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Children’s Sermon

Luke 16:19-31

The Rich Man and Lazarus

September 25, 2022

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Year C

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ASK (a.k.a The On-Ramp)

Good morning!
[ Show cup without the lid on ] Can you tell me what this is? (A cup!)
[ Tip cup for kids to see inside of it ] And what is inside the cup? (Liquid! Water!)
So let's say this is your cup and you're worried about the cup tipping over and spilling the water. What might you do to keep the cup from spilling? (Be very very careful! Put it somewhere safe! Put a lid on it!)
[ If the kids don't say, "Put a lid on it," say, "Those are all very good answers. Another option to consider would be putting a lid on top of the cup" ]
It just so happens that I have a lid for this cup, right here! [Show lid]
Let’s see if a lid helps stop the water from spilling from this cup [ Put lid on cup and turn cup upside down – maybe shake it a little bit ]
What do you think? Did the lid help reduce the spilling? (Yes)
But you know what? There is a problem with putting a lid on a cup.
Let's say you want to put more water in the cup...like this – [ pour water from pitcher on to the top of the lidded cup – and let the bucket catch the water ]
What happened when I tried to put more water into a lidded cup?
That’s right! The water didn’t get in.
To get more water in, I have to first take the lid off.
And that's a very important thing to remember about a lid: Not only does it do a great job of keeping liquid IN a cup, it also does a great job of keeping liquid OUT of a cup.

TELL (a.k.a. The Freeway)

I share this idea of a cup with a lid because we can often act like a cup with a lid on.
Sometimes, there can be things in our lives that we care about so much that it is like we put a lid on our lives to help us not lose those things from our lives.
But once when we put those lids on, that makes it much harder for us to ADD or RECEIVE other important things to our lives.
In today's scripture story, Jesus tells a story that helps us think about what it looks like when we’ve put a lid on our life.
Jesus tells a story of a rich man who cared so much about certain things in his life that he made sure nothing could “spill” out or be lost.
It was like he had a really tight lid on his things.
He wouldn't even let a few scraps of food escape from his life so that a poor and sick man named Lazarus could eat.
Later on, once the rich man realized the mistake he had made by having such a tight lid on his life, he wanted to send a messenger to tell his family to not live with the same type of tight lid on their lives as he had.
But the messenger told the rich man that it was too late: his brothers' lids were on so tight that they couldn’t receive the rich man’s message.

SHARE the Good News (a.k.a. The Destination)

The good news for today is that God made us to live lives without lids.
God made us so that we could share with others quickly and easily [while you are speaking, take the lid off the cup and tip its contents of water into the bucket]
And, God made us so that we can be refilled quickly and easily, too
[start refilling the cup with the water in the pitcher ]
We are made to be easily refilled with God's good and abundant gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, belonging and forgiveness.
Which means, we are ready and able to share with others again – like
so: [ pour water from cup into the bucket and then fill up the cup again using the pitcher ].
See how well that works when we don’t have a lid on? We receive, then share. Then, we receive again. Then we share again. And so on.
That’s how God made us to live and when we live that way, it is a better life for everyone.
And that is the good news for today! Let’s pray.

CLOSING Prayer

This is a repeat-after-me prayer.

Dear God,

Thank you for this life…

…and all that is in it.

Help us to receive your good gifts…

…and then share them…

…with those around us.

Thank you and Amen

Originally posted September 21, 2013
Updated on September 26, 2022
Written and edited by Nathanael Vissia

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Supplies:

A cup with a lid, preferably a lid that does not allow liquid into it very easily, like a sippy-cup or maybe a fast-food cup with the type of lid for straws.
Have the cup filled with water.
Also, have a pitcher and have it filled with water (you'll use it twice)

Finally, have a bucket for water to spill into.

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