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Giving It One More Chance: a children’s sermon on the parable of the fig tree

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

This week’s lectionary texts include an under-discussed parable, the story of the unproductive fig tree and the gardener who suggests that all it really needs is a little more manure. There are lots of resonances here as we approach Holy Week: Jesus cursing the fig tree on his way into Jerusalem, Mary Magdalene mistaking Jesus for the gardener on Easter morning. And there are lots of applications for our Lenten journey, as well: if we’re not succeeding so well in our attempt at spiritual practices and fasts (uh, daily posting, anyone?), we should give them one more chance before calling it quits.

In talking about this parable with the kids tomorrow morning, I’m planning to bring back the potted Alleluia we buried on Transfiguration Sunday. It’s a risky sermon because it depends on getting the “right” response to a question — what if the kids agree that it’s best just to give up and start again? We shall see.

You might remember that we buried a word in this pot, a very happy word, a word we are not allowed to say until Easter. We can’t say that word out loud now, because it’s the very serious season of Lent.

Well, it’s been three whole weeks now since we planted it, and NOTHING has happened! Nothing has grown! All I see here is dirt! I am SO mad about this. I really thought something was going to grow by now. What is taking so long? It is so frustrating! I am so mad that I think maybe we should just turn this pot upside down, dump out all the dirt, and start all over again. What do you think? Do you think I should give up?

(hopefully, at least one kid will say no)

Why do you think that? (talk for a minute with the kids) Hmm, do you think I should wait a while before giving up? Maybe give it another chance?

You know, this reminds me of a story Jesus told once. He said there was a man who was growing a fig tree in his garden, because he really wanted to eat some figs. But for three whole years, there were no figs on the tree. He was really angry, and wanted to chop the tree down.

But before he could do that, his gardener said, “Wait. Let’s give this tree one more year. Let’s water it, and fertilize it, and take excellent care of it. Maybe it will grow some figs then. Let’s wait and see.”

Lent is a time for waiting for Easter to come. Sometimes we don’t see what we hope for right away. But we can’t give up. We have to give it time. We have to give it another chance. Let’s give our pot full of dirt another chance. We’ll wait until Easter and see what happens.

Let’s say a prayer together: Dear God - please help us - while we wait - and show us - the great things - you have in store for us - Amen!

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Old Palms and Real Fire: a children’s sermon for the first Sunday of Lent

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

I’ve posted two possible children’s sermons already for the first Sunday of Lent, but I don’t plan to use either of them in the morning. Instead, I’ll be using the words below to invite the children, belatedly, into the ritual of Ash Wednesday. (Because our Ash Wednesday liturgy takes place on a weekday at noontime, there are never children present.) Like burying the alleluia, this is the second year in a row I’ve done this with the kids. Last year they were wide-eyed with wonder at the idea of actually burning the palms. “You’re only going to pretend to have fire,” one of them said, confidently, but no — with the help of a large tray of sand, a small crucible of folded aluminum foil, and a lighter, we actually burned them. (Warning if you’ve never burned palms before: they smell kind of … suspicious. Not unlike other, um, herbal materials you might have smelled burning in the past.) Be sure, of course, that the kids are standing far, far back from the burning palms and that you emphasize that they are not to try this at home! This is a good time to have another couple adults on hand to provide adequate supervision.

(Show last year’s palms.) Do you remember these? What kind of branches are these? (Palms!) Last year, on Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, we had a parade with these branches. We marched around and waved our branches and shouted “Hosanna!” as we welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. It was such a happy day. Do you remember that?

Back then, the branches were green and fresh. But now - feel them - they are crunchy and dried out and turning brown. They wouldn’t make a very good parade any more. It would be a sad parade, with these dead, dry palms.

But these palms are still good for something. We can crumple them up, burn them a fire, and make ashes. Ashes are the black dust that’s left over when you have a fire. Long, long ago, ashes made people think of all the parts of their lives that were not good enough - all the parts of their own lives that seemed dusty and burned up. Maybe they felt sorry that they had said something mean to a friend. Maybe they felt sorry that they had taken something that didn’t belong to them. When they looked at the ashes, they thought about how sorry they felt. And so, to show everyone that they were sorry, they put ashes on their heads.

