Year A - Proper 11, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 17, 2011)

Genesis 28:10-19a

This text needs a context to make sense.  Before hearing it, listeners need to be reminded of the feuding brothers we met last week and hear the story of Jacob and his mother tricking his father Isaac into giving him brother Esau’s blessing.  One way to do this is to invite the children forward and tell the story in your best storyteller style.  End with Rebekah hurrying Jacob away from the furious Esau out into the desert with directions to his Uncle Laban’s house – a long way away.  Then send them back to their seats to listen to what happened next as you read it from the Bible.

Genesis 28:10-19a and Psalm 139:1-12,23-24

Jacob says “Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.”  The Psalmist says that God knows me completely and is with me wherever I go. 

Instead of gathering prayer concerns, gather where I will be or what I will be doing this week statements from worshipers of all ages.  Start it by describing briefly someplace you will be or something you will do during the coming week, then saying “Surely the Lord is in this place.”  Ask one or two others to say where they will be responding to each with “Surely the Lord is in this place.”  Then, hear statements from the congregation.  Depending on the number of worshipers, you (or the whole congregation) can repeat the phrase after each statement or wait until all the plans for the week are named before repeating the phrase for the group. 

The Runaway Bunny, by Margaret Wise Brown, is a conversation between a young bunny who is planning to run away and his mother who promises to come after him no matter where he goes.  In the end he decides he might as well stay home.  There is an easy connection between the mother bunny and God who comes after us and supports wherever we go.  It can be read aloud in 3 or 4 minutes - unless you take time to look at the art and ponder it a bit with worshipers. 

The book could be read as a bedtime story for Jacob as he falls asleep away from home with a rock for a pillow in the middle of the desert or it can be read as another poet’s version of Psalm 139.

Saint Patrick’s Breastplate is yet another way of saying what the psalmist says and what Jacob learned in the desert.  Introduce it to children by inviting them to copy your motions as you read it slowly.  Use it again at the benediction either leading the whole congregation in the movements or asking the children to come stand with you and lead the congregation in the benediction.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Christ with me (hug yourself),

Christ before me (both palms up in front of you),

Christ behind me (arms behind you),

Christ in me (hands over heart),

Christ beneath me (spread legs and firm your stance),

Christ above me (hands over head),

Christ on my right (hand out to right),

Christ on my left, (hand out to left)

Christ when I lie down

       (make a pillow with your hands and lay your head in it),

Christ when I sit down (sit down),

Christ when I arise (stand up),

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me (point to head),

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me (point to mouth),

Christ in every eye that sees me (point to eyes),

Christ in every ear that hears me (point to ears).

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Romans 8:12-25

The idea of being a full member of God’s family is the most child-accessible idea in this passage.  Do not however, expect children to hear it as the text is read.  Instead, talk about what it means to be a member of a family.  On the good days family members take care of each other and enjoy being together.  Families make their home together.  Some families run a business together, some garden together, some share interests and concerns that they work on together.  They celebrate holidays and sometimes go on vacations together.  Even on the bad days, families take care of each other and work together.  If someone in the family gets sick or if there isn’t enough money, everyone in the family is involved.  Then read the Good News Translation of verses 14-17 in which the family language is much clearer.  The key points are

1.      God doesn’t say to us that we can be God’s slaves or servants or even that God will keep us around as long as we do well.  Instead God says that we are part of the family now and forever, no matter what.

2.      Because we are part of God’s family, we can expect to enjoy the happy days in the family.  But we must also be ready to stick with the family when the going gets hard.  We have to take care of members of the family who need us and we have to stand up for the family.  When I was growing up and wanted to do something that my parents knew I should not, I often said, “but all the other kids are….” to which my father frequently replied, “but you are not all the other kids.  You are a Carter girl and the Carters do not….”

If you are also reading the story of Jacob, point out that even after all he did God did not kick Jacob out of the family.  Instead, God promised to stick with him throughout his life and even told him that through him everyone in the world would be blessed.  Jacob is a good person to remember when we feel like we should be kicked out of God’s family.

Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

Before reading this parable, display a collection of photographs of blooming plants.  Ask worshipers to identify those that are flowers and those that are weeds.  Include a few like a dandelion that are familiar weeds.  But also include some questionable ones, e.g. Queen Anne’s Lace used to be considered a weed, but is now grown in some gardens.  Conclude that is very hard to know what is weed and what is a desirable flower.  Then read the parable.

Or, challenge a gardener to create a floral display in which weeds and flowers are intermingled.  During worship have a conversation with him or her about which are which.  Note how hard it is for most people, even good gardeners, to tell them apart.  Then read the parable.

Severus Snape

In the Harry Potter books there are several evil people (total weeds), but there are many more people whose loyalties are questionable.  Severus Snape was a teacher everyone hated and seemed often to be on the side of evil.  Repeatedly during the books, Dumbledore warns Harry that his dislike of Snape may not be fair.  In the end he is proven to be a hero.  Likewise, the whole Malfoy family (Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco) in the end is left among the bystanders.  They harbored serious prejudices against all who were not pure-blooded wizards and were allied with Lord Voldemort, but they loved each other and sacrificed to save others in several crisis situations.  J. K. Rowling, like Jesus, warns people not to write other people off as “evil weeds.”  In the parable Jesus insists that it is God who judges.  We are to withhold judgment because we cannot see everything.

Year A - The Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 29, 2011)

On this Sunday it seems a long time since Easter Day and for the last week or two we have been out of the post-resurrection stories.  So, it might help to retrace the arc of the season’s stories.  Present pictures of biblical events and challenge worshipers to put them in chronological order.  Or, present them in order walking people through the season.  Then, look ahead to the coming Ascension and Pentecost celebrations setting them in relation to Easter.  

Pictures to include: crucifixion, empty tomb, Thomas, Emmaus, Ascension, Pentecost.

 

If school is ending in your area this week, include that in your worship.  There are text-specific ideas in this post and more general suggestions in a “Schools Out!” article that will posted at the end of April under a new index that will be called the Popcorn Index.

Acts 17:22-31

Paul speaks about “the unknown God” who is bigger than anything we can imagine or carve or paint.  It is a good time to ponder the mystery of God who is more than we can understand. 

For children the story of the blind men defining an elephant based on the one part they got hold of is a good starting point.  There are some things we know about God, e.g. God created the whole universe, is totally good, and all powerful.  But there is lots we don’t know about God.  To keeping them thinking, I talk with children about “used to thinks” about God.  I tell them I used to think that God was like a very old wise man.  Now I think God is neither man nor woman but both and more than both.  You might recall the blind man who first held the elephants tail, then imagine that he was led to its ear.  He might say, “I used to think an elephant was a rope, now I know it is more than a rope.  I wonder else it is.”  In an informal setting in which you can be sure the children won’t be laughed at, invite them to share their “used to thinks” about God. 

R The name God gave Moses was “I am who I am, I will be who I will be.”  People called God the great I AM.  Again, ponder the mystery that God is more than we can understand.
  
 R It’s a good Sunday to explore and sing “Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise.”  Before singing take time to enjoy some of the big mysterious words and phrases describing God.  Say them aloud together.  Talk briefly what words such as immortal, invisible, un-resting, un-hasting say about God here. Put some of the poetic phrases (“in light inaccessible hid from our sight”) into your own words.  Then sing about and to this "bigger than we can understand" God. 

Psalm 66:8-20

This is a psalm of praise written after a time of testing.  Older children and youth have been through a time of testing at the conclusion of the school year.  Connect their testing to that mentioned in the psalm and elsewhere in the Bible.  Then invite children to create their own psalm of praise for God celebrating the end of the school year.  Suggest that they write or draw things that were hard about school and things that they really liked.  Provide a titled page with shadowed lines that could be used for writing with space remaining for surrounding illustrations or could be ignored with pictures drawn all over the page.

!@#!@#!@#!@#!@#!@#!@#!

I Praise you God at the end of this school year!

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

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!@#!@#!@#!@#!@#!@#!@#!

