Year A - The Second Sunday of Easter May 1, 2011

For many congregations this, being the first Sunday of the month, will be a Communion Sunday.  Given that, it might be worth swapping this week’s texts for next week’s texts in order to read and explore the story of the road to Emmaus and celebrate Communion on the Sunday after Easter.  Children especially are drawn into this combining of an important Communion story with the sacrament.

If you make this swap, remember that today’s texts will be used on Mother’s Day.  I’ll be making some connections for both sets of lections with both Communion and Mother’s Day.

Acts 2:14a, 22-32 (New Revised Common Lectionary)

This long sermon deals with generalities which are hard for children to follow and is long.  When so much in the other texts attracts children, I’d be inclined to work with those texts and leave this one for the adults. 

Acts 2:42-47 (Roman Catholic Lectionary)

(Read on the Fourth Sunday of Easter in the Revised Common Lectionary.)

If  you read this description of the life of the early church on Mother’s Day/Festival of the Christian Family, it offers the opportunity to compare life in the early church with life in your congregation and life in families which have been referred to as “domestic churches.”  Specific examples of your congregation and current families doing the things that the early church did help children and parents see their family life as part of God’s larger family. 

If you read this on a Sunday when Communion is celebrated, point out that “breaking the bread” is a reference to communion and note that soon after Jesus death and resurrection, his disciples began to celebrate Communion.

If you use the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving, highlight the phrase “… joining our voices with the heavenly choirs and with all the faithful of every time and place...”.  Either walk the congregation through the entire Great Prayer explaining the flow of the ideas with emphasis on this phrase and the way it leads to the congregation’s response or point to and explain only this phrase.  (For many children and adults this traditional prayer is only known as “that long prayer before communion.”)   Then, suggest that today worshipers imagine themselves joining Peter, the women who found tomb empty, and all the early Christians at the Table.  Pause just before praying the phrase this morning to call attention to it.  If you do not use The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving, simply explore the idea of the great feast at which God’s people of all ages gather around the Table.

Psalm 16 (New Revised Common Lectionary)

As I write, the international coalition has begun firing on Libya and the Japanese are reeling from triple disasters.  It is impossible to guess how any of this will have played out by the time we worship using this psalm.  But, I suspect the first line, “Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge” may be the key phrase.  It could be well used as the congregational response to prayers for specific people in need of refuge.  Before doing this, do explain the phrase “in you I take refuge” for the children.  The TEV translates it “I trust in you for safety”.  The CEV emphasizes the fear with “I run to you for safety.”

Psalm 118 (Roman Catholic)

Children will quickly get lost in this long psalm that even the Biblical commentaries describe as rather disjointed.  They more easily focus on one of the sections of the psalm.

Turn verses 1-4 and 29 into a responsive call to worship with the congregation repeating “His steadfast love endures forever.”  Consider adding calls to groups and nations today to say…

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One:    O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good;

All:      God’s steadfast love endures forever!

One:    Let Israel say,

All:      “God’s steadfast love endures forever.”

One:    Let the house of Aaron say,

All:      “God’s steadfast love endures forever.”

One:    Let those who fear the Lord say,

All:      “God’s steadfast love endures forever.”

One:    O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

All:      God’s steadfast love endures forever.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Read only verses 21-25.  Describe the function of a cornerstone in laying the foundation of a building.  If your sanctuary has a cornerstone, describe it and tell any stories about it.  Then introduce Jesus as the cornerstone of the church.  Retell the Holy Week story as the rejection of Jesus and Easter as God’s insistence that Jesus is indeed the proper cornerstone.  Don’t expect children to make the connection between Jesus and the cornerstone on their own.  It will be a stretch for them to grasp even if you tell them.

Verse 25 is the Hebrew word “Hosanna!” that was shouted to greet Jesus on Palm Sunday.  On the Second Sunday of Easter recall how the phrase was used on Palm Sunday and celebrate how right the people were when they shouted it.  Then shout it in a responsive reading or sing  the Palm Sunday hymn “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna” celebrating it with an after Easter perspective.

1 Peter 1:3-9

Children will not understand all the abstract language of this passage as it is read and most of its message is beyond their understanding.  I can think of two possible ways for them to connect with it.

Point out that this is a letter Peter wrote to Christians living in what is now Turkey two thousand years ago.  Then read or tell in your own words verses 3 and 6.  Briefly describe the persecution Peter’s readers were facing and how Peter was trying to encourage them.  Then, imagine or ask for a list of people today who might like to receive Peter’s encouraging letter.  People of Japan and Northern Africa come to my mind this morning.  If worshipers join in the conversation expect to hear  as well about individuals in tough situations.  Close the conversation by restating or rereading the two verses.

