Two Sons
Children's sermon
Object: A rock about the size of a tennis ball, baseball, or even a softball.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!
One day, a group of Pharisees and teachers went to see Jesus to hear what he was teaching everyone. But when they got there and saw Jesus and the people he was talking to, the Pharisees and teachers got really angry. Does anyone know why they got so angry? (Let them respond.) The Pharisees and teachers believed that if you wanted to follow God, you had to follow all of their rules and do all of the things their rules said you had to do. And they had a lot of rules to follow. And when the Pharisees and teachers saw the people Jesus was with, they knew that most of those people did not follow their rules. The Pharisees said, “Look at the people Jesus is with. They are all sinners. There are even tax collectors in the group. If Jesus was really from God, he wouldn’t hang around people like that, so he must be lying and just be a fake.”
But Jesus heard what the Pharisees said. He looked at them and said, “Let me tell you a story.”
He said that once there was a man who had two sons. The older son worked hard and did the things his dad wanted him to do. But the younger son was different. He was more stubborn, and if he didn’t want to do something he would argue with his father about it. Sometimes they had some really big arguments. One day, their argument got so bad the younger son looked at his father and said, “I hate you, and I just wish you were dead. Give me my money because I am going away to live someplace else so I can do what I want to do.” And the boy left home and went away.
One of the old laws said that a son was always supposed to honor his father, but this son sure didn’t do that, did he? (Let them respond.) And the old law said that if a son treated his father this badly, he didn’t only embarrass his father, but he embarrassed his entire village. And, the law said that the son had to be punished so other children in town would see it and understand that they should never behave the way that boy behaved.
And do you know how the law said the boy had to be punished? (Let them respond as you pick up the rock.) The old law said that if the boy ever came back home, the people in town had to meet him at the gate of the city, pick up rocks, and throw them at him until he was dead. And the law said that his father had to throw the first rock at his son. That was the law of the Pharisees and the teachers. They believed that if someone did not follow all of the laws they believed God wanted them to follow, they needed to be punished and made to go away. (Put down the rock.)
Well, when the younger son left home, he tried to find a job so he could do what he wanted to do, but it didn’t work out very well. The only jobs he could find were not good jobs at all, and they didn’t pay enough for him to have a place to live and have enough food to eat. The longer he was gone, the more he thought about his home and his father. He felt bad about what he had done and realized that he was wrong to say the things he said and to leave home like he did. One day, he finally decided to go back home and tell his dad that he was sorry and ask if he could please come back home again.
A few days later, someone started running through town telling everyone they had just seen the son walking down the road toward the town gate. Everyone was excited because they knew what was going to happen when the bad boy got to the gate. He would finally be punished for embarrassing them all by breaking one of the old laws. Someone went to get the boy’s father, and then they all went down to the town gate.
When the son got close to the gate, his father started walking toward him. Someone reached out and handed the father a big rock. (Show the rock.) Then everyone else started picking up rocks, so they could throw them after the father threw the first one. They were going to show everyone what happens if you break one of the old laws. When the boy and his father got closer together, the boy looked at his father and told him how sorry he was. He said that he knew he had done the wrong things and he asked if his father would please forgive him and let him come back home again. The man looked at his son and then looked at the rock in his hand. He knew what he had to do. The father raised the rock up into the air. (Drop the rock.) And then he dropped it. He reached out his arms and grabbed his son to give him a huge hug. Instead, of punishing his son, the man took his son through the gate and told everyone they were all invited to a big party at his house that night, to celebrate welcoming his son back home.
At first, everyone in the crowd was confused. What was the man doing? The old law said that the boy had to be punished, but he was giving him a big hug and having a party instead. Some of the people started getting angry. They were angry with the boy for what he had done, and now they were angry with the boy’s father for not punishing him like they thought he should. Now they had both broken the rules and were clearly not as good as the rest of the people in town were and they both had to be punished.