1 Peter 3:13-22

This passage includes two themes that speak to children.  The first is that we need to be ready and willing to stand up for Jesus and be able to say why we are doing it.  This is especially important as children get ready for summer when there are new opportunities to stand up at camps, pools, even in free time at home.  Peter urges us to be brave in standing for what is right and to be gentle with others as we do it.  Two examples,

Runner Eric Liddell (“Chariots of Fire”) refused to run in an Olympic race he very much wanted to run because it was scheduled on Sunday.  Eric believed that playing sports on Sunday was disrespectful to God.  So, he calmly announced that he would not run.  He had to be brave because lots of people got really angry with him.  He was however gentle.  He didn’t scream and shout about how wrong the Olympic officials were to schedule the race on Sunday.  He simply said that he would not run because much as he loved racing, he respected God more.

 The Empty Pot, by Demi, tells of an Emperor who announced that he would choose to succeed him the child who grew the most beautiful plant from the seed he gave them.  Ping, who was very good with plants, did everything he could, but his seed would not grow.  Frustrated, but honest, on the set day he placed his empty pot among the pots of other children which were filled with lush green plants.  The emperor went immediately to the empty pot asking the boy to explain why it was empty.  In response to Ping’s honest account of what he had done and what had happened (his witness), the emperor revealed that all of the seeds had been cooked so they would not grow.  He was looking for a brave, honest boy who would become a brave, honest leader – and found him.

R The second theme is Peter’s insistence that even though at times it will look as if the bad guys are winning, God will win in the end.  This is the best Easter Good News for young children.  So begin exploring this theme by wishing everyone Happy Easter and reminding them of what happened.  On Friday it looked like the bad guys had won.  They had killed Jesus and sealed his dead body in a tomb.  All Jesus’ friends were frightened and sad.  Then on Sunday, Jesus came straight out of that tomb proving that God is more powerful than the worst evil.  This is an important Easter message from God to remember every time it looks like the bad guys are winning and we are feeling hopeless.  It is also important to remember when the bad guys are winning and we are tempted to join them.

John 14:15-21

R This is a hard text for children to follow as it is read.  Verse 20 is probably the key verse for them.  “I am in my Father, you are in me and I am in you.”  We, God and Jesus are so close we are “in” each other.  To help concrete thinkers explore this, talk briefly about how close we are to a best friend, to a brother or sister, to a parent…  (If you are seated together on the steps scrunch close together, leaning against each other.)  Then claim that God is even closer.  Admit that it is hard to think about God who is bigger than the whole universe being inside us, but insist that it is true.  Recall or sing a couple of verses of the song “I Have a Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart” to celebrate this closeness of Jesus, God and us.

I have a joy, joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart….

I have the love of Jesus, love of Jesus down in my heart…

Even

And if the devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tack…and stay.

R Olympic runner Eric Liddell (“Chariots of Fire”) described his closeness to God saying, “God made me run and when I run fast, I feel his (God’s) pleasure.”  Encourage worshipers to imagine God enjoying with them the things they love to do most. 

If you use this in a children’s time with a smallish number of children, begin by inviting them to run all the way around the perimeter of the sanctuary or down the center aisle and back to their place. Compliment them on their speed and style. Then tell them about Eric Liddell.

R After exploring Jesus’ living in us and us in him, introduce the idea that we are Jesus’ hands and feet today.  We are to do what Jesus would do if he were in his body today.  List together some of the things Jesus did and identify specific ways we can do those things today – making friends with people who need friends, forgiving others, sharing food and other stuff with people who need it, etc.  Note that none of this is easy, but it what we are called to do as Jesus’ hands and feet and that as we do it we have Jesus’ promise that he is with us.

Children packing disaster relief supplies

R Greek students point out that “in us” can also be translated “among us.”  So identify ways God is “in us” and we are “in God” at church.  Be specific – singing, praying, and doing God’s work in our area and the whole world.  Describe some activities in which children are involved explaining how God is “in us” and we are “in God” as we do them. 

R An end of school take on this verse is the obvious-to-adults, but worth-saying-again-to-children fact that God is “in them” and they are “in God” always – during the school year and during the summer.  Identify some of the many things children are looking forward to doing during the summer.  After each one say, “God will be in you and you in God at…”.  You might also explore the fact that they are Jesus’ hands and feet and voice everywhere they go this summer and challenge them to act accordingly.

