Christ the King - Happy New Year!

 Prop: A noisemaker for each child, or each person in the congregation.  You may want to wait until the end of the story to pass these out.

I have celebrated New Year’s Eve in many different ways throughout my life.  (Share your variety of celebrations.)

·       Ocean-front condo at the Jersey shore with long-time friends

o   Dinner

o   Toast at midnight

·       Watched the ball drop, in Times Square with over a million others

·       Fell asleep by 10pm

·       Favorite—at Gram’s house with family

o   Gram gave all 12 grandchildren and their parents cooking pots, and spoons

o   At midnight, all went out into the front yard, banging our pots with the spoons and shouting “Happy New Year!” at the top of our lungs

You may be wondering why I’m talking about New Year’s Eve when it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet.  For the Church, today IS New Year’s Eve!  As a community of faith, we begin what is called the liturgical year with Advent—the four Sundays before Christmas.  Next week, November 28, is the First Sunday in Advent, and the start of a brand, new liturgical year.  We will begin the year anticipating—getting ready—for the birth of Jesus at Christmas.  Through the liturgical year, we will follow the life of Jesus, his death and resurrection, the start-up of the Church and all the wonderful blessings that this means for the world.

The whole story culminates on this New Year’s Eve, which we call Christ the King Sunday.  On this day, today, we remember that Jesus is not only an amazing teacher, a kind and compassionate healer, one who gave his life for the world, including us, but also that he is our King.  He is the king of Kings! He is ruler of God’s Kingdom and the ruler of all Christian hearts.  For this we are thankful, and we celebrate on this New Year’s Eve.

So grab your noisemaker and join me in wishing one another a “Happy New Year!”

Cinderella and David

Dear Storytellers,

I have switched from the RCL to the Narrative Lectionary!  This week's story is the call/selection of David from I Samuel 16:1-13.  Here is one way to approach it:

Today we’re reading a story about the prophet Samuel and the boy who would become king of Israel.  His name was David.  But before we get to that story, I want to tell you another tale—one you probably know well.  Cinderella.  There is a new Cinderella movie that’s showing right now.  It has several things in common with the story I heard as a little girl, but there are many updated parts of the story as well.  Cinderella dreams more of a career than a handsome prince, her stepmother is given a backstory which provides empathy for her cold-heartedness, and the step sisters are more plain than ugly, and not as mean as I remember.  It’s not your grandmother’s Cinderella story.

It starts out the same, though.  Ella’s father has died, and she lives with her step mother and two step sisters, who are not very nice to her.  They treat her more like a servant than a family member.  In fact, they have nicknamed her Cinder-ella because she is often dirty from the cinders in the fireplace where she cooks the family’s meals.

The king hosts a ball for the entire realm, so that his son, the prince, may find a bride.  Her step mother prevents Cinderella from going to the ball, but Cinderella gets there anyway, with the help of a fairy godmother.  The catch is that the magic which provides a beautiful gown, a horse-drawn carriage, horsemen, a footman and glass slippers wears off at midnight, so Cinderella has to be careful and watch the clock.

Of course she and the prince are smitten with each other.  She gets caught up in the romance of the whole thing, and has to run away from the prince and the ball as the clock is striking midnight.  In the rush to get away, she loses one of her glass slippers.  The prince is heartbroken, and vows to find his future princess by trying the glass slipper on every maiden in the land, until he finds the one it fits.

When he gets to Cinderella’s cottage, her stepmother has locked her in her room so that she won’t be able to meet the prince and try on the slipper.  The prince tries the slipper on one step sister, then the other.  Cinderella’s stepmother even tries to force her large foot into the delicate slipper.  It is the last house on the prince’s tour, so he asks, “Are you sure you have no other daughters?”  Cinderella escapes from her prison and appears just in time to effortlessly slip her foot into the glass shoe.  A perfect fit.

I invite you to listen to this morning’s story from the Bible and notice what Samuel and David's story has in common with the tale of Cinderella.

