“Dear God, let my
love be stronger than my anger”
*Three of today’s
four texts deal with forgiving, even forgiving enemies. Desmond Tutu’s prayer at the end of
his story of Joseph forgiving his brothers offers a good discussion starter
with children. Begin by asking children
to name some things that make them really angry. If it feels right, ask them to show with their
faces how they feel when they get angry.
Note that we all get angry sometimes.
We just do. Insist that as angry
as they can get, you know they are also very kind, loving people. Ask a series of questions such as “who has
ever helped your mom or dad do something,” “who has taken care of a brother or
sister so your mom or dad could do something they needed to do,” “who has ever
sat down to talk with the new kid in the class or on the team,” etc. Then introduce Tutu’s prayer. Briefly tell why it is a good prayer for
people who can be both angry and loving. Help the children repeat it after you, then invite
the whole congregation to join you in praying it together.
* Highlight “Forgive us our debts/transgressions/sins, as we forgive…” in the Lord’s Prayer. Before the congregation prays it, point to the phrase. Talk about all the things people do to each other that need forgiving. Include everything from saying mean things, hitting, taking what isn’t ours, and playing mean tricks on people to really hurting someone, even going to war with them. Insist that the only difference between friends and enemies is that the friends forgive each other. Challenge worshipers to think of friends they need to forgive so they don’t become enemies. Then, pray the whole prayer together.
* Highlight “Forgive us our debts/transgressions/sins, as we forgive…” in the Lord’s Prayer. Before the congregation prays it, point to the phrase. Talk about all the things people do to each other that need forgiving. Include everything from saying mean things, hitting, taking what isn’t ours, and playing mean tricks on people to really hurting someone, even going to war with them. Insist that the only difference between friends and enemies is that the friends forgive each other. Challenge worshipers to think of friends they need to forgive so they don’t become enemies. Then, pray the whole prayer together.
The
Texts for the Day
Genesis 45:3-11,15
*Younger children
will need to be told that this is not the Joseph who married Mary
and was in the stable when Jesus was born.
This Joseph lived hundreds of years earlier.
*This is one small
scene in the much larger story of Joseph. Many children with a small reminder will
recall the story of Joseph and his brothers.
Once you have remembered that together, simply tell them Joseph worked
for long tiring years as a slave, then he landed in prison where he spent two
long boring years. Then read “Joseph
Feeds and Forgives” from Children of God Storybook Bible,
a very concise version of the story by Desmond Tutu.
*After reading and
perhaps preaching on Joseph, connect him to Psalm 37:39-40. Present it as a prayer poem Joseph might have
recited while he was a slave and a prisoner.
Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40
*This is one of
the alphabet psalms with paragraphs beginning with successive letters of the
Hebrew alphabet. Each paragraph says
something about how to cope with the fact that sometimes bad people seem to be doing
better than good ones. Savor that by
asking a different reader to read one paragraph each. Readers could be a random selection of good
readers of all ages or could be from an older children’s class.
****************************************
Psalm
37:1-11, 39-40
Aleph 1 Do not get
heated about the wicked
or envy those who
do wrong.
2 Quick
as the grass they wither,
fading like the
green of the fields.
Bet 3 Put your
trust in Yahweh and do right,
make your home in
the land and live secure.
4 Make
Yahweh your joy
and he will give
you your heart’s desires.
Gimel 5 Commit your
destiny to Yahweh,
be confident in
him, and he will act,
6 making
your uprightness clear as daylight,
and the justice
of your cause as the noon.
Dalet 7 Stay quiet
before Yahweh, wait longingly for him,
do not get heated
over someone who is making a fortune,
succeeding by
devious means.
He 8 Refrain
from anger, leave rage aside,
do not get
heated—it can do no good;
9 for
evil-doers will be annihilated,
while those who
hope in Yahweh shall have the land for their own.
Waw 10 A little while
and the wicked will be no more,
however well you
search for the place, the wicked will not be there;
11 but
the poor will have the land for their own,
to enjoy
untroubled peace.
Taw 39 The upright
have Yahweh for their Saviour,
their refuge in
times of trouble;
40 Yahweh
helps them and rescues them,
he will rescue
them from the wicked,
and save them
because they take refuge in him.
The New Jerusalem Bible
The New Jerusalem Bible
****************************************
*Rather than read
this entire selection, read only verses 7-8.
After reading them, note that there are lots of verbs in those two verses. Read out all the verb phrases, e.g. “be
patient” or “don’t’ let it bother you”. Note
that there are some days when each of us needs to hear each of those phrases, then
reread the verses.
