Change
Children's sermon
Object:
coins
I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. (v. 2)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Who can tell me what this is? (show change; allow answers) We call coins "change." We might call it "pocket change." There is an old saying that people sometimes say when they give someone their spare pocket change. It says, "A little change never hurt anybody." Do you know why that's funny? (allow answers) Even though they seem to be talking about pocket change -- pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters -- what they are also saying is that it's okay to change. It's okay to do something different. Maybe the change-giver is "changing" his or her habits -- maybe giving change isn't something they normally do. Maybe they just want to make someone chuckle.
Whatever the reason, change -- not the coins, the other kind -- is an important part of today's New Testament reading. In the reading, Saint Paul is sad because people that he cares about are not followers of Christ, and instead are still fighting against new Christians. Paul says he would give up his life -- his faith and his work and his ministry -- if only those people would come to believe. But Paul knows something that is very important. Paul knows that no matter how hard we try -- no matter how much we share God's word, no matter how hard we work, no matter how good of examples we are -- we cannot force anyone to change their mind. The only person's mind we can change is our own. Each person has to make his or her own decisions. So no matter how much we might want someone to do something, think something, or believe something, there is still only so much we can do to encourage them. We can give them all the tools that they need. We can give them attention and support and love. But we cannot make them believe something that they do not want to believe. We cannot make them do something that they do not want to do.
Sometimes that is a hard lesson for us to hear. Maybe we want something to change in our families. Maybe we want our parents to love each other or not get divorced. Maybe we want our grandparents to stop fighting with each other. Maybe we want our aunt or uncle to move closer to where we live so that we can see them more often. And we can do things to try to help things work out. But in the end, there is only so much we can do. We can't control other people's behavior and choices. We can only control our own. After that, it's up to God to make a little "change" happen. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) Who can tell me what this is? (show change; allow answers) We call coins "change." We might call it "pocket change." There is an old saying that people sometimes say when they give someone their spare pocket change. It says, "A little change never hurt anybody." Do you know why that's funny? (allow answers) Even though they seem to be talking about pocket change -- pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters -- what they are also saying is that it's okay to change. It's okay to do something different. Maybe the change-giver is "changing" his or her habits -- maybe giving change isn't something they normally do. Maybe they just want to make someone chuckle.
Whatever the reason, change -- not the coins, the other kind -- is an important part of today's New Testament reading. In the reading, Saint Paul is sad because people that he cares about are not followers of Christ, and instead are still fighting against new Christians. Paul says he would give up his life -- his faith and his work and his ministry -- if only those people would come to believe. But Paul knows something that is very important. Paul knows that no matter how hard we try -- no matter how much we share God's word, no matter how hard we work, no matter how good of examples we are -- we cannot force anyone to change their mind. The only person's mind we can change is our own. Each person has to make his or her own decisions. So no matter how much we might want someone to do something, think something, or believe something, there is still only so much we can do to encourage them. We can give them all the tools that they need. We can give them attention and support and love. But we cannot make them believe something that they do not want to believe. We cannot make them do something that they do not want to do.
Sometimes that is a hard lesson for us to hear. Maybe we want something to change in our families. Maybe we want our parents to love each other or not get divorced. Maybe we want our grandparents to stop fighting with each other. Maybe we want our aunt or uncle to move closer to where we live so that we can see them more often. And we can do things to try to help things work out. But in the end, there is only so much we can do. We can't control other people's behavior and choices. We can only control our own. After that, it's up to God to make a little "change" happen. Amen.