The Syrophoenician Woman and Other Gutsy Moms

Mark 7:24-30

YOUTH MOMENT

In 2019, a movie was released called Breakthrough.  Did anyone see it?  It was based on the true story of a 14-year-old basketball-playing kid named John Smith who was playing around on an icy Missouri lake one cold January morning with several of his friends.  The boys had tested the strength of the ice the day before by throwing a big boulder into the center of the lake.  When the ice didn’t show any cracks, they figured it was safe to walk on it.  But it was time to go home.  The next day, they each got up bright and early, and met again at the lake.  What they didn’t know was the temperature had risen overnight, and the ice was not as thick as it was the day before.  The ice cracked and broke under their weight, and three of the boys, including John Smith, fell into the freezing water.  This is an extremely dangerous situation.

Someone called 9-1-1.  When rescuers arrived moments later, one boy was almost out of the water, one was clinging to the ice.  John, however, was nowhere to be seen.  Using the techniques they had just practiced the week before in a training session, the rescuers used long poles to search for John.  When they found him and brought him to the surface, he had been underwater for 15 minutes and had no pulse.  The rescuers began CPR but couldn’t get a heartbeat.

John was rushed to the hospital, where CPR was continued for another 27 minutes.  Still no pulse.  The doctors called John’s mother into the room so she could say her “Good-byes,” but John’s mom wasn’t ready to let her son go yet.  She prayed out loud and loudly, 'Holy God, please send your Holy Spirit to save my son. I want my son, please save him.'

After a full hour of no pulse, John’s heart started beating again just seconds after his mother’s prayer.  Within weeks, John had made a surprising and full recovery.

In our Scripture lesson this morning, a mother is not ready to give up on her sick, little girl.  She comes to Jesus for help.  When it looks like he may not be willing to heal her daughter, the mom speaks up on her daughter’s behalf and in the end, Jesus makes her little girl well again.  It’s a good story!  Now let’s listen to Mr. David read it from the Bible.

Difficult Lessons

John 6:60

Prop: A poster board or newsprint pad on an easel, and a magic marker

When Kathy was in second grade, she had trouble understanding subtraction with numbers of two digits or more.  For example, 56-17 (write on the pad as shown below).

                      56
                    - 17
                       ??

How do you subtract seven from six when seven is the larger number?  There isn't enough to subtract!

Dianne was Kathy's older sister.  She was in fifth grade, and wanted to help out her little sister.  So, remembering the words her second grade teacher had used, Dianne did her best to explain how it worked.  "When the bottom number is bigger than the top number," Dianne said, "you have to go next door and borrow ten from your neighbor, number 5.  Ten plus six is sixteen, and now you can subtract seven and get nine.  But since you borrowed ten from the five, you are left with four.  Four minus one is three, so your answer is 39." 

Kathy didn't get it.  She tried real hard, but she just couldn't get it.  No matter how loudly Dianne tried to explain (using the same words each time), Kathy just couldn't get it.  Not that night.  However, Kathy kept at it and eventually she not only learned how to subtract all kinds of numbers, but she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, with honors, in (you guessed it), math.

There are a lot of lessons in life that are difficult.  Sometimes we need to look at a problem from a different direction, or hear the lesson using different words, or sometimes we need to grow a little older and have more life experience before we "get it."  Some of Jesus' teachings were difficult to understand.  In today's Scripture reading, Jesus' disciples say, "This lesson is hard!  Who can understand it??"  I encourage you to keep at it, even when you don't understand something right away--whether it be a school lesson or a life lesson. Keep at it and eventually, even if it's in the sweet by-and-by, when we get to heaven, the problem, the question, the lesson will make sense by the grace of God.

AMEN.

On Mother's Day

 May 9, 2021

I received a Mother's Day card a couple of years ago which was really funny.  I liked it so much, I kept it.  On the front it says, "A Thought for You on Mother's Day."  There's a picture of a half-filled glass, and then it says, "An optimist sees the glass as half full.  A pessimist sees the glass as half empty."  Then when you open the card, it reads, "A mother sees the glass of someone who didn't finish their drink, pick up their glass, or put it in the dishwasher.  Happy Mother's Day!"

Yes, today is Mother's Day.