We are beginning a new season in our church year: the season of Lent. Lent is a time when we get ready for Easter. If we want to celebrate Easter right, if we want to be completely filled with joy and happiness, we need to be new people, filled with the new life that God gives. First, we need to look at our lives and ask if there’s anything we are doing that needs to change. If there is, we feel sorry, and we try to change our ways. God loves us so much that God helps us change into new and better people.

On the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, we gather together to tell God that we’re sorry and we want to change. As a sign, we put ashes on our foreheads, just like people did long ago. The minister draws the ashes on us in the shape of a cross, because we know that Jesus loves us always, no matter what. That’s always a good thing to remember. I’m glad we saved these old palms, so they can help us think about how much God loves us, even when we’re feeling sorry.

Today, we are going to make ashes out of these old palms out on the front steps of the church. It’s cold outside, so you can watch from inside the front door while I burn the palms. We are using real fire today. Remember, you should NEVER, EVER use real fire for ANY reason without a grown-up watching carefully. When the palms turn into ashes, if you want, I will draw a cross on your forehead, so you can show that you want to be a new person, a person who’s ready for Easter to come.

Let’s say a prayer together: Dear God - bless these palms - and bless the ashes - they will become - Help us to say - that we’re sorry - and help us - become new people. - amen.

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Ashes and Stickers: a children’s sermon for the first Sunday of Lent

Friday, February 19th, 2010

If the alleluia burial doesn’t strike your fancy, here is another children’s sermon for the first Sunday of Lent.

(Just before calling the children to come forward, put two stickers on your face)

What’s new? What’s going on? I see a lot of you looking at me kind of funny. What’s so strange? (duh, you have stickers on your face.) Oh, that. Right. (take off stickers and look at them quizzically) You know, this is the second time this week that people have looked at me strangely for having something on my face. Let me explain.

You see, this past Wednesday was a day called Ash Wednesday. It’s the first day of the church season of Lent. Lent is a time that we spend thinking about how we can grow to be better people, closer and closer to God. We feel sorry for the things we’ve done that haven’t been good. We try to pray more and to be kinder to others and not to take more stuff than we need. We’re doing this because we need to get ready, because in forty days we will have the biggest and best day of the whole year: Easter! When Easter comes, we need to be ready to party.

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday. It’s called Ash Wednesday because when people come to church that day, the minister puts these on their face, right on their forehead. (show container full of ashes) See? These are ashes. They’re the dust that’s left over when you have a fire. Way back in Bible times, people put ashes on their body to show that they were sorry for the things they did that were wrong. When we put ashes on ourselves today, it shows that we want to start over with God and start to live a better life.

Now, let me tell you: when I had ashes on my face on Wednesday, and I left the church and walked down the street, people looked at me like I was really weird! When I got on the bus, nobody wanted to sit next to me, because I looked so funny.

Sometimes other people think that the kinds of things we do in church are really crazy. Like wearing ashes on our heads. Or … loving our enemies. Or praying for people who hurt us. Or giving our time and money away for free. Or hanging out with all kinds of people, even people who are different from us, because we know God loves everybody. Sometimes it’s good to do things other people think are crazy. And maybe putting ashes on our heads every once in a while can remind us of that.

I wonder if you would like a sticker for your face today to remind you of how sometimes being a part of the church means you do things that seem a little crazy to other people. (give out stickers. You could, alternatively, give out ashes; the kids have no context for the “remember you are dust” language at this point, so you might say something like, “follow Jesus always” instead.)

Let’s say a prayer together. Dear God - thank you - for making us strong enough - to do things - that might seem crazy sometimes. - Help us to love everybody - and to do good - and to be better people. - Help us get ready for Easter - Amen.

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Burying the Alleluia: a children’s sermon for Transfiguration or the First Sunday of Lent

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Last night, just as I finished writing this post, our cable modem went on the fritz. I’m trying not to interpret this as divine judgment against the “daily posting in Lent” plan. Hmm.

Bearing in mind that I am dust and that to dust I shall return – and therefore not having particularly high expectations of my own success – I’m going to attempt this whole “daily posting during Lent” thing. Can’t hurt to try. To start with, I’m going to offer three different children’s sermon options for the first Sunday of Lent. I used this first one at Smithfield this past Sunday, for Transfiguration, but it could very easily be adapted for the first Sunday of Lent instead (especially if you’re part of a not-particularly-strict liturgical community that won’t mind a little Alleluia shouting at the start of worship). It’s based on a children’s sermon I heard Molly Baskette preach at First Church Somerville in 2007, complete with imaginative “catching” of alleluias. You can read more about the tradition of burying the alleluia here.

