The Weedy Kingdom
Children's sermon
Object:
Safety lighter (such as one with a button you need to push), jar of mustard seeds (optional)
First Thoughts: We are all likely familiar with this evocative parable, which compares the kingdom of God to the tiny mustard seed. But, after doing some research, I found that the message of this parable is even more radical than I first thought. Not only does the seed start small and grow really big, but the seed also spreads rapidly -- much like a weed. In fact, when farming people heard Jesus sharing this parable they would have thought it ridiculous -- imagine INTENTIONALLY sowing a mustard seed in your field! In only one season mustard plants would have spread so prolifically that all other crops would be choked out. This is the image Jesus gives us for the kingdom of God: not a fragile, delicate plant that needs special care and cultivation, but a powerful, adaptive, encroaching plant that spreads over the earth. We might find this idea a bit alarming at first, but that is probably a response to our own desire to control things. We like the idea that we can "regulate" God and limit our spiritual journey to only those places where we already feel comfortable. This parable assures us that such is not the case. I know I can identify times in my life where I meant to only let in "a little bit" of the gospel, only to discover that, through my single invitation, God made new inroads in my heart and mind that changed me forever. How about you? Have you ever given God an inch, to discover that God had taken a mile? No doubt it's a little disconcerting, but it's also comforting in a way, to know that once God takes hold in our lives, God doesn't finish until the work is complete. Carry your prayer and reflection with you in your time with the children.
Props You Will Need: Safety lighter (such as one with a button you need to push), jar of mustard seeds (optional)
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 has lighter, trying to light it without pushing the button)
Leader 1: Hey (name), what do you have there?
Leader 2: It's a lighter. (clicking) I'm trying to get it to work. (clicking some more, frustrated) Why won't it work?
Leader 1: Let me look. (taking it) Oh, I see the problem. This is a safety lighter. You can't light it unless you push the button down at the same time.
Leader 2: (taking it back, trying again) That certainly makes it harder.
Leader 1: I think that's the idea. They wanted to make the lighter difficult to use so small children can't use it.
Leader 2: But why?
Leader 1: Why? Because fire is dangerous and should only be used by people who know how to use it safely. Haven't you heard stories of big forest fires that got out of control?
Leader 2: Sure, but those wouldn't start from something as small as this.
Leader 1: Oh yes they can. Sometimes forest fires begin with just a tiny spark. But that's the thing about fire -- even a tiny spark can grow, get bigger and bigger, and then make new fires.
Leader 2: That's a little scary.
Leader 1: Yes, it is. You know, Jesus told a story once describing the kingdom of God in the same way -- except Jesus used a mustard seed as an example. (holding up jar of seeds) See here? See how tiny these seeds are?
Leader 2: Yeah, they're REALLY small.
Leader 1: Jesus told his disciples that the kingdom of God was like one of these mustard seeds -- so small you might think it wasn't a big deal. But the farmers who listened to Jesus knew the truth -- a tiny mustard seed like this grows into a really big tree and that tree would make more plants, until an entire field is just mustard plants. In fact, the farmers thought of mustard plants the way our farmers think of weeds -- spreading so fast and so wide you couldn't get rid of them if you tried.
Leader 2: Like a forest fire!
Leader 1: Yep and like a forest fire, the kingdom of God can be scary to us sometimes. It challenges us and grows us and asks us to do things we might be afraid of doing. But as the kingdom of God works its way into our hearts, we also become more loving and kind and our faith gets stronger.
Leader 2: Are you saying that we're going to be overrun by God's weeds?
Leader 1: I'm saying that we'll all BE God's weeds, sharing God's love with the whole world.