A few weeks ago, our eldest son texted me and asked, "Any ideas what you'd like for Mother's Day?"  I answered, "World peace.  Would you like to cook lunch or dinner for us?"  (He's a really good cook.)  And so this evening, we are going over to his and his family's house for a vegetarian feast.

A friend of mine was 70-something years old.  When they asked, she told her children what she wanted more than anything for Mother's Day was a letter from each of them telling her what she had done right as a mom.  She said, "They were always quick to tell me what I'd done wrong.  I wanted to hear what they thought I'd done well."  I think it's too bad that she had to wait over 50 years for her children to show their appreciation to her!

Some women make better mothers than others.  I have no doubt that  my friend was an excellent mother, but no mom is perfect.  Yet every mother did at least one thing right--she brought YOU into the world!  She gave you the gift of life.  For that gift alone we owe our moms, and our God, thanks and appreciation.

AMEN.

The Woman at the Well

 John 4:1-42

Prop: Display Carracci's painting, "The Samaritan Woman at the Well" found at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Annibale_Carracci_-_The_Samaritan_Woman_at_the_Well_-_WGA4446.jpg

This is an oil painting created centuries ago by a famous painter named Annibale Carracci.  It's a picture of when Jesus met a woman in a country called Samaria.  This story can be found in the Bible, the Gospel of John, chapter 4.

Jesus is the person on the far right, in a peachy-colored robe with a blue sash, and the woman is in the center; the only woman in the painting.  

One day, Jesus and his disciples needed to travel from Judea home to Galilee, and Jesus suggested they take a short cut through Samaria.  A short cut sounds like a good idea, right?  Well, it would be, except the people where Jesus came from couldn't stand the people of Samaria.  It was a feud that had gone on for centuries!  It was so bad that most Jews took the long way around to avoid passing through Samaria, whenever possible.

Jesus' disciples may have felt uncomfortable, even anxious, with Jesus' decision, but he was the teacher, and so they all took the short cut.  

They came to a small village, right at lunch time.  The disciples went into town to get something to eat and Jesus stayed behind at the well to rest.  Can you see that big, round thing Jesus is leaning against?  That is the well.  You can even see a big jug there, too.  That's what the woman would put the water in to take home, but I'm getting ahead of the story.

While the disciples were away, a woman came to draw water from the well.  They didn't have indoor plumbing in those days.  Jesus said to her, "Would you give me a drink of water?"  Now, this sounds like a reasonable request.  Jesus was tired and thirsty, and he didn't have a jug or cup of his own.  But actually, Jesus asking for a drink from the woman was quite strange for two reasons.

1. As I already mentioned, she was a Samaritan, and Jesus' people didn't speak to Samaritans, unless they absolutely had to.

2. She was a woman.  In Jesus' time, men and women kept their lives separate, except for at home, and the men didn't speak to women they didn't know.  It was against the rules.

So even though there were two very strong reasons why Jesus should ignore the woman, he chose not to.  He chose instead to talk with her, to care about her and to care about her life.  In the end, she believed that Jesus was sent by God to set all people free.  He told her that he was living water, and she believed him.  She believed that this kind man who broke the rules was and is God's Chosen One--the Messiah.

Carracci chose to picture the end of the story in this painting.  You can see that the disciples have returned--see the man on the left is carrying loaves of bread--lunch--in his sash.  One man is pointing at Jesus as he speaks to another disciple, as if he's saying, "Look at that!  Jesus is speaking to that woman from Samaria!  What's up with that?"  And then two other disciples are whispering to each other.  Also, the woman looks to be walking away from Jesus and the well.  The Bible tells us that she left Jesus to run and tell others about her encounter with him--that she had met the Messiah--and that in her excitement, she left her water jug behind.  Who could blame her?

AMEN.

Flat Jesus

Props

One Flat Jesus printable for each child, copied on card stock, if possible.   Simply Google "Flat Jesus Printable," and several choices will come up.
Copy of the book, Flat Stanley (optional)

Story

Have you ever read the book, Flat Stanley?  It was written in 1964 by Jeff Brown.  Even though that was a long time ago, Flat Stanley is still a very popular book.