Read verses 8-9 as a follow up on the story of Thomas to recognize the fact that though we cannot actually touch Jesus as Thomas did, we still believe as Thomas did.

John 20:19-31

Invite children forward for reading the gospel.  Set the scene with the fearful disciples locked in a room on Easter evening.  Then read verses 19 -23.  Another worship leader steps up from the side with a Bible to read verses 24-25.  The original reader then takes up the reading with “A week later the disciples were again in the house and Thomas was with them” and reads the remainder (perhaps omitting verses 30 – 31).

This gospel text is the strongest reading of the day for children (and probably adults, too).  It includes two stories that can be explored independently or in relationship to each other.  The first is Jesus meeting the disciples on Easter evening.  Laura Dykstra summarizes that story as follows.

“When Jesus appeared to his disciples, they were hiding upstairs in a locked room—the friends who knew him best, who had betrayed him, who had pretended they didn’t know him, who had run away when he was dying, who hid when he was arrested, who were frightened and ashamed. He appeared among them and greeted them. He didn’t say, ‘What happened?’ ‘Where were you?’ ‘You screwed up.’ He greeted them saying, ‘Peace.’  (Laurel A. Dykstra, Sojourners, March 2008)

For the children, name the people in the room and recall how they had behaved during Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion.  Imagine their fears of what Jesus might say or do to them if he really was alive again as the women who came back from the tomb said he was.  My guess is that they had nervous lumps in their tummies.  Then, translate Jesus’ “Peace” as “It’s OK” or “I understand,” even “You are forgiven.”  That then opens the door to Jesus’ command that as he has forgiven them, they are to forgive others.

This is a good opportunity to highlight and explore the Lord’s Prayer petition “forgive our debts/trespasses/sins, as we forgive…”  Write

“forgive us our debts  (or your word)”

on one poster strip and

“as we forgive our debtors (or your words)”

on a second poster strip.  Present them first in the order they appear in the Lord’s Prayer.  Connect the first strip to Jesus forgiving the disciples on Easter evening and the second strip to his command that they forgive others.  Then flip the order of the phrases and point out that we often have to pray this prayer backwards when we have someone to forgive.  Note how hard it is to forgive people who have treated us badly.  The only way we can do it is by remembering how Jesus forgave the disciples and forgives us.

Create a responsive prayer in which a worship leader describes situations in the world and in personal lives that need forgiveness and the congregation responds with “forgive us our YOUR WORD, as we forgive YOUR WORDS.”  Pray this prayer after having explored it’s meaning in light of today’s story.

The story of Thomas is important to children who already ask lots of questions about everything and to those who will ask deep questions as they get older.  The story insists that asking questions is OK.  Any honest question is OK with God and Jesus.  God can handle any question we can ask.  Thomas wanted to know exactly what had happened to Jesus and what he was like now that he was resurrected.  Some questions children want to know include:

Why didn’t you make me taller or prettier or smarter or…..?

How can God pay attention to everyone in the world at every minute?

Why did you let that (awful thing – like someone dying) happen?

Why don’t you make this (wonderful thing – like a sick person getting

         better) happen?

Why can’t I see you or at least hear your actual voice like people in the

         Bible did?

Suggest some questions and let worshipers add questions.  Be clear that all the questions are OK to ask.  Some of them we don’t get answered immediately.  Lots of them people have lived with and asked about for centuries.  Asking them is part of being human and loving God.



Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da, 1573-1610. The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54170 [retrieved March 21, 2011].



There are two especially interesting paintings of Jesus and Thomas.  Show one or both of them. 

Look first at Thomas’s face and imagine what he is thinking and feeling as he touches Christ’s body.  Then, look at the faces of the other disciples and imagine what they are thinking and feeling.  (I suspect they are glad Thomas asked his question because they really wanted to know the same thing but were afraid to ask.  It does take courage to ask some questions and Thomas had it.)  Then, look at Jesus’ face and posture and imagine how Jesus felt about Thomas and his question.  (This could be a conversation with worshipers or could be the ponderings of the  preacher in a sermon.)

Both of these paintings can be downloaded in many sizes at no cost when not used to make money.  Click on the link under each picture.



JESUS MAFA. Jesus appears to Thomas, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48302 [retrieved March 21, 2011].



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 A - Easter Sunday (April 24,2011)

 Good News!  He Is Alive!  Alleluia!      

