This Sunday is 15 years since
the 9/11 attacks. Other attacks are
being reported with alarming regularity throughout the world. This Sunday might also be Rally Day in many
churches. If Rally Day is focused on
children, one has to remember that none of them lived through the 2001 attack,
but are struggling to deal with today’s attacks and with the racism and sectarianism
that underlie all the violence. That is
a challenging convergence of themes for worship. If you go with Old Testament or Epistle texts,
sin and repentance are key words with which children, as well as the adults,
can explore the problems and evils in the world. If you go with the gospel you can build hope
around the fact that God comes looking for us and looking after us even when we
mess up terribly.
If you use a wide variety of sin
and forgiveness words – sin, repent/ance, mercy, forgive/ness, pardon,
grace, saved, remember that many of them are unfamiliar to children. So, select one or two familiar ones to
explore in some depth or spend time introducing them as a group.
> Write
one or two on big posters to display during the whole service. Before the call to worship, introduce the
word/s with brief definitions. Give
children stickers or marking pens with which to note in their bulletin
every time they hear, sing or pray the word/s.
> Select
two or three words to present as a word family defining each word and
telling how it is related to the others.
For example, SIN is all the bad stuff we do. REPENTANCE is deciding to stop doing that
stuff. And, FORGIVENESS is God saying,
“I’m glad you can see what you did wrong and are going to be different. I’ll help you on that.”
> Use the word discipline rather than punishment to
describe God’s response to sin and sinners.
Children hear punishment as getting back at the sinner or revenge. With help they can hear discipline as helping
sinners change their ways.
> Frances Woodruff posted the following summary of Where
the Wild Things Are on her “On the Chancel Steps” blog (HERE). Read and
discuss the book during worship or count on many children and parents knowing
it well enough that a summary of it will set you up to make some of its points
about sin and forgiveness. Frances
summarized it thusly,
Today
I want to talk to you about some wild things…specifically Where the Wild
Things Are. For 50 years now, we have been reading this story of Max. One
day, Max and his mom have a quarrel. His mother calls him, “Wild Thing!” And Max says, “I’ll eat you up!” So Max is sent
to his room without any supper at all. From there, Max goes on a great journey
to Where the Wild Things Are. The
monsters are excited to have Max; they make him their king, celebrating with a
wild rumpus…that’s a big, loud party! Max enjoys all of this, but he comes to
miss being at home, comes to miss being loved by his family. So Max returns
home. At first it seems that all is the same as when he left, but then Max sees
his dinner is there waiting for him. Max’s mother has forgiven him. And by
coming home and eating his dinner, Max, too, forgives his mother. See,
forgiveness is not just about excusing each other and going our separate ways;
forgiveness is about letting go of the hurt so that we can rebuild our
relationships.
REPENTANCE could be a key word today, and it is a little tricky. The usual understanding of repentance
(especially among children) is that you say you are sorry and God or a person
you have hurt forgives you, i.e. says that it’s OK. In today’s stories repenting is more than
that. It is changing your ways. Paul changes from killing Christians to being
one of the biggest leaders of the Christians.
David asks God to help him change his ways, “create in me a clean
heart.” God decides not to abandon the
Hebrew slaves in the desert, but to help them become the people God called them
to be. Jesus eats with “known sinners”
because he believes they might change and calls on the Pharisees to do
likewise. Even children have trouble
believing they or anyone can repent/change.
“That is just the way she is.”
He’ll always….” “I’ll never be
… I’m just too….”
> Use your bodies in a prayer of confession and call to
repentance. While a worship leader prays aloud the prayer
below, all members of the congregation stand to pray with their bodies. Each time the worship leader prays “Great
God, we are sinners,” everyone faces the back of the sanctuary. Each time the worship leader prays “Turn us
around,” everyone turns to face the front of the church.
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Prayer of Confession and
Call to Repentance
Great God, we are
sinners. We get everything wrong. It is like we are facing the wrong way,
dreaming the wrong dreams, working toward the wrong goals.
Turn us around so
that we face you, dream your dreams, work toward your goals.
Great God we are
sinners. Too often we are selfish
grabbing the most food, the prettiest clothes, and the coolest games for
ourselves.
Turn us around.
Teach us to share what we have. Give us
generous hearts.
