Year A - The Fifth Sunday in Lent (April 10, 2011)

The key words today are resurrection and hope.  They are challenging for children in different ways. 

HOPE in daily conversation refers to what you wish will happen, e.g. I hope it does not rain on our game tomorrow or I hope Grandma does come to visit this weekend.  In today’s worship theme HOPE is living through difficult situations knowing that God is in control, loves us, and takes care of us always.  It is like living every day knowing a wonderful secret.  This version of hope is very hard to explain to children.  So, tell and enjoy the Exile prophecy of the dry bones that exhibits hope and use the word hope in songs and prayers.  But, do not try to explain this kind of hope to children.  Let them just live with it for a while.  Putting it into words will come when they are older.

RESURRECTION is a very long, strange, interesting-sounding word that children hear mainly at Easter.   Many children do not recognize it in the “off season” and learn it anew each year. Talking about it today gives everyone a head start on using it on Easter.  So, practice saying it together.  With older children work on spelling it.  For today, for the children, define it as “dead people being alive again.”  Point to today’s story about Jesus making Lazarus alive again.  Note that people thought that was pretty awesome.  But, really it was just a hint about what was to come when Jesus rose from death on Easter.  Encourage young worshipers to get ready to celebrate that resurrection in two weeks on Easter. 

Unless they have experienced the death of a close family member or a friend, most children do not grasp the finality of death.  Cartoon characters constantly bounce back from being run over by bulldozers or falling from high places with a splat.  Fairy tale princes and princesses sleep as if dead for years under magical spells that are finally broken.  Video game characters kill and are killed repeatedly only to reappear in the next round.  Given all this, children are not all that excited about resurrection.  Our job is to introduce the possibility so it will be familiar when they do experience death close at hand and are ready to value resurrection in a new way.

The word RESURRECTION can bring us worship today (ala the sponsoring letters on Sesame Street).  Before the call to worship, present the word on a poster, practice saying it, define it, alert worshipers for a story about the resurrection of a man named Lazarus, and urge them to listen for the word in the songs and prayers of our worship.  Older readers can underline the word every time it appears in their worship bulletin.

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Ezekiel’s vision is an extended metaphor.  Just as the dry bones come together and come back to life, God’s people can rise from bad situations to live again.  Children have trouble making the jump from the literal vision to its spiritual meaning.  The youngest simply enjoy the details of the vision.  Older children can hear both the details of the vision and the message about God bringing new life in hopeless situations.  But, don’t expect them to get the connection.  For them simply hearing both sides of the metaphor is a good start.  During adolescence the connection between the sides will click into place.

Before reading the vision, set the scene. Either,

Ask the congregation to imagine that your town has been invaded and destroyed.  All the churches were burned to the ground.  All the leaders were killed.  People who weren’t killed in the battle, were rounded up and taken to live in the invading army’s country.  Then tell them, that is exactly what had happened to Ezekiel and the people to whom he was speaking.

Or, simply take time to tell the historical back story of the destruction of Jerusalem and Exile.

Illustrate the story with sounds.  Provide castanets, rain sticks, rattles of all sorts, cans filled with dried beans, or anything that rattles for the verses about the bones.  Then several people blow on live microphones  or rub sandpaper blocks together to produce the wind sound for verses about God’s breath.  A children’s class could be enlisted to serve as a sound choir practicing in advance.  Or, children could be invited forward to provide sounds as the scripture is read.  In either case, they will need a director leading them during the reading.  It will also help to read the passage twice, first without the sounds, then with them. 

Accompany one or more spirit songs with the rattles and wind sounds.  “I’m Goin’a Sing When the Spirit Says Sing” is a rollicking choice.  But, it would also be meaningful to sing “Spirit of the Living God” or “Breathe on Me Breath of God” quietly with gentle spirit background sounds on one or all verses.

Sing “The Lone Wild Bird” (probably without the background sounds) after introducing it as a song the Exiles might have sung with feeling in Babylon. 

Psalm 130

Verse 1 pose

Invite children or all worshipers to make 4 simple movements to the psalm.  The “a” set is more likely done by children invited to come forward to help present the psalm for the day.  The “b” set is to be done by the entire congregation in their seats.  In introducing the movements walk people through the feelings of the psalm.

