20^th Sunday After Pentecost

Year 2: October 20, 2019

2 Samuel 5:1-5; 6:1-5; Psalm 150

An Awesome Book of Thanks by Dallas Clayton

(Written for ages 4-7)

Comment: The story of David bringing the Ark to Jerusalem with song and dancing is a concrete example of worship – celebrating what God has done for us by giving thanks in a joyful way. This text, paired with Psalm 150, opens up conversations about how we show our gratitude to God for all the blessings in our lives, big and small. Clayton’s book lists off dozens and dozens of ordinary things for which to be grateful. “It’s so easy – we see these things every day – to forget to say thank you in every way.” We can cultivate gratitude in children by saying prayers of thanks on a daily basis – at mealtimes or bedtime. Communal worship is a time each week when we can join with other believers to proclaim God’s salvation story and give thanks for the providence that has led us to this moment, just as David and the Israelites do in today’s story. It’s important, too, to notice the joy and wonder that David displays. Gratitude to God isn’t just a formality to get through, it’s an opportunity for true rejoicing. In the words of the Confession of 1967, “Life is a gift to be received with gratitude and a task to be pursued with courage.”

Thanks to Joshua Andrzejewski, Union Presbyterian Seminary alumnus and chaplain for the pediatric and women’s health units in the VCU Medical Center, for writing the Year 2 Narrative Lectionary Links.

Lectionary Links (NL): October 20, 2019 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.