Keep Your Promises - A Children's Sermon

A Children’s Sermon for the 16^th Sunday after the Pentecost (RCL A) 10-02-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Exodus 20:1-20; Psalm 19; Matthew 21:33-46

Themes:         the 10 commandments, the covenant community
Title:               Keep Your Promises

Good morning, my friends! (blow the referee whistle to get everyone's attention)

Let me ask you a tough question: what happens when we break the law?

Maybe the police come and maybe you have to pay money or else go to jail. Maybe you have to do some community service time.

Well, what happens when we break a promise?

Think about promises that we make with friends. Perhaps a promise not to tell a secret. We also make promises when we play a game. We promise to play the game according to the rules, so that it’s fair for everyone.

But what happens when we break a promise?

People get angry; feelings might get hurt. Friendships might be broken.

So, here’s the tough question: what’s the difference between a law and a promise?

This morning, we listened to a reading of the 10 Commandments. Can you tell me what those commandments are? Can you name one of them? ...

Excellent! Now, some people get confused and they think of the 10 Commandments like a set of laws, but actually the 10 Commandments are much more like a bunch of promises, or like the rules for playing a game.

As God’s people, we make promises together with God. We agree to live a certain way that pleases God, and God agrees to help us with grace and blessings and strength in the Holy Spirit. And, what’s even more, God agrees to adopt us as God’s own children, to pour out amazing love upon us, and to share our lives with us!

This is what we call a covenant, and it’s something to which we all agree as the best way to live our lives. The difference between a law and a promise is that is simple: we don’t get to choose the laws we want to live under. But we do get to choose which promises we will make! And we make those promises because we think that they are a good idea! No one forces you to make a promise. We make a promise because we wan't to do so. We play a soccer game because we want to do so, and when we do so, we have to play it according to the rules of the game.

When you were baptized, your parents and godparents made promises like this for you. We call this the baptismal covenant, and there are 5 specific promises in it which put this covenant in the 10 commandments into our modern language. The baptismal covenant explains the 10 commandments, and  all of the commandments and wisdom for life found in the Bible, in ways that we can easily understand.

Do you know what those 5 promises are in the baptismal covenant?

Celebrant          Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?           People   I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant          Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?                        People   I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant          Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
People   I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant          Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
People   I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant          Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?              People   I will, with God’s help.

So when we don’t follow the commandments – when we steal something, or when we lie, the Holy Spirit speaks through our conscience and tells us that we’re not playing by the rules, we’re not being fair, we’re not keeping our promise! It’s like a referee blowing the whistle in a soccer game or a football game.

I hope that you will remember these 10 commandments and your baptismal covenant, and think about them often, and that you will be able to keep all of the promises that you make to God and to one another.  Amen.