Supplies you need: large plant pot, potting soil, small box, white banner reading “Alleluia”

We have talked before about how the church tells time. Here in the church, we have different seasons from the rest of the world. Instead of having seasons like summer, winter, fall, and spring, we have seasons like Advent and Easter and Epiphany. Every season has a different mood and meaning. And every season has a color. What color do you see in the church today?

White! Today is a special day called Transfiguration. It’s the day we celebrate the moment when the disciples finally realized just how special Jesus is. They went up a mountain and suddenly saw Jesus standing there, with his face shining, and two very important people, Moses and Elijah, standing next to him. The disciples knew then that Jesus was the special Son of God. Today is a very happy day.

When we are happy in the church, we sometimes shout “Alleluia.” Alleluia is a word that means “Glory to God” in Hebrew. It’s a word that we shout when we’re happy about all the wonderful things God has done. Let’s shout “Alleluia” together on the count of 3 … 1, 2, 3, ALLELUIA!!

But next Sunday will be different. Next Sunday is the first Sunday of the season of Lent. The color for Lent is purple, a dark and serious color. Lent is a quiet, serious time of year when we get ready for Easter. It is so quiet and serious that we don’t shout “Glory to God.” We do not say the word “Alleluia” at all. We go without it, so it will seem even more special when we hear it again on Easter Sunday.

So, you will not hear the word “Alleluia” again in the church until Easter. For the next forty days, no one will say that word. We are going to put the Alleluia away. In fact, we are going to put Alleluia in this box and bury the box in this pot. And we won’t dig it up again until Easter.

So, let’s catch some Alleluias in the box. I need your help. Can you say “Alleluia”? (As the kids say “Alleluia,” pantomime “catching” them in the box.) Ok, I think I’ve got them all – here’s the Alleluia (show banner). We’re going to put it in this box, and then let’s sprinkle some dirt over it. (Be careful with the dirt pouring … I spilled so much that on Monday morning the church custodian thanked me for providing him with job security.) Goodbye, Alleluia. We’ll see you on Easter.

Let’s say a prayer together: Dear God – be with us – in the happy times – and the serious times too – Bring us to Easter – when we can say “Alleluia!” — Amen.

I’m going to use our buried Alleluia every Sunday in Lent this year; as a congregation, we will be learning about spiritual practices, and so each week we will water the Alleluia, symbolizing our nourishment of our relationship with God by our practice of the disciplines. And then, on Easter Sunday, the Alleluia will burst into bloom! I’ll have an array of flowers inserted in the plant pot; each child will have one to take home.

Stop by tomorrow for another possible children’s sermon for the first Sunday of Lent.

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How Great Thou Art, in spite of everything: a children’s sermon about the earthquake in Haiti

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Our senior pastor, Doug, is on vacation this week, so I had the opportunity to preach at the Wednesday noontime service. I outlined the sermon on Monday night. I planned to talk about the wedding at Cana, this week’s gospel text, and how Jesus’ first miracle is to bring joy. I started off by talking about the YouTube laughing baby, how maybe as adults we’re a little jealous of that kind of mirth. But such joy is possible, even for us: Jesus works to make the ordinary things of our lives, the jugs of water we already have on hand, into joyful new wine. At the end I brought it all home by referring to the “laughing baby” in the manger and the glad tidings of great joy to all people. Sermon, check!

But then the world changed. On Tuesday night, of course, a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti. For me, the severity of this event didn’t really sink in until Wednesday morning, too late to start thinking about a new sermon, so I went ahead and preached the totally inappropriate homily about joy at the noontime service. Not a strategy I recommend to all you readers out there. In retrospect, it would have been better just to light candles and say prayers and be together in silence.

Tomorrow morning, though, there’s no excuse not to face the earthquake and the inevitable question it poses: where is God in the midst of such tragedy? I don’t think children are too young to be asking that question. In my children’s sermon, I aim to tell the story of the earthquake in terms the kids can understand, drawing on the experiences of our Global Ministries missionaries, Kim and Patrick Bentrott, as described in their excellent blog, Adventures in Life. I have never met Kim and Patrick and hope I do them justice here; in case you two ever read this, thank you for sharing your story, and thank you for your service.

bentrottsThis is Kim and Patrick, and their son Solomon. Kim and Patrick are missionaries. Do you know what it means to be a missionary?

