Preface for Pastors and Parents
A children’s sermon on Luke 17:5-10 could go at least three ways, since there are two separate bits of teaching.
It could focus on the short saying at the beginning about the power of faith “the size of a mustard seed.” Tempting, just because the saying is so tantalizing. Who doesn’t want to see miracles happen when they speak — or at least when they pray, which is what people assume the text is about.
But the text doesn’t actually mention prayer. Jesus’ test case for mustard-seed sized faith is talking to a mulberry tree, commanding it to pull itself up, fly to the sea, and plant itself there.
You can let me know if that promise has been fulfilled anywhere you know of. I’m not asking about miracles in general. I’m looking for an instance of a single mulberry tree miraculously taking flight at someone’s command and landing in the sea. If I can’t find an instance of it happening, I don’t want to try to explain it to kids.
This is not to say the text is untrue. This is rather to say that it is surely too complicated to explain to kids. Kids tend to be very literal-minded.
And I don’t want to try to combine the two teachings, since I don’t really see a thematic or logical connection between them.
That leaves me with the parable, or “parable-ish” teaching in the latter part of the passage. There is a sort of a story there in Jesus’ example. You can let me know if the story I tell in my Children’s Sermon on Luke 17:5-10 seems to faithfully capture his meaning.
A Children’s Sermon on Luke 17:5-10
Good morning kids! I’m so glad to see you here in worship today. Thanks for coming up to hear the children’s sermon.
Today’s reading from the Gospel shows Jesus giving people some instructions. He tells them something kind of like a story, but it isn’t one of his usual sorts of stories.
Usually he says “The Kingdom of God is like…” and then he tells a story. But in this passage, we don’t see what happened to spark his story. So I’ve tried to imagine what might have happened. Here’s how I picture it.
On Strike!
One morning after breakfast Jesus said to his disciples, “Okay, its time to go! We have a big day ahead. We’re gonna go to that village, and teach about the Kingdom of God. We’re gonna heal some sick people. And maybe when we’re done we’ll feed the crowd with miracle bread again!”
Then Jesus started to walk down the road toward the next village. But after had gone just a few steps, he realized something: No-one else was walking with him.
So he turned around. There were the disciples, all still sitting in a big circle. They all looked kind of grumpy.
“Hey you guys!” Jesus called out. “Let’s get going!”
Nobody moved. They just sat there.
So Jesus came back. “What’s wrong guys? You all seem kind of… glum.”
Peter looked up at Jesus. “We aren’t going!” he said. “We’re on strike!”
“On strike?” asked Jesus.“What seems to be the problem?”
Waiting for a “Thank you”
“It’s God,” said Peter. “He’s never once said ‘Thank you.’”
There was a sort of murmuring sound as all the other disciples agreed.
“What were you hoping God would thank you for?” Jesus asked, with a twinkle in his big brown eyes.
“For all we’ve done for him!” Peter said.
“We left our fishing business,” said John, and his brother James nodded. Peter and Andrew nodded too.
“I left my work as a tax collector,” said Matthew Levi.
“I’ve cooked a whole lot of meals for this crowd,” said Martha.
“We’ve done everything we could to help you,” said Andrew. “Like I found that boy with the bread and fish so you could make miracle bread for 5000 people.”
“And we all went out on that mission trip you organized,” said Nathaniel. “We preached about the Kingdom, and we healed people. We did all kinds of stuff.”
A Voice from the Sky?
“But you guys wanted to do all that stuff,” Jesus said. “You said you wanted to follow me. And you always seemed pretty happy about it. Anyway, God doesn’t usually say thank you. If he did, how did you expect to hear him?”
“Well,” Peter said, “when you got baptized, God spoke from the clouds. Same thing happened on the mountain when you showed us your glory. God spoke and said you are his son and he’s really proud of you.”
“Yeah,” said Nathaniel. “Why won’t God do that for us? One little ‘Thank you’ from the sky would help a lot.”
“You know, guys,” Jesus said, “when God decides to speak it is because he wants to. You cant boss him around.”
“Maybe not,” said Peter, “but we’re on strike. We’ve made our list of demands.”
“I think maybe you misunderstand how things work in the Kingdom of God,” Jesus said. “Let me tell you a story.”
A Story
Once there was a farmer who hired a man to work for him.
“I’m happy to have you working, for me,” said the farmer. “There’s a lot of work to do. Some of the work is out in the fields. And some of the work is in my barns. And some of the work is in my house.”
“Thank you!” said the new farm hand. “I really needed this job. I’m grateful that I’ll be able to earn a living here.”
The next morning the farmer told his new hired hand, “This morning I want you to plant seeds on the western field.”
When the farmhand finished that, the farmer said, “Now I want you to clean out the horses’ stalls.”
And when the farmhand was done with that, his tummy was rumbling. He was wondering when meal time was going to be.
He started imagining that the farmer would be so grateful for all his hard work that the farmer would say “Come sit down at my table! Let me get you something to eat! What would you like to drink?”
But then the farmhand woke up. “There you are!” said the farmer. “Time to come in, clean up, and get dressed to serve us dinner.”
So the farmhand did that too.
When the farmer and his family were all done eating, the farmer told the farmhand “There’s lots of food in the kitchen, so be sure and eat. And here’s your pay for today’s work.”
“Thank you sir!” said the farmhand. “You’re very generous.”
Working for God
The disciples looked a bit confused. Jesus said, “So tell me, guys, what has God given you?”
They thought for a minute.
“Life?” said Peter.
“My family?” said Martha.
“Food and clothes?” said James.
”Friends, like all of your disciples?” said John.
“Important work — and we get to do it with you?” said Andrew.
“Okay,” said Jesus. “And what have I told you God is giving you after this life?”
“Life forever with God?” said Mary.
“The Kingdom?” said Matthew Levi.
“Right,” said Jesus. “Is there anything you have that didn’t come to you from God?”
“No,” they said.
“And have you ever done anything more for God than you actually owe God?” Jesus asked.
“I guess not,” Peter said, and they all seemed to agree.
Wondering
I wonder how that farm hand felt about getting his boss’s dinner after working all day?
I wonder what keeps people wanting to serve God?
I wonder if there are ways that God really does seem to say “Thank you!”?
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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.
- You can put a little notice in your church bulletin that your children’s sermon is adapted from one published on GaryNealHansen.com.
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