Hard work
Children's sermon
Object:
a mop
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. (v. 5)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you have ever had a job to do? (allow answers) How many of you have had a job that you didn't want to do? (allow answers) We've all had jobs that we don't really like. Even though we don't always like our jobs, we know they have to get done. Sometimes, if our chore is to help clean the house, maybe, we don't do as good of a job as we could do. Our attitude toward the work -- how we feel about it -- shows in how well we accomplish our job.
Once there were two janitors who worked in a school. They worked all night cleaning the school and getting it ready for the children to come and learn each morning. One of the janitors was lazy. He didn't like his job. As soon as he came to work, he was ready to leave. He complained. He didn't do a very good job of sweeping, mopping, or taking out the trash. He took as many breaks as he could.
While the other janitor didn't love his job, he was determined to do a good job. When he came to work, he made it a point to do the best work he could for the whole eight hour shift.
"Why don't you take a break, man?" the first janitor would say, sipping coffee.
"The floor doesn't have to be that shiny, brother," the first janitor would say, trimming his fingernails.
The second janitor ignored the first janitor. But sometimes he would say: "I'm here to do a job. As long as I am in the school, I will clean the school." And he kept working: polishing, mopping, sweeping, dusting.
In our gospel lesson today, Jesus is like the second janitor. Even though his work on earth is hard, he is determined to make his father in heaven proud. And just as the janitor says, "As long as I am in the school, I will clean the school," Jesus says, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." In fact, you could say that Jesus is our ultimate janitor. Through his work and sacrifice on the cross, our souls are clean and pure, the most clean and pure that we could ever imagine.
Remember the example of Jesus and the janitor. Next time you have a job to do, no matter how big or small, no matter how much you want to or don't want to do it, remember that we should always give our best effort to do the best work we can. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you have ever had a job to do? (allow answers) How many of you have had a job that you didn't want to do? (allow answers) We've all had jobs that we don't really like. Even though we don't always like our jobs, we know they have to get done. Sometimes, if our chore is to help clean the house, maybe, we don't do as good of a job as we could do. Our attitude toward the work -- how we feel about it -- shows in how well we accomplish our job.
Once there were two janitors who worked in a school. They worked all night cleaning the school and getting it ready for the children to come and learn each morning. One of the janitors was lazy. He didn't like his job. As soon as he came to work, he was ready to leave. He complained. He didn't do a very good job of sweeping, mopping, or taking out the trash. He took as many breaks as he could.
While the other janitor didn't love his job, he was determined to do a good job. When he came to work, he made it a point to do the best work he could for the whole eight hour shift.
"Why don't you take a break, man?" the first janitor would say, sipping coffee.
"The floor doesn't have to be that shiny, brother," the first janitor would say, trimming his fingernails.
The second janitor ignored the first janitor. But sometimes he would say: "I'm here to do a job. As long as I am in the school, I will clean the school." And he kept working: polishing, mopping, sweeping, dusting.
In our gospel lesson today, Jesus is like the second janitor. Even though his work on earth is hard, he is determined to make his father in heaven proud. And just as the janitor says, "As long as I am in the school, I will clean the school," Jesus says, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." In fact, you could say that Jesus is our ultimate janitor. Through his work and sacrifice on the cross, our souls are clean and pure, the most clean and pure that we could ever imagine.
Remember the example of Jesus and the janitor. Next time you have a job to do, no matter how big or small, no matter how much you want to or don't want to do it, remember that we should always give our best effort to do the best work we can. Amen.