The “good news” of Easter is somewhat different for children and for adults. 

 

For most children victory over death is not very interesting.  The lucky ones have little experience with death, beyond maybe the death of a pet.  Those who have experienced the death of someone very near to them know that even on Easter the missed person is still gone.  Though most have absorbed some of the culture’s fear of death, few worry about it very often. 

 

Similarly, since for children all of life is new every day, Easter claims of new life are not exactly "good news."  Butterflies, lilies, and eggs that are often presented as new life symbols really make more sense to children as Easter surprise symbols.  You don’t expect a butterfly to emerge from a dead-looking cocoon, a flower to grow from a clumpy old bulb, candy to come from an egg, or a dead body to come out a tomb alive again.  But on Easter they do.  For children, all are good news because they are surprises about what God can do rather than because they are signs of new life.

What IS “good news” to children on Easter is …

God is proven the most powerful being in the universe.  On Friday the bad guys thought they had won.  They had killed Jesus and sealed his dead body in a guarded tomb.  On Easter, Jesus totally surprised them and blasted out of that tomb proving that God and God’s ways are the most powerful power in the universe.  It is the ultimate good guys beat the guys story.  Children, who know themselves to be not very powerful and long to be more powerful, relish being allied with the most powerful Easter God. 

Children find good news in Jesus’ Easter promise to be with us always now and even after we die.  Instead  of seeing Jesus conquering death, they see Jesus proving that even after death, we are safe with God/Jesus.  It is simply the way things are. 

The third Easter message that is good news for children is Jesus' forgiveness.  This is most clear to children in the stories of Peter which are not prominent in the lectionary texts for today.  So either add the stories about Peter or save the forgiveness theme for days when those texts appear.

The vocabulary of Easter is big, hard to pronounce, but interesting sounding words.  They are fun to define and pronounce together.

“Resurrection” means “Jesus is alive again!” or “Jesus is not dead anymore!”  “He is risen!” can be confusing.  It sounds like he got out of bed rather than came back from being dead.  So talk about it before asking children to sing or shout it. 

“Alleluia!” and “Hallelujah!”  sound a lot alike and both mean “Hurray for God!” or “Look what God has done!” 

If an Alleluia poster was buried for lent, bring it out with fanfare (even trumpet fanfare) before the Call to Worship.  Yell the word a time or two with the whole congregation, use it in a responsive call to worship, then sing an opening hymn filled with Alleluias urging worshipers who can’t keep up with all the words to at least sing every Alleluia.  (“The words in the verses of “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today” are more easily understood by children than those of the very similar “Christ the Lord is Risen Today!”)

Challenge the children to count the alleluias in the worship service and to tell you as they leave the sanctuary.  To convince them that their presence is important to you, have a pocketful of hard candies so you can give a candy to each child who has counted. 

For many children the most impressive Easter worship service is a short sunrise service, outside if possible, featuring a telling of the story and singing of one or two familiar Easter hymns.  Simply getting up before dawn to celebrate the story “when it really took place” gives it a reality the mid-morning sanctuary can never quite match.

No matter what time the Easter service, remember that many children will have missed the Passion story.  The leaders will have to tell a little of that story to at least set the context for the Easter gospel reading.  Another way to recall the Passion is to begin the service in a bare sanctuary.  Briefly, retell the Passion ending with a moment of silence.  Trumpets then interrupt the silence followed by a reading of the gospel and the singing of an Easter hymn.  During the hymn Easter paraments are put in place and Easter flowers are carried in and set in place.

The Gospel:  John 20:1-18 and/or Matthew 28:1-10

Mary Magdalene’s Easter experience as told by John is perhaps the best biblical Easter story to explore with children.  It is simple.  Mary was totally sad and scared.  Jesus had been her best friend and her teacher. Not only that he had healed her.  After she met Jesus, her life was different – and lots better!  But now Jesus had been killed and buried.  And, it appeared that someone had stolen his body.  She was sad and angry and hopeless.  She was crying so hard she didn’t recognize the angels or even Jesus, at first.  Then Jesus called her by name.  Everything changed.   Jesus was alive, he was still with her (even though she could not touch him), he called her by name.  So Mary knew that everything would be OK. 

Some Things Are Scary!, by Florence Parry Heide,
an illustrated list of 31 things children fear

Open discussion of this story by talking about how it feels when your best friend moves far away. Name the feelings you have as you think about the things you always did with that friend and might not be able to do anymore.  Describe the difference in having a person with whom you can share secrets and suddenly not having that friend around.  Then, point out that it was just like that on Easter morning for Mary Magdalene. 

