Year C – Christ the King/ Reign of Christ - Proper 29, 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 27th Sunday after Pentecost (November 24, 2013)

 

The “Reign of Christ” is generally preferred to “Christ the King” as the name for this Sunday in order to de-emphasize hierarchy.  That is a worthwhile goal.  But especially non-reading children hear “Rain of Christ” instead of “Reign of Christ” and are confused.  So if you use Reign, define it and point out with a laugh what it is not.

U Then explore Christ the King in children’s terms.  In children’s stories kings may be good or bad or simply may be people in a set role.  The king has the right and power to make all the rules and demand that people do what he wants.  When the people do not obey the king has the right to punish them.  Good kings use this power and right well.  Bad kings do not.  Jesus is the very best king ever.  Jesus has all the power and chooses to use it to take care of people.  When his people disobey him (think crucifixion), he forgives them.  In the context of today’s texts, King Jesus chooses to be a Good Shepherd and a forgiver.

U Unless you want to save this for Palm Sunday, display a crown of thorns and a king’s crown from a costume shop.  Talk about the choice Jesus made about the kind of crown he would wear and the kind of king he would be.

U If you are using white and gold paraments today, point them out, explain the significance of their color and any symbols on them.  Recall the other holy days on which they are used.

U If there is a collection of teaching pictures from the life of Jesus in a church school closet, select a series that tell the whole story of Jesus.  Display them one at the time for the children and recall the story behind each.  Then, sing “Jesus Loves Me” or a well-known song praising Jesus. 

U To put the Lord’s Prayer in the context of Christ’s kingship, use the phrase “Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory” of the Lord’s Prayer as a congregational response to each of the other lines of the prayer. 

U Songs that trace the life of Christ in words children can follow:

“O Sing a Song of Bethlehem”

“Lord of the Dance”

“The King of Glory Comes the Nation Rejoices”

 

 

The Turn of the Christian Year

This Sunday and next, we are at the end and the beginning of the Christian Year.  That is a good opportunity to review and celebrate the entire year.  In the USA in 2013 reviewing the whole year might be a wonderful, relaxed way to worship on the Sunday at the end of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  The first Advent candles could be lit, but fuller observance of the season could wait until the following week when more folks will be around.  In other countries, it might be better observed on the last Sunday of the year so that you are ready to go fully into Advent on its first Sunday.

_ The simplest way to review the Christian Year is to bring out all the stoles and/or banners for all the seasons of the year.  As a children’s time, display them for the children and recall which colors go with which seasons.  Link each season to a well-known story about Jesus.  Conclude by grouping them together and looping the white one around them noting that Jesus holds the whole year together.

_ The University Hill Church in Vancouver has created a Christian year calendar for 2013-14 with seasonal rather than monthly pages.  Each page includes art for that season and a list of ways to celebrate that season in worship.  I have not seen the calendar “in person” but based on sample pages on their web site have ordered one for myself and mention it to you.  Get the details and order it at Salt of the Earth: Christians Seasons Calendar.  Sharing this calendar with children would be a good children’s time for this day.

_ The same church shares a plan for a supper reviewing the Christian Year at Celebrating a Christian New Year's Party.  It includes directions for tables decorated for different seasons.  Congregations that are informal in their worship might use the tables as stops along a worship path set up in the sanctuary.  The University Hill list of items for each season might also be a start for a more formal procession of the seasons in other congregations.

Advent - blue with advent wreath/candle
Christmas - white & gold with nativity
Epiphany - green with star, three gifts, bowl of water
Lent - purple with bowl of ashes & crown of thorns
Holy Week - red with palm leaves, cup & plate, crucifix
Easter - white & gold with resurrection cross & figure, white candle
Pentecost - red with circle of friends

_ Another way to celebrate and review the church year in worship is to follow a lessons and carols format.  For each season read a key story or text and sing one song.  Embellish these with bringing in a banner for that season and or highlighting the color changes.  (Perhaps the worship leaders for each season wear stoles for that season.)

_ To sing through the Christian year, sing one or more verses from these songs which are more child friendly than others.

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” or “Let All Mortal Flesh”

    Children follow the feelings rather than the words in

    these songs

“Once in Royal David’s City” or “Away in the Manger”

    Simple words retell the story and our relationship to it

“We Three Kings of Orient Are”

“Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley”

    The verses tell what Jesus did and what he calls us to do

“Were You There When the Crucified My Lord?”