Teaching On Your Own: (holding lighter) Hey, guys. (trying to light it) Man, I'm having problems with this lighter. I can't get it to work. Do any of you know what the problem is? (Show the lighter to children and if they don't know what's wrong, be prepared to prompt them.) Oh, look at this button here. Maybe I'm supposed to press that button while I try to light it. Here. (again, lighting it) Wow. Well, that certainly makes it harder, doesn't it? I wonder why they would make this hard to light? Do you know why? I mean, it's not like fire is dangerous or anything, is it? (wait for responses) You know, now that I think of it I have heard stories about great big forest fires that started just from a little spark of fire. It's true, fire can start out small and get bigger and bigger and make new fires. That's a little scary, isn't it? You know, Jesus told a story once describing the kingdom of God in the same way -- except Jesus used a mustard seed as an example. (holding up jar of seeds) See here? See how tiny these seeds are? Jesus told his disciples that the kingdom of God was like one of these mustard seeds -- so small you might think it wasn't a big deal. But the farmers who listened to Jesus knew the truth -- a tiny mustard seed like this grows into a really big tree, and that tree would make more plants, until an entire field is just mustard plants. In fact, the farmers thought of mustard plants the way our farmers think of weeds -- spreading so fast and so wide you couldn't get rid of them if you tried. Like a forest fire! And like a forest fire the kingdom of God can be scary to us sometimes. It challenges us and grows us, and asks us to do things we might be afraid of doing. But as the kingdom of God works its way into our hearts, we also become more loving and kind and our faith gets stronger. So maybe that's what Jesus was teaching the people -- we are to become God's weeds, spreading all over the world and sharing God's love with everyone. What do you think? Do you want to be God's weeds?
Closing Prayer: Gardener God, we ask you to sow your seeds of love and compassion in our hearts and grow us for your purpose in the world. We are your garden, ready to be used for the sake of our own healing and that of others. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this lesson in a home or school environment, invite the children to think of other modern-day parables to describe the kingdom of God, which correspond to that of the mustard seed. You might talk about dandelions or other familiar wildflowers or something silly like warts or chicken pox. (If you itch them they spread all over your body, and you can pass them on to somebody else, spreading it.) If one of your children has a smaller brother or sister, and they remember their mom's pregnancy, you could talk about how a baby starts small and then gets bigger and bigger in the mom's tummy until it's ready to be in the world. Revisit the idea of the kingdom of God being like all these things, and God only needs a tiny beginning to do something really great in our world. For a craft idea, give each child a plain glass jewelry tile with hole (available in craft stores or in an online search). Give the children a piece of paper already cut to match the dimension of the tile and invite them to draw a tree, representing the kingdom of God "fully grown." Have the children put glue on the back of the tile and put their picture face down on the glue (so the picture can be seen in the front of the tile). Then put a few drops of clear nail polish on the front of each tile, and allow the children to drop a few mustard seeds on the front. Finish by providing a ribbon or piece of string to finish the necklace. Close with prayer.
Props You Will Need: Safety lighter (such as one with a button you need to push), jar of mustard seeds (optional)
Teaching As A Team:
(Leader 2 has lighter, trying to light it without pushing the button)
Leader 1: Hey (name), what do you have there?
Leader 2: It's a lighter. (clicking) I'm trying to get it to work. (clicking some more, frustrated) Why won't it work?
Leader 1: Let me look. (taking it) Oh, I see the problem. This is a safety lighter. You can't light it unless you push the button down at the same time.
Leader 2: (taking it back, trying again) That certainly makes it harder.
Leader 1: I think that's the idea. They wanted to make the lighter difficult to use so small children can't use it.
Leader 2: But why?
Leader 1: Why? Because fire is dangerous and should only be used by people who know how to use it safely. Haven't you heard stories of big forest fires that got out of control?
Leader 2: Sure, but those wouldn't start from something as small as this.
Leader 1: Oh yes they can. Sometimes forest fires begin with just a tiny spark. But that's the thing about fire -- even a tiny spark can grow, get bigger and bigger, and then make new fires.
Leader 2: That's a little scary.
Leader 1: Yes, it is. You know, Jesus told a story once describing the kingdom of God in the same way -- except Jesus used a mustard seed as an example. (holding up jar of seeds) See here? See how tiny these seeds are?
