Anybody know what’s special about
today? Good, it’s Easter, and y’all
guessed that first. All your parents are
breathing a big sigh of relief now. What
makes this day special? That’s right, we
celebrate that Jesus was raised from the dead.
You guys are doing great this morning.
Anything else make this a special day?
Spiral ham? Yeah, I like that,
too. Seeing your families? That’s a special thing, too. That’s right, there was a big egg hunt,
wasn’t there? I sometimes wish there
were egg hunts every week, too. I
know. I bet you’d all make your parents
bring you to church more often for eggs filled with candy. Anything else special about today? There’s one more big marker for today, does
anyone know it? That’s right, it’s April
Fools day.
What do we do on April Fool’s Day? That’s right, we try and trick each
other. Anybody do the “your shoe is
untied” trick? Hmm. That might be too old for some of you. True, some of you do not have shoelaces to
tie, so that trick would not make much sense.
What are some tricks you play of the people in your family? Oooh, I like that one. You tell mom you want broccoli for
supper? Wow. That’s a gutsy trick. Tell me, what if mom makes it? Maybe that should be her trick on you?
Well, how many of you have friends who go
to church? Good. I’m glad to see most of you have lots of
friends going to church. I bet a lot of
them are going to hear April Fool’s sermons about God tricking everybody into
thinking Jesus was dead. Yeah, that’s a
pretty good trick, except Jesus really was dead. He was not pretending to be dead or mostly
dead; He was dead.
I have a soon to be colleague, well, assuming
as we say in clergy circles God willing and the people consenting, who teaches
at the school where I learned to be a priest.
I know, it’s crazy that someone not a priest can teach people how to be
priests. Anyway, this teacher was
encouraging priests and seminarians this week not to compare the Resurrection
of Jesus to an April Fool’s gag.
Everybody will be doing that gag, this teacher warned, so we might stand
out by not telling it as a gag. Does
that make sense? That’s right, sometimes
we stand out by being good when everyone else is misbehaving in class, or
sometimes teachers think we are good because we are quiet when everyone else is
yelling and screaming.
You know, this teacher had a great idea
about how to talk about God’s big April Fool’s joke properly, and you all have
touched on it a bit. What does Easter
begin to signify for Christians? Why is
this day really important? Leave it to
the priest kid to get that one right.
That’s right. Easter is the
beginning of the end of the restoration of the world. Anybody ever heard adults talking about Jesus
coming into His authority today?
Good! It sounds like you’ve all
heard He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Somebody’s parents are doing a pretty good
job teaching you about God. OK, maybe
some of you are learning it from friends rather than parents.
How did Jesus come into His glory? Yes, God raised Him to it, but how did we get
to this point? That’s right, Jesus was
abandoned by His friends and killed.
There’s a lot more bad stuff to that story, but I’ll let your parents
share it as they think you should hear it.
How do we get glory today? How do
we get famous? Yep, YouTube. Yep, television. Who does that work of promoting? The people.
You guys are spot on today. How
did Jesus get His glory? Did He start a
Youtube channel? Are you sure there was
no internet then? OK. Did He star in a reality television
show? Really, there was no
television? Maybe there was reality
radio? Oh, you don’t think so? Well, how did Jesus become the King and Lord
that you just named Him?
That’s right, He died. I’m looking for a little simpler answer
though. When Jesus came into the world
on Christmas, did He appear in a palace or in the center of the world,
Rome? No. He was born in a stable in Bethlehem. That’s weird, though. If there was no television and no internet,
how did Jesus get famous? The miracles? They sure helped. Boy, you guys know your miracles. What were the point of the miracles? That’s right.
He was helping people.
Now, I know Miss Anoosh and Miss Jane and Miss
Tina and Mis Stephanie and Miss Ellen and Miss Martha all the ladies who teach
Children Chapel have talked like this, but have you ever heard someone say that
Jesus came to serve us? Whew! I’m glad to know they and I have said that
lots. True, we talked about that last
week when I washed feet. That’s really a
great example. Who washed peoples’ feet
at big parties like that? Slaves. People who were not free and did the will of
the people who owned them. I know, it’s
crazy to think that people try and own other people. But how crazy is it that Jesus did the job of
a slave?! He was God Incarnate Man
Divine and He washed all the crud off the disciples and off us!
So, how did Jesus get glorified? That’s right, by being a slave! He served all His disciples, He served your
moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas, He served me, and He served you. Yes, He even served our little sisters. I know that’s a hard one. Little sisters can be brats. Yeah, I have one, too, but she’s older now
and a little easier to deal with.
Back to God and Jesus, though. Your friends will hear today that God tricked
everyone into thinking that Jesus was dead or that God had lost on Friday and
that that was the greatest April Fool’s joke ever. In reality, though, God has been tricking the
world about how to find glory and power since we left Him in the Garden of
Eden. God says if we love and serve Him
and love and serve our neighbors as ourselves, what will happen? That’s right, we will share in Jesus’
glory! That’s a pretty crazy promise,
isn’t it? I know. God likes to surprise us a lot, doesn’t
He? So, as much fun as those shows and
YouTube channels are, do they give us the glory we seek? No, indeed!
Who does? That’s right, God! And how do we get that glory? Man, you guys are just the best. That’s right, serving Him and others—even
little sisters. And how do we know He
can keep that promise? Because He can
raise us, just like Jesus, from the dead.
OK, you have been such good students
today, I’m going to give you a head start on serving God and others. That work for everyone? I have two ways, one for God and one for
others. First, today or later this week
when you run out of candy, ask mom or dad or grandma or grandpa or whoever
brought you to church today why they brought you. One of our jobs as adults is to teach our
children, the next generation, about the saving work God has done in the world
and in our lives. So, ask the adults in
your life why they bring you to church.
Now, some will squirm. Some
adults are a little bashful telling the stories of God in their life. Some are so bad they had to come to the class
I taught in Lent to learn how to tell their story and His story in their
life. That’s ok. Just keep asking them. The more you ask, the more they can
tell. Some may never even have thought
about that question until you ask it, ok?
And in the end, is there anything better than talking about how God has
helped and redeemed us? No. It’s the best story ever! It’s like our own personal Easter.
Now, that’s the loving God part, don’t
forget to keep asking the adults. Now,
for the loving and serving your neighbor part.
Did any of you older kids notice the eggs in the courtyard between the
parish hall and the glass doors?
Good! I thought you might. We had so many eggs the toddlers could not
get them all. Well, guess who has to get
them? Either me or my kids. Now, Adventers think they are doing me a
favor by giving my kids all that candy in those eggs, but did you see how many
eggs they got in the hunt with you? I
know, tons. Do you all have any idea
what that sugar does to kids? No kidding! They get hyper and squirmy and almost ready
to burst with energy! And they outnumber
me and their mom. Well, to save them, I
have to eat some of that candy. But I
have lost a lot of weight the last year.
I don’t want to eat all that extra candy. So here’s my idea: y’all get the rest of
those eggs when the service is over! Is
that a deal? Good. And if mom or dad or grandma or grandpa
complain or tell you that you have enough, you can just say to them that you
are serving Fr. Brian by keeping the candy out of his kids’ baskets and out of
his mouth. Sound like a good plan? Awesome!
Thank you all for doing that for me.
Now head back to your seats, and, if you get really bored during my
sermon, look out at the bushes and plot your plan of attack to get more eggs!
In
Christ’s Peace,
Brian†
No comments:
Post a Comment