Year A - Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (January 26, 2014)

Both Old Testament readings include references to the light.  “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” and “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”  If you have not already explored light as part of Epiphany, these readings offer you an opportunity to do so.  Go to Epiphany (Year A) to find suggestions for exploring light with children.

Isaiah 9:1-4

* Sun Bread, by Elisa Kleven, could be read as a meditation on the light in Isaiah or it could be read to the bickering Corinthians encouraging them to become more like light.  In either case, take time to look into the windows around town on the second page.  Name all the unhappiness/darkness you see in each window.  Read the Daily Sunless Times sign at the bottom of the page.  With that as background, you can read the remainder of the book rather quickly, perhaps stopping to look in each of the windows noting the changes from what was in them earlier and read the Sun Times sign on the town picture near the end of the book.  After reading the last page about who bakes the sunbread, ponder God’s gift of light and the ways we share light too.  If you celebrate Communion today, point to the loaf or bring it down and identify it as sunbread.  (While many children will not make detailed connections between the two breads, they might begin to think of communion bread as sunbread – or bread that shares God’s light.  Adults might look for more detailed connections.  Both work well.)

Psalm 27:1, 4-9

* The psalmist celebrates ways God is present in many different situations in life.  Invite the children forward to help you highlight these situations using posture.  Read several phrases explaining each one and assuming with the children the described posture for that situation.  Then reread the verses leading the children through the postures as you read.  If it fits in the service at this point complete the reading with a one or two sentence prayer thanking God for being with us always.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

     whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life:

     of whom shall I be afraid?

Stand tall, head up, hands folded across your chest

He will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble;

He will conceal me under the cover of his tent…

Curl up in a little ball as if hiding with a blanket over your head

He will set me high on a rock

Stoop down as if looking over the edge of a high place.  Imagine seeing flood waters or a battle going on below you

Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me

And I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Stand tall with your heads held high.

On the last phrase throw your hands above your head in praise.

“Come” my heart says, “seek God’s face!”

Hand over heart

Your face, Lord do I seek.

Do not hide your face from me

Open hands on either side of a face tilted up.

From NRSV

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1 Corinthians 1:10 - 17

* Remember all of the fine things Paul said about the people of Corinth at the beginning of his letter last week.  This week he isn’t so complimentary.  So, gather the children around the pulpit Bible, recall what you learned last week about this letter and then read the verses dramatically.  Almost overstate the “I belong to”s to emphasize the cattiness of what was being said. 

* The people in Corinth were bickering.  In the middle of the dark cold days of winter, cooped up in the house with no big holidays to look forward to, it is easy to bicker.  Talk about all the silly fights that get picked in the back seats of cars or in the back room when it’s too nasty to go outside and everyone is bored.  Briefly outline the usual advice in such situations, i.e. whenever some says "I am better than you" or "my WHATEVER is better than your WHATEVER", just shrug your shoulders and say “who cares?”  Don’t get drawn into a silly argument.  Paul gave similar advice to the people in Corinth.  He said that it didn’t matter who had baptized whom.  What did matter is that all were baptized followers of Jesus.  End of silly argument.

* This is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  So pray for all the denominations and/or churches in your area.  Be as specific as possible so children will recognize the names and connect them to churches their friends attend. 

If you gather prayer requests as a congregation, take time to get worshipers of all ages to call out the names of other churches in the area.  Note informally any activities you share with this or that congregation as it is named.  Then, pray for neighboring churches.

In a Children’s Time gather the names of the churches, identify what you do together, and hear who has a friend who goes to a named church.  Then, offer a prayer for all the congregations.  Pray for individual well-being and for community cooperation.  Ask God’s blessing on them all.

Assign Worship Homework:  Encourage worshipers to pay attention to the churches they pass as they drive around this week.  (It is rather like collecting license plates from other states.)  Instruct them to be sure they know the names of the churches.  Ask yourself or your passengers who you know who is part of that church and what you may have done with people in that church.  Families may want to work on pronouncing the names of denominations.  Offer a short prayer for each church.

* There are several child-friendly hymns about unity that might be chosen for this day.

“Blest Be the Tie That Binds” has simple words.  Still, walk through the verses putting some phrases into your own words.  Then ask the congregation to “bind themselves together” by holding hands or putting a hand on a neighbor’s shoulder.  (Creativity is required to do this AND hold a hymnbook!)

“In Christ There Is No East or West” focuses on the division between East and West.  Before singing it imagine other pairs that meet in Christ, , i.e. In Christ there are …

… no athletes or geeks

…no “ins” or “outs”

…no young or old

…you (or worshipers) name other pairs….