If there will be a children’s time, set it immediately after the reading of John’s gospel.  Before the reading encourage all worshipers to listen carefully and encourage children to listen especially to what happens to Mary.  After the reading, sitting with the children, name some of Mary’s feelings as she sat crying by the tomb.  Together imagine and demonstrate how her face looked, how she held her shoulders, what she was doing with her hands (over her eyes?, clutched in fists?, wrapped tightly around her shoulders?....)  Then, reread Jesus conversation with her in vss 15-18.  Ask, “now how was she feeling?”  (surprised!, happy!, amazed!, relieved!…)  Imagine and demonstrate how her face, shoulders, and hands looked now.

Find an account of Mary’s story for younger children in my book Sharing the Easter Faith With Children, p. 102.

In both John’s and Matthew’s stories, all those present at the empty tomb are scared.  Either someone has stolen Jesus’ body and the horror of Friday is going to continue or Jesus is alive again which changes everything and is also scary.  Matthew has both the angels and Jesus start out, “Fear not!”  For children this simply means “don’t be afraid of anything.  I am stronger than the worst evil there is.  And, no matter what happens I will be with you always.”  This is a message that will have to unpacked repeatedly.  On Easter for children it begins with knowing that no one could kill Jesus forever and celebrating God’s unbeatable power.

Acts 10:34-43

The challenge in Peter’s sermon for the children is that it is all generalities, e.g. Jesus healed and did good.  Help them by illustrating the generalities with pictures of specific stories children will recall, e.g. Jesus healing a blind man or Jesus reaching up to call Zacchaeus down from the tree.  The pictures might be posters from the church school teaching picture file or projected images drawn from the internet.  (I found this one by Googling “Zacchaeus images.”)   Use the pictures to illustrate a sermon in which you walk through Peter’s sermon and to review Jesus’ whole story for those who haven’t been in church since Christmas.

Colossians 3:1-4

Children will not understand this passage as it is read.  But it contains two messages that make sense to them if presented in other words by worship leaders.

On Easter life changed for Peter, John, Mary and all the other followers of Jesus.  Jesus was alive again and they could not go back to living the way they had before they met Jesus.  The same is true for us.  If Jesus is alive again, God’s gentle power is stronger than the power of all the evil powers in the world.  The bullies don’t get the last word.  We can trust God’s loving power.  Knowing that we can live like Jesus.

Dying and rising with Christ is not an easy metaphor for children.  Rather than dying and rising with Christ in baptism, they become God’s very own people.  Because they belong to Jesus, they live by Jesus’ rules.  If your baptismal rite includes phrases about renouncing evil, point them out and talk about how Mary and Peter and John were able to renounce evil when they learned on Easter morning that Jesus was alive again – and how we can renounce evil because of Easter.

Speaking of evil:  Walter Brueggemann and other theologians gather all the evils of the world into the term “empire.”  For children the term might be “bullies.”  People, countries, corporations, any group of people who will do anything to get what they want are bullies.   On Easter we realize that all the bullies who threaten and taunt and belittle and worry people are no match for the strong, loving power of God.  It’s true that the bullies can do their damage.  They killed Jesus on Friday.  But, God and those who live in love win out in the end.  Jesus is alive again on Easter.  After Easter we are called to live like Jesus, not like bullies.  And, we are called to live unafraid of bullies.

Jeremiah 31:1-6

On Easter this Old Testament passage which requires that we know several Old Testament stories, is going to be lost on children (and many adults) – and that is probably OK.  If it is read, its message for children is that God doesn’t just save people on Easter.  God saves people in many ways all through history.  We can count on that.

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

“This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” is the key line from this psalm for children.  On Easter they claim it most fully when it is used in responsive calls to worship and Easter praise readings.

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A word about Easter nurseries:  Many parents who have not brought their infants and toddlers to the church nursery during the winter out of fear of catching the bugs other children bring, will decide to try it on Easter.  If their experience is a good one, they will come back.  If not, they may disappear, some for a very long time.  So, it is important to be sure the Easter nursery is spotlessly clean, well staffed, and ready to receive the children.  If it is also decorated with an Easter lily and a picture of Jesus, there is quiet Easter music playing in the background, and families are greeted with “Happy Easter,”  parents assume that more is going on than warehousing children so their parents can worship.  Find more directions and resources to use with preschool children who are not in the sanctuary for worship in Sharing the Easter Faith With Children.

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.