Verses 1-3      a. kneeling with head bowed

                          b. sitting with head bowed,

                               face in hands

Verses 4-6       a. raise head to look up

                          b. raise head to look up

Verse 7            a. sitting up on knees

                          b. hands turned up and out to the sides

Verse 8            a. stand

                          b. stand

Read the first verse of the psalm.  Stop.  Take time to introduce the phrase “out of the depths.”  Explain that it is often used in prayers and songs.  Point out the difference between a bad day or little things that are hard and the really big things that are “the depths.”  Identify as depths such things as someone in your family being seriously sick for a long time, living in a place where you are afraid to go outside, your parents fighting all the time, etc.  Note that we will read a story about some people whose home had been invaded and destroyed by an army that took them prisoner and identify that experience as a “depths” from which people might have prayed this psalm.  Then read the entire psalm.

Romans 8:6-11

Paul’s argument here is dense and abstract.  Children simply do not get it.  Fortunately for the worship planner, the other texts include two fascinating stories and a psalm that explore some of the same themes in more concrete ways.  Meet the children in them.

John 11:1-45

This is a long reading!  The Roman Catholic Lectionary shortens it to

John 11: 3-7, 17, 20-27 and 33-45

I would add verse 1.  This omits some of John’s dense arguments, but presents the entire story.  It keeps the attention of young listeners who tend to get lost in the verbage of the longer reading.  It can be read from the lectern or be pantomimed using the directions below.

Because this is a long story with complex action, consider having it pantomimed by older youth or adults as it is read.  There are three locations:  (1) Jesus on the road with his disciples, (2) on the road near Bethany where Jesus meets Martha and then Mary, and (3) Lazarus’ tomb.  They could be in a line across the front of the sanctuary or the first could be near the back of the sanctuary, the second in the central aisle and the tomb scene at the front of the sanctuary.  Mimes could wear biblical costumes or a simple group costume such as jeans and a dark colored tee or polo shirt. 

This could be simply the presentation of the gospel for the day.  Or, it could become the sermon with the preacher interrupting the reading to freeze a scene here and there, walking among the mimes to comment on some of what is going on, then allowing the reading to progress. 

Note: The majority of the mimes need to be older youth and adults who can communicate with their faces and bodies.  But, since this was a community event which included people of many ages, it would be appropriate to include mimes of many ages, including one or two children.  Mimes could be enlisted as individuals or as families.



JESUS MAFA. Jesus raises Lazarus to life, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48269 [retrieved March 9, 2011].



Explain burial customs today to set the stage for this story and for the Easter empty tomb story.  Using a painting to describe the wrapping of the body and burial in caves with a large stone pushed across the door of the cave. 

Year C - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (November 14, 2010)

In many ways this is the last Sunday of the Lectionary Year.  Next Sunday (Christ the King Sunday) is rather a hinge or bridge between the two years.  At some point during the service, point out the green paraments and other signs of this season, recall their meaning, and alert worshipers to coming changes in colors and other worship props.

HOPE    HOPE    HOPE    HOPE   HOPE   HOPE   HOPE   HOPE   HOPE   HOPE   HOPE   HOPE

HOPE is the theme that underlies all today’s texts.  The Old Testament texts offer the positive statement of the theme proclaiming that God has a wonderful plan and that in the end that plan will be realized.  The New Testament texts take the darker side of the theme warning that though God’s good plan will one day be realized there will be some tough times before that happens.  It is in such times that we need to live on hope.

One way to introduce the theme is to remind worshipers what it is like to see a movie for the first time and the fifth time.  Recall your frightened, worried feelings the first time you watched the scary parts of The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast.  You wanted to warn the characters of the dangers.  Then describe watching the same scenes for the second, third, even fifth time when you knew the ending.  Note that once you knew the ending you sometimes wanted to tell the hero not to worry during the scary parts and sometimes you want to warn the heroine to be careful when everything is going well.  The Old Testament texts tell us the ending.  The New Testaments texts advise us on how to live until the ending comes.

Isaiah 65:17 -25 

If you use the movie illustration, introduce this text as the ending of the story of God’s world.  Since there is a lot of poetic imagery that will be hard for children to grasp, pick one to unpack especially for them.  One of the easiest is verse 21 and the first half of 22.  Give worshipers apple slices to eat.  Talk about how good they are and describe the work of the migrant laborers who tend and pick them.  Note that those people often do not have enough money to buy good food for their families.  Read the two verses.  Point out that in when God completes creation, this situation will change.  Tell about one way your congregation is working with God to help bring this change, e.g. food pantry, migrant ministries, etc.