    Simple words tell the story

“Jesus Christ is Risen Today”

    Even non-readers can join on the Alleluias

“Breathe on Me Breath of God” or “Spirit”

    The words of the first tell the story better, but

    the chorus of the second invites early readers to sing

    along

“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” or “He is King of Kings”

    For Christ the King Sunday

Today’s Texts

Jeremiah 23:1-6

U Especially in the United States this fall, most people of all political persuasions, resonate with Jeremiah’s wish for political leaders who are good shepherds, i.e. leaders who have the well-being of the people as their focus.  In the context of today’s theme, Jesus is that leader.  He is a king who has the good of the people as clearly in mind as a shepherd has the well-being of the sheep in mind. 

U For children shepherds are people who take care of sheep.  They will need to be clearly told that in the Bible Jesus is often referred to as a shepherd not of sheep but of people.  One way to do this is to show a picture of Jesus with sheep in his arms (Google “good shepherd pictures”) and a picture of Jesus with people (you may have a picture of Jesus and the children in the church school). 

 

Catacomb of Callixtus - The Good Shepherd,
from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
 http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54382
[retrieved October 23, 2013]. Original source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimforest/2594526135/

U The earliest painting of Jesus is this painting of Jesus as a good shepherd.  It is found in the catacombs  (tunnels under the city of Rome) where the first Christians hid out from Romans who wanted to feed them to the lions.  This painting on the wall reminded them that Jesus would take care of them.

 

U If you are celebrating Christ the King/ Reign of Christ gather symbols for Christ, perhaps processing them in as you read the various texts.  Or, simply present and explore one of the symbols.

Jeremiah: a shepherd’s staff

Colossians: crown

Luke 23: a cross

Jeremiah says God is the kind of king who cares for or shepherds his people.  Note how odd it is to see one person wear a crown and carry a staff.  Enjoy God/Jesus who does just that.  (If bishops carry staffs in your tradition this would be a good day to point to and explain them.)

 

Luke 1:68-79 – (It’s a song paired with Jeremiah here)

U Before reading Zechariah’s song, briefly tell the story behind it.  Elderly, childless Zechariah had not believed the angel who told him he would have a son.  Because he had not believed, he was unable to speak until the baby (John the Baptist) was born.  These were his first words after nine silent months.  Either invite worshipers to imagine old John holding his newborn son in his arms saying these words to God and everyone around him.  Or, if your congregation includes an older man who could speak the words dramatically from memory , ask him to present the reading (perhaps holding a wrapped baby doll in his arms).

U MERCY as a key word todays texts.  Jesus is the King of Mercy.  To help children understand this word that is not used everyday today, write it on a large poster.  Present the poster and define the word before the call to worship.  Encourage worshipers to listen for the word in today’s worship and draw a star on their bulletin every time they hear it, sing it, or say it.  Jump to the Luke 23 resources for ideas about highlighting mercy in the prayers of confession. 

Synonyms for children: kindness, forgiving, pity, compassion

Antonyms for children: harshness, demanding, unforgiving

 

Psalm 46     GOD IS WITH US, WE FEAR NOTHING

U This psalm celebrates what the other texts for the day describe.  We are safe in the presence of God.  We don’t have to be afraid.  Verses 10-11 sum it up most simply for children. 

U “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” is based on this psalm.  Martin Luther’s words are difficult for children to understand.  What they can get is the feel of fearlessness and the passion with the congregation sings this familiar, loved hymn.  Before singing it, note that Martin Luther wrote this song while his friends were hiding him in a castle from people who wanted to kill him.  Invite singers to imagine how he felt as they sang his song together.

Colossians 1:11-20

U The hymn to Christ in verses 15-20 is the heart of this text.   Unfortunately for children, it is filled with so many pronouns and interchangeable names for Jesus that it is hard to follow.  Choosing to read either Today’s English Version or The Contemporary English Version rather than the King James or NRSV may help.  But, even they need to be interpreted.  The hymn boils down to six statements about Jesus.  Children will recognize some of them and be interested in exploring them as a set of ideas about Jesus. 

Jesus is God made visible.

Jesus is better than anyone else or anything else in all creation.

God made the world through Jesus and for Jesus.

Jesus (and God) existed before anything else.

Jesus is the head of the church and what keeps it alive.

God forgave us through Jesus’ death on the cross.

