Year A - Proper 14, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 7, 2011)

This week’s texts provide an embarrassment of riches for children.. Then, to add to the feast, the Episcopalians offer yet another intriguing set of readings.  To Matthew’s story about Jesus and Peter walking on the water in the middle of a storm, they add Jonah being tossed into the sea during an Old Testament storm, and Psalm 29 which celebrates the power of a storm.  This is a set of readings with a clear theme that worshipers of all ages can respond to from where they are – everywhere from trusting God in a season of storms to trusting God in all life’s storms (even the ones we, like Jonah, create).  If you pursue this…

At the very beginning of the service, maybe just before the Call to Worship, speak to the children (either in their pews or on the steps).  Talk briefly about weather storms describing how they scare us because they are so powerful.  Then, suggest that there are storms that have nothing to do with weather, e.g. fights between best friends or between brothers and sisters, even wars.  After very bluntly connecting the power and potential for harm in these different kinds of storms, urge the children to listen for all the storms in the songs, hymns, and stories today and to listen for ways we can face frightening storms of all sorts.

Go to Year A - Baptism of the Lord Sunday for suggestions about reading Psalm 29 with sound effects generated by the congregation and a stormy art project to be done in pews during worship.

If you are working with the Revised Common Lectionary readings…….

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

Children who are constantly pushed by their parents to get along better with their siblings LOVE THIS STORY.  There may have been times they wished a troublesome brother or sister would disappear, but few have seriously contemplated making it happen, much less done something about it.  The fact that such a story appears in the Bible leads them to think that God may understand the realities of their daily lives after all.

The story begs for dramatic presentation both so everyone can enjoy it and so the children get it.  This may be a day for a longer, more elaborate scripture presentation and a shorter sermon that really is commentary on the story.

At the very least tell (in your best story teller style) the stories of the coat and Joseph’s dreams as “two things you need to know about Joseph and his eleven older brothers before you hear today’s story.”  This could be done as a children’s time after which you send the children to their seats to listen the reading from the Bible.

Gather 12 older elementary, teenage, and young adult guys (and maybe a white haired man for Jacob) to pantomime the story.  If possible provide costumes.  If you do not have that many biblical costumes, have all but Joseph wear jeans and a white or dark colored  t shirt.  Have Joseph wear jeans and a very fancy shirt of some sort – maybe a tie-dyed t shirt or a tuxedo tucked or ruffled shirt?   In rehearsal work on showing feelings with your face and body.  Consider adding the coat and dream stories and omitting the stop at Dothan.  (This is one great male bonding opportunity!)     ---  FYI the Exodus text (the birth and adoption of Moses) on August 21 provides a similar opportunity for the girls and women.

Go to http://seedstuff.blogspot.com/2008/07/proper-14-ordinary-19-pentecost-13.html for a simple humorous, bring it to life, reading script for this story.  In an informal worship setting enlist readers during the service, handing out highlighted scripts.   (Another great resource from Ann Scull’s Mustard Seeds blog.)

If you use projections during worship consider using

Ø  The appropriate sections of “Joseph – King of Dreams” the animated DVD

Ø  Selected “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” songs

1.       Joseph’s Coat

2.       Joseph’s Dream

3.       Poor, Poor Joseph (Joseph is sold and ends up in prison in Egypt)

The Bible is not clear about what kind of coat Jacob gave Joseph.  Depending on the translation it was a fancy coat, a beautifully decorated coat, a coat with long sleeves (for one who does not have to work), or a coat of many colors.  Point out to the children that the Bible was written in another language centuries ago and no one knows exactly what kind of coat it was.  Name some of the possibilities, then explain that whatever kind of coat it was, it did cause trouble.  From there ask what causes jealousy between siblings today – electronic gadgets, special shoes or clothes, special privileges, special lessons or teams,  anything I would like to have but can’t and my sibling can.  These things make brothers and sisters everywhere say aloud or grumpily to themselves – “It is not fair!”

from The Family Story Bible
by Ralph Milton

Children sympathize with the brothers.  Joseph was an arrogant, pain.  They also had a legitimate complaint against their father who was playing favorites.  It wasn’t fair that Joseph got the fancy coat and they had their old clothes.  It wasn’t fair that the youngest brother was not required to work with the others and was actually sent to check up on them.  Where the brothers got into trouble was when they used an unfair strategy (selling their defenseless brother) to get what seemed only fair for themselves.  That is something for children to remember today.  It also worth highlighting Judah and Ruben’s attempt to save Joseph as proof of how hard it sometimes is to be a peacemaker.

Create a prayer of confession about all the ways we get as mad as the brothers were in our families, communities, even in our world. 