A missionary is a person who goes to live far away to help the mission, the plan, of God. God’s mission is to make sure that all people have enough to eat, that all people have safe places to live, that all people are cared for when they are sick, and that all children can go to school. Kim and Patrick are from Kansas, in the United States, but now they live in Haiti, an island in the Caribbean Sea. The money that we give here at our church to One Great Hour of Sharing helps Kim and Patrick do their work.

Kim is a doctor, so her work in the mission of God is to help sick people. In Haiti, she takes care of the sick and also teaches people who want to be nurses. And Patrick is a teacher. His work in the mission of God in Haiti is to teach young people and also to teach people who want to be ministers. Solomon is only a baby, so he doesn’t have a job yet. His work in the mission of God is to grow up to be strong and faithful and ready to help others.

This week something terrible happened in Haiti. There was an earthquake. The ground shook so much that houses and schools and hospitals and churches and other buildings fell down. Many people were hurt. Many people lost their houses and all their things.

Kim and Patrick and Solomon were not hurt in the earthquake, but many of their new friends in Haiti were hurt. The nursing school where Kim works fell down. The school where Patrick teaches fell down. The apartment building where they live fell down. All of the places where people lived and worked and studied in their town were crushed into a pile of bricks and dust.

On the night of the earthquake, people didn’t have houses to go into or beds to sleep in. They slept outside in the park. Kim said that you could see the stars so much more clearly, since all the bright electric lights were not working. People were scared and sad, so they didn’t fall asleep right away. Instead, they started singing. The song they sung was called “How Great Thou Art.” It’s a song that says how good God is.

God is good. God promises to be with us and to love us always, even when terrible things happen. In the Bible, we read, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea.” God will always be with us to help us, no matter what, just like God is in Haiti right now to help all the people there. God’s love never ends. And we can be part of God’s love by praying for people in Haiti today. Let’s say a prayer together now.

Dear God – You are good – even when times are hard. – Thank you – for helping us – in times of trouble. – Thank you – for Kim and Patrick and Solomon – who work to do your mission. – Please be in Haiti – with all the people – who need your help. – Amen.

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Three Gifts for Jesus: a Children’s Sermon for Epiphany

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

greg-wiseOne of my New Year’s resolutions was to return to blogging, so after a long silence, here I am. If I were to offer an excuse for the past few silent months, I would blame the little one who kicked my elbow earlier this evening while it rested on my growing tummy … pregnancy is preoccupying!

Tomorrow, we are celebrating Epiphany at Smithfield, as that festival falls on a Wednesday this year. So, here is a quick children’s sermon about the gifts of the Magi. It would be great to accompany this with one of those sets of gold, frankincense, and myrrh you can purchase commercially, if you can afford it and if you’ve thought far enough in advance.

The photo above shows my favorite wise man, my husband Greg, in his custom-made costume for this year’s Christmas pageant, which we presented on December 20. Hooray for a robe long enough to fit someone 6′4″ tall! Greg was reprising the role he first played as a five-year-old at Greensboro, NC’s First Presbyterian Church. I took some video of the pageant and hope to post it here soon.

Good morning, everyone. I have been out of town for a little while, but I hope you had a good Christmas. One of the most fun parts of Christmas is opening presents. I wonder what your favorite present was this Christmas?

We give presents at Christmastime to remember that Jesus got presents, too – although not when he was a baby. The wise ones from far away in the east took a long time to follow the star to meet Jesus. It was many weeks – or maybe even years – for them to find him and visit him. Today is the day that we celebrate their coming. We give the day they came a special name: Epiphany.

Do you know what gifts the wise ones brought to Jesus on the first Epiphany? It wasn’t a ____ and it wasn’t a _____ (name gifts the kids mentioned earlier). The wise ones brought three things: gold, frankincence, and myrrh.

We have all seen gold before. In fact, I am wearing some today. What’s special about gold? It’s very fancy. It’s worth a lot of money. In Jesus’ time, only kings and queens had enough money to wear gold. By giving Jesus gold, the wise ones were saying that Jesus was a king.

