply to label another person. Still, most name calling makes people look
“less” in the eyes of people around them.
Jesus reverses that process here giving the woman a name that makes her
“more.” Before she was “old woman” and
did not even rate a personal name. After
Jesus spoke she was “a daughter of Abraham” and so worthy of Jesus’ time and
healing. Explore this with children
identifying some of the names like wimp, bully, jock, baby, sissy, cry-baby,
bird brain, smarty pants, etc. that are hurled at others and how differently
people look when we say instead “child of God.”
PEOPLE ARE
MORE IMPORTANT THAN RULES ARE
> This text explores some fairly adult issues about the function
of rules. Children will not
understand them. Though children are not
too interested in the rule in question in this story, they are keenly interest
in following rules. Rules are important
to children as they learn how the world works and what is and is not allowed. They struggle to grow through several stages
of living with rules. Preschoolers
accept whatever rules the biggest person in the room (usually an adult, but
sometimes the oldest child) decrees.
Those rules are not debatable.
Younger elementary school children begin to understand that a group can
make its own rules. Many of their
classes and clubs take time shaping rules they will follow together. Children at this stage frequently spend more
time arguing about the rules of a game than they do playing the game. They relish the details of the rules. Once the rules are set, they demand that they
be obeyed to the letter in all situations.
That way “it is fair!” It is not
easy to accept letting a younger child get more turns or stand closer to the goal. It is even harder to get from accepting that
“just this once” to realizing that in general everyone having fun playing
together is more important than following the rules exactly. Another source of conflict in families is
different rules for children of different ages or rules for a younger child
that are different than they were for an older child when she was that
age. Jesus challenges all these children
to keep working though how they use rules.
Jesus knew the rule, “don’t do work on the Sabbath.” But he saw a woman who was crippled and he
had the power to heal her. He decided
that it was better to take care of the woman than to follow the rule. Telling the story in this context challenges
the children to grow in their use of rules.
It
is frequently suggested that Deuteronomy 5:12-15 be read instead
of the other Old Testament readings suggested for this passage. That is an especially good idea for children
because it clearly identifies Sabbath keeping as a VERY IMPORTANT RULE, i.e.
one of the Ten Commandments. That makes
Jesus’ breaking it even more surprising and questionable to rule loving
children.
> An anonymous commenter in 2013 pointed us to The
Library Lion, by Michelle Knudsen.
A lion who loves the public library carefully follows all the rules -
after a few slips - until he breaks silence to roar in order to get help for
the librarian who has fallen and broken her arm. Because he has broken a rule he knows he must
leave the library. A staff member later
invites him to return. The story is a
great parallel to Jesus’ story today.
The rules are there and meant to be kept, except ….
Back to School !
There are lots of Back to
School ideas related to today’s texts described in this post. For more general ideas for recognizing the
return to school in the congregation’s worship, go HERE.
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