“I Am the Church” is an Avery and Marsh song that is frequently sung in church school and children’s activities.  If your children know the chorus and the motions that go with it, invite them to teach it to the congregation.  Then sing the two verses that are key for today.  Find the words at http://www.hymnary.org/hymn/UMH/558 .

* With very young children, explore the unity of all people with the simple book, Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, by Mem Fox.  The differences in a series of pairs of babies are pointed out.  Each one ends “as everyone knows they each had ten little fingers and ten little toes.”  Insist that each of the people in the church in Corinth had ten little fingers and ten little toes.  The same is true in your own church and in your town, country, even the world.

* Or, scroll back up to today’s Isaiah reading for directions for reading Sun Bread, by Elisa Kleven.  The bickering Corinthians really needed this book!

 

Matthew 4:12-23

* I know verses 13-17 are important to Matthew and his Jewish readers, but they are incomprehensible to today’s children.  Before the reader can get to the stories about Jesus starting his ministry and the calling of the fishing disciples, the children get lost and tune out.  So, for the sake of the children, consider omitting verses 13-17.

* A boat (a wooden rowboat is best, but any boat will do – even a canoe, if that is what is available) filled with nets in the front of the sanctuary immediately grabs the attention of young worshipers.  If you can’t get the boat, drape the pulpit and central table in string fishing net.  There are several ways to use these props.

Simply point to them before reading the gospel announcing that in today’s story there is a boat and some fishermen.

At some point note the nets and describe how they are used to catch fish.  If you generally use projected images, project pictures of people fishing with nets to show worshipers how it works.  Then, ponder the equipment needed to fish for people – a Bible, a text message device (for communicating with others), even a Meals On Wheels cooler (to reach people by caring for them), etc.  If you do this as a Children’s Time add each item to the boat – or place them in front of the boat where they will be visible for the remainder of the service.

* Fishing requires strong able hands.  Fishers have to be strong enough to haul in a net full of fish and nimble enough to mend nets when they got snagged.  They have to be able to quickly clean lots of fish to get them to market.   Fishing for people also requires strong able hands.  You have to be able shake hands, pat people on the back, reach out to let people know you care, tend to the needs of people, etc.  

 

* The FISH is a symbol for Jesus and for the church.  Tell the story of its use as a secret sign during Roman persecution of Christians.  A Christian could casually draw a two line fish in a dusty road with a sandal.  If the person they were talking with was a Christian, that person could also draw a fish in the dust.  If the person was not a Christian, the sign would not even be noticed.  Then, note that one reason it made a good symbol because the job of the church is to fish for people.

Point out any fish symbols in your sanctuary and connect them to fishing for people.

* Two more hymns children enjoy singing today:

“Jesus Calls Us O’er The Tumult” is an old hymn that refers to the call of the fishing disciples in simple language.  Many verses end with a call from Jesus to us today, e.g. “Christian, love me more than these.”  Find the words and hear the music at http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/e/jesuscus.htm .

“Tu Has Venido a la Orilla” (Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore) tells the story of the call of the fishing disciples.  Verse 3 refers to the hands of the fishers.  With its Hispanic music and language (most hymnals print the verses in both English and Spanish) the song also ties to the 1 Corinthians message about celebrating what holds us together rather than what divides us.

 

* A challenge:  If all the talk is about fisherMEN, all the little girls will assume that the call to fish is not for them.   So, hard as it is, try to speak of “fishing disciples,” “people who fish,” and the job “fishing”, in addition to “fishermen.”   

Year B - Proper 17, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 14th Sunday after Pentecost (September 2, 2012)

I September is being celebrated as the Season of Creation in some congregations.  There is a lectionary for this season.  Next year, after I complete a three year cycle of the RCL, I will post ideas for this important season.  To find resources now go to http://seasonofcreation.com/ .

RULES TELL US WHO WE ARE!

I Several of today’s texts deal with the Law – or God’s rules as the children see it.  At the beginning of the school year children are learning the rules for their new classes, teams and clubs.  The rules tell them who they are and how they act in each situation.  Knowing that is important to them.  Particularly the gospel leads to complex adult conversations about the value of rules (legalism vs. living by love).  Children are not ready for that conversation.  They are still learning the details of rules.  Looking at the content of the rules with the children enriches the understanding of the adults who go on to ask their questions about legalism.

I Since today is also a Communion Sunday in many congregations and at times reading the 10 Commandments has been part of the communion liturgy, combine reading the Commandments with James’ call to be doers rather than just hearers of the Word.  There are several ways to do this:

1.      A leader reads each commandment pausing after each one for the congregation to respond with “Be doers of the word, not just hearers .”