U If you must offer a children’s time, invite the children to join you with the big Bible from the front of the church.  Introduce the text as a song about Jesus that the very first Christians sang.  Pause in your reading to put each big idea about Jesus in your own words.  You might want to reread this without interruptions later or this might be the epistle reading for the day.

U No matter which translation of this song you use, three names appear – Jesus, Christ, and Son.  Before reading the text, point out these names and briefly explain each one.  To add a visual, present each name on a poster that can be left in full view during the reading.

Jesus is the name his family and friends called Jesus – like Susan or Lou.

Christ is actually a title rather than a name.  It is not Jesus’ last name (a common misperception among children).  The title means God’s Chosen One and applies only to Jesus.

Jesus is called God’s Son or simply the Son.  Just as people say of a son that he is just like his father, people say of Jesus that he not only is like God but is God in human form.

U The text refers to Jesus at both the beginning and end of time.  If there are Alpha and Omega symbols on today’s paraments or elsewhere in the sanctuary, point them out and explain them.  Enjoy the children’s question “but what came before that…” and the mysterious answer that before anything there was God and Christ.  And, after everything there will be God and Christ.  

 

U After exploring this text, add a crown to the worship center with words about Christ’s lordship over all times and places.

Luke 23:33-43

U Luke’s account of the crucifixion centers on Jesus’ forgiving those who crucified him and the thief who asked for forgiveness.  On this Sunday it emphasizes Christ’s work forgiving us.  In children’s stories kings don’t have to forgive.  But, King Jesus, the king of the universe, chooses to forgive us at great cost to himself. 

U It is a good day for worship education about confession and assurance of pardon as they are practiced in your worship.  Point to that section of worship in a bulletin.  Walk worshipers through the prayers and responses, putting things in your own words as you go. 

In my congregation it would go something like this:  We say together that we all know we do things that are sinful, then in the silence we each tell God some of the bad stuff we have done in the last week.  We ask God to forgive us and then hear the minister remind us that God will forgive us.  We respond with a happy song thanking God for forgiving us and shake hands to “pass the peace” that we get from God to those sitting around us. 

U Rehearse any standard responses or refrains together.  For example, explain that “Kyrie Eleison” means “Christ have mercy” or “Christ forgive us,” then sing it through once.   

U To emphasize the purpose of the prayer of confession, create a responsive prayer.  The congregation’s response to each plea is “Christ, forgive us.”

U After exploring this story, add a/another cross to the worship center

Year C - Proper 25, 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost (October 27, 2013)

Happy Almost Halloween!  For older children Halloween is all about testing their courage with haunted houses, ghost stories, and gory costumes.  But, for younger children, it is all about the costumes.  “What are you going to be?” is the chief question in the days leading up to Halloween.  So, with younger children begin by asking this question and hearing about their plans.  Some children will have known for weeks “what I’m going to be.”  Others will still be deciding.  A few will not have given it a thought.  After hearing about costume plans, address the whole group with “something I want you to remember on Halloween.”  Tell them that no matter what costume they wear, you want them to remember that they are always THEMSELVES.  They are God’s loved children.  Speak briefly of the fun of wearing a costume that makes them look like someone else.  Remind them that they are still THEMSELVES.  Tell them to remember that AND to act like God’s loving children every minute of the day.

Remember to include Halloween in the church’s prayers with prayers for safety for Trick or Treaters and those who dare haunted houses.  Also pray that all will remember to act like the children of God they are behind their masks and costumes.

Go to Spooky Halloween Organ Councert and Tour and A Book for Halloween and Other Scary Days for two more Halloween ideas.

I found only one Halloween connection to today’s texts.  See it in Psalm 84.

The Texts

Joel 2:23-32

u  Maybe the best connection for children is the visions and dreams promised in verse 28.  Identify dreams as possibilities and ideas about what could be.  Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech illustrates the importance of a dream in shaping life for both individuals and communities.  Read at least one of King’s dreams and note ways we are doing better now than we were when he said them.  Explain that the dream words become a way to measure how close we are getting to the dream.  According to Joel such dreams are gifts from God and therefore should be valued and worked with.  

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”  Martin Luther King

u  Display a Native American dream catcher or a picture of one.  Describe its use as a dream sorter.  Bad dreams are supposed to be caught in the web.  Good dreams slip through.  We have to sort our dreams, keeping only the truly good ones.  Encourage children to sort their dreams with stories of dreams you have had during your life, some of which you have set aside (I dreamed of being a ballerina, but set it aside when I realized I was way too tall.) and other dreams which you have held for years (I share the Habitat for Humanity dream of a decent house for every person.  It hasn’t come true yet, but I keep working with other hoping it will one day be true.).

u  Two well-known hymns that explore dreams and can be child accessible with a little help.