This could be presented as a time for children.  It would be even more effective if included in the sermon with ushers passing bowls/baskets of apple slices to the whole congregation. 

Isaiah 12

The second verse of this poem about trusting God is key for children.

I will trust in the Lord and not be afraid

For God is my strength and power.

What it needs is a story that illustrates its abstract truth.  David facing Goliath is one good choice.  Rather than tell the whole story, focus on David’s conversation with Saul (1 Samuel 17: 32-37) and his response to Goliath’s taunt (1 Samuel 17: 45 and 47).  Because David trusted God’s power, he was able to do something about Goliath while others cowered in fear.

Being able to do something scary because you trust in a power greater than yourself is like a child jumping into a parent’s arms in the swimming pool or attempting a dive off the diving board with that parent watching from the side. 

Older children will be interested in the trust expressed in the “Eternal Father Strong to Save.”  Before singing it, introduce it as a hymn loved by sailors and as the Navy Hymn (if appropriate).  Point out the repeated last line and note that the first verse remembers that sailors can trust God because God made the sea.  Other verses recall that Jesus calmed the storm at sea and once slept through a storm that scared his disciples badly.   

Malachi 4:1-2a

All the detail of Isaiah’s vision of God’s new creation makes it a better choice of Old Testament texts for the children. 

The fact that this comes from the last chapter of the last book in the Old Testament is of interest to some children.  Show them it’s location in the Bible.  Read the 2 verses.  Note that people were waiting for God to act.  Then, tell them the secret we know that they didn’t.  Jesus was coming.  If you wish, connect it to Christ the King Sunday next week and Advent that follows.  This could be done as a Time for Children.  Or, invite the children to gather around you and the Bible for the reading of this text for the day.

Psalm 98

This psalm of praise and thanksgiving was suggested for last week and seems to fit better there than here.   I’d use the Isaiah psalm today.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

The writer of this letter has two bits of advice for people waiting for God’s new creation to be realized.

The first is that we are to work while we wait.  Work is described as a blessing and a good way to be God’s partners in creating the new creation. 

If you develop this theme extensively, remember that school is children’s work.  Cite illustrations from children at work at school among others about adults at work in a variety of jobs.

People often ask children “what do you want to be when you grow up?”  Use this as an opportunity to urge children to choose work that makes the world a better place.  Point out that they are called not to do something just because they like to do it, but to do something that will make life better for everyone around them.  Describe ways a variety of jobs do that.

One of the best current stories about the importance of work is that of Greg Mortenson,the mountain climber who became the builder of schools in Pakistan.  Listen to the Wind is the child's version of Three Cups of Tea which tells his story for adults.  The book is a little long to read in worship.  But showing some of the pictures in it as you tell the story in your own words brings the story alive.

The second is don’t be weary of doing what is right.  When God’s new creation is complete, it will be easy to do what is right.  Everyone will do it every day.  But, now it is not.  Doing the right thing is not always wildly fun or exciting or cool.  Sometimes people look at you funny or laugh at you.  (Choose keeping one or two of the Ten Commandments  or keeping Jesus two great commandments as illustrations.)  Reread verse 13 and identify it as something to remember when we get tired of doing what is right.

We are not always forthright with children about this fact.  They appreciate our honesty when we are.  It also encourages them when they are choosing to do something they know is right, but that definitely would prefer not to do. 

Luke 21:5-19

The basic message of this passage is that there will be tough times and that the only thing to do during tough times is to endure them trusting that in the end God will win.  The other readings for the day offer more specific help for sharing this message with children.

Late Addition:  Yesterday, it seemed like “the world is going to end” talk is not currently floating through the world of children.  But, this morning the fifth and sixth graders brought up something they are hearing about “we’re all going to die and the world will end with natural disasters in 2012.”  I did not get all the details, but apparently there is such talk around – at least in this area.  The easiest way to address this with children is simply to read them Jesus’ statement that no one knows this date, then to restate to them “anyone who tells you when the world will end is wrong PERIOD.”  Be emphatic.  Put yourself on the line, telling them that if anyone tells them that the world is going to end on a certain date they can tell them that their pastor says Jesus says that is not true.  A blatant conversation like that will linger in the back of minds until it is needed.  

