Caring for others
Children's sermon
Object:
an American flag, a drawing of an enemy's flag
"Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into
the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said
to him, "Go and do likewise." (vv. 36-37)
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you remember the story of the good Samaritan? (let them answer) It is a story Jesus told about a man from a foreign country who stopped to help a man who had been robbed and beaten. The beaten man was a citizen of the country that the Jews lived in. The people in each country hated each other. Still, when the Samaritan found the Jew, he stopped, bandaged him, and took him to a place where the beaten man could recover. The Samaritan paid for the man's stay and promised that he would stop on his way back and pay anything else that was owed. One part of the story says that two priests, each a member of the same country as the beaten man, passed him by. Jesus asked the people, which of the three men was a neighbor to the man?
Everyone agreed that the good neighbor was the man from the country that all of them hated. Today it seems like we have lots of enemies. Many of them live a long way from here. When we see a picture of people with their heads wrapped in cloth so that you can only see their eyes, we are fearful of them. The men with cloth wrapped around their heads are a lot like us. Other people have told them that we do not respect them and we worship a different God. They know nothing about us except that they think we are very bad people.
They have a flag that looks something like this. (show them the flag picture) We have a flag that looks like this. (show our flag) They hate our flag and we hate their flag. Of course, they do not know what our flag stands for to us and we don't know what their flag stands for to them. We have a lot in common. We both have fathers and mothers, we both have wives and husbands, and we both have children. We both want to live good lives with our families. We want to go to school and learn. We both love our hometown and our neighbors. But we still hate each other.
Jesus taught us to love our neighbors, all our neighbors. He told us the story of the good Samaritan so that we would be surprised that someone who we thinks hates us would be so kind as to care for us. Could we surprise some people by loving our enemies and making friends with people that we thought we hated? Could you be a good Samaritan? Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you remember the story of the good Samaritan? (let them answer) It is a story Jesus told about a man from a foreign country who stopped to help a man who had been robbed and beaten. The beaten man was a citizen of the country that the Jews lived in. The people in each country hated each other. Still, when the Samaritan found the Jew, he stopped, bandaged him, and took him to a place where the beaten man could recover. The Samaritan paid for the man's stay and promised that he would stop on his way back and pay anything else that was owed. One part of the story says that two priests, each a member of the same country as the beaten man, passed him by. Jesus asked the people, which of the three men was a neighbor to the man?
Everyone agreed that the good neighbor was the man from the country that all of them hated. Today it seems like we have lots of enemies. Many of them live a long way from here. When we see a picture of people with their heads wrapped in cloth so that you can only see their eyes, we are fearful of them. The men with cloth wrapped around their heads are a lot like us. Other people have told them that we do not respect them and we worship a different God. They know nothing about us except that they think we are very bad people.
They have a flag that looks something like this. (show them the flag picture) We have a flag that looks like this. (show our flag) They hate our flag and we hate their flag. Of course, they do not know what our flag stands for to us and we don't know what their flag stands for to them. We have a lot in common. We both have fathers and mothers, we both have wives and husbands, and we both have children. We both want to live good lives with our families. We want to go to school and learn. We both love our hometown and our neighbors. But we still hate each other.
Jesus taught us to love our neighbors, all our neighbors. He told us the story of the good Samaritan so that we would be surprised that someone who we thinks hates us would be so kind as to care for us. Could we surprise some people by loving our enemies and making friends with people that we thought we hated? Could you be a good Samaritan? Amen.
