Children's Sunday

Reflections

Puppet Terri: Excuse me - Mister - what was that all about?

Puppet Susie: Shhhh! Don't do that!

Pastor Mike: What was what all about?

Terri: All that music and singing and praying that we just did.
 Why did you do that?

Mike: Well...we were worshipping God. I don't think I know
 you. Have you been here before? What's your name?

Susie: I'm sorry Pastor Loser. This is all my fault. I brought
 my friend, Terri, here this morning. I should have told
 her what the rules are. (to Terri) We don't talk in
 church!

Terri: Of course you talk in church. We just got done talking
- and singing and praying. What do you mean, we
don't talk in church?

Susie: What I mean is, we only talk when it is appropriate.
 We only talk when there are words written on the
 bulletin or in the hymnal - words we are supposed
 to say.

Terri: Well that's just dumb, if you ask me. What fun is it
 to just sit here like a bump on a log, as if we've got
 nothing to say? I have a lot to say, and I don't think
 it's right to just sit here and say nothing.

Susie: Terri! I can't believe you said that!

Mike: You know what, girls? You're both right! Susie is
 right when she says that there are appropriate times
 to speak up in church. But Terri is right, too. It's no
 fun and it's probably not helpful to just sit here and
 say nothing for a whole hour. But we don't always
 give people much opportunity to talk. Maybe that's
 something we should do more often. Terri, you should
 come to our second service next fall. We always give
 people an opportunity to talk during that service.

Terri: That's more like it. But I do want to know, now, if you
 don't mind. What was that all about? What do you
 mean that we were worshipping God?

Mike: Well, look at the words we sang in the hymn. We used
 all kinds of different names for God - mother, father,
 old, and young. And we let those names for God help
 us to describe how we experience God in our lives -
 as a living and loving presence in our lives. And then
 we sang hail and hosanna, which are kind of like code
 words to praise God.

Terri: Yeah, I was gonna ask you about that - I don't
 understand those fancy code words - it's like you speak
 a foreign language here.

Susie: Terri! Don't be so rude!

Mike: No, Susie. She's right. We often do speak a different
 language in church. It helps us to say what we believe
 about God in ways reserved primarily for God. If you
 come to church often enough, those words may begin
 to make more sense. But if you can't figure out what a
 word means, be sure to ask someone else - or me.

Terri: I'll do that. Now, about the other things we just did.
 Why did we do them?

Mike: Well I said some words about God that are meant to
 motivate people to worship God. Usually those words
 come from a Psalm - poetic words from the Bible. Today it was
 about all kinds of ways to praise God, with trumpets and cymbals
 and so forth - we are going to use some of those today.

Mike: Then we sang an introit and prayed an invocation - two
 more of those code words. An introit is kind of like an
 opening statement about God and about why we have
 gathered together. We change it from season to
 season - the one we are using now invites God to be
 present with us because we know, if God is with us,
 that our faith will be strengthened by the time we leave
 here this morning.

Mike: The invocation again invites God into our presence so
 that we can be strengthened and renewed in our faith.
 Finally, we sang a verse of praise using some more of
 those code words - gloria, in excelsis deo, alleluia. We
 were giving the highest or greatest glory or honor to
 God.

Terri: Okay. I guess that makes sense. I thought the hymn
 was very interesting, but I had never heard it before
 and so I couldn't sing it very well. Why don't you sing
 songs that everyone knows?

Susie: Terri! I never knew you were so bold!

Terri: Well, I just want to know why.

Mike: Actually, it's a good question, Terri. There are over
 600 hymns in our hymnal. If we sang every hymn in
 the hymnal, at a rate of three every Sunday, it would
 take us almost four years to sing them all, and we
 would sing each one of them only once every four
 years.

Mike: There are many hymns in our hymnal that we never
 sing. I try to pick hymns that have interesting words
 and interesting tunes and that reflect in some way the
 theme I am talking about each Sunday. There are a
 number of hymns that we sing every year and many
 that we sing much less often. It is hard to learn a new
 hymn if we only sing it once a year. I always tell people
 to just do what they can and let the choir help them out
 - when the choir is here. Of course, the choir is here
 today, too, just not in the choir loft.

Mike: Well, we need to move on in our service. But keep
 those questions coming, if you have any more later.
 Now we are going to sing a song that might be little
 easier for you than the hymns.

Terri: Thanks, Mister.

Susie: Terri! He's Pastor Loser.

Mike: That's okay Susie. Terri, you can call me Pastor Loser
 or Pastor Mike or even just Mike - whatever you are
 comfortable calling me. Okay?

Terri: Okay, Mike!

Susie: (can't believe what's happening) Oh, no.

Sermon

Mike: Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and our
 Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Terri: Hey, Mike!