The story goes like this:  One night, while Stanley Lambchop is sleeping, a giant bulletin board falls off the wall above his bed and lands right on him.  He is unharmed, except that he is flat--like a pancake.  After the shock wears off, Stanley realized that being flat allows him to do many things he could not do before--like slip under doorways and fly high in the sky like a kite.  One time, his parents slid him into an envelope and mailed him to his friend in California for a little vacation.

In 1995, a school teacher named Dale Hubert started the Flat Stanley Project.  He made copies of Flat Stanley for his students.  He invited the kids to color in their Flat Stanleys, cut them out and send them on adventures.  The students wrote stories about their Flat Stanleys, and then mailed them with their stories to people they knew, asking that person to write a story about Stanley's adventure, to take a picture of Flat Stanley wherever he was, and return the photo and story to the original sender.

The first year, students in 13 classrooms across Ontario, Canada, participated in the Flat Stanley Project.  In 2006, 6,000 classrooms in 47 countries took part, and by 2011, students in an average of 88 countries participated annually in the Flat Stanley Project.  Maybe you have sent or received a Flat Stanley!

Flat Stanley has gone on amazing adventures, and has met some pretty impressive people.  He appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, he's been to the Oscar Award Ceremony, had his picture taken with 3 U.S. presidents, traveled on the Space Shuttle Discovery, ridden with Nascar drivers Joe Nemencheck and Richard Petty, been photographed with world champion boxer Muhammed Ali, and NFL quarterback Peyton Manning--the list goes on and on.

I have brought with me today (mailed/emailed you) an outlined drawing of Jesus.  We could call him Flat Jesus.  I invite you to color him any way you'd like, and to cut him out.  You may carry him with you as you go about your day, as a reminder that Jesus is always with us wherever we go.  You may take pictures of you and you Flat Jesus in various places as you go about your day and send them to me to put on our church Facebook page.  You may want to mail Flat Jesus to a friend or family member with a letter telling why Jesus is important to you.  The important thing is to know that Jesus loves you and is always with you.

AMEN.

Bernie's Mittens

 JOY

Jenn Ellis is a 2^nd grade teacher in Essex Junction, Vermont.  She is also a huge fan of Vermont senator, Bernie Sanders.  Teaching, Bernie Sanders, and there’s one other passion in Ellis’ life.  Can you guess what it is?  She makes mittens.

When Bernie Sanders lost the bid to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2016, Jenn Ellis was crushed.  She wanted to do something to let him know she was thinking about him, so she sent him a pair of cozy, brown and white mittens she had made.  Miss Jenn told a reporter for the Washington Post, “I totally remember the night I did it. I was thinking to myself, ‘Is this crazy? I don’t even know this guy.’ But I wanted to make them for him, so I did.”

Well, Bernie loves those mittens.  He has worn them ever since, including at the inauguration of President Biden, where he was surrounded by people in fancy, expensive clothes—designer dresses and suits costing thousands of dollars—while he sat in his folding chair in his khaki parka and a pair of fuzzy, handmade mittens.

Since then, Bernie’s mittens have become famous.  They have been shown and talked about more than any other piece of clothing worn on the Capital balcony that day, even more than Lady Gaga’s splashy red dress.  People have cut out the picture of Bernie and his mittens, and photoshopped him into all sorts of funny places—among cows in a grassy field, into famous paintings, sitting next to Spiderman and on the lanai with The Golden Girls. 

It seems that mitten madness is just beginning. Jenn Ellis has now partnered with Vermont Teddy Bear to sell "Bernie mittens,” and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to benefit Make-A-Wish Vermont.  In the two weeks since they became a meme, Ellis' mittens have already raised funds for local organizations.  A pair of mittens she gave Outright Vermont, sold for $20,000 at a charity auction.  Sanders’ team has been selling sweatshirts with his iconic inauguration day look, mittens front and center, and have raised almost $2 million for Meals on Wheels Vermont.  Ellis says excitement over her mittens have reminded her why she created them in the first place.  “When you give of yourself -- if you give of your kindness or your time -- that comes back to you as joy," she said.

Let’s all get out there, share our gifts and not only spread, but also reap some joy.

AMEN.