Ask... and ask again
Children's sermon
Object:
a newspaper
Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly. (v. 28)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Today we are going to talk about persistence. Have any of you heard that word before? (allow answers) Can anyone tell me what it means? (allow answers) "Persistence" is a word that means "never give up." When you are persistent, you try and try until you get what you are working for.
When you grow up, if you decide to be a newspaper reporter, you would have to have a lot of persistence. To write articles, newspaper reporters have to call people and interview them. (show newspaper) Sometimes those people are hard to find! So the newspaper reporters have to call on the telephone maybe for days or weeks. If the person won't answer the telephone at home, the reporter might have to try to call them at work. The reporter might have to drive to the person's house and knock on the front door. In order to get answers from the person they need to talk to, sometimes reporters have to work really hard!
Our gospel lesson today tells the story of a woman who was very persistent. In Jesus' time, people were divided by different cultures. People from different cultures didn't spend time with each other. They didn't want anything to do with each other! It would be like if the people from the town you live in refused to have anything to do with the people who lived in a town nearby. When you saw people from that town, you would ignore them, you would cross the street, and walk on the other side to stay away from them. And you definitely wouldn't talk to them!
Well, in our gospel today, Jesus meets a woman from a different culture. His disciples tell him: "Get rid of this woman! She's different from us, we shouldn't talk to her!" But Jesus doesn't push her away. The reason she wants to talk to Jesus is because her daughter is sick. She wants Jesus to make her daughter well. She asks Jesus several times, "Help my daughter!" But Jesus is careful. He knows that different cultures don't get along. If word gets out that he helped someone who wasn't one of "his" people, it could become a big scandal! So Jesus puts her off. He tells her that he is the Messiah, and he has only come to save his people. But the woman doesn't give up. She keeps talking to Jesus, trying to persuade him to help her daughter. Finally, Jesus gives in. He says, "Great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish."
Jesus was impressed by the woman's persistence. She knew that she was from a different culture, and she knew that she should not talk to Jesus. But she believed in Jesus. Her faith was so great in him -- and her wish for her daughter to be well was so strong -- that she was willing to do whatever it took to talk to Jesus and to beg him for her daughter's health.
In Sunday school, we are taught "Ask and it shall be given to you" (Luke 11:9). But, as we can see in the story of this woman, sometimes it takes more than just asking once. When we ask for something, we have to mean it. We have to be persistent. We have to seek the things that we want and work hard to make them, through God's grace, our own. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Today we are going to talk about persistence. Have any of you heard that word before? (allow answers) Can anyone tell me what it means? (allow answers) "Persistence" is a word that means "never give up." When you are persistent, you try and try until you get what you are working for.
When you grow up, if you decide to be a newspaper reporter, you would have to have a lot of persistence. To write articles, newspaper reporters have to call people and interview them. (show newspaper) Sometimes those people are hard to find! So the newspaper reporters have to call on the telephone maybe for days or weeks. If the person won't answer the telephone at home, the reporter might have to try to call them at work. The reporter might have to drive to the person's house and knock on the front door. In order to get answers from the person they need to talk to, sometimes reporters have to work really hard!
Our gospel lesson today tells the story of a woman who was very persistent. In Jesus' time, people were divided by different cultures. People from different cultures didn't spend time with each other. They didn't want anything to do with each other! It would be like if the people from the town you live in refused to have anything to do with the people who lived in a town nearby. When you saw people from that town, you would ignore them, you would cross the street, and walk on the other side to stay away from them. And you definitely wouldn't talk to them!
Well, in our gospel today, Jesus meets a woman from a different culture. His disciples tell him: "Get rid of this woman! She's different from us, we shouldn't talk to her!" But Jesus doesn't push her away. The reason she wants to talk to Jesus is because her daughter is sick. She wants Jesus to make her daughter well. She asks Jesus several times, "Help my daughter!" But Jesus is careful. He knows that different cultures don't get along. If word gets out that he helped someone who wasn't one of "his" people, it could become a big scandal! So Jesus puts her off. He tells her that he is the Messiah, and he has only come to save his people. But the woman doesn't give up. She keeps talking to Jesus, trying to persuade him to help her daughter. Finally, Jesus gives in. He says, "Great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish."
Jesus was impressed by the woman's persistence. She knew that she was from a different culture, and she knew that she should not talk to Jesus. But she believed in Jesus. Her faith was so great in him -- and her wish for her daughter to be well was so strong -- that she was willing to do whatever it took to talk to Jesus and to beg him for her daughter's health.
In Sunday school, we are taught "Ask and it shall be given to you" (Luke 11:9). But, as we can see in the story of this woman, sometimes it takes more than just asking once. When we ask for something, we have to mean it. We have to be persistent. We have to seek the things that we want and work hard to make them, through God's grace, our own. Amen.
