Worshiping With A Children: October 2010

Sunday, October 31, 2010

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

5:40 PM |

Posted by jamila |

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.

Labels: God's Power, Hope, Trust, Work | 0 comments

Sunday, October 24, 2010

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

2:08 PM |

Posted by jamila |

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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.

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.

Labels: Communion, Hope, Praise, Resurrection, Serving | 0 comments

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Year C - 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (October 31, 2010)

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Talk about over load! This Sunday is 31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time (featuring the child friendly Zacchaeus story)-and All Hallows Eve. Tomorrow is All Saints Day which has the appeal of celebrating Christian heroes and heroines. Today is also Reformation Sunday (in the year of John Calvin’s 500th birthday) and it is of course Stewardship Season in many congregations. There are all sorts of connections for children.

Halloween is the biggest thing on their agenda today. The Habakkuk and Psalm 119 texts provide an opportunity to explore how we face our fears trusting God.

If you celebrate Reformation Sunday, talk about what a church is.

And, children love hearing the familiar story of Zacchaeus read and discussed in the sanctuary. Hearing it there teaches them that this is not just a children’s Sunday School story, it is a story that is important to the whole church.

Because children are into facing fears on Halloween and the current political campaigns are playing heavily on adult fears, I’m going to work with the texts for this day connecting to Halloween. Please, use the comments section to share what you are doing and suggest other possibilities.

Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4

God will have the final word about all the evil and violence in the world

Habakkuk complains about the violence and injustice that are causing so much pain in the world. He speaks in generalities about what everyone fears and then delivers God’s promise that the violence and evil will not be the final word. On Halloween we practice facing up to our fears. We tell scary stories, walk through haunted houses, and dress up as monsters. Children’s Halloween picture books range from tales in which heroes rise above their fears and in the process prove the scary thing or place is not so scary after all to tales in which monsters are shown to be just like us. (There is even a take-off on Good Night Moon called Good Night Goon in which a young monster says goodnight to all the scary-to-us stuff that is part of his everyday life and a similar take off on Runaway Bunny called Runaway Mummy.)

Display a not-too-scary mask (remember it doesn’t take much to scare the youngest). Handle it, describe how it might frighten you but then point out that it is just a mask and not all that scary. Use this as an entry to identifying the things we really fear – bullies at school, that something bad will happen to someone we love, that we will get lost, that there will be a war where we live, that we will never be able to do what we want most to do… If the children’s fears lead to talking about adult fears about jobs, the economy, world conflicts, etc. , the children learn that fear is part of life. They will then be ready to hear God’s promise to Habakkuk and us in Habakkuk 2:2-4.

Suggest that everyone in the congregation hold hands because you are going to talk about scary things. Then start with Halloween-y things and progress to the violent scary parts of everyday life for people of all ages. Read Habakkuk 2:2-4 again, explaining some of its meaning related to the fears you have named. Shake hands loose or clap hands to celebrate not having to be afraid because God is with us and will not all the bad things have the last word.

Have this scripture read by two readers: one reading Habakkuk’s story in 1:1-4 and 2:1-2a and the other reading God’s message in 2:2b-4.

Display a large poster or some other item with an Alpha and Omega on it (maybe a stole or parament). Explain its meaning and connect it with Habakkuk’s message. Just as God was in charge at the beginning, God will be in charge at the end, so we don’t have to worry. We can trust God.

The best Halloween hymn is “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” It was written by Martin Luther while he was hiding in castle from people who wanted to kill him. Tell this brief story of its writing before singing it and encourage worshipers to watch for fear and trust words.

Psalm 119:137-144

An Alphabet Poem about God’s Word

צַ

Psalm 119 is an acrostic, that is an alphabet poem. Each line in each section starts with a word beginning with the same letter. The lines in this section start with the Hebrew letter zade/tsade (צַ). If possible show a Hebrew Bible opened to this psalm or print this passage in Hebrew in your worship bulletin and help people recognize the repeated letter.

When reading the psalm, have the congregation say the Hebrew letter zade before each line is read.

Each line says something about the value of God’s Word. Hebrew poets rhyme ideas rather than sounds. So, they say the same thing over and over again in slightly different ways. For example,

It is a beautiful day.

The sun is bright and there is not a cloud in the sky.

It is wonderfully warm and there is a pleasant breeze.

I wish every day were just like this one.

Then, read one or two of the lines about God’s Word to show their similarity.

Challenge children (and others) to write an alphabet psalm praising God on Halloween or other days when we are afraid. Below is an activity sheet for doing this using words that begin with the letter H in honor of Halloween. (I hope someone can find better fear art to go with this!)

**************************************************************************

Write a psalm prayer about fear.

Try some of Make each line begin with H in honor
these words of Halloween.

