A Children’s Sermon on Luke 10:25-37 — The Good Samaritan

Preface for Pastors. and Parents

Perhaps the hardest thing about writing a children’s sermon on Luke 10:25-37, “The Good Samaritan,” is bringing out the inherently political quality of the story.

(I’ve written on this text both as a Monday Meditation and in a series on the Heidelberg Catechism)

It is the story of the good Samaritan, alter all. It hinges on political hatred. What could be more timely? The hatred between peoples separated by a border, Judea and Samaria, is a political matter. The hard part is telling the story with today’s political divisions in place—instead of the seemingly distant, maybe irrelevant, ancient conflict between Jews and Samaritans. Who will replace the mysterious characters of a Jewish priest and a Levite in 21^st century America?

So here I go. let me know in the comments or by email what you think of this children’s sermon on Luke 10:25-37.

A Children’s Sermon on Luke 10:25-37

Good morning kids! I am so glad to see you in worship this morning. You are always welcome here. And so are your friends, actually. And so are the people you don’t like very much. That’s part of what today’s story from the Gospel is about.

A Conversation About The Law

One day Jesus was talking with a man about God’s laws in the Bible.

They agreed that the most important law of all is where it says to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And they agreed that another law was right up there with the most important law: The one where it said to love our neighbors as ourselves.

But the man asked Jesus a question about that second law. He said, “But Jesus, who exactly is my neighbor? I want to know who I have to love, and who I don’t.”

In the Bible, Jesus told a story to answer the man’s question. But some parts of that story are about things long ago in Jesus’ time. I don’t want to explain those things this morning. Instead I want to imagine how Jesus might have told the story if he were here today in America.

Here’s how I think Jesus might have told the story.

A Walk to School

Once upon a time there was a boy about your age. He lived just a few blocks from school so he walked every day instead of taking a bus.

One day he was walking along, wearing a baseball hat that his parents had given him. It was bright red, and it had big words in white letters, saying Make something or other Great Again.

He was on his way to school, with his allowance money in his pocket. and his phone in his backpack.

When he turned the corner just a block from his house, he found three bigger boys standing in his way. He knew just who they were. They were his school’s bullies. They made trouble for everybody.

I hope you never have to deal with bullies, but you can probably guess what happened next. The bullies said really mean things to the boy. Then they started pushing him around. They punched him in the stomach so he could barely breath. They gave him a bloody nose. Then they took his allowance money and stole his phone. They knocked him to the ground and ran away laughing.

People Pass By

For a while the boy just lay there, dirty, bloody, and crying.

Soon, a man in a business suit was coming out of a nearby coffee shop. He didn’t even look at the boy. He walked right by him, got into his fancy car, and drove away.

Then some girls from his class were walking to school down the same street. They saw him lying there from down the block and stopped.

“Ew gross!” said one. “He’s all dirty and bloody.”

“I know, right?” said another. “He must be homeless. Or on drugs.”

“Yeah,” said the third. “Let’s cross the street here so we don’t get too close!”

So they went to the other side and made their way to school.

One Girl Stops

But then another girl came down the block.

She and her family had just come to this country, from far away in the Middle East. She was a few years older—he was in grade school, but she was in middle school—and she wore a long dress, with long sleeves. She wore a scarf, called a Hijab, over her hair.

When she got close she saw the boy and how hurt he was.

She knelt down and helped him sit up.

She took some tissues from her backpack and cleaned up his bloody nose.

Then she asked what had happened and listened as he told his story through his tears.

Finally, she asked where he lived, and she took him home to his parents.

Then she headed off to school—a little bit late, but not in too much trouble.

Jesus’ Question

So Jesus said to the man who asked the question, “You asked who really is your neighbor. What do you think now?”

“What do you mean?” the man asked.

“Well,” said Jesus, “some bullies beat the boy up. Were they his neighbors? A businessman walked by without looking. Was he the boy’s neighbor? Some girls from the boy’s class crossed the street to avoid him. Were they his neighbors? A Muslim immigrant came and helped him. Was she his neighbor? What do you think?”

The man thought about Jesus’ questions for a long time.

“Well,” he said at last, “The only one who loved her neighbor was the Muslim immigrant girl.”

“And that’s what you should do,” said Jesus.

Wondering

I wonder if it is hard for kids and grown ups to see each other as their neighbors?

I wonder if it is hard for kids to see other kids as their neighbors?

I wonder if it is hard for people who were born here to see immigrants as their neighbors?

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You are, of course, free to use this children’s sermon, or adapt it as you find most useful. But, if you use it, please do one (or more!) of the following.

• You can let me know that you are using it, either in the comments below, or using the contact form above.
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