The older brother had been out working all day and didn’t know what had happened, and when he got home that night and saw the party, he refused to go in. When his father came to talk to him, he said, “Why are you having a party for him after what he has done. I am the one who stayed home and worked hard doing what you wanted me to do, so if you are going to have a party, it should be for me and not for him.” His father said, “You are my son and everything I have is yours. But it is almost like your brother was dead and has come back to us. He did not do what we wanted him to do, but we need to forgive him and celebrate that he has come back home to be with us.”
The father made a really hard decision, didn’t he? (Let them respond.) He had to decide if God wanted him to obey some old law, or if God wanted him to take care of another person God created. Sometimes people have to make that same, hard decision today, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Sometimes people believe that if another person is not doing things the way they believe they should do them, they are breaking God’s rules, don’t they? (Let them respond.) And since they believe they are breaking God’s rules, sometimes they decide to argue with those people, or fight with them, or try to find a way to punish them or even try to make them go away, don’t they? (Let them respond.)
But the father remembered what Jesus said that time a man asked him what the most important laws were. Jesus told him that there were only two laws that were important. The first law was that we should love God. And the second law was that we should love each other. He said that those are the two laws that matter more than any of those other laws the Pharisees and teachers might have. So, the father decided that his son was more important to him than some old law, and instead of getting rid of him he decided to take care of him.
According to Jesus, if we disagree with someone who is different from us, or who does things differently than we do, we can still find ways to be with them and show them that we care about them. (Show the rock.) If we disagree, we don’t have to choose to argue with them, or fight with them, or be afraid of them, or punish them, or believe we are better than them, or try to stay away from them. (Put down the rock.) Instead, we can choose to do what Jesus did when he met people who did not believe everything he believed. He visited with them. He ate dinner with them. He stayed in their homes. He taught them. He healed them. Instead of choosing to be angry with them and fight them, he cared for them, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
I believe that one of the most important decisions we will ever make is how we are going to treat people that we disagree with or who do things we believe are wrong. (Show the rock.) We can believe in the law and fight them. (Drop the rock.) Or we can believe what Jesus told us God wants us to do, and we can try to show them that we care for them.
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!
One day, a group of Pharisees and teachers went to see Jesus to hear what he was teaching everyone. But when they got there and saw Jesus and the people he was talking to, the Pharisees and teachers got really angry. Does anyone know why they got so angry? (Let them respond.) The Pharisees and teachers believed that if you wanted to follow God, you had to follow all of their rules and do all of the things their rules said you had to do. And they had a lot of rules to follow. And when the Pharisees and teachers saw the people Jesus was with, they knew that most of those people did not follow their rules. The Pharisees said, “Look at the people Jesus is with. They are all sinners. There are even tax collectors in the group. If Jesus was really from God, he wouldn’t hang around people like that, so he must be lying and just be a fake.”
But Jesus heard what the Pharisees said. He looked at them and said, “Let me tell you a story.”
He said that once there was a man who had two sons. The older son worked hard and did the things his dad wanted him to do. But the younger son was different. He was more stubborn, and if he didn’t want to do something he would argue with his father about it. Sometimes they had some really big arguments. One day, their argument got so bad the younger son looked at his father and said, “I hate you, and I just wish you were dead. Give me my money because I am going away to live someplace else so I can do what I want to do.” And the boy left home and went away.
One of the old laws said that a son was always supposed to honor his father, but this son sure didn’t do that, did he? (Let them respond.) And the old law said that if a son treated his father this badly, he didn’t only embarrass his father, but he embarrassed his entire village. And, the law said that the son had to be punished so other children in town would see it and understand that they should never behave the way that boy behaved.
And do you know how the law said the boy had to be punished? (Let them respond as you pick up the rock.) The old law said that if the boy ever came back home, the people in town had to meet him at the gate of the city, pick up rocks, and throw them at him until he was dead. And the law said that his father had to throw the first rock at his son. That was the law of the Pharisees and the teachers. They believed that if someone did not follow all of the laws they believed God wanted them to follow, they needed to be punished and made to go away. (Put down the rock.)