Year C - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (November 7, 2010)

Haggai 1:15b-2:9

Encouragement to work together as God’s people

The church over the ages has devoted time and money to repairing and rebuilding after natural disasters, wars, and personal traumas.  It is one thing we do frequently and do well.  Celebrate that today.  Cite examples of ways your congregation has been involved.  Be sure as you do to include projects in which the children are active.  In my congregation that would include collecting food for the food pantry, packing a variety of disaster response kits, walking with families or classes on money raising walks and hosting homeless men at the church during winter evenings. 

Our local paper annually recognizes a Distinguished Dozen, local people who are significantly involved in serving others.  One year they were all teenagers.  The article about each teen cited serving experiences during their elementary years as the inspiration for the teenage service.  Many got their start by working with their families on community care projects.  Scientific studies validate their stories.  So encourage children and parents to work together repairing, rebuilding, and generally caring for their community.

During the singing of Argentine folk hymn “Song of Hope,” stage a processional of placards, each naming one way your congregation is involved in repairing and rebuilding.   The placards could be handed to children and briefly explained just before the hymn.  The children then circle the sanctuary while the congregation sings the song several times.  (It is only one verse.)  Or, create a litany in which a leader names and briefly describes one project and the congregation responds by singing the song once.  Feature as many projects or groups of similar projects as time permits.  Four or five is probably enough. 

Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21

The greatness and goodness of God

During the reading of this psalm project a series of pictures of people rebuilding and repairing together. 

OR

Psalm 98

Sing to the Lord A New Song!

Offer a two sided praise sheet.  On one side print Psalm 98. Invite the children to fill the margins with drawings of things that are mentioned in the psalm or that the psalm makes them think about.  (The first few verses don’t offer much, but the middle verses calling for all sorts of musical praises suggest lots of instruments, and the last verses call for pictures from nature.)  On the opposite side of the paper print the words of “Earth and All Stars” and invite children to illustrate that one too.  The pictures will be very different.  If possible give out the paper early in the service and include time later in the service when children can share and discuss their work.  When the congregation sings the hymn, even young children should be able to join in on the repeated chorus.

Job 19:23-27a

If “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” from Handel’s Messiah will be sung, point out the title phrase in Job 19:25.  Briefly explain that Job was both very sick and very sad.  Even in all his suffering he knew that God was his Redeemer and was on his side.  That is as far as it is wise to delve with children in the sanctuary.  Discussions of suffering with children are always specific and need to be held in private.

Psalm 17:1-9

Even if you are building worship around Job, I’d use Psalm 98 instead of this psalm for the sake of the children.  The vocabulary and poetic images are too complicated to explain.  Though some children have enough experience with suffering to share the psalmist’s prayer, there are other prayers that state the concern in ways a child can more easily grasp.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

Lead disciplined lives in the present

The message to children here is don’t worry about what will happen when you (or people you love) die and don’t worry about what will happen when you grow up or get to be a teenager or….   Instead, think about today.  Live as God’s person today.  Do the best you can and know that God is with you.  Fortunately, this is the default setting of many children anyway.  They live very much in the present moment.

Luke 20:27-38                          

God is Lord of the Living

The nasty trap the Sadducees set for Jesus and the way is turned it back on them will go right past the children.  Let it.  Instead explore what it says about what happens to us after we die. 

Jesus insists that life after death is different from life now.  Debating to whom a woman who has had seven husbands will be married is just plain silly.  (This is a special relief to children whose parents have remarried and who therefore may upon hearing the story wonder about the fate of their family.)  The butterfly is a helpful symbol of this reality.  The caterpillar and butterfly are entirely different, but they are different life stages of the same animal.  Caterpillars crawl and eat leaves.  Butterflies fly and drink nectar/ pollen.  We will be as different after death as a caterpillar is from a butterfly, but we will still be ourselves.

We don’t know very much at all about what life will be like after we die.  God has kept it as a special secret.  We do know from Jesus that we will be with God and will be safe.

Make a list of things that aren’t necessarily true about life after death, i.e. we may not walk on streets paved with gold, we may not all play harps (a relief to many), we may not have wings and fly (who knows how we’ll get around), etc.  Balance this with the list of things we do know about life after we die, i.e. we will be with God, God’s love and care will continue.

If you live in the northern hemisphere, display autumn nuts and bulbs.  Note how dead they look and how hard it is to believe that they will ever be anything but rather dead looking “stuff.”  Talk about what each item becomes in the spring.  If possible give each worshiper a nut or bulb to plant at home.  Talk about how long it will be until we see the results and encourage patience.  Briefly ponder how it feels different to celebrate new life after death in the autumn rather than in the spring at Easter.