Great God, too often
we think only of ourselves. We think
about we want, what we like, what we think.
Turn us around. Teach us to see all the people around
us. Help us recognize what people in our
families and our friends want and need and hope. Help us learn to take care of them and their
needs.
Great God, too often
we hate. We hate people who are not like
us. We hate people who make our lives
even a little harder. We hate people who
get in our way. We hate people we just
do not like.
Turn us around. Teach us that people who are not just like us
are your children and worthy of our friendship.
Show us how to make friends with those who do not agree with us.
Great God, we are
sinners. We know it. We admit it and want to change.
Turn us around to
face you, to become your children, to be part of your kingdom.
We bring our
confessions of sin to you and ask for your help in turning around in Jesus’
name. AMEN.
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> Maybe the best song for today is the second verse of “Jesus
Loves Me.”
Jesus
loves me when I’m good,
When
I do the things I should.
Jesus
love me when I’m bad,
Even
though it makes him sad.
Texts for
the Day
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
With all the other texts
about sin and forgiveness today, leave this grim judgment one out. Children are mainly scared by it. Also, because they take it literally, they
often misinterpret it as God’s response to (or the natural consequences of)
environmental sin. It is not. It is an indictment of national sins.
Or, read a children’s book that
presents Jeremiah’s basic message that meanness and evil can pile up
and build on each other until the whole world is destroyed in terms that make
more sense to children.
> Oops, by Arthur Geisert, is a story about one bad thing
leading to another. A pig spills his
milk which runs through the seam in the tabletop and down a drain in the
floor. From there it triggers a series
of events that end with the whole house and most of a hillside totally
destroyed. Because there are no words,
you may need to help the children identify what is going on in the first few
pictures. After they catch on to the
story line, simply show the next picture with a groan or “oh no.” Point out that we often talk about how kind
deeds create more kindness, but that it is also true that mean deeds trigger
more meanness.
> The Quarreling Book, by Charlotte Zolotow, describes a series of events
in one member of the family’s unkindness to another triggers their unkindness
to yet another and so forth. Ripples of
meanness fill the day UNTIL the dog who has been kicked off a bed responds with
a wagging tail and licking the kicker.
The dog’s response triggers a reverse series of kind events that undo
the morning’s unhappiness. The positive
last half of the book may make it a more attractive choice.
Psalm 14
> Given the choice of this general psalm and David’s
story-based confession in Psalm 51, choose Psalm 51 for the children.
> If you do read this psalm remember that in it “there
is no God” is not a statement about God’s existence. Instead it is a statement that God does not
care about what we do. It means “I’ll
get away with it” or “It won’t matter.”
The psalmist says that God does care and that people who say those
things are fools.
Exodus 32:7-14
> If
you will be focusing on this text, spray paint a plastic toy cow metallic
gold. Before reading this story place it beside the Bible from
which you read and encourage worshippers to listen for one in the story. (The golden calf in the picture is a wonderful
gift my preacher husband received from a Kerygma Class. Sorry you don’t each have one of them, but
thought you might enjoy seeing this one.)
> To explain
the problem with the golden calf to children start by pointing to commandment #2 of the Ten
Commandments. Reword it, “I am bigger
than anything you can imagine. So, don’t
make anything that you think looks like me. You will get it wrong.” Laugh about God not being a cow. But then, admit that you don’t think the
people were that dumb. They just wanted
something they could see and touch and decorate with flowers and dance around
and eat near to make them feel that God was with them and that they understood
God. A god they could not see was just
too scary.
> Sing “Immortal, Invisible God Only
Wise” to celebrate God who is “more” than any
one or thing the Hebrews in the desert or we can imagine. Before singing it, point out the big words in
the first lines and rephrase them, “God who lived before the universe was
created and will still live after the universe dies, God who is invisible, God
who is wiser than any person who ever was or ever will be. God, you are some amazing we can’t begin to
understand you.”
> This is a long reading especially if you add the story
of making the gold calf in verses 1-6.
To keep worshipers’ attention, use three readers. Reader 1 might sit with the children at the
front of the sanctuary. Readers 2 and 3
stand to read behind them with children naturally turning to watch the
conversation between them then turning back to Reader 1 as vs 14 is read.