Year A - The Fourth Sunday in Lent (April 3, 2011)

Today’s texts are filled with images of light and vision.  Poetry and metaphor abound.  To avoid losing the children entirely, think carefully about the images you use.  Select one or two rather than include every  one of them.  The images that make most sense to children include

Ø  God sees us.  God saw the overlooked David.  Jesus saw the blind beggar.

Ø  God sees us as we are “on the inside,” not just the way we look “on the outside.”  (See the David story)

Ø  John’s word play about the Pharisees “not seeing” works well in English.  In everyday English, “I see” or “I get it” means “I understand.”  When it is laid out in detail, children enjoy the joke that the Pharisees, were blind or couldn’t see (understand) what happened to the blind man.  The joke continues in the Old Testament reading when “Samuel, the Seer” fails to see the one God has chosen to be king.

Ø  “Children of the light” or “children of darkness” are simply titles for God’s people and those who are not God’s people.  They are more like team colors than a meaningful description of the team.

Children get overwhelmed by some light images.

Ø  “I am the light of the world.”  For literal thinkers, the sun, the moon, the stars, and electricity are the lights of the world.  It is almost impossible for them to grasp light as spiritual understanding or moral guidance.  Forget lighthouses, searchlights, flashlights, etc. as object lessons.  The children just don’t see the connections.

Ø  Spiritual blindness is an idea that will simply have to wait for young brains to develop more fully. 

Ø  “Doing deeds in the light” is doing them where they can be seen. 

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Children who are shuttled off to eat in the kitchen while the grownups eat in the dining room, children who  get left at home when older family members do interesting-sounding things, and children who feel themselves always “less than” their older siblings love in this story!  It promises them that God does not overlook them, sees them as they are, and appreciates them.  The story was probably set on the fourth Sunday of Lent as encouragement to those who are struggling with keeping Lenten disciplines.  And, there are similarities between the fourth Sunday in Lent and this point in the school year.  To those who are struggling, the end of the year is very distant.  Teachers and other students have decided who you are and what you will do.  They don’t seem to see the real you and all your efforts.  In such a stuck situation, hearing that God knows and appreciates the real you is Good News indeed!

To bring this story to life, have it read and pantomimed by a group of men and boys.  The seven brothers can simply step forward and stand in place (maybe in the military “at ease” pose) as the story is read.  Old Samuel looks at each one shaking his head with surprise.  Finally, younger David is brought in, kneels to be anointed, then goes back to the sheep.  A rehearsal will be needed and should be a fun connecting time for the group.

One lectionary commentator explained the British Mothering Day custom of families worshiping together on the fourth Sunday of Lent.  He suggested building the entire service, including a child friendly sermon,  around this story so that children who are often sent away from the sanctuary can remain and worship with their mothers.  He rightly contends that people of all generations respond to this message.  Those who celebrate Mother’s Day in May might want to save this story and his idea for use then.

Psalm 23

Children who are regulars in church school are usually well versed in shepherds and recognize most of the shepherd references in this psalm.  For other urban children shepherds are fierce guard dogs.  They need a more thorough introduction.  A walking stick (rod) and shepherd’s crook (even one from a swimming pool) can be used to demonstrate the shepherd’s work and to explain why having a shepherd with those tools handy would be a comfort. 

After he was anointed, David was sent back to take care of the sheep.  When his brothers got sent to fight the Philistines, David had to say behind.  He made it to the front lines only to carry food to his big brothers.  When Psalm 23 is read as a David’s prayer while he was back with his sheep, it is possible to hear “you anoint my head with oil” more as a memory of what happened and an appreciation of the fact that God has plans for him than as a reference to first aid for sheep.  Children can imagine David back with his sheep, happily recalling being singled out and wondering what that anointing would mean for him.

Remember that for children a cup that runs over is a disaster, not an over abundance of the good things in life.

Print the words of the psalm in large print at the center of a piece of paper. Give copies and crayons to children inviting them (and other worshipers?) to illustrate the psalm during worship.  Suggest that they either underline one or two phrases to illustrate or that they surround the psalm with pictures from their own lives of times when they need to remember the psalm.  Ask children to show you their work as they leave the sanctuary or invite them to post it on a door or bulletin board near the sanctuary.