If you live in the southern hemisphere, pull a blooming bulb or seedling out of the dirt.  Gently brush away the soil until you find pieces of the nut or bulb from which it grew.  It may also help to have an unplanted nut or bulb to help find the decaying one in the soil.  (A smallish blooming potted bulb can be tidily unspotted over a bucket or small tub.)  Briefly ponder how it feels different to celebrate life after death in the spring when new life is all around you rather than in the autumn when all the plants are dying back for the season.

 

If you are celebrating this Sunday as a “little Easter,” explain the reason for reading the necrology before it is done.  Also if you have a columbarium, memorial garden or other place for cremains on your property, bring an enlarged photo of the area to identify it to children and talk about how it is used and why that spot is special to people in your congregation.  Point out any plaques identifying all the saints buried there.  (Though it is not the aim of this discussion, once children know what these areas are they treat them with more respect.)

If your congregation regularly recites the Apostle’s Creed in worship, before reading it today, point out the phrase “(I believe in) the communion of saints.”  Define “saints” as God’s people.  Name a few famous ones, like St. Patrick and Martin Luther King, Jr., and some less famous ones like your grandmother (or other important person in your life) and someone in your congregation.  Finally, point to worshipers and identify each of them as a saint.  Then, repeat the phrase “communion of the saints” and explain that all saints belong to each other in the family of God.  That means we are connected to all God’s people who ever lived and all God’s people who are alive now and even all God’s people who will be born in the future.  We are family with them.  Repeat the paragraph in which it appears in the creed.  Then, invite everyone to say the creed together.

Either within the sermon or just before the celebration of communion, do a little worship education about the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving.  For most children (and more than a few adults) this is generally thought of as “that long prayer before communion.”  They are more likely to join in on the sung responses if they are explained and rehearsed.   So, point to the prayer in your prayer book or worship bulletin.  Walk through the part that recognizes the communion of the saints putting it into your own words.  Together name some of the individuals or groups you want to be especially aware of at the Table today.  Take time to rehearse the parts the congregation says or sings.  Suggest singing it at every communion service imaging yourself singing and eating with people of all times and from all parts of the world.

Leader: Therefore we praise you,

joining our voices with the heavenly choirs

and with all the faithful of every time and place,

we forever sing to the glory of your name:

People: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest.

Year C - 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time (September 26, 2010)

Yesterday at the lectionary study group I attend, five of six preachers were planning to preach on the Isaiah text and all were thinking about the housing foreclosure crisis.  If you are joinging them, remember that children are as seriously affected by foreclosure as their parents.  They sense the stress in their parents.  They are embarassed in front of classmates, who might not correctly understand what is going on.  They are often crowded in sharing space with cousins or friends or even landing in a shelter.  They are as much in need of God's protection and comfort and of understanding from their church friends of all ages as their parents are.


Jeremiah  32: 1-3a, 6-15

Jeremiah buys land just before Babylon invades

Most children know very little about the details of buying and selling of property and even less about the problems of impending conquest by foreigners.  It is hard for them to get from the details to any meaningful-to-them message.  So, for children, simply hearing the story and learning a little of what it meant to people in Jeremiah’s day is enough.  To do that, try one or more of the following:

Introduce the props before reading the story.  Show two paper deeds (one to file publicly and one to keep for your own records), a check, and a glass jar big enough to hold the check.  Explain what a deed is and why there are two of them.  Compare today’s buyer writing a check to give the seller of the property with Jeremiah’s weighing out gold coins.  Then, drop one of the deeds into the jar and put the lid on.  Note that Jeremiah used a clay jar because that is what he had.  But that either glass or clay the jar makes sure the deed will last a lot longer than just putting it in a drawer.  Then, read the story encouraging your listeners to listen for the props.  (This could be a discussion addressed to the whole congregation or a children’s time.)  If possible display these props for the remainder of the service.

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Deed of Sale

I, Hanamel, sell my property in Anathtoth

to my cousin Jeremiah on this day.

Seller’s signature:__Hanamel_____

Buyer’s signature:___Jeremiah_____

   hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Have 3 people act out the story as it is read.  The king (maybe wearing a crown) takes his place off to one side (verse 1).  A big man wearing a fierce expression and either carrying a weapon or with his arms folded menacingly across his chest takes his place in the center aisle (verse 2a).  And, Jeremiah stands beside a table (verse 2b).  Hanamel enters on verse 8 and he and Jeremiah act out the sale.  For added impact Jeremiah might speak verses 14-15 from memory.  If a response to scripture is your practice, all actors and the reader then say together, “The Word of the Lord” to which the congregation replies “Thanks be to God.”