Help
H________________________

Have

Hope
H________________________

Heal

Hallelujah
H________________________

Hear

Hide
H________________________

Happy

Hold
H________________________

How

Horrible

**************************************************************************

Isaiah 1:10-18

To understand Isaiah’s message one needs detailed information about worship in Old Testament times and then connect that message to our different form of worship today. That is a tough task for children. So I would tend to use the other Old Testament texts. If you do work with this one, go straight to verses 17 and 18 with the children. They are more direct and use more familiar words.

If your congregation regularly uses the language about sins as scarlet being made white as snow, this is a good chance to explain what we are saying when we say that and then to use it in the usual way. Bring something rough and deep red (even a wadded up ball of red Christmas foil) and something soft and white (maybe a white sweater or piece of white cotton). As you discuss the colors, remember that most children would prefer red over white. For them the stark difference between red (think red ribbons, Christmas, valentines..) and white (think white paper, white shirt, OK, maybe also snow, but… white is generally boring) is more important than the colors themselves. Tie the difference in the colors to the different feelings we have when we are hiding sins and when we admit them in Psalm 32.

Psalm 32:1-7 SIN TRANSGRESSION INIQUITY DECEIT GUILT

Psalm 32 in the New Revised Standard Version is a collection of words about sin used often in worship but nowhere else. So, before reading it, list the words and encourage listeners to watch for them in the psalm and in other parts of worship today. If this will be the focus of worship, give children red pencils with which to underline all the sin words they find in their printed order of worship.

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Greetings to the saints in Thessalonica

Because there is so much for children in the other texts and themes for this day and because a preacher is likely to go many different ways using this text, I am going to leave it with you. If you find a great connection for children, please share it with the rest of us in the Comments.

Luke 19:1-10

Zacchaeus

This is another text that can take worship leaders many different directions. Themes that speak especially clearly to children include:

- People CAN possible. Zacchaeus changed. You can change. People around you can change.

- The best way to deal with a troublesome person or enemy is to become a friend.
We can follow Jesus’ example by eating with the lonely ones or inviting them to eat with us in the school lunch room.

- Giving away money or stuff can save you (or bring happiness). Jesus said that returning the money he stole and giving half of all he had to the poor was going “to save his life.” Take time to define “save his life” to include bring happiness, peace, and a place among God’s people as well as eternal salvation.

Jesus and Zacchaeus get most of the attention in this story. But the crowd is us and is worthy of our attention. To explore their responses, enlist the help of a few youth or adults. Their job is to show the crowd’s response at key points in the story using their faces and their whole bodies. At the beginning of the story, they jostle with each other with knowing smiles to keep Zacchaeus at the back of the crowd. The leader may take the role of Zaccheaus trying to get through or at least see through the crowd as he tells the story. Have a step ladder or stool for him to climb. Once he climbs it, the crowd shares satisfied smiles and maybe elbows each other to be sure everyone sees Zaccheaus up the tree. As Zaccheaus tells of Jesus’ invitation, the crowd parts and Zaccheaus comes down from the tree and past them. As he passes, the crowd shows their displeasure with arms folded across chests, frowns and silently shared grumbles. Zacchaeus moves off to the side and tells the story of his response from there. He then freezes the action, steps out of character and asks how the crowd might have responded. With demonstrations from the actors, explore options such as disbelief (Zacchaeus couldn’t change!), disgust with Jesus for reaching out to such a sinner, or possibly amazed acceptance of what happened. It takes a minimum of three to form this crowd and can use as many as your worship space will allow. This is a great opportunity to work with a youth class preparing a story that will be meaningful to them and allowing them to become worship leaders.

Rather than work with a group of actors, the preacher could use his/her own face and body to demonstrate the crowd’s reactions while talking through the story and its meaning.

If it’s still Stewardship Season in your congregation, take a look at Miss Fannie’s Hat, by Jan Karon. Elderly Miss Fannie gives the best of her grand collection of hats to raise money to fix up the church. When she goes to church hatless on Easter morning, she finds the church surrounded by blooming rose bushes purchased with funds from the sale of her hat. She and those all around her find great happiness in her gift. One hopes that Zacchaeus and some of the folks he refunded will share similar happiness.

Labels: Change, Sin, Stewardship, Trust | 0 comments

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Year C - 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Posted by jamila |

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Joel 2:23-32

Maybe the best connection for children is the visions and dreams promised in verse 28. Identify dreams as possibilities and ideas about what could be. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech illustrates the importance of a dream in shaping life for both individuals and communities. According to Joel such dreams are gifts from God and therefore should be valued and worked with.

Two well known hymns that explore dreams and are very child accessible are “Be Thou My Vision” and “Open My Eyes That I May See.” Before singing the latter put the chorus into your own words. Clarify “illumine me” as give me your vision, let me hear your message, help me claim as my own your dreams for me and for the world.

