Pick the Last First
Children's sermon
Jesus turns the theology of the day on it’s head by saying the people who you thought were left out of God’s blessings are where blessings fall. Meek people were not seen as blessed because the world favored the aggressive. Peacekeepers were no fun to have around because war meant status upgrades and wealth. The world thought these people had been passed over by God, but Jesus says that is not the case. Those who feel deeply and mourn or get all in a tizzy about injustice are people showered in blessings.
Imagine what it felt like to be meek and told you are less than by everyone else. Then a wise religious teacher, possibly the messiah, says you are blessed beyond measure. Going from the bottom to the top in one sentence. There are tons of situations where kids feel the deep pain of being passed over. They can identify with those finding out there are blessed in these passages.
Say something like:
(If you have a story of being passed up for something or being picked last share that story with the kids)
I am good at lots of things, but I am dreadful at basketball. I can’t seem to figure out how to not look at the ball the whole time. The problem is the minute I take my eye off the ball I lose it. In elementary the coolest thing to do on recess was play basketball. Usually I watched from the sidelines, but every once in awhile I got the nerve to play. Guess what, I never really got any better. When we played in gym class everyone knew how bad I was, and I was always picked last for a team.
Have any of you ever been last at something? It hurts doesn’t it. Sometimes people even laughed or say mean things. Being last is an awful feeling.
Well one day Jesus was with a bunch of people who were considered last too. You see in Jesus’ day people who were confident and forceful with their ideas were popular. These people got good jobs, and everyone wanted to be their friend. The world thought these people must be blessed by God because they have all sorts of good things happening in their life. They win battles, and smile all the time, so God must be giving them all these good things.
Which meant people who were shyer or who felt deeply and could not hide it when they were sad were considered less important. They didn’t get picked first for anything. People thought God had forgotten them too and that they were not blessed. Remember that feeling of being last, that is how they felt.
Jesus said the world was wrong about who God blessed. Jesus said God did bless the meek and the sad, and the peacekeepers and the people who were picked last! God did still care about them even if the world thought they were weird. Which means we are all blessed too!
Let’s say a prayer to thank God for blessing us.
God, Thank you for blessing us and choosing us to be on your team. We promise to help share the blessing with other people by picking them to be on our team and to be our friends. Amen.
Imagine what it felt like to be meek and told you are less than by everyone else. Then a wise religious teacher, possibly the messiah, says you are blessed beyond measure. Going from the bottom to the top in one sentence. There are tons of situations where kids feel the deep pain of being passed over. They can identify with those finding out there are blessed in these passages.
Say something like:
(If you have a story of being passed up for something or being picked last share that story with the kids)
I am good at lots of things, but I am dreadful at basketball. I can’t seem to figure out how to not look at the ball the whole time. The problem is the minute I take my eye off the ball I lose it. In elementary the coolest thing to do on recess was play basketball. Usually I watched from the sidelines, but every once in awhile I got the nerve to play. Guess what, I never really got any better. When we played in gym class everyone knew how bad I was, and I was always picked last for a team.
Have any of you ever been last at something? It hurts doesn’t it. Sometimes people even laughed or say mean things. Being last is an awful feeling.
Well one day Jesus was with a bunch of people who were considered last too. You see in Jesus’ day people who were confident and forceful with their ideas were popular. These people got good jobs, and everyone wanted to be their friend. The world thought these people must be blessed by God because they have all sorts of good things happening in their life. They win battles, and smile all the time, so God must be giving them all these good things.
Which meant people who were shyer or who felt deeply and could not hide it when they were sad were considered less important. They didn’t get picked first for anything. People thought God had forgotten them too and that they were not blessed. Remember that feeling of being last, that is how they felt.
Jesus said the world was wrong about who God blessed. Jesus said God did bless the meek and the sad, and the peacekeepers and the people who were picked last! God did still care about them even if the world thought they were weird. Which means we are all blessed too!
Let’s say a prayer to thank God for blessing us.
God, Thank you for blessing us and choosing us to be on your team. We promise to help share the blessing with other people by picking them to be on our team and to be our friends. Amen.