The closest I can come to putting Jeremiah’s message into terms that are meaningful for today’s children goes something like this:  Even when you get an awful teacher who doesn’t like you, even when you feel like you don’t have a single friend, even when you don’t make the team or get the part you wanted in the play, even when you feel ugly and dumb and hopeless, remember that is not the last word.  God is looking further ahead than you are.  God is planning for you.  You’ve got to wait and be patient and trust God.   It isn’t easy.

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16

Assurance of God’s Protection

All the unfamiliar words (snare, fowler, pestilence, pinions, buckler, refuge) make this a hard psalm for children.  Several familiar hymns communicate the message better.

“Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” is based on Psalm 90 instead of 91, but carries the same message.  Before singing it point everyone to verse 3 and note that God takes a much longer view of our lives than we do.  “A thousand ages are like an evening.”

“A Mighty Fortress is Our God” is also based on another psalm (Psalm 46), but carries the message of this one too.  The words are difficult for young readers, but the music communicates brave confidence and most congregations sing it with that feeling.  Before singing it, tell the story of its writing.  Powerful people wanted Martin Luther dead.  So, his friends were hiding him in a castle.  He and his friends were very scared.  While he was there he wrote this song to help his friends and himself remember that God was with them.

“God Be With You ‘Til We Meet Again” sung at the conclusion of this service is an opportunity for a little worship education about benedictions.  Explain to worshipers that the benediction (the very last words in every worship service) is a reminder that we can trust God to be with us no matter what comes our way.  Put the words of the verses into your own words, something like:

May God guide you.

Trust God to care for you like a shepherd.

May God protect you.

May God provide you physical and spiritual food.

When life gets tough may God’s arms be wrapped around you.

May God’s love be your motto and may God be with you at your death.

Encourage children to at least sing the repeated beginnings and endings of each verse.  Even older elementary readers will be able to read the short words of the verses.

1 Timothy 6:6-19

Before reading this text, tell the back story.  Paul is writing to encourage Timothy, a young minister who is having a hard time.

Paul’s message to Timothy is that he needs to remember what is important.  He needs to pay attention to what is important and ignore what isn’t that important.  One way to help children identify the difference between the important and the not important is to name some of the things that we feel we gotta have, gotta do, gotta be only to learn after a bit that they were really not that important.   Display an article that you thought you gotta have at some point, but quickly discovered wasn’t worth much  (clothes or shoes that once seemed essential, a video game or gadget that I had to have, etc.)  Tell about wanting it, going to great effort to get it, and finding it wasn’t that cool.  Or, tell about some group you thought you had to be part of or some award you thought you had to win, but did not.  

Luke 16:19-31

The Rich Man and Lazarus

The rich man’s sin was that he ignored Lazarus and his needs.  Lazarus was right there in front of him, hungry, sick, plagued by dogs and the rich man did nothing to help him.  Psychologists tell us that infants perceive only themselves and their needs.  They see themselves not as the center of the universe, but as the whole universe.  Everything around them exists only in relation to them.  If all goes well, children grow beyond this throughout their childhood until the see themselves as one among many and as people who are called to help other people.  Our culture complicates the process because it allows us, even encourages us, to remain oblivious to certain others.  The challenge in this text is for listeners of all ages to identify some of the people around them who are regularly ignored, even treated as if they are invisible, and then to reach out to them.  For children these ignored ones include the outcast kids at school, at times even members of their own household, people of all ages in their neighborhood who are looked down on, people in certain racial, ethnic, or religious groups, etc.

To help children (and other worshipers) follow this rather long story, prepare three male readers to read it while moving around the front of the sanctuary to follow the movement in the story.  Place their scripts inside black choir binders for esthetics.  Below is a script.

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

Reader One (from center): There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

Reader Two (below and off to one side):  And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.  The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. (Move to opposite side and up a step or two if possible.)

Reader One:  The rich man also died and was buried.  (Move to side opposite Reader Two and down a step or two if possible.)  In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.  (Reader Three come to stand by Reader Two.)  He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’

Reader Three: Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.  Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’

Reader Two:   ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’

Reader Three: ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’

Reader One: ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

Reader Three:  ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

All:  The Word of the Lord!

  

                                                                       New Revised Standard Version