Reader
1: Reads or tells verses 1-6 story
Reader
2: Reads vss 7-10 with dramatic fury
Reader
3: Reads vss 11-13 in best negotiating
style
Reader
1: Read vs 14 “And the Lord changed
his mind….”
> If you are exploring repentance today, this story
becomes proof that even God repents or changes God’s mind. The fact that Moses would argue with God
about the plan to destroy the people who worshiped the calf and that God would
change the plan in response to Moses both impresses children and gives them the
confidence to talk to God honestly about anything. God can take whatever they have to say. God will listen. God may even change the plan.
The
story of Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane that did not get God to change the
plan is a good balance to Moses’ story.
It proves that this story is not a promise that God will change the plan
to suit us every time we ask.
Psalm 51:1-10
> ”Create in me a clean heart, O
God…” is a basic prayer
that most Christians pray frequently in their lives. David prayed it after he had stolen Bathsheba
from her husband and had him murdered.
Paul might have prayed it after he realized how wrong he had been about
Jesus and the Christians. And, we need
to pray at different times for different reasons. Most children have little grasp of their own
sinfulness. They know they do the
occasional bad thing, but are not overwhelmed by it. Insist to them that this is a prayer they
will need, practice saying it together and briefly explore its meaning.
> Remember that 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 dirty and yucky we feel 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.
> Use verses 1-4 and 10 as the prayer of confession for the day. Before praying them, with the congregation (or
children) identify all the sin words (sin, iniquity, transgression, and evil)
in verses 1-4. Have each word printed on a piece of poster board and
display it in turn. Briefly tell that David who first prayed this prayer
had just had a man murdered so that he could marry his wife – that IS… list
each of the words for sin!. Note that most of us have not done
anything that bad. Then, list specific examples of sin of which your worshipers
might be guilty (lying to get out of trouble, saying mean words to or about
someone, making another person’s life really unhappy by the way you treat him
or her, being greedy, selfish, etc.) Finally, read and explain verse 10. Only, then invite the congregation to pray
the prayer with you.
> 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 sung or spoken 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.
1 Timothy 1:12-17
> A little vocabulary thing: Children will understand you if you speak of
Paul “killing
Christians” rather than “persecuting the church.”
> To make sense of this text, you have to know the
story of Paul’s conversion (Acts 9:1-22). Just before the epistle reading invite the
children forward to hear you tell that story in your own words, then tell
children that the epistle is the beginning of letter written by Paul years
later.
“Saul
Learns About Jesus” from The Family Story Bible, by Ralph Milton, is one
good telling of this story. Use it as a
guide or simply read it from the book.
> If you are focusing on God’s acceptance of all
sinners, tell the story of Paul’s conversion paying extra attention to Ananias’ role
and his willingness to believe that Paul could be OK. “God, are you sure you have the right
man? I mean, this is Saul. Saul, who is rounding up Christians and
putting them in jail. Are you sure you
want me to bring him into my Christian home and heal him and introduce him to
other Christians?”…”OK, I’ll give it a try.”
> If all the talk of sin and forgiveness and the story
of Paul’s conversion lead you to sing Amazing Grace, remember that it is filled with abstract words
that are hard for children. Before singing it today, point to “wretch” in
the first verse. Define wretch as “a really
awful person” and identify Paul and maybe the ex-slave trader who wrote it as
wretches. Insist that most of us at
times in our lives know we are wretches too.
Next, point to grace in the title.
Define it as “God loves us anyway. Insist that when we sing Amazing Grace we remember
that we all mess up AND that God loves us and forgives us anyway. That is “amazing!” Only then, sing it together.
Luke 15:1-10
> Today’s gospel includes two separate but related
parables. To help young listeners hear
each of them, have the passage read by three readers. The usual reader reads verses 1-3. Then a second reader reads the first parable
(vss 4-7). The usual reader adds “and he
told another parable” after which a third reader reads verses 8-10. The two guest readers might be a parent
–child team, two older children, or two individuals of different ages. The reader of the parable of lost coin should
be female. For visual appeal give the
first reader a shepherd’s staff and the second a broom to hold as they
read. If these props are left near the
pulpit, the preacher might pick them up when referring to that parable in the
sermon.