“Be Thou My Vision” offers a straight forward prayer but is stated in Elizabethan English.  So, before singing it, read through the first verse and put it into your own words: 

Be Thou my vision, O Lord (joy) my heart

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art –

Thou my best thought, by day or by night

Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light.

Becomes something like

God, your plan for the world is my plan.

No one is more important to me than You are.

You have the best ideas to think about.

Whether I am awake or asleep, You light up my world.

Before singing “Open My Eyes That I May See” read through the repeated chorus challenging young readers to join in on that for sure.  Point to “illumine me” putting into phrases such as fill me up with your vision, let me hear your message, and help me claim as my own your dreams for me and for the world.

u  Read all or part of God’s Dream, by Desmond Tutu.  To keep the focus on God’s dream rather than our response and shorten the story a bit, start reading with “Do you know what God dreams about?” stopping after “God dreams that we reach out and hold one another’s hands an play one another’s games and laugh with one another’s hearts.”  Skip to “God dreams that everyone of us will see that we are all brothers and sisters…” reading from there to the end.  (Today this not only explores God’s dreams in Joel but addresses the Pharisee’s judgment of the tax collector.)

Psalm 65

u  There are so many random praises in this psalm that it is hard for children to follow them.  They are most likely to hear one or two that make sense to them.  One way to focus their attention on one or two of these phrases is to provide them with a page with the words of all or part of the psalm printed in the middle.  (Choose a translation such as the Contemporary English Version which uses words children understand more easily.)  Invite children to illustrate the psalm by drawing in the margins things they read about in the psalm or that the psalmist makes them remember with praise.  As they leave the sanctuary, take time to talk with those who worked on this project about what they drew and/or post their artwork on a special bulletin board near the worship space or outside your office door.

u  Even non-readers can join in on all the Alleluias in “All Creatures of Our God and King” – especially if they are specifically invited to do so.

Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22

This text is for the adult Bible students.  Several of today’s other texts speak much more clearly and easily to children. 

Psalm 84:1-7

u  Use this psalm to compare Halloween haunted houses to the house of God.  Show a cardboard silhouette of haunted house.  Together talk about what that house is like and how it would feel to go into it.  Then show a silhouette of a generic church.  Read verses 1-7 challenging listeners to identify what is different about the two houses.  Enjoy the differences and identify which house is better to live in.

2 Timothy 4:6 8, 16-18

u  Tell the back-story before reading this text.  Invite listeners to imagine Paul sitting in prison in Rome knowing that he will probably soon be killed and writing his young friend Timothy whom he helped get started as a minister.  Then read the message thoughtfully, imagining yourself writing the letter, pausing at points to search for the right words for what you want to say. 

u  In Charlotte’s Web, by E. B. White, Charlotte the spider speaks shortly before her death to Wilbur whom she mentored very much as Paul spoke to Timothy in this passage.  She speaks about why such relationships are important.  Read the excerpt below or more from Chapter XXI of the book to explore the value of such relationships between the generations.  Charlotte said

”I’ve always been rather quiet.”

“Yes, but you seem ‘specially so today.  Do you feel all right?” (Wilbur replied)

“A little tired, perhaps.  But I feel peaceful.  Your success in the ring this morning was, to a small degree, my success.  Your future is assured.  You will live, secure and safe, Wilbur.  Nothing can harm you now.”….

“Why did you do this for me?” he asked.  I don’t deserve it.  I’ve never done anything for you.”

“You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte.  “That in itself is a tremendous thing.  I wove my webs for you because I like you.  After all, what’s a life, anyway?  We’re born, we live a little while, we die.  A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies.  By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle.  Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.” 