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

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

²     He makes me lie down in green pastures;

he leads me beside still waters;

³     he restores my soul.

He leads me in right paths

for his name’s sake.

⁴     Even though I walk through the darkest valley,

I fear no evil;

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff—

they comfort me.

⁵     You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

⁶     Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

my whole life long.

New Revised Standard Version

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There are many musical versions of Psalm 23.  Many however use the King James vocabulary that few children know.  Probably the first choice is “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want” (Scottish Psalter) because the tune is familiar to the congregation and because the words are closest to today’s English.  “The Lord’s My Shepherd, All My Need” (Christopher L. Webber, 1986) has easier vocabulary but the tune is less familiar.  Finally, “He Leadeth Me, O Blessed Thought” is a meditation on the theme of the psalm with an easy to read and understand repeated chorus. 

It is also a fact that each congregation has its favorite Psalm 23 hymn which is sung with a passion children hear.  If you select such a song knowing that children will have trouble with some of the vocabulary, in a brief introduction explain one or two key words or phrases before inviting the congregation to sing it.

Ephesians 5:8-14

The light and dark images here keep children from Paul’s point which they need to hear.  Simply put, Paul is telling us not to do or say anything that we don’t want everyone in the world to know we did or said.  This is one time when straight talk is most understandable.

John 9:1-41

A call to worship is supposed to get people ready to worship.  If you will be worshiping using vision vocabulary and images, begin by alerting especially young worshipers to that fact.  Together brainstorm words related to vision (eyes, see, light, vision, watch, etc.).  Add any words you will use, but that no one else mentions.  Encourage worshipers to watch for them in the readings, prayers and songs of the days.  Suggest that they underline all the vision words they see in their bulletins.  Then sing one or more verses of “Open My Eyes That I May See” to call yourselves to worship.

This is another of those long, complex stories that are more easily followed when they are pantomimed by actors and actresses who can show what is going on with their faces and gestures.  Older teenagers and adults do this best.  A worship leader reads from the lectern as the actors work.  They may work in a confined space front and center of the sanctuary.  Or, following the story, they might move to different parts of the sanctuary for the scenes of healing, community response, discussion with the Pharisees, and final scene with Jesus.

Much of the discussion about light and seeing in this story is beyond children.  But, the way people did or did not really see the blind man offers older children an appropriate  challenge. 

Though the blind man had been begging outside the Temple for years, the Temple leaders had paid him so little attention that they did not recognize him when he was not in his usual place.  They had seen him with their eyes, but not paid him any attention. 

Jesus on the other hand, saw him and paid him attention.  He treated him as a real person.  In response to his need, Jesus healed him.  Later, when he went looking for the man after he got thrown out of the Temple, he did not need anyone to point him out.  He remembered what he looked like. 

The challenge is to be like Jesus, i.e. to really “see” people.   Encourage children to think of people they meet everyday such as bus drivers, school cafeteria workers, the library lady, grocery store cashiers, even beggars by the road, etc.  Identify some ways they can let those people know they are important to you, e.g. learning their names and then calling them by name, smiling at them, thanking them for what they do for you… 

This could be a children’s sermon, but will probably lose the younger children.  It is better as part of the “real” sermon in which children as well as adults are challenged and children learn that sermons might be for them, too. 

One way to enable people to “see” the homeless in their community is to give them a specific way to respond.  Make meal coupons or gift cards to local fast food restaurants available for purchase by church members.  Members keep them in their cars to give to homeless people they encounter begging by the side of the road.

Year A - The Third Sunday in Lent (March 27, 2011)

There are a lot of thirsty people in today’s texts.  To get worshipers of all ages thinking about thirst slaking water, borrow a bubbling fountain to display prominently in the worship center.  As the service begins urge the worshipers to listen both to the fountain and for all the thirsty people in worship today.  Offer as a hint, that some of the people are thirsty for water and some of the people are thirsty for something else.  If it fits your theme, encourage them to ponder what they are thirsty for.  During some of the prayers, leave silence in which people can simply listen to the fountain and remember God’s life giving love.

