for Sunday, September 5 (Proper 18, Year C)

Who Knows You Best?

Psalm 139:1–6, 13–18; Jeremiah 18:1–11

Watch out for any hint of a threateningly whimsical God. Emphasize opportunities to start fresh rather than destruction or punishment. Those are adult concepts that you’ll probably find don’t occur to kids without prompting.

• Here’s a perfect opportunity for Preaching Colors, perhaps using clay instead of crayons. You might also think about various forms of drawn or clay-molded charades, but avoid prescribing imagery or use of preforms, molds, and cookie cutters. Freehand is the most open to expression, and let the kids show the adults how to be free with it. Try also to balance transformation with obliteration of another participant’s original form.

• A conversation about creation and destruction in nature is also rich with possibilities — melting snowmen, the sculpting power of water, even the leaves that may soon be turning and dropping from trees in your area.

Musical ideas: The old hymn “Have Thine Own Way” makes classic use of the potter image, but may be best suited to letting the oldest generation of participants give it as a gift to the younger ones.

for Sunday, August 29 (Proper 17)

Head of the Line
Proverbs 25: 6–7; Luke 14: 1, 7–14

Kids are likely to identify very easily with the concepts of these readings, but perhaps not to hear that identification on simple reading because of the layers of culture embedded in the texts. Even Eugene Peterson, in The Message, mostly sticks to the enculturated presentation. But you might use this v.11 from the Luke: “‘If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face. But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.’”

• Try out some different seating arrangements and discuss which ones make it easier to follow Jesus’ advice — or make it completely unnecessary. If it’s convenient, include your traditional Sanctuary and discuss all of the seating there, including choir and chancel.

• You might even consider a game of musical chairs, or one by the normal rules and then another asking everyone to behave as Jesus suggests, especially if you make one seat extra special in some way.

• You could also work the eating-arrangements angle, especially if you have participants or neighbors — I think of some Indians or Koreans — who can share their eating customs of sharing rather than portioning.

There is an interesting tie back to the recent water discussions at the end of the Jeremiah, pertaining to the difference between living water and that collected in cisterns.
[Chess set by Kenyan artisans via serrv.org]

for Sunday, August 22 (Proper 16)

Sprinkler Time

Isaiah 58:9b-14

There’s no reason not to do baptism two weeks in a row, especially if you get dog days in August. But Isaiah’s understanding of the promise of “watered gardens” is so extravagant, I hope you can take this one outside and get a little splashy, though this of all sessions should be closely adapted to the local environment. See the lection from Jeremiah for next week for the difference between living water and that collected in cisterns.

• Without making anyone feel guilty, think about discussing the thirstier areas of the globe and problems such as irrigation for some while others have to fetch water for basic needs. If you live in a desert area and can include someone with expertise in serescaping, you have a wonderful opportunity. (The photos, btw, show seedling and mature Joshua trees in California.)

Props: Anything from a demure little table fountain to a pool would be generally appropriate, but be aware of environmental stewardship, and the need for a qualified lifeguard if there’s any chance of anyone going under.

Musical ideas: There are all kinds of water songs, from “Down By the Riverside” and “I’ve Got Peace Like a River” to formal baptism hymns. I’m not quite sure how one might use “Splish, Splash, I Was Takin’ a Bath,” but if you come up with something, please share it!

for Sunday, August 15 (Proper 15)

Full of God
Jeremiah 23:23–24

This is a week when listening closely may lead to confusion and even distaste. We adults have learned to focus, for instance, on the lovely image of the “cloud of witnesses” in Hebrews, but reading beyond that line raises some fairly bloody stories to consciousness.

And one simple line from Jeremiah, v.23, comes out with drastically different meaning from one translation to another, because of English words that have had to be supplied to make the Hebrew read: “Am I ... near by ... and not far off?” God demands to know in KJV or NRSV, and Peterson reads “Am I not ... near ... and not ... far off?” The Tanakh’s reading of both/and seems more consonant with the following verse, on God’s omnipresence. So let’s go from the inside out.

• If your community is comfortable, this is a great opportunity to rehearse and renew baptism. You can let kids get their hands on the technologies they’ve seen used — fonts, aspergills — and talk about symbolism vs. magic. Put enough clear pebbles in your font for each participant who wants one, and cover them with water. I’ve also used blossoms, such as from azaleas, or loose petals.
• Only the very brave will explore the pockets of participants, especially young men.
• Play Hide and Seek.

Props: My favorite baptism talisman is a small, flat, clear pebble of quartz. My first was molded glass for putting in the bottoms of vases.

for Sunday, August 8 (Proper 14)

Believe
Hebrews 11:1-3

It’s hard to say much of value about faith without mentioning fear and loss. But they are no surprise to children, no matter how we may try to shelter them. The good thing is that neither is faith a surprise to a child. The image of a newborn expressing faith in its cry for help comes from Alison Gopnik in The Philosophical Baby (2009). And the context of faith may provide the safest environment for children to name their fears and to learn that adults also know about fear and loss and how to survive it.

• What about a session of Preaching Colors, starting with just the darker crayons? Or you might invite each participant to draw a representation of God as seen with their “inside eyes.”

Props: Great opportunity to observe the faith of a baby, if you have one handy.

Musical ideas: Ending this worship on an upbeat is vital. A very direct application, and one that tends to stick in the ear and has hand motions (sign language), would be “What Went Right Today” by Joan Buzick (2006 Buz-Land Presentations). You could even focus on the sign for day as an excellent self-prompt to expect joy to come in the morning.