Luke 18:9-14

u  Two basic truths underlie the meaning of this story: God loves us and we are all sinners.  The Pharisee understands only one of them – God loves me.  He sees only his strengths and good deeds and tells God all about them.  It is a one sided conversation.  The tax-collector however understands both of them.  He is well aware of his weaknesses and sins.  (Lots of people point them out to him regularly!)  If that was all he knew, he wouldn’t be at the Temple at all.  But he also knows that God loves him in spite of his sins.  So he comes to God to confess and leaves OK with God.

u  To give the tax-collector’s prayer a physical reminder, put each truth in one hand then fold the hands together in prayer.  Either use your own hands or invite listeners to use their hands.  In either case, hold one hand palm cupped up to hold the truth that God loves us.  Briefly describe God’s creation of each one of us with our special gifts and talents.  Keep that cupped hand in place while raising the other hand up in the same position to hold the truth that we are each one of us sinners.  Move your hands up and down in relationship to each other to note that on some days we feel more loved and lovable and on other days we feel more sinful.  Then fold the hands together as if in prayer.  Jesus tells his listeners to be honest with God.  When we come to God honestly admitting our sins and trusting that God loves and forgives us, we are OK with God – and also OK with ourselves and the people around us. 

u  Instruct people to look at the other people all around them in the sanctuary - the people in their families, their friends, the people they see every Sunday but who aren’t friends, and the people they do not know at all.  Then tell them that every one of those people is a sinner.  Each one says and does things that hurt others, themselves and God.  Sometimes they mean to do those things.  Other times the mean words and deeds just pop out.  Even they are surprised at what they have done.  Then direct everyone to look again.  Point out that God loves every one of the people in the room.  God made them and knows them, even the awful things they do, and God loves them.   When we are honest with each other and with God about both the awful things we do and God’s love for each one of us, things work out OK. 

This is more powerful for both the children and the rest of the congregation if it is done as part of the Sermon because children are part of the whole rather than a “we” looking at a “them.”  It also invites the adults to participate in the activity rather than observe it.

u  The unrecognized sin of the Pharisee was that he saw none of his own faults and all of those around him.  The old word for that is scorn.  The word is not familiar to children and there are few better substitutes, but there is plenty of scorn in their world.  To explore this scorn or looking down on others,

u  Quote and discuss common phrases, labels and names as examples:

You’re not as (good, fast, smart, pretty….)  as me!

You’re just a (jerk, baby, …ask the children to add labels used in their school)

Names that belittle – shorty, four eyes, pipsqueak, etc.

Be ready to discuss what is hurtful about the names and labels and think ahead about how you will handle terms with racial or sexual connotations. 

JESUS MAFA. The Pharisee and the Publican, from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. 
http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48268 [retrieved September 27, 2013].

u  Direct attention to the Pharisee’s hands in this African artist’s illustration of this story.  One hand says “look at me.  See how fine I am.”  The other says, “Look at him.  I am soooo much better than he is.”  His hands explain the look on his face.  This man thinks that he is always right, that his ways are the best ways, and that very few people are as fine as he is.  Jesus says that God is not impressed with this attitude.  Even though the man does some fine things on God’s behalf, God is not impressed.  (Either print this picture in the bulletin or enlarge it and post it at the front of the sanctuary. )

u  Read this scripture as readers’ theater with male readers.  The Narrator may read from the lectern with the other 2 at center front.  Or, all three may stand center front with the Narrator in the middle of the other two.  Or, the Narrator may be in the lectern, the Pharisee at center front and the Tax collector off to the side.

& & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & &

Luke 18:9-14

Narrator:  Jesus told a story to some people who thought they were better than others and who looked down on everyone else: Two men went into the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

Reader 1:  The Pharisee stood over by himself and prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not greedy, dishonest, and unfaithful in marriage like other people. And I am really glad that I am not like that tax collector over there.  I go without eating for two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all I earn.”

Reader 2;  The tax collector stood off at a distance and did not think he was good enough even to look up toward heaven. He was so sorry for what he had done that he pounded his chest and prayed, “God, have pity on me! I am such a sinner.”

Narrator:  Then Jesus said, “When the two men went home, it was the tax collector and not the Pharisee who was pleasing to God. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.”

                                                         Contemporary English Version

& & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & &

u  Use the prayer of the tax-collector “God have mercy” as an opportunity to look at the use of “mercy” in your weekly prayers of confession.  Practice the Kyrie or whatever you sing at the conclusion of prayers of confession, translating it if needed.  Set it in the pattern of ritual – I’m sorry, Forgive me, It’s OK (I won’t treat you as you deserve given what you have done.).

Jesus Loves Me does not use the word mercy, but it is a song the tax-collector could have sung.  Imagine him singing both the well-known first verse and the less known verse below.  Then sing both verses - perhaps as a response to the confession and pardon ritual today.

Jesus loves me when I’m good,

When I do the things I should.

Jesus loves me when I’m bad,

Even though it makes Him sad.