for Sunday, September 19 (Proper 20, Year C)

Good Behavior
Luke 16:1–8a (Parable of the Shrewd Manager)

This week is a toughie for addressing children. Jeremiah is at his worst: There is no balm in Gilead. And even the Gospel has one of the most complicated parables. It’s a very adult story, barely explicable only by irony or its being exclusively about worldly concerns. But everyone should be able to address making choices about how to behave, and maybe how much clearer those choices should be when they’re not limited to concerns of this world. I have stopped at the parable rated red by the Jesus Seminar and left out what those Fellows understood as rationalization by the later church.

On the other hand, maybe this is an opportunity to draw together the Book of Amos, which skips around just two bits of misdeeds as alternate readings this week and next, and doesn’t get to God’s great call for justice.

Musical ideas: A great song from my long-ago youth, “I Want Justice” by Jim Moore (jimmoorecm.org) captures the whole book of Amos and is a great focus for discussion.

Especially if you have a chance to discuss with the adults the Christological turnaround, go ahead and use “There Is a Balm ...” (PH #394) for its connection to the persistence of hope in the experience of African-Americans.

for Sunday, September 12 (Proper 19, Year C)

Every Little Bit
Luke 15:4–10

There doesn’t seem to be much need to confuse kids with sinners and the attitudes of elite onlookers, except for one thing: Jesus addresses his jokes directly to his listeners, and neither tax collectors nor Pharisees would be expected to quite see the jokes of risk-taking shepherds and profligate hostesses. But perhaps most of that is best saved for discussion with the grownups.
• Think of how best to share classic games like Hide and Seek or Button, Button without getting overcompetitive. This lesson would also lend itself to discussing games from other cultures and from religious observances, such as hiding the matzoh at the Passover Seder.
• Hide examples of something that comes in two or three different sizes, such as Oreo cookies. When they’ve all been found — and before they get eaten — ask the finders which one is most important. Encourage the kids to recognize that even the minicookie out of the 100-calorie pack is important to the one who found it. In fact, a tiny treat is sometimes the tastiest.

There’s also lots of fun to be had in discussing the true nature of sheep, which have been called animals that spend their whole lives looking for ways to die.