14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year C, July 7, 2019

First Reading: 2 Kings 5:1-14

Blobfish Throws a Party by Miranda Paul

(Written for ages 4-8)

Comment:  This reading from 2 Kings tells the story of Naaman’s healing. Naaman is a foreign man seeking healing in Israel. We don’t know exactly what Naaman is expecting to happen for his healing, but his actions seem to point the fact that his expectations were unmet. He is upset at the directive he receives to go and wash in the Jordan river. He is griping about washing in what he views as an inferior river and that it is something as simple as washing – whichhe has been doing all his life. Naaman’s servants help him become open minded to the command, and to do as he was directed. In Blobfish Throws a Party ,we see what happens when blobfish calls out his invitation to the party: no on comes, because everyone heard something else. Everyone is doing something based on what they think Blobfish said. While the party does not work out, Blobfish saves the day from an unexpected enemy. Naaman and Blobfish are both seeking something. Naaman is seeking healing, while Blobfish is seeking friends and sweet treats. They both receive what they are looking for, but in unexpected ways. They both have to be open to something new in order to receive the blessings that will come.

Second Reading: Galatians 6: (1-6) 7-16

The Breaking News by Sarah Lynne Reul

(Written for ages 4-8)

Comment: These words from Galatians remind us that our actions should be about building up the community. These words from Galatians do not sugar coat community living. It will be hard. There will be mistakes made, feeling hurts, and things broken, but they cannot be what defines the community. The community seeking to follow Christ will be defined by our actions to build up the community. We stick together even when times are difficult. In The Breaking News, a community receives news that leaves all the adults sad and focused on the news. One little girl really wants to help people see the joy around them again. She looks for something small she can do, which brightens up her parents and they join in. The text ends with the entire neighborhood participating in the building up of the community. Everyone in the community can participate and even the smallest step can help build up the community and let the light of Christ shine, despite what is going on in the world around the community.

Gospel Reading: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Energy Island by Allan Drummond

(Written for ages 6-10)

Comment: The task given to the disciples and us is not an easy task. We are asked to share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone we meet. Not everyone will be ready to receive the news and be open to the ministry of Jesus. When this happens, the disciples and us are told to move on. They are not expected to stay and force the information on someone. In Energy Island, we encounter people open to the idea of energy independence as well as those against it. Accepting something that changes the way of life is really hard for some people. Soren Hermansen is working to help his community become reliable on renewable energy. Most people he encounters are against it. Like the disciples, Soren does not push the community into compiling or accepting this new way of life.  He continues to share all he knows about renewable energy sources. Like the disciples and Soren, when someone is not ready to hear what we have to accept, we move on and keep shining the light of Christ and seeking to love and serve him.

Thank you to Elizabeth Boulware Landes, Union Presbyterian Seminary alumna and associate pastor of children and youth ministry at Faith Presbyterian Church, Aledo, Tx, for writing the Revised Common Lectionary Links for the past four weeks.

Lectionary Links (RCL): July 7, 2019 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.