From a Child's Point of View

First Reading: Acts 2:14 a, 36-41. Children need to be reminded of the context of this event. Peter told a crowd that they had witnessed the murder of Jesus, who was God's Messiah, and that God had raised Jesus from death. Their response was, "What shall we do about this?" Children who know the Easter stories might ask the same question and receive the same answer: You should change your ways to follow Jesus, and you should be baptized. Exploring the crowd's question presents an opportunity to identify their response to Easter. Exploring our answers presents an opportunity to outline your tradition's understanding of baptism and/or confirmation as a way of responding to God's Easter surprise.

Psalm: 116:1-2, 12-19. The Jewish psalmist's prayer of thanksgiving, with its references to Temple offerings of wine for recovery from a near fatal illness, is often used by Christians to thank God for resurrection. Children have little understanding of Temple rites and such a vague concept of death that it makes genuine appreciation of personal resurrection impossible. So read this psalm for the adults.

Epistle: 1 Peter 1:17-23. Children make no sense of this complicated texts as it is read. But if its message is paraphrased, they appreciate the writer's insistence that we can count on God's love always. Jesus' resurrection, in this case, is proof that God loves and forgives us and that God's love is powerful enough to reach us wherever we are—even beyond death. That truth provides all children with courage for facing frightening situations and assures grieving children that God still loves and cares for those who have died.

Warning: Ransom and atonement interpretations of God's love confuse children. For literal thinkers, they pose difficult questions: "Who did God pay the ransom to?" "If God expects us to forgive each other for free, how come God made Jesus pay for our forgiveness?" "How can Jesus' death make me forgiven?" So avoid atonement theology. Speak instead of God's love, which is so powerful it reaches us even after we die.

Gospel: Luke 24:13-35. This simple story can be understood as it is read, from almost any translation. Children are interested in what kind of "body" the risen Jesus had. They need to be invited to speculate, but also to be told that no one knows exactly what Jesus' resurrected body was like. What we do know is that Jesus did not stay dead, that there were some changes in his body, but that from what he said and did, his friends recognized him as the same Jesus who had been crucified.

The story also identifies a loaf of broken bread as a symbol for Jesus. Children can claim this symbol for Jesus in the same way they claim the flag as a symbol for their country, or the logo for a sport team, before they can grasp why broken bread is appropriate for Jesus.

Finally, the story is evidence that God in Jesus was ready to explain the events of Good Friday and Easter morning to his surprised, confused friends. It is another opportunity to celebrate God's unimaginable Easter surprise and the care God takes to help us understand it.

Watch Words

Though broken bread is a good symbol for Jesus, do not confuse children by applying it more generally to the sacrificial love of God.

Remember, for younger children, resurrection is what happened to Jesus on Easter. Older children begin to understand that it has something to do with God loving us beyond death. So in exploring the message of First Peter, avoid terminology such as living the resurrection or the resurrection life. Instead, talk specifically about how we face "hopeless" situations, and how we treat one another because we know God's Easter surprise.

Let the Children Sing

Invite worshipers to sing "On the Day of Resurrection," imagining themselves as the Emmaus travelers, running back to Jerusalem and remembering what had happened. The abstract language of "O Thou Who This Mysterious Bread" makes it less child-accessible.

Keep the Easter Alleluias going with "Come, Christians, Join to Sing."

Celebrate God's love throughout our lives with "Now Thank We All Our God."

The Liturgical Child

1. To recall Jesus' recognition by the Emmaus travelers, display a large broken loaf of bread on the Communion table. Perhaps a floral display using wheat could feature the broken loaf.

2. If baptisms are part of today's worship, invite children to gather near the baptismal font to discuss what is to happen. People to be baptized, or parents of those to be baptized, might be asked to share why they want to be baptized or how they plan to keep their baptismal promises to their children. Following the discussion, allow the children to remain where they can see.

If no baptism is scheduled, either invite children to meet you at the font for a discussion of baptism, or simply move to the font during the part of your sermon that deals with the meaning of baptism. Scooping water up in your hand as you speak about its use will make what you say more vivid.

3. Affirm faith in God's Easter love with a litany such as the following. The congregation's response: "God loves us forever."

We know God because we know Jesus. In Jesus, God lived among us. He loved people and taught them how to love one another. He healed people and told them to take care of one another. He refused to give up loving and teaching and healing, even to save himself from being killed on a cross. But Jesus' love could not be killed. Jesus rose from death.
(RESPONSE)
So when we feel alone, when we feel we have no friends, when we feel that even the people in our family do not care about us, we remember Jesus, and we know . . .
(RESPONSE)
And when we miss people we love who have died, we remember that God still loves and cares for them, in mysterious ways we know little about.
(RESPONSE)
When we face problems that seem impossible to solve, we remember that God knows about those problems and that God works with us and through us to solve all problems.
(RESPONSE)
When we are bravely trying to love people who do not seem to want our loving care, when we are trying to stand up for God's ways among people who have other plans, when we are being teased or ignored because we are Jesus' disciples, we trust God, because . . .
(RESPONSE)

4. Feature the Doxology. Before singing it, identify, as one of God's blessings, the powerful Easter love that can reach us anywhere, anytime.

Sermon Resources

1. To prepare yourself to speak about baptism with words and ideas children can understand, check church school resources. Most denominations produce one or two excellent books which explain baptism to young children. Their language and stories are often appropriate for sermons.

2. If you focus on remembering God's resurrection love in "hopeless" situations, describe some situations that lead children to despair: fighting parents headed for divorce; a parent with a serious problem such as addiction or emotional distress; a feeling of being hopelessly behind at school. At this point in the year, some students who continue to have difficulty with reading, math, or other skills sense that their teachers have consigned them hopelessly to failure.