> To get the feel of 100 sheep, count worshipers. If there are
more than 100 worshipers present, gather 100 people at the front of
the sanctuary. If the choir is in the
front, start counting them then counting people coming forward from the
congregation until you have 100. Or,
count people in their pews. If there are
fewer than 100 in the sanctuary, count the whole crowd and figure how many more
you would need to make 100. However you
do this, enjoy how many 100 is. Then
wonder aloud what it would be like if you had to move around all day as
group. Imagine how easy it would be for
one of you to be left behind. Then send
everyone back to their seats or simply announce that Jesus told a story about a
shepherd who had 100 sheep. Read it.
> Remember several things about being lost from a child’s point
of view. First, lost is being
physically abandoned and alone. Being
lost in sin is a metaphor that requires explanation. Second, fear of being lost (as in abandoned) is
one of the deepest and most common fears of childhood - and most of life. (Ever have dreams about being lost in an
airport running to catch a plane?) Third,
when children are lost they assume that it is the adults around them who have
wandered away from them. They were doing
reasonable to them activities and suddenly find themselves abandoned. “I was looking at all the candy bars and mom
was gone!” “I decided to go back to the car
while you shopped, but I couldn’t find it.”
So children assume the lost sheep was an innocent victim rather than a
willful strayer – UNLESS you suggest the second possibility to them with
examples of a sheep intentionally ignoring the shepherd’s call in order to chase
a butterfly or eat more of a great patch of grass.
> The first decision worship leaders must make is who
are the lost. Most often readers
assume that they are the lost ones sought out by God and celebrate God’s
persistence in finding them. But, Jesus
told these stories to the Pharisees who were unhappy that Jesus was eating with
known lost sinners. His message to them
is that God is more interested in the lost than in them – and they should be
too.
> Explore the idea that God cares for everyone, not just
me and the people I like, but people I think are “sinners.” How
many people are at your school?
(Probably no one will know this, so move to the next question.) How many in your class? (Some will know or be willing to take a guess
at this.) Then do some math to see if
there are ten classes at your school and ???? in each class, there must be
about ???? children in your school. That
is a lot of people! Add to that all the
teachers, principals, cafeteria workers, custodians, bus drivers. That is really a lot of people. Now, I want to tell you something about every
one of those people. Jesus says God
knows and loves every one of those people.
That of course includes each of you.
Nice, isn’t it? No matter how
good or bad the day is going, God knows YOU and keeps an eye on YOU and loves
YOU. That makes us feel safe and kind of
special. But try this, think of the
meanest kid in the school. God knows
THAT KID and keeps an eye on THAT KID and loves THAT KID just as much as God
loves you. Think of the hardest teacher
you ever had. God knows THAT TEACHER and
keeps an eye on THAT TEACHER and loves THAT TEACHER just as much as God loves
you. Amazing, isn’t it? God loves the smarty pants kids, the stuck up
kids, the grumpy adults, the pests, (add terms that are used in your
area)... Amazing! And you know what else? God wants us to know them and keep an eye on
them and even LOVE them too. Actually,
God is counting on us to be God’s partners in this. God thinks we are all one big family and
wants us to be happy together. Close
with a prayer for all the people in our schools.
Classic children’s stories about being
lost and being forgiven.
> Runaway Bunny, by Margaret Wise Brown, is a conversation between a young bunny who
asks his mother what she would do if he ran away from her in a variety of way
and his mother who insists that she would always come after him. At the end the little bunny decides he might
as well stay home.
> Mama Do You Love Me, by Barbara Joosse, is a similar conversation between
an Inuit girl who asks her mother if she would still love her if she did all
sorts of naughty things and her mother who replies to each that she would be
sad or angry, but would still love her.
> Many
children saw Finding Dory, the sequel to Finding Nemo, when it came out this
past summer. It chronicles the
adventures of Dory, Nemo, and Nemo’s father Marlin as they searched for and found
Dory’s parents. They ran into all sorts
of problems and Dory had no short term memory which made their search even
harder. At times Nemo and his dad wanted
to give up, but Dory insisted that they keep looking. Compare the shepherd looking for the lost
sheep, the housekeeper looking for the lost coin, and God looking for us when
we lose our ways. God never gives up on
us – or on anyone else. Go to HERE for a
summary of Finding Dory.
> Celebrate Jesus the Good Shepherd who comes after one
lost sheep by singing your congregation’s favorite musical version of the Twenty-third
Psalm.
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