Leader 2: Yeah, they're REALLY small.
Leader 1: Jesus told his disciples that the kingdom of God was like one of these mustard seeds -- so small you might think it wasn't a big deal. But the farmers who listened to Jesus knew the truth -- a tiny mustard seed like this grows into a really big tree and that tree would make more plants, until an entire field is just mustard plants. In fact, the farmers thought of mustard plants the way our farmers think of weeds -- spreading so fast and so wide you couldn't get rid of them if you tried.
Leader 2: Like a forest fire!
Leader 1: Yep and like a forest fire, the kingdom of God can be scary to us sometimes. It challenges us and grows us and asks us to do things we might be afraid of doing. But as the kingdom of God works its way into our hearts, we also become more loving and kind and our faith gets stronger.
Leader 2: Are you saying that we're going to be overrun by God's weeds?
Leader 1: I'm saying that we'll all BE God's weeds, sharing God's love with the whole world.
Teaching On Your Own: (holding lighter) Hey, guys. (trying to light it) Man, I'm having problems with this lighter. I can't get it to work. Do any of you know what the problem is? (Show the lighter to children and if they don't know what's wrong, be prepared to prompt them.) Oh, look at this button here. Maybe I'm supposed to press that button while I try to light it. Here. (again, lighting it) Wow. Well, that certainly makes it harder, doesn't it? I wonder why they would make this hard to light? Do you know why? I mean, it's not like fire is dangerous or anything, is it? (wait for responses) You know, now that I think of it I have heard stories about great big forest fires that started just from a little spark of fire. It's true, fire can start out small and get bigger and bigger and make new fires. That's a little scary, isn't it? You know, Jesus told a story once describing the kingdom of God in the same way -- except Jesus used a mustard seed as an example. (holding up jar of seeds) See here? See how tiny these seeds are? Jesus told his disciples that the kingdom of God was like one of these mustard seeds -- so small you might think it wasn't a big deal. But the farmers who listened to Jesus knew the truth -- a tiny mustard seed like this grows into a really big tree, and that tree would make more plants, until an entire field is just mustard plants. In fact, the farmers thought of mustard plants the way our farmers think of weeds -- spreading so fast and so wide you couldn't get rid of them if you tried. Like a forest fire! And like a forest fire the kingdom of God can be scary to us sometimes. It challenges us and grows us, and asks us to do things we might be afraid of doing. But as the kingdom of God works its way into our hearts, we also become more loving and kind and our faith gets stronger. So maybe that's what Jesus was teaching the people -- we are to become God's weeds, spreading all over the world and sharing God's love with everyone. What do you think? Do you want to be God's weeds?
Closing Prayer: Gardener God, we ask you to sow your seeds of love and compassion in our hearts and grow us for your purpose in the world. We are your garden, ready to be used for the sake of our own healing and that of others. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
Follow-Up Lesson: To reinforce this lesson in a home or school environment, invite the children to think of other modern-day parables to describe the kingdom of God, which correspond to that of the mustard seed. You might talk about dandelions or other familiar wildflowers or something silly like warts or chicken pox. (If you itch them they spread all over your body, and you can pass them on to somebody else, spreading it.) If one of your children has a smaller brother or sister, and they remember their mom's pregnancy, you could talk about how a baby starts small and then gets bigger and bigger in the mom's tummy until it's ready to be in the world. Revisit the idea of the kingdom of God being like all these things, and God only needs a tiny beginning to do something really great in our world. For a craft idea, give each child a plain glass jewelry tile with hole (available in craft stores or in an online search). Give the children a piece of paper already cut to match the dimension of the tile and invite them to draw a tree, representing the kingdom of God "fully grown." Have the children put glue on the back of the tile and put their picture face down on the glue (so the picture can be seen in the front of the tile). Then put a few drops of clear nail polish on the front of each tile, and allow the children to drop a few mustard seeds on the front. Finish by providing a ribbon or piece of string to finish the necklace. Close with prayer.