Psalm 105:1-6,16-22, 45b

This psalm assumes the readers already know the rest of the story of Joseph.  Many do not.  So, either omit it or read it suggesting that listeners look for clues about what lies ahead for Joseph and his brothers and promising that you will pick up that story next Sunday. 

OR

Introduce this psalm as a long story poem that might have been told as families sat around their fires or on their roofs on summer evenings (before DVDs, computers, TVs, or even books).  People sat around telling stories about what was important in life.  They enjoyed retelling those stories in new beautiful ways.  This psalm told the story from Abraham through Moses.  We’ll just read the beginning and the verses about Joseph.  Everyone responds with 45b, as family might have done after the story at night.

1 Kings 19:9-18

This story raises the question “How does God speak to us?”  Literal thinking children assume that when the Bible says God spoke, people heard God with their ears.  When adults around them use this same language they assume those adults hear God speak with their ears and wonder why God never speaks to them that way.  Often they conclude that they are not good enough for God to speak to.  This story provides an opportunity to explore all this.  Point out that the Hebrew slaves knew God was with them as they left Egypt and started across the desert because there was a tall column of fire in from of them at night.  But when the fire came past Elijah on the mountain, God was not there.  When the disciples were hiding out after Jesus was resurrected there was a strong wind that blew through them and they felt God explaining to them who Jesus was, but when the wind passed Elijah on the mountain, God was not in it.  Some people have felt God with them in earthquakes, but not Elijah.  Then read the NRSV translation that says Elijah heard God in “the sound of sheer silence.”  Clearly explain that sometimes we know God is telling us something, even when we do not hear a word with our ears.  We feel God telling us deep inside us. 

Psalm 85:8-13

This psalm is so full of metaphorical language that it makes little sense to children.  It appears again in Year B on the Second Sunday of Advent when it fits the texts in ways that can more easily interpreted to children.  I’d wait until then to explore it with children.

Romans 10:5-15

Children don’t understand Paul’s problems with legalism.  Preschool children believe the “biggest” person  present makes the rules and everyone else follows them.  It’s just the way it works.  Elementary school children begin to understand that rules are set by the community and can be negotiated (hence the game playing sessions in which more time is spent arguing about the rules than playing the game).  They also believe that good people obey the rules and will tell you with conviction that they keep the important rules like the 10 commandments perfectly.  They simply cannot grasp Paul’s more ”experienced” concerns about the problems with “living by the rules.”  That will have to wait a few years for them.

Matthew 14:22-33

Like the Genesis text, this story begs for dramatic presentation.

Read it dramatically reading faster and louder as the storm grows.  Say “It’s a ghost” like you think the disciples might have said it.  Pause when the storm ceases and read the rest in a very calm voice. 

To get the congregation “in the boat with the disciples” tell them to pretend they are not sitting in a pew/chair but in a boat.  When all are aboard, push off, enjoy bobbing around in the water,  even do some rowing together.  Then, notice the storm coming at you across the water.  Rock and roll as the waves and wind build.  Hold onto the sides of the boat.  Remark on water coming into the boat.  Then, point in fear at an imaginary Jesus coming across the water.  Tell what Peter did.  Once Peter and Jesus are back in the boat, whip your arm in a stop signal and quietly say “the winds stopped”  and read the last verse.  (This could be a children’s time, but is more effectively done as the real gospel "reading" with the whole congregation.)

The key word is FAITH.  Children understand it best as trusting God.  Trust is almost a better word for them because it is more familiar. 

Introduce FAITH and TRUST at the beginning of the service.  Briefly define them and urge children to listen for them in the prayers, readings, songs, and stories of the day.  For big impact, put a real boat in the center of the sanctuary.  Equip it with a large paper sail on which is printed FAITH and/or TRUST and any other synonyms that you will be using today.  Or, display a large drawing of boat with the same sail.

If your children are among those going back to school in early August, use this story to talk about all the things you can do (master new subjects, learn new skills, make new friends…) if you are willing to try.  Instead of being hard on Peter for flunking water walking, praise him for trying while the others stayed in the boat.  Note that God made us able to learn and do many amazing things.  We need to trust God enough to try new things.  (Be sure to point out that this does not mean we can do anything – like jump off a building expecting to fly like Superman.  God gave us brains and expects us to use them to figure out what to try and what to avoid.)

Common childhood experiences that parallel this story of faith include

-          Riding a bicycle for the first time without training wheels

-          Realizing that you are halfway across the pool the first time you try to swim all the way across the pool in the deep end

-          Realizing what you are doing in the middle of standing up to a bully,

       even if he/she is responding well

-          Realizing what you are doing halfway through your recital piece

      (people often lose their concentration and mess up when this happens)

-          Realizing what you are doing the first time you stay home on your own

If all the talk of the sea leads you to sing “Eternal Father Strong to Save” begin by pointing out that it is a prayer for people who spend a lot of time on the sea.  List or ask the congregation to help you list some of these people (sailors, fishing crews, scientists studying the ocean, travelers on cruise ships, people who work on off-shore oil well platforms, etc.) before singing the song together.