2.      A leader reads each commandment pausing after each one for the congregation to say a response with motions.

We will hear it with our ears   point to ears

Understand it with our brains  put hands on top of head

Claim it with our hearts           put hand on heart

Do it with our hands                open hands with palms up

Do it with our feet                    stomp each foot

And say it with our mouths     move finger from lips outward

3.      Do one of the above responsive readings but using Jesus’ two great command.  This would allow more time to delve into how each of the two (rather than ten) can be acted on.

GOD BLESSES ROMANTIC LOVE

Song of Solomon 2:8-13

I This is the only time The Song of Solomon appears in the Revised Common Lectionary.  So at some point worship leaders may want to build an entire service around introducing the book and exploring its affirmation of romantic love.  Children as well as adults benefit from this affirmation.  It offers them a high view of intimate relationships which they do not often get in other places.  If they have loving parents, it affirms that relationship and makes the children feel even more secure in their parents’ base for their family.  Do take care to remind everyone that like all the good gifts God gives us, we sometimes cannot make them work.  Divorce and fusses are sad realities.

I There is no point in presenting the idea that this is a metaphor for Christ and the church.  The children simply will not get it.  They take the poems as the love songs intended by the writer.

I To highlight the interplay in today’s reading,

1.      Have it read by a married couple.  The readers could be any age or you could have the whole text read twice once by a younger couple and again by an older couple.

Woman – verses 8-10a

Man – verses 10b - 13

2.      Have the passage read by all the couples in the congregation with the men and women reading the verses as above.  Children love watching the interaction between their parents as they read.

Note:  Yes, there could be some giggling.  Isn’t there often with love poems!  Point this out and enjoy it.

I This could also be an opportunity for couples to reaffirm marriage vows.  This is of course mainly for the couples.  But again, the children slurp up witnessing their parents doing this.  It also presents them with a high view of marriage to which to aspire for themselves.

Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9

This is a prayer a poet wrote for the king for the king’s wedding day.  If you introduce it in this way, challenge worshipers, especially children, to write a prayer for someone they know on a special day for them.  They could write a prayer for the birthday of a family member or friend.  Or, they could write a Back to School prayer for a friend or a teacher.  If you are exploring the Song of Solomon, they could write a prayer for their parents for their anniversary.  Encourage them to write the prayer on good paper, maybe decorate it, and give it to the friend – just as the psalmist probably shared his prayer with the king.  If you provide the paper and markers, this could be sermon seatwork.

GOOD PEOPLE DO GOOD DEEDS

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9

The basic message of this text is that good people keep good rules.  Children who are interested in the rules of all sorts of different groups are interested in this reality.  We can tell them that if we look at people we admire, we often find that they follow rules that are important to them and look good to us.  A really good soccer player knows the rules of the game so well that he or she knows what she can and cannot do at any point in the game.  A scout learns the scout laws in order to know how to live as a scout.  On the other hand, children sometimes form clubs that have rules saying you have to hate the opposite sex or must shoplift or must never speak to certain people or kinds of people.  When you hear a person’s or a group’s rules, you often know whether you want to be part of that group.  Simply encourage children to pay attention to the rules of others.  Or, take it to another level by reading the 10 Commandments or Jesus’ two great commandments as the rules Christians follow. 

Psalm 15

I This psalm is easier to follow if verses 1 and 5 b are read by one reader and the remaining verse are read by the whole congregation.  In the introduction note the first reader’s question and urge listeners to the reader’s comment after hearing the response.

I  I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Psalm 15

Reader: 

Lord, who may enter your Temple?

Who may worship on Zion, your sacred hill?

Congregation:

Those who obey God in everything

and always do what is right,

whose words are true and sincere,

            and who do not slander others.

They do no wrong to their friends

nor spread rumours about their neighbours.

They despise those whom God rejects,

but honour those who obey the Lord.

      They always do what they promise,

no matter how much it may cost.

They make loans without charging interest

and cannot be bribed to testify against the innocent.

Reader: 

Whoever does these things will always be secure.

From TEV translation

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James 1:17-27 

I The Roman Catholic lectionary streamlines this reading in a way that is helpful to children.  It omits the mirror image and the teaching about the dangers of the tongue which is explored more fully in Proper 19.

James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27

Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights, who does not change or cause darkness by turning.  By his own will he brought us into being through the word of truth, so that we should have first place among all his creatures.  So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you.

Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice. What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.