Psalm 65

Thanksgiving for the Earth’s Bounty

There are so many random praises in this psalm that it is hard for children to follow. They are most likely to hear one or two that make sense to them. One way to focus their attention on these phrases is to provide them with a page with the words of all or part of the psalm printed in the middle. (Choose a translation such as Today’s English Bible which uses words children understand more easily.) Invite children to illustrate the psalm by drawing in the margins things they read about in the psalm or that the psalmist makes them remember with praise. As they leave the sanctuary, take time to talk with those who worked on this project about what they drew and/or post their artwork on a special bulletin board near the worship space or outside your office door.

2 Timothy 4:6 8, 16-18

Tell the back-story before reading this text. Invite listeners to imagine Paul sitting in prison in Rome knowing that he will probably soon be killed and writing his young friend Timothy whom he helped as Timothy started work as a minister. Then read the message thoughtfully, imagining yourself writing the letter, pausing at points to search for the right words for what you want to say.

In Charlotte’s Web, by E. B. White, Charlotte the spider speaks shortly before her death to Wilbur who she mentored very much as Paul spoke to Timothy in this passage. Click to http://storypath.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/lectionary-links-sunday-oct-24/ to get the details of this and check out a very useful new website connecting each lectionary text with a specific piece of children’s literature.

Luke 18:9-14

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Two basic truths underlie the meaning of this story: God loves us and we are all sinners. The Pharisee understands only one of them – God loves me. He sees only his strengths and good deeds and tells God all about them. It is a one sided conversation. The tax-collector however understands both of them. He is well aware of his weaknesses and sins. (Lots of people point them out to him regularly!) If that was all he knew, he wouldn’t be at the Temple at all. But he also knows that God loves him in spite of his sins. So he comes to God to confess and leaves OK with God.

To give the tax-collector’s prayer a physical reminder, put each truth in one hand then fold the hands together in prayer. Either use your own hands or invite listeners to use their hands. In either case, hold one hand palm cupped up to hold the truth that God loves us. Briefly describe God’s creation of each one of us with our special gifts and talents. Keep that cupped hand in place while raising the other hand up in the same position to hold the truth that we are each one of us sinners. Move your hands up and down in relationship to each other to note that on some days we feel more loved and lovable and on other days we feel more sinful. Then fold the hands together as if in prayer. Jesus tells his listeners to be honest with God. When we come to God honestly admitting our sins and trusting that God loves and forgives us, we are OK with God – and also OK with ourselves and the people around us.

Instruct people to look at the other people all around them in the sanctuary - the people in their families, their friends, the people they know who they are but aren’t friends, and the people they do not know at all. Then tell them that every one of those people is a sinner. Each one says and does things that hurt others, themselves and God. Sometimes they mean to do those things. Other times the mean words and deeds just pop out. Even they are surprised at what they have done. Then direct everyone to look again. Point out that God loves every one of the people in the room. God made them and knows them, even the awful things they do, and God loves them. When we are honest with each other and with God about both the awful things we do and God’s love for each one of us, things work out OK.

This is more powerful for both the children and the rest of the congregation if it is done as part of the Sermon because children are part of the whole rather than a “we” looking at a “them.” It also invites the adults to participate in the activity rather than observe it.

The unrecognized sin of the Pharisee was that he saw none of his own faults and all of those around him. The old word for that is scorn. The word is not familiar to children and there are few better substitutes, but there is plenty of scorn in their world. To explore this scorn or looking down on others,

Quote and discuss common phrases, labels and names as examples:

You’re not as (good, fast, smart, pretty….) as me!

You’re just a (jerk, baby, …ask the children to add labels used in their school)

Names that belittle – Shorty, Four-eyes, Pipsqueak, etc.

Be ready to discuss what is hurtful about the names and labels and think ahead about how you will handle terms with racial or sexual connotations. (This could be a lead in to comments about the names and labels being hurled scornfully by both sides in the current election campaign.)

JESUS MAFA. The Pharisee and the Publican,
from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library,
Nashville, TN.
http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48268

Direct attention to the Pharisee’s hands in this African artist’s illustration of this story. One hand says “look at me. See how fine I am.” The other says, “Look at him. I am soooo much better than he is.” His hands explain the look on his face. This man thinks that he is always right, that his ways are the best ways, and that very few people are as fine as he is. Jesus says that God is not impressed with this attitude. Even though the man does some fine things on God’s behalf, God is not impressed. (Either print this picture in the bulletin or enlarge it and post it at the front of the sanctuary.)

Read this scripture as reader’s theater with male readers. The Narrator may read from the lectern with the other 2 at center front. Or, all three may stand center front with the Narrator in the middle of the other two. Or, the Narrator may be in the lectern, the Pharisee at center front and the Tax collector off to the side.

Narrator: He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

Reader 1: Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’

Reader 2: But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

Narrator: I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

New Revised Standard Version

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