Two hymns about trusting God:

“I Sing the Mighty Power of God”  answers the question “why can we trust God” with examples of God’s great power and loving care.  So suggest that it is a good song to sing when we are doing something new and scary.

The short hymn “Give to the Winds Thy Fears” is another good song for scary moments.  Especially if it is unfamiliar to the congregation, read through the words stopping to put a few phrases into your own words for clarity.  Then, invite the congregation to sing it thinking about the disciples in the boat or themselves in a scary situation.

If your children are going back to school soon, go to my Back To School! post.

Year A - The Second Sunday in Lent (March 20, 2011)

Today’s texts include several good stories.  The trick is not to lose the children in discussing those stories by using too many abstract theological terms.  Faith, salvation, and grace are all related and woven through the stories.  If they are all used in subtly different ways during worship, children will get lost.  So, select one of them to highlight this week.  My choice would be faith.  Faith is living like you are God’s person.  Faith is living your life trusting God every day.   Faith includes living by God’s rules and trusting God to love you and forgive you when you mess up.  Faith means living like Jesus. 

I’m beginning to think that each Sunday of Lent this year has a key word and that it would be possible to let that word “sponsor” each week in the same way a letter sponsors each edition of Sesame Street.  Go to the First Sunday in Lent for ideas about featuring the word each week.  If you do a poster for faith, consider putting big shoes or boots for people of all ages across the bottom of it to illustrate the fact that faith is about what we do and where we go.

One way to use these stories is to compare Abraham and Nicodemus as God’s faithful adventurers.  When God called Abraham,  Abraham left everything he knew to move to a place that had not been named.  That is brave and bold.  Nicodemus on the other hand had heard Jesus, thought he was right about a lot of things, but was very cautious.  He brought his questions to Jesus at night when no one would see him and maybe make fun of him.  That is not very adventuresome.  Abraham is the hero.  While wanting to be like Abraham, we are encouraged to know that Nicodemus did later act more bravely.  He stood up for Jesus at his trial and he helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus’ body after he was killed. 

There are lots of hymns about living faithfully. 

Probably the best for children is “Open My Eyes That I May See” in which we are called to use all the parts of our bodies to pay attention to God and what God is doing in the world. 

When the image of God’s Spirit as wind or breath is briefly explored, children sing “Spirit of the Living God” as the prayer it is meant to be. 

“The Lone Wild Bird” is a poet’s song about trusting God.  Before singing it invite worshipers to imagine themselves flying in migration like a bird or to remember times they have felt as “on their own” as a bird flying alone.  Any of these hymns could also have been sung by Abraham or Nicodemus.

Genesis 12:1-4a

Abram (and Sara) are the examples of faithful living.  They are God’s adventurers.  In their old age they set out for a new life in an unknown country. 

Suggestion: unless you really want to explain about the name change and decide when to speak of Abraham – as Paul does – and when to speak about Abram as this text does, simply call him Abraham today. 

Ask an elderly man who is active in the congregation’s ministries to read this passage.  (For fun, find one who is exactly 75 years old and note his age before he reads.) 

To further explore God’s call to us at all times in our lives, ask individuals of several different ages and life situations to reread this short story.  Then ponder how God’s call feels different in different situations, but is just as real.   Or, print the text in the bulletin and invite the entire congregation to read it together substituting their own name for Abraham’s.  Either of these could be done at scripture reading time or within the sermon.

Mark Gellman’s Does God Have a Big Toe? is a delightful collection of midrashim, stories about stories in the Old Testament.  In “Finding the Right Man” he suggests that God might have called several people who turned the offer down before Abraham accepted it.  The reason for rejecting God’s offer that children can understand is “what’s in it for me (rather than for my great grandchildren)?”  The other reasons make more sense to adults.  Using Gellman’s approach, explore other reasons for turning down God’s offer that children will understand.

Abraham might have said, “I’m too old!  I am 75 years old.  I’m not as strong and able as I once was.  I have aches and pains.  Thanks for asking, but I do wish you had asked maybe thirty years ago.”

Another person might have said, “I’m too young!  Everyone would laugh at me if I packed up what little I have to go to a place I can’t name just because you asked me to.  Give me a few years, the ask me again.”

Yet another person might have said, “That sounds too hard!  I’m not sure how to start.  I’ve never traveled before.  I don’t know what to take and I wouldn’t know how to act in new places with new people.  It would be scary.”

