Twenty-Sixth Sunday After Pentecost

Year 1: November 18, 2018

Preaching Text: Isaiah 36:1-3, 13-20; 37:1-7; then 2:1-4

After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) by Dan Santat

(Written for ages 4-8)

Comment: In our passage, King Hezekiah of Judah is distraught after everyone in the kingdom hears the defeatist message of Sennacherib’s messenger, telling them that their nation will be defeated and that Hezekiah is lying when he says that God will save them. Hezekiah dresses in sackcloth and declares it to be a day of distress. Isaiah the prophet encourages Hezekiah and tells him that the Lord says not to be afraid anymore. In After the Fall Humpty Dumpty loves being up high, bird watching, flying model planes, and sitting up on the wall. But after he falls from the wall, requiring all the king’s men to put him back together, he discovers that he is desperately afraid of heights. He is so afraid that he won’t even climb high shelves at the store, and he can’t watch birds or sit on his wall. But by the end of the story he realizes what he is missing, regains his confidence, and is bold to climb back on the wall, again, unafraid. Hezekiah and Humpty Dumpty both despaired and were afraid, but ended up brave and confident once again. We may be afraid or despair, but the Lord is still with us. With that assurance, we can be brave and confident in the Lord.

Thanks to Sara Ann Berger, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Nachitoches, LA, and Union Presbyterian Seminary alumna, for writing the Year 1 Narrative Lectionary Links.

Lectionary Links (NL): November 18, 2018 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.