Be
patient and trust the Lord.
Don’t let it
bother you
when
all goes well for those
who do sinful
things.
8
Don’t be angry or furious.
Anger can lead to
sin
CEV
1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50
*This is the
outlier among today’s texts, but it asks a question that children ask, mostly
in a detached, curious way unless they have experienced the death of someone
close to them. Paul’s answer with its
reference to the first and last Adam makes no sense to children. But, they can hear Paul’s message that we
really do not know what we will be like after we die. God has kept that as a secret surprise
for us. But we do know that we will be
with God and that things will be good. It
is best to share this with children in your own words or perhaps using one of
these books. None of them are
specifically Christian, but they are based on Paul's ideas. (They are also good to have on hand to pass
to families that are dealing with death.)
The
idea behind Waterbugs and Dragonflies, by Doris Stickney, is that we don’t know
what happens when we die because people can’t come back. They have changed into something wonderful and
new, just as we will when we die.
Lifetimes:
the beautiful way to explain death to children,
by Bryan Mellonie and Robert Ingpen, is meant to be read and pondered with a
few children and the luxury of time. In
worship it would be possible to shorten it by omitting the descriptions of some
of the kinds of living things simply noting as you flipped past them “NAME OF
LIVING THING has a lifetime.” The point
is that every living thing lives and dies.
That is the plan.
The
Next Place, by Warren Hanson, seems most nearly
Christian of these books. It is a poem
filled with images and spread across artful pages. It takes a full 5 minutes to read aloud and
cannot be shortened. One good way to
read it would be at the conclusion of a sermon unpacking Paul’s message for the
adults. Worshipers of all ages appreciate it.
Luke 6:27-38
*This is a long
text. Children will quickly get lost in
all the details. Help them catch Jesus’
message by inviting them forward to help you present the gospel for the
day. Note as they gather that this is a
long text and that you have made some posters of Jesus’ main points for
everyone to listen for. Read
each point and give the poster to a child or group of children. Briefly comment on each one as you work
through them, perhaps noting how hard they are to do. Tell them to raise their poster when they
hear their point. Then read the text
pointing to the poster bearers as their phrase comes up. Points could be some or all of the following
Love
your enemies
Do
good to those who hate you
Pray
for those who are mean to you
Do
to others as you would have them do to you
Love
and do good to all without expecting anything in return
Thank the
children and send them back to their seats.
*If you read this sermon after reading
the story of Joseph forgiving his brothers,
begin by saying that you think Jesus knew the story of Joseph forgiving his
brothers and was thinking about him when he said this.
*Jesus goes into a
lot of detail here, but has two points both that make sense to children. The first is “do unto others as you would
have them do to you”(6:31). The second
is closely related but often passed by, “the way you treat others is the way
you will be treated”(6:38c). You have to
read verse 37 to get the full impact of the second one. Jesus said: Don’t judge others, and God won’t judge you. Don’t
be hard on others, and God won’t be hard on you. Forgive others, and God will
forgive you…..The way you treat others is the way you will be treated(by God). (6:37-38c)
Humorous
Warning: When I
first connected these verses I thought it would be easy to ask children how
they want others to treat them, then ponder what that says about how we treat
others. Next I was thinking of asking the
children how they wanted God to treat them….
After a moment or two I realized that some child would probably say “ I
want God to give me a…” at which point all the children would go into God as
Santa Claus mode and you would never get back to Jesus” point. So, don’t go there. 😉
* Enemy Pie, by Derek Munson, tells
the story of a boy who saw his new neighbor as an enemy. His dad
volunteers to help get rid of the enemy by baking enemy pie. One
ingredient was that the boys had to spend one afternoon together before the pie
could be served. You can guess what happened. The enemy became a friend. Our challenge is to turn enemies into friends. (It is
important to note that it is often harder to do than it is in this book, but
that the book gives us a good goal.)
Sing child
friendly hymns about loving people, even those who are hard to love.
*Before
singing “The Servant Song” ask worshipers to silently think about the people it
is hardest for them to love and forgive.
Then invite them to sing the song for those people.
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*Sing
“Jesu, Jesu Fill Us with Your Love” especially if it is a song the children know
from church school, camp etc.
*Invite
worshipers to sing “Gather Us In” using the word sheet below. Alert them to all the different people in
colored print and the grand last chorus.
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| This wordsheet may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes citing this blog. |
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