What about frankincense? What’s that? Well, frankincense is a hardened sap or resin from a tree. When you burn frankincense, it smells wonderful and makes lots of sweet-smelling smoke. In Jesus’ time, people used to burn frankincense at the temple, in front of the altar at the holy of holies, the place where they went to be with God. By giving Jesus frankincense, the wise ones were saying that Jesus was a great priest, a person who would show us the way to God.

And then the third gift was myrrh. Myrrh is also made from tree resin. It’s a kind of perfume mixed with oil. In Jesus’ time, people used it when they were preparing dead bodies to be buried. They would put some myrrh on the person who died, to bless him. By giving Jesus myrrh, the wise ones were saying that the way Jesus died would be very important. And we know that Jesus did die, but that God raised him from the dead to live forever.

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were the gifts the wise ones brought on the first Epiphany. Their gifts each tell us something about Jesus. Jesus is a king. Jesus helps us know God better. And Jesus died and rose again. When you go home today and play with your Christmas gifts, I hope you also remember the gifts the wise ones brought to Jesus.

Let’s say a prayer together:

Dear God – thank you – for the wise ones – and the gifts they brought – Thank you for Jesus – who is our king – who helps us know you better – and who died and rose again. – Amen.

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Work and Rest: a children’s sermon for Labor Day

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

The UCC has put together some nice resources for Labor Sunday, but they do not include a children’s sermon. This one below is nothing too special, but at hopefully it begins to make a religious connection to this secular holiday on a level kids can understand.

Tomorrow is a holiday. What holiday are we celebrating tomorrow? (Labor Day.) What does the word “labor” mean? (Work!)

Labor Day is a day when we celebrate all the hard work people do. We give thanks for the people who build our houses and roads, and for the farmers who grow our food. We give thanks for the fire fighters and police officers and doctors and nurses who keep us safe and healthy. We give thanks for the teachers and coaches and pastors who teach us new things. We also remember people who want to work, but aren’t able to find jobs right now, and we pray that they can find a job soon.

Now, here’s a funny thing about Labor Day: it’s a day when we celebrate work – but do we do work on Labor Day? No! We hang out in the backyard and have a cook-out and maybe watch a baseball game. It’s a day about work – but we don’t do any work at all.

The Bible is full of stories of people who worked very hard. Jacob worked for Laban for fourteen years so he could marry Laban’s beautiful daughter Rachel. Joseph worked for pharaoh, interpreting dreams and gathering up grain for the years of famine. Later, the Israelites became slaves in Egypt and worked hard every day for no money. Some people even think they helped to build the pyramids!

When God freed the Israelites from slavery, God gave new laws to Moses, the leader of the people. God said you should not kill, you should not steal, and you should not worship any other gods. God also made a law about working. What do you think that law said?

Well, guess what? The law said that you have to take a break from working sometimes! God said that you should do all your work in six days, but on the seventh day of the week, you should rest. God said we should remember that the Israelites were slaves and had to work all the time. So, to celebrate our freedom, we should take a day to rest and to thank God.

Tomorrow, Labor Day, is a good day to take a rest from working. I hope that tomorrow you can take time to thank God for all the working people who make our lives easier, and to thank God for giving us a day to rest.

Let’s say a prayer together. Dear God – thank you – for people who work hard – and thank you – for giving us a day to rest! – Amen.

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Practicing Peacemaking: a children’s sermon on the Passing of the Peace

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

I thought I’d break out of my non-posting rut by putting up my children’s sermon for tomorrow (er, for less than ten hours from now, actually, but who’s counting?). This one is based on a paper I wrote in my “Introduction to Christian Worship” class way back in the fall of ‘04, in which I sought to better understand that much-maligned, but also much-loved, worship element, the passing of the peace. Since the children’s sermon has followed the peace in this summer’s order of worship, I thought it might make a fun sermon to talk about why exactly we do this crazy thing in the midst of our liturgy. Here’s how it goes:

Sometimes I wonder: if an alien came from outer space and watched us here at church, what would he think we were doing? After all, we do some funny things here at church. For example, a minute ago, all of us got up from where we were sitting and walked around hugging people and shaking their hands, saying, “Peace of the Lord be with you.” Then we all sat back down again. We call it “passing the peace.” I wonder what an alien would have made of that! Have you ever wondered why we pass the peace?

