Let Me See Your Shoes!
Children's sermon
Cows In Church
80 Biblically Based Children's Sermons
Object:
The children's shoes.
This morning I greet the children with a question and a request: "Does everyone have shoes on?" They look surprised, as if wondering silently, "Who would come to church without shoes?"
"Let me see your shoes!" I command. Twenty-four little feet emerge from where they have been curled under dresses and slacks, showing off everything from stiff, dressed-up, uncomfortable-looking shoes to a pair of sandals and even a pair of red-and-white striped rubber-soled loafers.
I admire the variety they present, then immediately switch to what must surely seem like a non sequitur when I ask, "Did you know the church has a library?"
Looking puzzled, as if trying to figure out what my question has to do with shoes, a number of children nod affirmatively.
"Did you know it has books in it not just for adults, but also for children?" A couple of children smile now as they nod, obviously remembering books they have read or have had read to them from the church's library.
"Well," I continue, "last Sunday our librarian had a book display in the hall outside the library. I saw a book there that I've thought about for a whole week. It's called Most Ministers Wear Sneakers."1 The children giggle (along with many adults).
"Why would a minister wear sneakers?" I ask the children. They look very puzzled, as if the idea of sneakers on a minister's feet is just too foreign. So I make the question more personal.
"Maybe it would help to think about why you wear sneakers," I suggest. As their young minds go to work ideas pop out right and left:
"When I play hide-and-go-seek!"
"To play soccer!"
"To play baseball!"
"To walk!"
"To run!"
"Yes, you wear sneakers for all of those reasons," I agree, "and ministers do those things too. For example, they sometimes have a lot of walking to do when they visit folks in the hospitals, and sneakers are more comfortable than other shoes. Sometimes they wear sneakers to play tennis or baseball. Ministers are just like everyone else when it comes to wearing shoes, and one of our ministers is wearing sneakers today. Did any of you know that?"
The children look very surprised as our associate pastor steps forward to show off the tennis shoes on her feet. "She's wearing sneakers today because we're going to be talking about the work camp she and the youth group went to in West Virginia," I explain.
"You know," I continue, "as I thought about ministers wearing sneakers this week, I thought about Jesus and the shoes he wore. Did Jesus wear sneakers?"
Grinning children answer with an emphatic "No!" One child assures me, "He wore sandals."
"That's right," I agree. "Jesus and the disciples wore sandals. The process for getting rubber out of trees hadn't been invented yet, so they couldn't make sneakers. The roads they traveled weren't paved either. So, they walked all those miles together wearing sandals, on dirt roads. Their feet must have gotten pretty dusty. In fact, after a long day's journey, it must have felt pretty good to wash their feet and perhaps even soak them in a bowl of water. That makes me think of the night of the Last Supper when Jesus washed the disciples' feet. Can you imagine Jesus doing that for you?" Some of the children, not yet burdened with low self-esteem, nod affirmatively. "When Jesus washed the disciples' feet he was showing them that it is important to do things for one another. It was one of the many ways Jesus showed the disciples how much he loved them. Through his actions Jesus showed the disciples, and us too, what it means to love one another.
"You may not be asked to wash another person's feet, but I expect you'll be asked to help someone in some way this next week. When you help someone out like that, you're being a minister to them, just as Jesus was to the disciples.
"Let's see a show of hands now. How many of you wear sneakers at least sometimes?" All the children raise a hand.
"And how many of you help out when you're asked to?" All the hands go up again.
"Well, that makes you ministers -- ministers who wear sneakers. Maybe you'll remember what we talked about today the next time you put your sneakers on."
1. Poling, Nancy Werking, Most Ministers Wear Sneakers (New York: Pilgrim Press, 1991).
"Let me see your shoes!" I command. Twenty-four little feet emerge from where they have been curled under dresses and slacks, showing off everything from stiff, dressed-up, uncomfortable-looking shoes to a pair of sandals and even a pair of red-and-white striped rubber-soled loafers.
I admire the variety they present, then immediately switch to what must surely seem like a non sequitur when I ask, "Did you know the church has a library?"
Looking puzzled, as if trying to figure out what my question has to do with shoes, a number of children nod affirmatively.
"Did you know it has books in it not just for adults, but also for children?" A couple of children smile now as they nod, obviously remembering books they have read or have had read to them from the church's library.
"Well," I continue, "last Sunday our librarian had a book display in the hall outside the library. I saw a book there that I've thought about for a whole week. It's called Most Ministers Wear Sneakers."1 The children giggle (along with many adults).
"Why would a minister wear sneakers?" I ask the children. They look very puzzled, as if the idea of sneakers on a minister's feet is just too foreign. So I make the question more personal.
"Maybe it would help to think about why you wear sneakers," I suggest. As their young minds go to work ideas pop out right and left:
"When I play hide-and-go-seek!"
"To play soccer!"
"To play baseball!"
"To walk!"
"To run!"
"Yes, you wear sneakers for all of those reasons," I agree, "and ministers do those things too. For example, they sometimes have a lot of walking to do when they visit folks in the hospitals, and sneakers are more comfortable than other shoes. Sometimes they wear sneakers to play tennis or baseball. Ministers are just like everyone else when it comes to wearing shoes, and one of our ministers is wearing sneakers today. Did any of you know that?"
The children look very surprised as our associate pastor steps forward to show off the tennis shoes on her feet. "She's wearing sneakers today because we're going to be talking about the work camp she and the youth group went to in West Virginia," I explain.
"You know," I continue, "as I thought about ministers wearing sneakers this week, I thought about Jesus and the shoes he wore. Did Jesus wear sneakers?"
Grinning children answer with an emphatic "No!" One child assures me, "He wore sandals."
"That's right," I agree. "Jesus and the disciples wore sandals. The process for getting rubber out of trees hadn't been invented yet, so they couldn't make sneakers. The roads they traveled weren't paved either. So, they walked all those miles together wearing sandals, on dirt roads. Their feet must have gotten pretty dusty. In fact, after a long day's journey, it must have felt pretty good to wash their feet and perhaps even soak them in a bowl of water. That makes me think of the night of the Last Supper when Jesus washed the disciples' feet. Can you imagine Jesus doing that for you?" Some of the children, not yet burdened with low self-esteem, nod affirmatively. "When Jesus washed the disciples' feet he was showing them that it is important to do things for one another. It was one of the many ways Jesus showed the disciples how much he loved them. Through his actions Jesus showed the disciples, and us too, what it means to love one another.
"You may not be asked to wash another person's feet, but I expect you'll be asked to help someone in some way this next week. When you help someone out like that, you're being a minister to them, just as Jesus was to the disciples.
"Let's see a show of hands now. How many of you wear sneakers at least sometimes?" All the children raise a hand.
"And how many of you help out when you're asked to?" All the hands go up again.
"Well, that makes you ministers -- ministers who wear sneakers. Maybe you'll remember what we talked about today the next time you put your sneakers on."
1. Poling, Nancy Werking, Most Ministers Wear Sneakers (New York: Pilgrim Press, 1991).