Well, when the younger son left home, he tried to find a job so he could do what he wanted to do, but it didn’t work out very well. The only jobs he could find were not good jobs at all, and they didn’t pay enough for him to have a place to live and have enough food to eat. The longer he was gone, the more he thought about his home and his father. He felt bad about what he had done and realized that he was wrong to say the things he said and to leave home like he did. One day, he finally decided to go back home and tell his dad that he was sorry and ask if he could please come back home again.
A few days later, someone started running through town telling everyone they had just seen the son walking down the road toward the town gate. Everyone was excited because they knew what was going to happen when the bad boy got to the gate. He would finally be punished for embarrassing them all by breaking one of the old laws. Someone went to get the boy’s father, and then they all went down to the town gate.
When the son got close to the gate, his father started walking toward him. Someone reached out and handed the father a big rock. (Show the rock.) Then everyone else started picking up rocks, so they could throw them after the father threw the first one. They were going to show everyone what happens if you break one of the old laws. When the boy and his father got closer together, the boy looked at his father and told him how sorry he was. He said that he knew he had done the wrong things and he asked if his father would please forgive him and let him come back home again. The man looked at his son and then looked at the rock in his hand. He knew what he had to do. The father raised the rock up into the air. (Drop the rock.) And then he dropped it. He reached out his arms and grabbed his son to give him a huge hug. Instead, of punishing his son, the man took his son through the gate and told everyone they were all invited to a big party at his house that night, to celebrate welcoming his son back home.
At first, everyone in the crowd was confused. What was the man doing? The old law said that the boy had to be punished, but he was giving him a big hug and having a party instead. Some of the people started getting angry. They were angry with the boy for what he had done, and now they were angry with the boy’s father for not punishing him like they thought he should. Now they had both broken the rules and were clearly not as good as the rest of the people in town were and they both had to be punished.
The older brother had been out working all day and didn’t know what had happened, and when he got home that night and saw the party, he refused to go in. When his father came to talk to him, he said, “Why are you having a party for him after what he has done. I am the one who stayed home and worked hard doing what you wanted me to do, so if you are going to have a party, it should be for me and not for him.” His father said, “You are my son and everything I have is yours. But it is almost like your brother was dead and has come back to us. He did not do what we wanted him to do, but we need to forgive him and celebrate that he has come back home to be with us.”
The father made a really hard decision, didn’t he? (Let them respond.) He had to decide if God wanted him to obey some old law, or if God wanted him to take care of another person God created. Sometimes people have to make that same, hard decision today, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Sometimes people believe that if another person is not doing things the way they believe they should do them, they are breaking God’s rules, don’t they? (Let them respond.) And since they believe they are breaking God’s rules, sometimes they decide to argue with those people, or fight with them, or try to find a way to punish them or even try to make them go away, don’t they? (Let them respond.)
But the father remembered what Jesus said that time a man asked him what the most important laws were. Jesus told him that there were only two laws that were important. The first law was that we should love God. And the second law was that we should love each other. He said that those are the two laws that matter more than any of those other laws the Pharisees and teachers might have. So, the father decided that his son was more important to him than some old law, and instead of getting rid of him he decided to take care of him.
According to Jesus, if we disagree with someone who is different from us, or who does things differently than we do, we can still find ways to be with them and show them that we care about them. (Show the rock.) If we disagree, we don’t have to choose to argue with them, or fight with them, or be afraid of them, or punish them, or believe we are better than them, or try to stay away from them. (Put down the rock.) Instead, we can choose to do what Jesus did when he met people who did not believe everything he believed. He visited with them. He ate dinner with them. He stayed in their homes. He taught them. He healed them. Instead of choosing to be angry with them and fight them, he cared for them, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
I believe that one of the most important decisions we will ever make is how we are going to treat people that we disagree with or who do things we believe are wrong. (Show the rock.) We can believe in the law and fight them. (Drop the rock.) Or we can believe what Jesus told us God wants us to do, and we can try to show them that we care for them.
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.