Exodus 17: 1-7

The key to presenting this story to children is Moses’ staff.  It is the staff that connects this story to all the important preceding Exodus stories.  Moses’ staff was turned into a snake at the burning bush.  Aaron turned the staff into a snake which ate the staff/snakes of the Egyptian magicians.  The staff dipped into the Nile turned it into blood.  Held over the Nile, it produced frogs.  Pounded on the dust, it produced gnats.  Moses raised it producing the great hail storm and later the swarm of grasshoppers.  Then, Moses held it out to divide the Sea so that God’s people could pass through safely beyond Pharaoh and his army.  So, bring a large walking stick to display during worship.  With it illustrate a brief account of how Moses used it on the escape from Egypt.  Then read Exodus 17:1-7 emphasizing, maybe picking up the staff as you read, the phrase "take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go..." (NRSV)  

I think God used Moses’ staff to remind people that just as God had been with them in the escape from Egypt, God was with them in the hard times in the wilderness.  God would be with them always. 

FYI - “Aaron’s Rod” in Wikipedia notes Jewish, Christian, and Muslim use of this staff that may be fodder for more adult exploration of the staff as a symbol of God’s powerful presence.

To set listeners up for Psalm 95, point out the significance of the names of the well and urge them to listen for those names in another scripture today.  Also note that God’s people camped there for a long time, maybe years, and drew water from that well every day.  Imagine going to a well that reminds you that you tested and quarreled with God about drinking water.

Psalm 95

Read this psalm AFTER exploring the Exodus story.

Start by reading verses 7c-11.  Note the names of the well and the connection to the Exodus story.  Briefly, celebrate being biblical scholars!  Then read the entire psalm.  It could be read by one reader, in unison by God’s people (the congregation), or the separate praises of verses 1-7b could be read by a series of readers with verses 7c – 11 read by another more pensive reader.  The latter would be a good worship leadership opportunity for an older children’s or youth class.

Romans 5:1-11

What Paul might have said to the children:

There is something you need to know that we grownups don’t like to talk about a lot.  Bad things are going to happen to you.  You are going to get sick or hurt.  People you love are going to get sick or hurt.  Or, those people are going to hurt you by what they do.  You may get caught up in war or be the victim of a crime.  Bad stuff like that just happens.  Also, sometimes when you try to do good important things, things that God wants, you might get hurt.  Paul got beaten up for preaching.  Some people in the middle East have been beaten up, even killed, this month for protesting against unjust rulers.  So, you need to know that bad things will happen to you during your life.  You can count on that.

But, you also need to know that God will be with you when those things happen.  You can count on that too.  Sometimes it won’t feel like God is there.  It is easy to get mad at God when bad things are happening.  We yell, “Why don’t you stop it, God?”   We worry that God must not love us if this is happening to us.  We wonder if we are so bad that God is punishing by letting the bad things happen to us.  Sometimes, we even wonder if God is there at all.  At times like this it is important to remember that God loves us always and is with us even when the bad stuff happens. (Say it again, slowly for emphasis.) God may even be working through us to take care of the world.  We can count on that.  We have to depend on our heads to remember this even when our feelings can’t.

Remember, even Jesus got whipped, nailed to a cross, and died.  But that was not the end of his story.  He was raised on Easter.  It is the same with us.  The bad times are never the end of our stories.  Remember that.

Paul might have gathered the children to tell them this.  Or, in the middle of talking to the adults  (aka , “the sermon”) he might have said, “Children, this is for you.  Listen up.” 

We don’t talk to children like this often.  For that reason, doing so can be memorable.  It can also prepare children for the bad times when they do come.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

The cross is a reminder of Paul’s message about suffering.  Point to crosses in your sanctuary and tell stories of suffering in your congregation and community.  Describe how looking back we can see God’s presence in those times. 

