Emptied
Children's sermon
Object:
an empty pitcher
But emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form. (v. 7)
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you have a pitcher like this at your house? (allow answers) What kinds of things do you put in pitchers? (allow answers) Sometimes we call pitchers by the things that are in them. Maybe it is "the Kool-Aid pitcher" or "the lemonade pitcher" or "the water pitcher." Do you have pitchers with names like that? (allow answers) What other kinds of names do you call pitchers? (allow answers)
Even though we might call a pitcher by what is inside it, do you know what? When we finish the drink inside, what do we have left? (allow answers) All we have is a plain old pitcher. And this plain old, empty pitcher -- well, it could become anything.
People are kind of like that, too. We give people names based on how they look, act, or think. There might be "the boy who likes to sing." Or "the girl who always wears dresses." Maybe "the blonde girl" or "the boy who tells funny jokes." We use labels like this all of the time. We even use labels like this ourselves sometimes.
But what happens if you take away all of the things that fill us up? We are left with just boys and girls. Not bad boys and girls, not good boys and girls, not annoying or happy or sad boys and girls. Just boys and girls. Just people. And every single one of those people -- no matter how we might feel about them when they are filled up with their personality -- is equally important to God. When we think about other people and think about God's forgiveness, this is how we should think. God doesn't see us just as a "funny kid" or a "silly kid" or a "smart kid." God sees each of us like the empty pitcher. He sees each of us as a new beginning. He sees us without our labels and without our names, and he loves all of us equally. We are God's empty pitchers. What will he fill us with? We can't wait to find out. Amen.
Good morning, boys and girls! How are you this morning? (allow answers) How many of you have a pitcher like this at your house? (allow answers) What kinds of things do you put in pitchers? (allow answers) Sometimes we call pitchers by the things that are in them. Maybe it is "the Kool-Aid pitcher" or "the lemonade pitcher" or "the water pitcher." Do you have pitchers with names like that? (allow answers) What other kinds of names do you call pitchers? (allow answers)
Even though we might call a pitcher by what is inside it, do you know what? When we finish the drink inside, what do we have left? (allow answers) All we have is a plain old pitcher. And this plain old, empty pitcher -- well, it could become anything.
People are kind of like that, too. We give people names based on how they look, act, or think. There might be "the boy who likes to sing." Or "the girl who always wears dresses." Maybe "the blonde girl" or "the boy who tells funny jokes." We use labels like this all of the time. We even use labels like this ourselves sometimes.
But what happens if you take away all of the things that fill us up? We are left with just boys and girls. Not bad boys and girls, not good boys and girls, not annoying or happy or sad boys and girls. Just boys and girls. Just people. And every single one of those people -- no matter how we might feel about them when they are filled up with their personality -- is equally important to God. When we think about other people and think about God's forgiveness, this is how we should think. God doesn't see us just as a "funny kid" or a "silly kid" or a "smart kid." God sees each of us like the empty pitcher. He sees each of us as a new beginning. He sees us without our labels and without our names, and he loves all of us equally. We are God's empty pitchers. What will he fill us with? We can't wait to find out. Amen.