                                                            From the TEV translation

   

I The key verse and main thing children grasp is “Be doers of the word, not just hearers.”  To explore its meaning start with the frequent retort, “I know that” when a child is confronted with an obvious fact, e.g. you love your little brother or it is dangerous to play in the street.  What follows is generally questions about if you know that why did you do what you just did?!!!!  Parents and other adults agree with James that your actions must match what you know or say. 

I Explain what a rough life widows and orphans faced in Jesus’ day.  Detail ways James’ hearers would have needed to take care of widows and orphans.  Then, ask who are the people on the edge or in need of our care today, e.g. any younger child, someone just learning a game you know well, families who can't get enough food, etc.  Then put verse 27 into words that include those people as well as the widows and orphans. 

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

I To emphasize the story call people forward to help read scripture about a picnic, give them some trail mix to eat as you read the first few verses.  As they eat point out the difference between clean hands and undefiled hands   Undefiled hands have been washed with ritual words, clean hands are just clean.  (This explanation takes the place of reading verses 3-4.)  Invite them to keep eating as you read the scripture.  The scribes should be seated near the very front of the congregation and come from there to pose their question.

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Mark 7:1-2, 5-8, 14-15, 21-23

Narrator/Jesus as scribes rise to look questioningly at those on the steps:  Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him,

2 or 3 Scribes one who speaks:  Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?

Narrator/Jesus standing up among the munchers to speak first to the Scribes

Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me;

         in vain do they worship me,

teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition. 

Speaking past the scribes to the congregation
Listen to me, all of you, and understand:  there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.  For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

                                                                        From NRSV

I  I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

I Be clear with the children that Jesus is not saying that we do not have to wash our hands.  Jesus is saying God doesn’t love us because we do rituals about everything. 

I Explore a variety of ways the words clean and dirty are used.  A scout is to be clean in thought, word and deed.  A person who has no drugs in their body is clean.  A person with no criminal record is clean.  Then there are dirty words, dirty pictures, dirty names, etc.  All of these uses of clean and dirty are metaphors, but are used so commonly that children quickly grasp that clean is another word for good and dirty is another word for bad.  Mark is saying that we are called not to be spic and span clean, but to stay away from all the bad stuff.

I “Create in me a clean heart, O God” from Psalm 51 is a good prayer for today.  If you worked with it in connection with the David and Bathsheba story, recall that.  Then, connect the verse to the gospel picnic to insist that God is more interested in clean hearts than clean hands.  Create a responsive prayer of confession in which the congregation responds to each confession with “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” 

Year B - Holy or Maundy Thursday (April 5, 2012)

This is another service for which the texts are the same for all three years of the lectionary.  So go to Year A - Holy or Maundy Thursday.  Then, find two additional ideas below.

This book appears in different
covers.  This is the most recent. 

Instead of reading John’s complicated account of this meal, stay with Mark or, even better, read an account from a children’s Bible story book.  My favorite is in The Children’s Story Bible in 365 Stories, by Mary Batchelor.  The 3 stories about the meal include “Preparing the Passover Meal” which explains why it was important to Jesus to celebrate Passover without going into great detail about Passover, ”Looking After Others” which fills in very human details about the significance of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, and “The Passover Meal” which says “As they went on eating the meal, Jesus did something new and wonderful.  He changed the old Jewish Passover into a supper with special meaning, that Christians have kept from that day to this” connecting what Jesus did with the sacrament we celebrate today.  To read all 3 stories takes about 8 minutes.  To read John’s version takes 5 minutes.  Mark’s takes 3 minutes. 

Hand washing is for us what foot washing was for people in Jesus’ day.  Walking around barefoot or in sandals, they worried about dirty feet.  We worry about germs on our hands.  So consider reading about washing feet, but inviting people to have their hands washed.  This is actually a year-round tradition in the Mayan culture.  Hosts pour water over the hands of honored guests and dry them off with a towel before serving a meal. 

Greeters at the door of the sanctuary could use moist towelettes to gently wash the hands of each entering worshiper before handing him or her a printed order of worship.  One or two families or an older children’s church school class could provide this service.

Worshipers could also stop at a hand washing station on their way to receive communion at the front of the sanctuary.  The hand washers could be adult leaders or families or a children’s church school class.

If worshipers are seated around tables to share a meal as well as communion, have small packs of moist towelettes spread among the tables.  Invite worshipers to use one to wash the hands of at least one of their neighbors.  Encourage them to wash hands gently, thoroughly, and with love. 

This is a new idea to me.  I’ve never seen it done.  But it seems promising.  I, and I’ll bet others, would love to hear from those with experience how it works.  Also, if anyone knows of a way to do this with real water and towels without raising concerns about germs, please tell us.