Give the children ( or all worshipers) a small cross to carry with them as a reminder that God is with them in bad times as well as good.  Oriental Trading Company is one on-line source for such things.  Click on Oriental Trading Company crosses for a vast array of inexpensive crosses for distribution.  My favorite one for today is a polished worry stone printed with a cross.  Unfortunately, those are almost one dollar a piece – maybe a little pricey.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

“There’s A Wideness in God’s Mercy” again comes to mind as an appropriate child accessible hymn.  Perhaps it can be sung repeatedly this Lent.  If you do use it, remember to introduce “mercy” as “love” before it is sung.

Paul’s message is an opportunity to do a little worship education about the Benediction.  Ask the children to join you at the front to help you with the Benediction.  Briefly note that worship ends the same way every Sunday.  A worship leader stands up front and urges everyone to do something during the coming week and then reminds them that God will be with them as they do it. Then walk them through the benediction below.  Finally ask them to stand with you facing the congregation and to repeat each line after you.  If it is appropriate in your tradition, lead them in raising their hands to bless the congregation as they repeat the last 2 phrases.

Remember when good things happen this week

God is with you.

Remember if bad things happen this week

God is with you.

So,

Go in peace.

Amen

John 4:5-42

Most of this story is a very sophisticated conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman at a well.  Children, however, can skip the conversation about water and hear a calling a disciple story.  Jesus treated the total outsider with respect and kindness.  Nobody treated her that way!  In response, she left her water jug (like the fishing disciples left their nets and Levi left his tax office) and became the first evangelist, telling everyone in town about Jesus.  And, she was  successful.  The town believed her first and then believed Jesus.  That is a story worth remembering.  As they get older, children can appreciate the conversation that was at the heart of the story.

Children do need an introduction to the Samaritan woman before they can understand her encounter with Jesus.  They need to know all the things that meant Jesus shouldn’t care at all about her.  She is a Samaritan.  She is a woman.  She is so unpopular that she comes to get water in the middle of the day when she thinks no one else will be there to say mean things to her or call her names.  She is a real loser. 

If you want to explore the conversation:  The water image in this story is complicated.  It’s not just water, it’s living water.  Explaining the word play there simply doesn’t help children get the joke.  It is more productive to put John’s message into your own words for them.  Verses 31 -34 are a good place to start.  Jesus says it takes something other than food and water to make us feel “alive.”  Jesus felt like he had everything he needed after talking to the lonely lost woman and seeing her feel that she was “alive” again. 

Before reading the verses, list some of things that make people feel “alive” today – soccer, their music, spending time with a good friend, etc.  Note that those things can make us feel more “alive” than food or water.  Then read what Jesus said about what made him feel “alive.”

That something other than food or water makes us feel “alive” is not so surprising.  What is surprising is what Jesus says keeps him “alive.”  It is loving like God loves.  In this story it is making friends with a really outsider woman and in the process making her feel totally different about herself.  This can lead to descriptions about how people felt about working on congregational mission projects.  (Be sure to include projects in which children participate.)

I’ve been trying to identify a baptism connection to this story for children – but am coming up dry.  Anyone else have ideas about this?  Please, share in the Comments.

No matter how you unpack this story, it is a very long scripture reading!  It is mainly a conversation between Jesus and the woman.  To bring it to life and edit out all the “he said”s and “she said”s, present it with three readers.  The Narrator reads from the lectern.  Jesus sits near the center of the worship space.  The woman stands beside him.  All read from scripts inside dark binders.  A rehearsal in which emphasis is on reading dramatically will be essential.  Below is one simple script.

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Narrator:  So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.  Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.  A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her,

Jesus:  Give me a drink. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)

Woman:  How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?  (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)

Jesus:  If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.

Woman:  Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?  Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”

Jesus:  Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.

Woman: Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.

Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come back.

Woman: I have no husband.

Jesus:  You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!

Woman: Sir, I see that you are a prophet.  Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.

Jesus:  Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Woman:  I know that Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.

Jesus:  I am he, the one who is speaking to you.

Narrator:  Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” ²⁸ Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people,

Woman walks off and faces away from Jesus.

Woman: Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?

Narrator :   They left the city and were on their way to him. Turning back toward Jesus.  Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.”  But he said to them,

Jesus:  I have food to eat that you do not know about.

Narrator:  So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?”   Jesus said to them,

Jesus:  My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.  Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.  The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.  For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’   I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.

Narrator:  Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.”  So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

From New Revised Standard Version

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