Mercy — A Children’s Sermon on Mark 10:46-52

Sitting down to write a children’s sermon on Mark 10:46-52, I have to say it’s just the kind of text I find easiest to work with: a single story that makes a solid central point. It’s kind of a relief after so many twisty-turny texts patched together from disconnected parts.

(You can find my regular Monday Meditation on this text here.)

It’s also conveniently timed: these weeks have been full and complicated for me, and if the Sunday Gospel texts were hard I might have been in trouble. Even with an easy text, it’s taking me till Thursday to hit “publish” on this children’s sermon on Mark 10:46-52.

The story hinges on a blind man who wants Jesus to heal him. (A typo in my draft had him as “Blond Bartimaeus.” I don’t know his hair color. The issue was his visual impairment.)

There are a number of odd and interesting details, however. Those are always the most fun to focus on.

I may not be able to highlight all the interesting bits. That’s okay: ideally a children’s sermon on Mark 10:46-52 (or any passage) should try to focus attention on just one point.

I think I’ve avoided last week’s pitfall. Last week I ended up building a long narrative context that would, eventually, make some sense of the text’s point. It was not a home run children’s sermon.

But then, many a ball game is won by bunts and base hits. Even simple walks move the players around the bases. Same goes for preaching.

A Children’s Sermon on Mark 10:46-52

Good morning, kids! I’m so glad you’re here today. Thanks for coming up to hear the children’s sermon.

Asking for Mercy

One day Jesus and his friends were traveling. They were just leaving the city of Jericho. (Maybe you remember the song about how Joshua fought a battle in Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down. Well that was a long, long, long time before Jesus and his friends came by.)

When they were heading down the road out of the city they heard a voice calling out.

“Jesus! Have mercy! Jesus! Have mercy!”

Let’s all pretend we are that person from Jericho who was calling out for help, okay? Lets’ say it together. One, two, three:

“Jesus! Have mercy! Jesus! Have mercy!”

Okay, pretty good, but you’re inside the city and Jesus is walking away, leaving town. Let’s make sure he hears us. One, two, three:

“Jesus! Have mercy! Jesus! Have mercy!”

Oh no! He’s walking farther away! We better try even louder. One, two, three:

“Jesus! Have Mercy! Jesus! Have Mercy!”

Grumpy Neighbors

Well, I’m not sure if Jesus heard the man’s voice yet but the people around the man who was calling out were getting really annoyed.

“Hey Bart!” somebody said. (The man’s name was Bartimaeus. Most people called him “Blind Bartimaeus,” but some called him Bart for short.) “Why don’t you stop shouting and do something useful for a change? All you ever do is sit here and beg.”

“Oh come on!” said Bart. “I’m blind. Nobody will give me a job, so I have to beg for food. I heard Jesus was in town and I think maybe he can help me.”

“But you’re bothering us with all your shouting!” someone else said. Bart didn’t know who it was because, of course, he couldn’t see.

“I don’t care,” Bart said. “I’m asking Jesus to help me.”

So he yelled even louder. Ready? One, two, three:

“Jesus! Have mercy! Jesus! Have mercy!”

A Conversation with Jesus

Well, at that point Jesus definitely heard Bart calling.

“Someone’s calling for help,” said Jesus.

“Oh, it’s just some beggar,” said Peter. “Let’s keep going.”

“Everybody needs help sometimes,” said Jesus. “And when you need help, the best thing to do is to ask someone. Go get him please.”

So, they went and found Bart, and they brought him to Jesus.

“Hello!” said Jesus. “I heard you calling. How can I be of help?”

“Oh Jesus!” said Bart, “Won’t you please have mercy on me!”

Different Kinds of Mercy

“I’m happy to,” said Jesus, smiling. (Jesus knew Bart couldn’t see, so he put his smile into his voice.) “But what kind of mercy do you need?”

“What do you mean?” asked Bart.

“Well,” said Jesus, “every time someone helps someone else, that’s mercy.

• Some people are hungry. They need someone to have mercy and feed them.
• Some people are lonely. They need someone to have mercy and love them.
• Some people have done bad things. They need someone to have mercy and forgive them.

It’s all mercy. What kind of mercy do you need?”

A Healing

“I’m blind,” said Bart. “I want to be able to see!”

Then Jesus gave him exactly that. Suddenly “Blind Bartimaeus” could see!

“Wow!” said Bart. “How did that happen?”

“It was your faith, actually,” said Jesus. And this time, Bart could see Jesus smiling.

“Faith?” said Bart. “How do you know I had faith?”

“Easy,” said Jesus. “Because you asked for mercy. You wouldn’t have asked if you didn’t believe I would help.”

Wondering

• I wonder what it felt like to be blind and have to beg for food?
• I wonder what kept Bartimaeus calling out for mercy when people told him to be quiet?
• I wonder what it felt like when Jesus asked Bartimaeus exactly what he wanted?
• I wonder what kinds of mercy you would like to ask Jesus for?

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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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