Our Keys!
Children's sermon
Object: A key to give each child. I use key blanks from a hardware store. Other options would be to make cutouts of keys from posterboard, or just use some old keys that aren’t good anymore. I like the key blanks because they are durable, and have holes so the children might hang them on a book bag or something similar.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
But, before we hear the story, I have a question for you. Can anyone tell us who the Pharisees were? (Let them respond.)
They were some of the religious leaders when Jesus was here, weren’t they? The Pharisees believed that the most important thing everyone had to do was to obey all of the religious laws. And there were thousands of those laws. There were laws about what we could eat, what we could wear, where we could go, who we could talk to, how we cut our hair, and lots of others.
The Pharisees believed that if we broke any of the religious laws, God would hate us and would not care about us at all. So, they spent time watching everyone to catch them if they broke any of the laws. If we broke a little law, they might make us give a sacrifice or pay money to the temple. But if we broke a big law, they might call us unclean, and tell everyone to stay away from us, to not touch us or talk to us, or do anything to help us if we ever got sick or needed anything. Even our families could not talk to us or be around us. The Pharisees believed that God cared more about the laws than anything else.
Does anyone know why the Pharisees didn’t like Jesus? (Let them respond.) It was because he touched people the Pharisees said no one should touch, didn’t he? (Let them respond.) And, because he ate with people the Pharisees said no one should eat with, didn’t he? (Let them respond.) And, because he healed people the Pharisees said no one should heal, didn’t he? (Let them respond.) Jesus was not doing what the Pharisees wanted, and that made them angry, didn’t it? The Pharisees were following Jesus and watching what he did, trying to figure out how to make him stop helping those people. Well, one day when Jesus saw the Pharisees watching him again, he looked at them and told them this story:
Once there was a man who built a big vineyard. He had to go away for a while, so he found some people who said they would take care of the vineyard for him and gave each of them a key to get in. After he had been gone a while, the owner sent some friends to check on the vineyard for him. But when they got to the vineyard, the people with the keys beat the friends up and even killed some of them. The owner sent more servants to check on the vineyard, and the people with the keys did the same thing to them, too. Finally, the owner sent his son to check on the vineyard, and the people with the keys even killed him. Instead of taking care of the vineyard like the owner wanted them to, the people with the keys ignored him and did what they wanted to do instead. When the owner found out what happened, he got rid of those people with the keys and gave the vineyard to other people who would do what the owner wanted them to do.
Jesus looked at the Pharisees and said that God had given them the job of taking care of all of God’s people. God had given them the keys. But instead of taking care of God’s people the way they were supposed to, what did they do? (Let them respond.) They ignored God and tried to make everyone do what they wanted and make them obey their laws instead, didn’t they? (Let them respond.) And now Jesus told the Pharisees that God was going to get rid of them and give the keys to someone who would take better care of God’s kingdom.
Do you know who God gave the keys to? (Let them respond, as you hand out the keys.) God gave us the keys and asked us to take care of God’s kingdom the same way Jesus took care of it. God cares about people, not laws. Whenever you see your key, remember that God wants us to do whatever we can to spend our time taking care of each other and not spend our time arguing and trying to catch people breaking a bunch of rules and laws. God cares more about people than about laws, and that’s what God wants us to do, too.
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
But, before we hear the story, I have a question for you. Can anyone tell us who the Pharisees were? (Let them respond.)
They were some of the religious leaders when Jesus was here, weren’t they? The Pharisees believed that the most important thing everyone had to do was to obey all of the religious laws. And there were thousands of those laws. There were laws about what we could eat, what we could wear, where we could go, who we could talk to, how we cut our hair, and lots of others.
The Pharisees believed that if we broke any of the religious laws, God would hate us and would not care about us at all. So, they spent time watching everyone to catch them if they broke any of the laws. If we broke a little law, they might make us give a sacrifice or pay money to the temple. But if we broke a big law, they might call us unclean, and tell everyone to stay away from us, to not touch us or talk to us, or do anything to help us if we ever got sick or needed anything. Even our families could not talk to us or be around us. The Pharisees believed that God cared more about the laws than anything else.
Does anyone know why the Pharisees didn’t like Jesus? (Let them respond.) It was because he touched people the Pharisees said no one should touch, didn’t he? (Let them respond.) And, because he ate with people the Pharisees said no one should eat with, didn’t he? (Let them respond.) And, because he healed people the Pharisees said no one should heal, didn’t he? (Let them respond.) Jesus was not doing what the Pharisees wanted, and that made them angry, didn’t it? The Pharisees were following Jesus and watching what he did, trying to figure out how to make him stop helping those people. Well, one day when Jesus saw the Pharisees watching him again, he looked at them and told them this story:
Once there was a man who built a big vineyard. He had to go away for a while, so he found some people who said they would take care of the vineyard for him and gave each of them a key to get in. After he had been gone a while, the owner sent some friends to check on the vineyard for him. But when they got to the vineyard, the people with the keys beat the friends up and even killed some of them. The owner sent more servants to check on the vineyard, and the people with the keys did the same thing to them, too. Finally, the owner sent his son to check on the vineyard, and the people with the keys even killed him. Instead of taking care of the vineyard like the owner wanted them to, the people with the keys ignored him and did what they wanted to do instead. When the owner found out what happened, he got rid of those people with the keys and gave the vineyard to other people who would do what the owner wanted them to do.
Jesus looked at the Pharisees and said that God had given them the job of taking care of all of God’s people. God had given them the keys. But instead of taking care of God’s people the way they were supposed to, what did they do? (Let them respond.) They ignored God and tried to make everyone do what they wanted and make them obey their laws instead, didn’t they? (Let them respond.) And now Jesus told the Pharisees that God was going to get rid of them and give the keys to someone who would take better care of God’s kingdom.
Do you know who God gave the keys to? (Let them respond, as you hand out the keys.) God gave us the keys and asked us to take care of God’s kingdom the same way Jesus took care of it. God cares about people, not laws. Whenever you see your key, remember that God wants us to do whatever we can to spend our time taking care of each other and not spend our time arguing and trying to catch people breaking a bunch of rules and laws. God cares more about people than about laws, and that’s what God wants us to do, too.
Let’s pray and ask God to remind us that Jesus loves every one of us and wants us to follow him and take care of each other the way God takes care of us.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us and for forgiving us when we forget that. And please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
