Mending
Children's sermon
Cows In Church
80 Biblically Based Children's Sermons
Object:
A piece of material and a threaded needle.
As the children gather on the steps of the chancel area in the sanctuary, I pull a piece of red-and-white striped cloth out of my pocket. "What have I brought with me today?" I ask them.
"A piece of material," Deborah replies.
"A piece of material," I repeat as I take one end of it in each hand. I had, prior to the start of worship, cut a tiny slit in one edge of the material to facilitate my forthcoming demonstration.
"What do you suppose will happen if I pull too hard on the ends of this piece of cloth?" I ask.
Several children respond at once:
"It'll rip!"
"You'll tear it!"
"That's right," I agree, "and if I keep on pulling, it will come completely apart, won't it?" As I speak, I tear the cloth in two; it makes a very satisfying sound over the hand-held microphone.
"So, now we have two smaller pieces of material," I continue. "How might I put them back together again?"
"Sew them!" comes an immediate response.
"I could sew them back together, yes," I reply. "How else might I mend the material?"
"You could use tape!"
"You might staple it ..."
As I watch their minds work, I wonder if anyone will suggest the ever popular mend-everything-better-than-it-was-before stuff commonly known as super-glue. No one does.
"You can see, when you think about it, that there is more than one way I might put the cloth back together," I continue, "but probably the best way is the first one you suggested, to sew it. That's because cloth is made up of many threads woven together. When we mend it using a needle and thread, we are fixing it with the same stuff it's made of." As I talk, I take a needle and thread from a fold of my robe (where I had hidden it earlier) and begin to sew the two pieces of material back together.
Continuing to sew, I tell the children, "Sometimes things happen to us in life that make us feel like we are going to come apart inside. Sometimes when someone is upset by something, we say the person is really 'torn-up' by what happened. It could be the result of anger, jealousy, or losing someone we care for deeply (a relative, a friend, a pet). There are many circumstances that can cause us to feel 'torn-up' or cause a relationship with someone else to be torn apart. When that happens, what can we use to mend the situation?"
As I watch the children's faces, I know the rest of this sermon is in God's hands; I have no idea what the children will say, and bite my tongue to not make suggestions before they have had time to think about possible replies. How often in a conversation it is important to allow the other person(s) space for silence, relinquishing our need to be in control.
Finally, a tentative response comes: "Prayer?"
"Yes," I answer, with delight, "we can use prayer. Prayer is like the needle that draws the two pieces of cloth back together; prayer can draw two friends back together; prayer can draw us back to God; prayer can heal the hurts inside of us."
"Now, if prayer is like the needle, what do you suppose the thread is that follows prayer?" Once again I watch faces as young imaginations work.
"Happiness?" comes the first response.
"Yes, happiness could be one 'thread' that would follow prayer through our lives," I reply. "What else?" The answer I am hoping for is the next to come.
"Love?" The questioning response seems to slide sideways out of the mouth of the shyest child who is sitting at the edge of the group. I look into his eyes and quietly affirm his shy spirit.
"Yes, love is the major thread that follows prayer. And from love we get the threads of understanding, compassion, joy, happiness, and all the other bright threads that keep the pieces of our lives together."
As I hold up my now-completed mending of the previously torn material, I tell the children, "Just as I have mended the cloth with the 'stuff' of which it was made, so too are our relationships and hurt feelings mended with the 'stuff' we're made of -- love.
"God is love. God made us in God's own image. Jesus taught us, 'Love one another.'
"The next time you feel angry, jealous, hurt, or somehow torn in two, I hope you will take time to pray about the problem. For it is prayer that can draw the pieces of a relationship, the pieces of our lives, back together again, binding them with the 'thread' we know as love."
"A piece of material," Deborah replies.
"A piece of material," I repeat as I take one end of it in each hand. I had, prior to the start of worship, cut a tiny slit in one edge of the material to facilitate my forthcoming demonstration.
"What do you suppose will happen if I pull too hard on the ends of this piece of cloth?" I ask.
Several children respond at once:
"It'll rip!"
"You'll tear it!"
"That's right," I agree, "and if I keep on pulling, it will come completely apart, won't it?" As I speak, I tear the cloth in two; it makes a very satisfying sound over the hand-held microphone.
"So, now we have two smaller pieces of material," I continue. "How might I put them back together again?"
"Sew them!" comes an immediate response.
"I could sew them back together, yes," I reply. "How else might I mend the material?"
"You could use tape!"
"You might staple it ..."
As I watch their minds work, I wonder if anyone will suggest the ever popular mend-everything-better-than-it-was-before stuff commonly known as super-glue. No one does.
"You can see, when you think about it, that there is more than one way I might put the cloth back together," I continue, "but probably the best way is the first one you suggested, to sew it. That's because cloth is made up of many threads woven together. When we mend it using a needle and thread, we are fixing it with the same stuff it's made of." As I talk, I take a needle and thread from a fold of my robe (where I had hidden it earlier) and begin to sew the two pieces of material back together.
Continuing to sew, I tell the children, "Sometimes things happen to us in life that make us feel like we are going to come apart inside. Sometimes when someone is upset by something, we say the person is really 'torn-up' by what happened. It could be the result of anger, jealousy, or losing someone we care for deeply (a relative, a friend, a pet). There are many circumstances that can cause us to feel 'torn-up' or cause a relationship with someone else to be torn apart. When that happens, what can we use to mend the situation?"
As I watch the children's faces, I know the rest of this sermon is in God's hands; I have no idea what the children will say, and bite my tongue to not make suggestions before they have had time to think about possible replies. How often in a conversation it is important to allow the other person(s) space for silence, relinquishing our need to be in control.
Finally, a tentative response comes: "Prayer?"
"Yes," I answer, with delight, "we can use prayer. Prayer is like the needle that draws the two pieces of cloth back together; prayer can draw two friends back together; prayer can draw us back to God; prayer can heal the hurts inside of us."
"Now, if prayer is like the needle, what do you suppose the thread is that follows prayer?" Once again I watch faces as young imaginations work.
"Happiness?" comes the first response.
"Yes, happiness could be one 'thread' that would follow prayer through our lives," I reply. "What else?" The answer I am hoping for is the next to come.
"Love?" The questioning response seems to slide sideways out of the mouth of the shyest child who is sitting at the edge of the group. I look into his eyes and quietly affirm his shy spirit.
"Yes, love is the major thread that follows prayer. And from love we get the threads of understanding, compassion, joy, happiness, and all the other bright threads that keep the pieces of our lives together."
As I hold up my now-completed mending of the previously torn material, I tell the children, "Just as I have mended the cloth with the 'stuff' of which it was made, so too are our relationships and hurt feelings mended with the 'stuff' we're made of -- love.
"God is love. God made us in God's own image. Jesus taught us, 'Love one another.'
"The next time you feel angry, jealous, hurt, or somehow torn in two, I hope you will take time to pray about the problem. For it is prayer that can draw the pieces of a relationship, the pieces of our lives, back together again, binding them with the 'thread' we know as love."