It’s fun to get up and out of your seat, but that’s not why we do it. It’s a good way to say hi to people we know, but that’s not why we do it. And it’s always nice to meet new people we haven’t met before, but that’s not why we do it either.

We pass the peace because Jesus said that it’s important for us to love one another. He said we need to love all our neighbors, even our enemies. In the prayer he taught us, Jesus said we should forgive other people when they hurt us. And he said that if we feel like praying, but we are having an argument with a friend, we need first to go to that person and become friends again before coming to church to pray.

All of those things are very hard to do! It’s hard to love our enemies. It’s hard to forgive other people when they hurt us. And when we’re having an argument, it’s hard to go straight to the person we’re fighting with and try to make things better.

When things are hard to do, you have to practice them over and over until you get them right. One way to practice being peaceful and loving people is to pass the peace here in church. We stand up and say to each other “peace be with you.” “Peace be with you” is one way of saying, “I pray that God’s love and peace are part of your life.” It’s kind of like saying, “I love you, and God loves you too.”

Here at church, with our friends, it’s easy to say those words. But someday, we might need to say those words to someone we don’t like. Someone who has done something to hurt us. Someone with whom we’re having a fight. We will need to wish that person peace, because that’s what Jesus wanted us to do. And when that happens, we will have lots of practice saying “peace be with you.” We have said those words every week here at church! Maybe that will make it a little bit easier for us to do the right thing when the time comes for us to make peace with our enemies.

Let’s say a prayer together: Dear God - Thank you - for giving us your peace - Help us - to practice making peace - even when that’s hard to do - Amen.

Let’s share the peace together one more time before we go back to our seats today. Peace be with you! Peace be with you! Peace be with you!

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Not who, but how: a children’s sermon on the Good Samaritan

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

Last night, I spent several hours completely paralyzed as I tried to write this morning’s children’s sermon. Doug went off lectionary this morning to preach about the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), and I was stuck. What to say to the kids about this very familiar story, without dumbing it down to the virtually meaningless moral “be nice”?

Making matters worse, I got the old opening credits theme for the Australian soap opera “Neighbours” stuck in my head. Then I started thinking about Mr. Rogers and how he called everyone “neighbor.” None of this was particularly helpful. I also spent some time thinking about the excellent Iris deMent song “He Reached Down,” but that wasn’t really where I wanted to go with the text, either.

I read the story again and again, and something started to bother me. The lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”, but Jesus never gives him a straight answer. Sometimes we suggest, especially since the Samaritan is a member of a rival ethnic group, that Jesus’ answer is “everyone is your neighbor, especially your enemy.” That’s a reasonable assumption, and a very nice answer, but it’s not actually how Jesus concludes the parable. Instead, he answers the question with a question, “Which of these men acted like a neighbor?” After puzzling this out with my awesome husband and theological sparring partner Greg, we realized that Jesus transforms the whole concept of neighbor from passive to active. Neighbors are not just people you tally up into a list. Being a neighbor is something you do.

So then on to the next challenge: translating that idea into a chat with the kids. Here’s what I came up with:

I have a question for you this morning. It’s a math question. If I have five apples, and you take away two, how many apples do you have? (as I expected, the kids all proudly chorused “three!”)

That’s not the right answer. Listen to the question again. If I have five apples, and you take away two, how many apples do you have? (this time, they all got it)

It’s a trick question! Trick questions don’t have the answer you think they should have. People asked Jesus trick questions all the time. They wanted to make Jesus look stupid, and they wanted to make themselves look smart.

One day a man said to Jesus, “I know I need to love my neighbor. But who is my neighbor?” This was a trick question! He hoped Jesus would give him a list of all the people he needed to love. Then he could love those people and not love everyone else.

S0 instead of answering the question, Jesus told a story.

Once upon a time, a man walking down a road was attacked by robbers. They beat him up, ran away, and left him lying in the road, badly hurt.

While the man lay there, a priest came walking by - like Pastor Doug. The priest saw the man who was hurt and lying in the road. But he didn’t stop to help him. He just kept on walking.

Then, another man came walking by, a Levite. The Levites helped the priests - just like I help Pastor Doug. The Levite also saw the man who was hurt and lying in the road. But, just like the priest, he didn’t stop to help him. He just kept on walking.

