Childrens Sermon Service

Object: A small pillow or cushion, a bowl, and a jar.

NOTE: This is a simple role-play story. You will need one boy to play the role of Jesus, and one girl to play the role of Mary. Since these are not speaking roles, this may be an opportunity to have a child help who might be hesitant to do a more involved role.

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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!

This is a story about something that happened one day when Jesus was eating dinner with his friends, Mary and Martha. But before I tell you the story, I need to explain a couple of things that might sound kind of confusing. And I am going to need some help. We need one of you to be Jesus. (Select your Jesus.) And we need one of you to be Mary. (Select your Mary.)

Great! Now, when people ate dinner back then, they didn’t sit at the table the way we do today. They had a table, but it was down really low to the ground, so they didn’t need to sit in chairs. (Show the cushion.) Instead, they used cushions like this one. (Put the cushion on the floor.) So, when Jesus went to dinner, instead of sitting in a chair, let’s see what he would have done. (Have Jesus lie down on his left side, leaning on his left elbow on the cushion.) This is how Jesus ate dinner. People didn’t sit, they stretched out like this, leaned on their left arm, and ate with their right hand. Do you think you would like that if you tried it at home? (Let them respond.) It would be different, wouldn’t it? (Let them respond.) But that’s how Jesus and the other people would have been sitting when they ate dinner.

The other thing I ought to explain is that if you had a special guest come for dinner, there was something very important you were supposed to do to let the guest know you were glad they were there. You were supposed to get a bowl of water and a towel and wash your guest’s feet. (Let them respond.) Our story says that Martha was busy in the kitchen getting the food ready, so her sister Mary was the one who was supposed to get the bowl and wash Jesus’ feet. (Hand Mary the bowl.) Now, this is why I explained how Jesus was sitting at the table all stretched out like this. (Have Mary stand by Jesus’ feet.) She could just walk over to where Jesus was stretched out, pour the cool water over his feet, and dry them off with the towel, couldn’t she? (Let them respond and have Mary kneel down by Jesus’ feet holding her bowl.) And when Mary knelt by Jesus’ feet, that’s what everyone thought she was going to do so they all just kept talking and waiting for the food to come and didn’t pay any attention to her.

But then something happened. (Have Mary put down the bowl and hand her the jar.)

No one at the table noticed when Mary sat her bowl down and got out a jar of perfume. But they all stopped talking when they smelled the perfume in the room. Everyone was kind of confused and looked all around to find out where the smell was coming from and then noticed Mary pouring the perfume on Jesus’ feet. (Have Mary pretend to pour the perfume.) She poured it over his feet and then wiped them off with her hair. Everyone got really quiet because they knew what she was doing. They knew that one of the things you did when someone you loved died, was to wash their feet with perfume and dry them off with your hair. So, they all knew that Mary was trying to show Jesus how much she loved him because she was afraid that he was going to be killed in a few days.

So, it got quiet.

Until Judas shouted, “Hey, I know that smell. That is some really expensive perfume. We could have sold it and got a lot of money for it! Why in the world are you wasting it like that?” When they smelled the perfume, everyone in the room understood that Mary was just trying to show Jesus how much she cared, but all that Judas smelled was money.

But Jesus looked at Judas and said, “Leave her alone! She isn’t wasting the perfume. She is doing what she is supposed to do because she cares.”

But Judas just didn’t understand. Judas believed that if we follow God, we will get more. More riches. More power. More everything. He believed that more is better and that if we have more, it means that we are better than the people who have less.

Some people still believe that, don’t they? (Let them respond.) They believe that having more money and power means you are better than other people! And if they see you give away money or power to show that you care for someone, they yell at you and say you shouldn’t waste it like that.

So, what do we do when we see someone we care about? Do we listen to Judas, and not waste our time trying to show them that we care? (Let them respond.) Or do we find a way to show them how much we do care about them? (Let them respond.) Just remember that when Judas shouted at Mary because he thought she was wasting her time caring for Jesus, Jesus told Judas to just leave her alone.

I hope our story will help remind us that when we see people who are hurting, or who are having a hard time, Jesus said that God wants us to find a way to show those people that we care. Do you think we should maybe wash their feet? (Let them respond.) Probably not, huh? (Let them respond.) But what else could we do to show someone we care? (Let them respond.) Maybe just give them a smile? (Let them respond.) Or say, “Hi!” Or sit by them? Or maybe even give someone a hug? (Let them respond.)

Just remember that Jesus said that if we show someone that we care about them it is never a waste.

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.