1st Sunday after Christmas Day

Year C:  December 30, 2012

First Reading: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

Come Sunday by Nikki Grimes

(Written for ages 5-9)

Comment: “Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod.” Although the day’s Old Testament reading is brief, it opens up the possibility of good conversation and reflection. Samuel, as a boy, played an important role in the worshiping life of his community. In our churches, how do our children participate in the community’s worshiping life? Come Sunday is a collection of poems that follows LaTasha’s experience worshiping with her Paradise Baptist Church family. You might compare La Tasha’s experiences with those of the children in your worshiping community. How would Come Sunday read if it was written by one of the children in your church? How does your church create an environment where children may minister before the Lord?

Second Reading: Colossians 3:12-17

The Sparkle Box by Jill Hardie

(Written for ages 5-9)

Comment: “…Clothe yourselves with love…let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts… let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” Our experience of Jesus is transformative.  Children might connect to the experience of having new clothes as one that makes us feel different, sparkly, and in some ways like we can be new people. What does it mean for clothes to be actions, such as love? Just as we carry clothes in our body every day, we can carry Christ’s love, peace, and teachings in our heart. In The Sparkle Box, Sam has an an experience not unlike that of being clothed in love. His understanding of the value of Christmas gifts is transformed when he learns of the gift he gives Jesus by sharing love.

Gospel Reading: Luke 2:41-52

Little Wolf’s Song by Britta Teckentrup

(Written for ages 4-8)

Comment: In this reading, Luke provides a glimpse into the maturation and development of Jesus, from the baby whose birth we celebrated, to the teacher we’ll learn more about in the coming weeks. In the midst of worries over his being lost, readers witness Jesus finding his voice in the temple and growing in wisdom.  In Teckentrup’s story, we glimpse a moment in Little Wolf’s development when he is lost in the woods. The time is right and he finds his voice in a magical place. He transitions from squeaky voiced little brother, to wolf who leads his family in beautiful howling.  As Jesus will return again and again to the Temple where his teaching voice was first heard, so Little Wolf returns to his magical place where he first howled his beautiful song.

This week’s Lectionary Links were written by regular contributor Noell Rathbun-Cook.

Lectionary Links: December 30, 2012 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.