Lectionary Links: Sunday, October 9, 2011
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year A: October 9, 2011
First Reading: Exodus 32: 1-14
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
(Written for ages 4-8)
Comment: God tells Moses that the people of Israel whom Moses has left at the foot of mountain have “been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them.” They have been disobedient and irresponsible, calling for a new leader and a new idol to worship as their god. In Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Peter, too, is disobedient and irresponsible. He ignores his mother’s warnings not to go into Mr. McGregor’s garden. And like the Lord’s wrath burning against Israel, Peter almost suffers a dire fate at the hands of Mr. McGregor. However, in both stories, the disobedient ones are ultimately reconciled to those whom they disobeyed—but with greater knowledge and wiser hearts.
Second Reading: Philippians 4:1-9
Walter Was Worried by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
(Written for ages 4-8)
Comment: Paul exhorts the Philippians to “stand firm in the Lord in this way” and then urges them, among other things, not to “worry about anything, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Paul urges them to seek the “peace of God” always, so that they may be comforted. In Walter Was Worried, Walter’s worry, and his other classmates’ various emotions, show on their very faces! A storm has come up, but as time passes, the storm gives way to clear skies, to peace. In the same way, the Philippians, in their worries, must seek by prayer the peace that comes from God through the storms of life.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 22: 1-14
The Berenstain Bears and the In-Crowd by Stan and Jan Berenstain
(Written for ages 4-8)
Comment: This is a very difficult parable to use with children, due to its complexity and its very dark imagery and unsettling ending. It is also difficult due to the fact that it has been used for purposes of exclusion in the church and in talking about who is and is not included in the kingdom of heaven. These exclusive interpretations are troubling in most cases, but particularly when talking with children of today who encounter increasing amounts of bullying and exclusive, clique behavior in their daily lives at school. To that end, I believe that the parable can be more gently interpreted by highlighted the king’s final act: the king ultimately sends invitations to “everyone you can find” to the wedding banquet, and those who arrive are “both good and bad, so the hall was filled with guests.” The book, The Berenstain Bears and the In-Crowd shows Sister Bear dealing with the same issues of exclusivity and bullying that children today face, when a new bear, Queenie, comes to school and proceeds to form a bullying clique, leaving some people out. At first, Sister’s solution is to try and be exclusive like the clique, but she realizes that is not really her, and that by including others, school becomes happier and Queenie’s clique is no longer able to “rule”. Like the king in the parable, Sister Bear invites everyone, and so life is full of good friends and fun. Queenie, on the other hand, is exclusive and only invites a few people—and is left begging to be included by Sister (which, of course, Sister does). This parable is difficult in any case to impart to children, but by using this book it can become an opportunity for the church to express care for the day-to-day struggles of the children in our pews.
This Lectionary Links post was written by Union Presbyterian Seminary alumna Sara Anne Berger.
Lectionary Links: Sunday, October 9, 2011 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
