Looking For The Devil
Pastoral Resources
Gospel-Telling
The Art and Theology of Children's Sermons
Season: Any
Summary: The evil we seek to cast out is the evil we find in ourselves.
Props: A good picture of the Devil*
Today I've brought along a picture of someone everyone will recognize, and yet I'll bet that no one has ever seen this person. (Show the picture and wait for responses.) It seems that I was right on both counts. Everyone knew this was a picture of the Devil even though no one has actually ever seen him. It makes me wonder if we would really know the Devil if we met him or her or it.
One day, when I was a little boy, I crawled out of bed and went looking for the Devil. And where do you think I found him? I didn't find him in a hole. And I didn't find him in a dark corner. I didn't find a mean--looking monster, red all over with a pitchfork and tail. In fact, I didn't find anything I could grab and shake and tell to get out of my life. I wonder why I didn't find the Devil when I went looking for him?
You know what I think? When I was a young child I didn't look in the right place - I forgot to look inside myself. Now that I'm older I believe the Devil is actually all the evil in the world that is in all of us. The Devil can be the little voice in us that tempts us to say mean things and to do things that hurt other people.
Have you ever said to yourself, "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I'm going to do it anyway"? And when you get caught or you think about the awful thing you did, you say to yourself, "Gee, I wish I hadn't done that." That, my friends, is how evil works, and how it stays alive.
The day I went looking for the Devil and found him inside my heart, I also discovered that I could chase him out, because I found that God's spirit also lives in my heart. And I discovered something even more amazing: that when there is love in my heart, there is no room left for evil to trouble me. So whenever I'm tempted to be mean or unkind, I just think about how God loves me, and in no time at all my evil thoughts are gone.
It's not very often that I write a poem, but here's one that fits the occasion:
The Day I Went Looking for the Devil
I didn't find the Devil in a deep, dark hole,
And I didn't find him spying from a big high pole;
Instead I found him talking in whispers to me,
Saying how much fun being mean would be.
But thanks to God, I found a great art,
A way to get the Devil out of my heart:
I think a kind thought, I do a good deed,
And evil goes down to death and defeat.
Reflection Note: It's important that we don't end sermons on a negative (imperative) note; we need to offer a positive (indicative) possibility. Compare this sermon with Scene III of the pantomime "Overcoming Temptation."
Let's resolve to double our efforts to underscore the power of the gospel to lift us our of our usual condition. Because we are so good at describing the human predicament, we often neglect to demonstrate the new things possible in Christ.
____________
*Valerie Stalder's Even the Devil Is Afraid of a Shrew contains some marvelous pictures of a devil.
Summary: The evil we seek to cast out is the evil we find in ourselves.
Props: A good picture of the Devil*
Today I've brought along a picture of someone everyone will recognize, and yet I'll bet that no one has ever seen this person. (Show the picture and wait for responses.) It seems that I was right on both counts. Everyone knew this was a picture of the Devil even though no one has actually ever seen him. It makes me wonder if we would really know the Devil if we met him or her or it.
One day, when I was a little boy, I crawled out of bed and went looking for the Devil. And where do you think I found him? I didn't find him in a hole. And I didn't find him in a dark corner. I didn't find a mean--looking monster, red all over with a pitchfork and tail. In fact, I didn't find anything I could grab and shake and tell to get out of my life. I wonder why I didn't find the Devil when I went looking for him?
You know what I think? When I was a young child I didn't look in the right place - I forgot to look inside myself. Now that I'm older I believe the Devil is actually all the evil in the world that is in all of us. The Devil can be the little voice in us that tempts us to say mean things and to do things that hurt other people.
Have you ever said to yourself, "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I'm going to do it anyway"? And when you get caught or you think about the awful thing you did, you say to yourself, "Gee, I wish I hadn't done that." That, my friends, is how evil works, and how it stays alive.
The day I went looking for the Devil and found him inside my heart, I also discovered that I could chase him out, because I found that God's spirit also lives in my heart. And I discovered something even more amazing: that when there is love in my heart, there is no room left for evil to trouble me. So whenever I'm tempted to be mean or unkind, I just think about how God loves me, and in no time at all my evil thoughts are gone.
It's not very often that I write a poem, but here's one that fits the occasion:
The Day I Went Looking for the Devil
I didn't find the Devil in a deep, dark hole,
And I didn't find him spying from a big high pole;
Instead I found him talking in whispers to me,
Saying how much fun being mean would be.
But thanks to God, I found a great art,
A way to get the Devil out of my heart:
I think a kind thought, I do a good deed,
And evil goes down to death and defeat.
Reflection Note: It's important that we don't end sermons on a negative (imperative) note; we need to offer a positive (indicative) possibility. Compare this sermon with Scene III of the pantomime "Overcoming Temptation."
Let's resolve to double our efforts to underscore the power of the gospel to lift us our of our usual condition. Because we are so good at describing the human predicament, we often neglect to demonstrate the new things possible in Christ.
____________
*Valerie Stalder's Even the Devil Is Afraid of a Shrew contains some marvelous pictures of a devil.