After exploring all the reasons for not doing what God asked, either point out that Abraham simply went or explore possible reasons for Abraham (and for us) to go, e.g.

God called ME to start a great nation!  God knows that I am alive and chose ME for a big job.  Wow!

God NEEDS ME to do something important!  I could keep on doing what I’ve been doing all my life which is OK.  Or, I could do something that is important to God.  God said the whole world would be blessed by what I do.  I could really count for something. 

This sounds like a really, big scary deal.  But if it is important to God, I am guessing will GOD WILL BE WITH ME, helping me when I need help.  So I won’t be on my own.  It might just work.

“The God of Abraham Praise” is an obvious hymn choice for this week.  Unfortunately, children are quickly lost in its unfamiliar, big words used to state reasons for praise in rather complex ways. 

Psalm 121

This is one of the psalms pilgrims sang as they trudged up the steep, dangerous road to festivals at the Temple in Jerusalem.  Verse 1, “I lift up my eyes to the hills - from where will my help come?” is the question pilgrims asked themselves.  The rest of the psalm is a collection of answers with which they gathered their courage as they walked.

To get people into the picture, set the scene.  Ask them to imagine themselves on the road.  Point to the mountains that surround you, the rocks behind which bandits are known to hide, and the steep hot road to be climbed.  Get a member who has been there to describe the scene.  Or, project pictures of the road.  Then ask the congregation to stand to read the psalm in unison, perhaps even walking in place as they read.

Abraham and Sarah lived long before this psalm was composed, but I bet there were plenty of times as they traveled when they could have prayed the psalm.  Pray it imagining yourselves in Abraham and Sarah’s sandals. 

And/or make a list of situations in which the psalm is needed today e.g.  the first day at a new school, going away to camp alone, walking down a scary street on your own, doing something new and rather scary…

Tell a story about a time when your congregation did something brave for God and might have needed to sing this psalm.  One church I served started an integrated elementary school in its building during the civil rights era.  Another church that traces its roots back to colonial times, found itself one Sunday during worship surrounded by Indians in war paint.

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Paul here is concerned about how Abraham was justified or saved.  For children the simple fact is that God does not love Abraham because Abraham did what God asked.  God loved Abraham long before God called him to move.  Even if Abraham had decided not to move, God would still have loved him.  To illustrate this point pass out heart stickers for people to wear on the back of a hand.  If you do this during a children’s time, you can personally stick a heart on each child’s hand saying “God loves you” as you do.  However, it is more effective if the hearts are passed out to everyone in the congregation and worshipers are asked to put a sticker on a neighbor’s hand saying the words “God loves you.”

Abraham did not obey God in order to get God to love him.  He obeyed God because he loved and trusted God and was willing to try out what God wanted.  So, talk about how we do hard things for people we love just because we love them.  For children examples include

Ø  playing a dumb game with a younger brother or sister just because he/she loves that game

Ø  putting a friend who is not very good at it on your team to play a game

Ø  letting your grandparent tell you old stories that you have heard before, but he/she like to tell

John 3:1-17

Children sympathize with Nicodemus.  Nicodemus came to Jesus with literal, left brained questions and Jesus answered him with poetic metaphors.  They understand Jesus’ answers about a second birth and the wind no more than Nicodemus did.  For them the part that makes sense is verses 16-17.  Here Jesus says to Nicodemus and to them that God loves you and everyone.  Indeed God is more interested in loving us than in judging us.  You can trust God to be like this.

This is another reason to use the hearts stickers described in the Romans section above.

Jesus is talking with Nicodemus about faith.  Behind what he says is the definition of faith as the way you live your life.  It is about what you do every day, not what you think.  Believing and doing are inseparable.  For example, you can think you can ride a two wheeler, but until you actually try to do it, thinking it isn’t worth much.  In the same way, you can say that God is in charge of the world and loves everyone, but until you start living like that every day, it doesn’t mean much. 

Being faithful often involves taking some risks.  Jesus is also trying to get Nicodemus to be braver about what he is thinking about God and Jesus.  Instead of coming to talk to Jesus at night, he wants him to be among Jesus’ followers during the day, no matter what others say.  At the end of this story we don’t know how Nicodemus responded.  Later we learn that he stood up for Jesus during his trial before the Jewish religious leaders (that’s brave!) and that after Jesus was crucified he helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus ‘s body (another brave act!)

Sing “There’s A Wideness in God’s Mercy” to celebrate God’s love in verses 16-17 after pointing out that “mercy” is another word for “love” and urging singers to pay attention to all the things we are singing about God’s love.

Matthew 17:1-9

For ideas about this text go to Transfiguration Sunday.