Susie: Ohhhhhhhh. Terri......

Mike: Yes, Terri. Do you have some more questions?

Terri: Boy, do I ever! I was trying real hard to listen and
 to understand what that lady read from the Bible,
 but that just didn't make sense. Come, let us return
 to the Lord - I get that - but, it is he who has torn
 and he will heal us...he has struck down, and he will
 bind us up. What is that all about?

Mike: Well, God's people, the nation of Israel, had been
 conquered by Babylon, and they thought that God had
 made that possible because they had been unfaithful to
 God. But even though they thought God had caused
 their misery, they still believed that God was their only
 source of hope - so it is he who has torn us up, but it
 is also he who will heal us or restore us. He has struck
 us down, and he will bind us up. The writers in the
 Bible often repeat their same ideas twice, with
 different words - I guess they figured if you didn't
 understand the first idea, you might get the second.

Terri: Okay, but who are Ephraim and Judah? Are they the
 same people, with two different names?

Susie: Oh, I know this one. They were two of the tribes of
 Israel - I learned that in Sunday School!

Terri: Showoff!

Mike: Right, Susie. But they also represent the two kingdoms
 when Israel was divided, the north from the south.
 Ephraim was often used as a synonym for Israel, the
 name of the northern kingdom. And Judah was the
 name of the southern kingdom.

Mike: God asks, through the prophet Hosea, what shall I do
 with you, you two unfaithful kingdoms? Their love for
 God had become like a morning cloud or like the dew
 on the grass that disappears when the sun comes up.

Susie: I get it. God wants God's people to be loving all the
 time, not just some of the time.

Mike: Right, Susie. God's people worshipped God all the
 time and offered animal sacrifices and burnt offerings,
 but they weren't loving people like God wanted them
 to be. God says, through Hosea, I desire steadfast love
 and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than
 burnt offerings.

Terri: And then Jesus was referring to Hosea, wasn't he,
 when he said - Go and learn what this means, I desire
 mercy, not sacrifice.

Mike: Right, Terri. And do you know why Jesus quoted
 Hosea?

Susie: I know. Because the religious leaders were upset with
 him because he had dinner with the tax collectors and
 sinners. Those were people who weren't allowed to
 go to church in those days. But Jesus sought them out,
 especially, because he wanted to let them know that
 God loved them, too.

Mike: Right. God wants us to love all people, not just people
 we think are acceptable or who love us.

Terri: That's pretty cool. Maybe this churchy stuff is worth
 it, after all. I'm glad you invited me to come today,
 Susie. This was a lot more interesting that I ever
 thought it would be.

Susie: Yeah. I don't ever remember church being this
 interesting either. I can't quite figure out why it is so
 different today, though.

Mike: Well, I certainly find it more interesting when I can
 talk with someone instead of just one person doing all
 the talking. Susie, thanks for bringing Terri along this
 morning. And Terri, feel free to keep asking those
 questions, okay?

Terri: Okay.

Blessings/Celebrations

Terri: Not so fast, Mike.

Susie: Now what?

Terri: I've always heard that God is everywhere and knows
 everything. I mean, what kind of a God needs to be
 filled in on what's happening in the world?

Mike: So?

Terri: So why did you just spend the last few minutes
 updating God on what's happening and on what we
 need and on what we would like to see happen?
 Doesn't God already know all that stuff?

Mike: I must say, Terri, you do ask the most interesting
 questions!

Terri: My teachers at school say the same thing.

Mike: I can imagine. Let me tell you a little story that may
 help explain why we pray.

     Back when I used to get the Sunday morning paper
     delivered to my house, I would often look at part of
     it before I came up to the church - the front section,
     the sports, and the comics. Well, Florence - one of
     the other choir members - shares a love of one of those
     comic strips with me - Mutts. And on any given
     Sunday, either she or I would quote maybe one word
     from the Mutts comic strip that morning, and then
     we'd both laugh.

Terri: I think I get it. You knew what the comic strip said,
 and your friend Florence knew what it said, but you
 weren't able to enjoy it together until you shared it
 with each other?

Mike: Exactly. On any given day, I know that 2+2=4, and I
 suspect God knows that, too, but it doesn't matter to
 me whether God knows that I know. But it does matter
 to me that God knows what I'm passionate about. It
 matters to me that God knows that I don't like the way
 a lot of things happen in this world. And I want God to
 know that I am committed to making the world a better
 place by being more loving. And I want to ask God to
 help me to be that more loving person. It's not that I
 don't think God knows that already. A lot of people
 here know that about me, too, but I want to say it to
 them and to God and to myself, just to keep it on the
 table as something we will try to deal with together.

Terri: Wow. That does make sense. Thanks, Mike.

Mike: Thank you, Terri - and Susie - for all your help today.