Finally, another person came walking down the road, a Samaritan. Samaritans were from a different country, an enemy country. They didn’t usually help people who weren’t like themselves. But this Samaritan saw the man who was hurt, and stopped, and put bandages on his cuts, and helped him get to an inn, where they would take care of him until he was well. The Samaritan even paid the innkeeper with his own money!

After telling the story, Jesus asked a question. He said, “Which person was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers?” And the answer was, “The Samaritan, because he was merciful.” And Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

The person asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” But Jesus showed us the real question: How can you be a neighbor to other people who need you? Don’t ask who you need to love. Ask how you need to love. And God will help you care for other people who need your help.

Let’s pray: Dear God - help us love our neighbors - all our neighbors - and help us show mercy - and loving care - Amen.

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Assembling the UCC Puzzle: a children’s sermon about the United Church of Christ

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

I really love this week’s gospel text from Mark - the detail about Jesus sleeping “on the cushion” always makes me smile, like he wasn’t just catching a quick nap but was purposefully claiming the comfiest place on the boat.

But, even so, I decided to go off-lectionary for this week’s children’s sermon. Inspiration struck last weekend at the PennWest annual meeting. As I gazed at the podium, which was decorated with a large UCC logo, I started to think about the meaning of each part of the symbol: the cross, the crown, the orb. Then I realized that our kids (and probably many of our adults) might not know what the logo means.

scan0023This afternoon I made a UCC logo puzzle (as much as it as would fit on my scanner is pictured at left). I downloaded a high-res image of the logo from the UCC Web site (linked above), and printed it out at 275% of its original size onto 11×17″ paper. I cut it out and traced the oval onto heavy cardstock to make a base for the puzzle. Then I glued the logo onto a second piece of heavy cardstock and cut out each part of the logo as a separate puzzle piece. Tomorrow morning before church, I’ll apply Velcro to each piece and to the base so that they will stick together.

Here’s what I’m planning to say:

Last week I went to a big meeting for people from churches all over Western Pennsylvania. It was kind of like a family reunion. Did you know that there are different families of churches? Another word for these families is “denominations.” Each family has its own way of worshipping, its own traditions, and its own understanding of what God is all about. One family of churches is the Roman Catholic churches. Another family is the Presbyterian churches. Another family is called the Methodists. Does anyone know what family of churches we belong to here at Smithfield?

Our church family, our denomination, is called the United Church of Christ. Sometimes we call it the UCC for short. There are United Church of Christ churches here in Pittsburgh, in other parts of Western Pennsylvania, and all over the United States. There are a lot of ways these churches are different, but in some important ways, they are the same. To learn more about the UCC this morning, let’s put together a puzzle of the UCC logo, a picture that teaches us more about our church family.

(Choose a child to draw a puzzle piece out of a bag. Place each piece on the puzzle base and discuss its meaning.)

CROSS: the cross reminds us of how Jesus died. But this cross is empty, which shows us that Jesus rose again from the dead and is still alive and at work in our world. The cross is right in the middle of the logo to show that Jesus is the most important person in our church.

CROWN: we believe that Jesus is the head of the church. I am not the head of the church. Mrs. Peggy Neal, the president of our congregation, is not the head of the church. Pastor Doug is not the head of the church. John Thomas, who is the president of the whole United Church of Christ, is not the head of the church. Only Jesus is the head of the church. To show that, we put a crown on top of the cross, to show that Jesus is Lord of all.

ORB: this circle is called an “orb.” It’s divided into three parts. Jesus told his disciples to bring good news to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth - in other words, to the whole world! In the United Church of Christ, we believe that God cares about the earth and all the people who live on it, even people who are very different from us.

THAT THEY MAY ALL BE ONE: these words are from the Bible. Jesus prayed that all his followers would be one - that they would be united and connected. In the United Church of Christ, we pray that prayer too. Everyone in the church doesn’t have to believe exactly the same things, or agree with everyone else on every question, but everyone needs to try to love one another.

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: the name of our church goes at the top. We are a united church, one big church made out of many smaller churches coming together. And we are a church of Christ, because we believe in Jesus and try to live the way that he taught.

When you go back to your pew today, I want you to look for this logo. I think you will find it in at least two places if you look hard for it. After church, show me where you found it!

Let’s say a prayer together: Dear God - thank you - for our church family - the United Church of Christ. - Just like Jesus - we pray that they may all be one - Amen.

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