What Do You Want?
Children's sermon
Object: A coin to flip.
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Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great!
This is a story about a man called Bartimaeus who lived in the town of Jericho. One day, people were all excited because Jesus was visiting Jericho, and they all wanted to go and see him when he got there. Bartimaeus wanted to go see Jesus, too, but he had a big problem. You see, Bartimaeus was blind. And back then, people didn’t know about things like germs or things like that. So anytime someone was sick or hurt, most of the people believed they were sick or hurt because God was mad at them for some reason and God was punishing them because they had done something bad. Since they thought God was punishing them, they didn’t want any of those sick and hurting people around them. The religious leaders said that if you touched one of those people, God would punish you, too. And they made laws that said all sick or blind people could not go around other people so they couldn’t touch them. Since Bartimaeus was blind and untouchable, the only place he could go was down by the gate of the city, where he could sit on the ground by the road and beg for food from people as they went through the gate. He could not touch anyone, or talk to anyone, or even look at anyone. All he could do was sit there and hold a little bowl in his hand and hope that someone would feel sorry for him and put a coin in it so he could buy some food. That sounds sad, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.)
Well, it was even worse than that. Since people thought God was mad at Bartimaeus, they made fun of him and teased him a lot. Some people called him names, and some people threw things at him, and some even sneaked up and stole some of the coins out of his bowl. They did not want Bartimaeus around them at all. So, even though Bartimaeus wanted to meet Jesus, there was no way the other people would let him go with them to see Jesus when he came to town. They laughed and threw rocks at him, called him names, and told him to go back to the gate and sit with his bowl and maybe one of Jesus’ friends would throw a coin at him or something. They treated him like that all the time. That was pretty rotten of them to do that, wasn’t it? (Let them respond.)
Well, when Jesus came to Jericho, all of the people started crowding around the road to see him. When Jesus walked by, they all started shouting and crowding, trying to get close to see him. When Bartimaeus heard Jesus walking by, he shouted really loudly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Well, Bartimaeus wasn’t even supposed to talk to anyone, was he? (Let them respond.) So, what do you think all of the people did when Bartimaeus shouted at Jesus? (Let them respond.) They all started throwing things at Bartimaeus and shouting at him, “Be quiet you untouchable you! You don’t belong here!” But Bartimaeus kept shouting at Jesus and asking him to help him. Jesus stopped and told his friends to bring Bartimaeus to him. Bartimaeus jumped up and went to Jesus. Everyone watched to see what Jesus was going to do. Do you know what Jesus did when Bartimaeus came to him? (Let them respond.) He looked at Bartimaeus and asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Before I tell you what Bartimaeus told Jesus, let’s all close our eyes for a second and pretend something together. (Have them close their eyes and imagine.) Let’s imagine that we are sitting here talking and we look up and see Jesus walking in the door over there. Can you imagine seeing him there? (Let them respond.) Well, he walks over to us, and looks at us, and then says to us, “What do you want me to do for you?”
But, before we answer Jesus, let me ask you a question. Has anyone ever been mean to you, or teased you, or called you names? (Let them respond.) That’s happened to most of us, hasn’t it? (Let them respond.) How does it feel when someone does that to us? (Let them respond.) Sometimes it hurts, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) It can hurt, and it can make us angry, too, can’t it? (Let them respond.) And sometimes when someone hurts us, we kind of wish we could get even with them and hurt them back, don’t we? (Let them respond.) So, if Jesus came here and asked us what we wanted him to do for us, we might think about all the people who have hurt us and say, “We want you to get even with those people who have done things to hurt us.”
Do you think that’s how Bartimaeus felt? (Let them respond.) I wonder if Bartimaeus told Jesus, “I want you to hurt all of these people the same way they have hurt me. I want you to get even with them for what they have done to me.” (Let them respond.) But that’s not what Bartimaeus asked Jesus to do for him, was it? (Let them respond.) All Bartimaeus said was, “Teacher, I want to see.”
He didn’t even need one of these, did he? (Show the coin.) You know how this works, don’t you? Sometimes when we have to make a decision, we just flip a coin, don’t we? (Flip the coin.) We flip it and say, “If it is heads, I’ll ask Jesus to fix my eyes. And if it is tails, I’ll ask Jesus to get even with these people for hurting me.” But Bartimaeus didn’t flip a coin, did he? (Put the coin away and let them respond.) He knew exactly what he wanted Jesus to do for him. Bartimaeus just said, “Teacher, I want to see.”
And Jesus told him, “Your faith has helped you.” Everyone was surprised when Bartimaeus held his hand up to shield his eyes from the bright sun. He could see!
I hope our story will help us remember that God didn’t create us to fight with each other and treat people badly because they are different from us. God created us to take care of each other. 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.) Great!
This is a story about a man called Bartimaeus who lived in the town of Jericho. One day, people were all excited because Jesus was visiting Jericho, and they all wanted to go and see him when he got there. Bartimaeus wanted to go see Jesus, too, but he had a big problem. You see, Bartimaeus was blind. And back then, people didn’t know about things like germs or things like that. So anytime someone was sick or hurt, most of the people believed they were sick or hurt because God was mad at them for some reason and God was punishing them because they had done something bad. Since they thought God was punishing them, they didn’t want any of those sick and hurting people around them. The religious leaders said that if you touched one of those people, God would punish you, too. And they made laws that said all sick or blind people could not go around other people so they couldn’t touch them. Since Bartimaeus was blind and untouchable, the only place he could go was down by the gate of the city, where he could sit on the ground by the road and beg for food from people as they went through the gate. He could not touch anyone, or talk to anyone, or even look at anyone. All he could do was sit there and hold a little bowl in his hand and hope that someone would feel sorry for him and put a coin in it so he could buy some food. That sounds sad, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.)
Well, it was even worse than that. Since people thought God was mad at Bartimaeus, they made fun of him and teased him a lot. Some people called him names, and some people threw things at him, and some even sneaked up and stole some of the coins out of his bowl. They did not want Bartimaeus around them at all. So, even though Bartimaeus wanted to meet Jesus, there was no way the other people would let him go with them to see Jesus when he came to town. They laughed and threw rocks at him, called him names, and told him to go back to the gate and sit with his bowl and maybe one of Jesus’ friends would throw a coin at him or something. They treated him like that all the time. That was pretty rotten of them to do that, wasn’t it? (Let them respond.)
Well, when Jesus came to Jericho, all of the people started crowding around the road to see him. When Jesus walked by, they all started shouting and crowding, trying to get close to see him. When Bartimaeus heard Jesus walking by, he shouted really loudly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Well, Bartimaeus wasn’t even supposed to talk to anyone, was he? (Let them respond.) So, what do you think all of the people did when Bartimaeus shouted at Jesus? (Let them respond.) They all started throwing things at Bartimaeus and shouting at him, “Be quiet you untouchable you! You don’t belong here!” But Bartimaeus kept shouting at Jesus and asking him to help him. Jesus stopped and told his friends to bring Bartimaeus to him. Bartimaeus jumped up and went to Jesus. Everyone watched to see what Jesus was going to do. Do you know what Jesus did when Bartimaeus came to him? (Let them respond.) He looked at Bartimaeus and asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Before I tell you what Bartimaeus told Jesus, let’s all close our eyes for a second and pretend something together. (Have them close their eyes and imagine.) Let’s imagine that we are sitting here talking and we look up and see Jesus walking in the door over there. Can you imagine seeing him there? (Let them respond.) Well, he walks over to us, and looks at us, and then says to us, “What do you want me to do for you?”
But, before we answer Jesus, let me ask you a question. Has anyone ever been mean to you, or teased you, or called you names? (Let them respond.) That’s happened to most of us, hasn’t it? (Let them respond.) How does it feel when someone does that to us? (Let them respond.) Sometimes it hurts, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.) It can hurt, and it can make us angry, too, can’t it? (Let them respond.) And sometimes when someone hurts us, we kind of wish we could get even with them and hurt them back, don’t we? (Let them respond.) So, if Jesus came here and asked us what we wanted him to do for us, we might think about all the people who have hurt us and say, “We want you to get even with those people who have done things to hurt us.”
Do you think that’s how Bartimaeus felt? (Let them respond.) I wonder if Bartimaeus told Jesus, “I want you to hurt all of these people the same way they have hurt me. I want you to get even with them for what they have done to me.” (Let them respond.) But that’s not what Bartimaeus asked Jesus to do for him, was it? (Let them respond.) All Bartimaeus said was, “Teacher, I want to see.”
He didn’t even need one of these, did he? (Show the coin.) You know how this works, don’t you? Sometimes when we have to make a decision, we just flip a coin, don’t we? (Flip the coin.) We flip it and say, “If it is heads, I’ll ask Jesus to fix my eyes. And if it is tails, I’ll ask Jesus to get even with these people for hurting me.” But Bartimaeus didn’t flip a coin, did he? (Put the coin away and let them respond.) He knew exactly what he wanted Jesus to do for him. Bartimaeus just said, “Teacher, I want to see.”
And Jesus told him, “Your faith has helped you.” Everyone was surprised when Bartimaeus held his hand up to shield his eyes from the bright sun. He could see!
I hope our story will help us remember that God didn’t create us to fight with each other and treat people badly because they are different from us. God created us to take care of each other. 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.
