It’s Already Finished
Children's sermon
Always finish what you start. This seems like a noble value to uphold until we examine all the things we start and never finish. Especially the things we start to work on and their usefulness quickly becomes irrelevant. Ordering 100 palms for the Palm Sunday processional and then having a shelter in place order made by the governor, for example. Or getting all your pants specially tailored and then working from home and spending all day on ZOOM meetings. In fact, buying pants at all right now seems like a complete waste of energy. The original task loses its usefulness when the world changes so drastically.
Mary set out Easter morning with a task, to prepare Jesus’ body for burial. That task quickly becomes irrelevant after meeting the risen Lord. Who probably wasn’t wearing any pants either.
This message will work for online services too. You will need some kind of puzzle. This can be a rubik’s cube, or a normal tabletop puzzle. It will need to be completely solved at the beginning of your message. You will be pretending to continue to solve the puzzle when you open. If you pick a rubik’s cube, keep flipping rows back and forth as if you were still trying to solve it even though everyone can see it’s already done. If you choose a table top puzzle, you can keep patting and straightening the pieces.
In your message say something like:
One second I just need to…(pretend to work on your puzzle). Almost there…(keep pretending). Just need to move this…(keep pretending). Hang on just a little longer…(keep pretending). Okay I’ll take a break for now.
I need to tell you about the story of Easter! It begins with Mary, one of Jesus’ best friends, going to where Jesus’s body was laid after he died. There was a practice in Jesus’ day to put good smelling oils and herbs on a body of someone who recently died. Mary wanted to do this for Jesus so she got up really early in the morning gathered a few jars and filled them with the oils and herbs. She packed them all in a basket to carry with her. Then when the sun was up enough for Mary to see where she was going she set out to the tomb.
When she got there, Jesus was gone! Mary didn’t understand what had happened. She thought maybe someone had stolen Jesus’ body. She was sad and worried because she needed to find Jesus’ body to finish the task with the oils and herbs. She went to tell the other disciples and ask them to help her find the body so she could finish her task. Mary was so upset she started to cry and suddenly two angels appeared to Mary. She asked them where Jesus was because she needed to finish the task she had started that morning.
The angels told her Jesus was alive, but Mary was so focused on finishing her task she didn’t really understand what they were saying. Then a man came up to Mary and asked her why she was crying. She explained to him she needed to find Jesus’ body so she can finish her task. Then the man said “ Mary it’s me…Jesus.” Mary looked up and it was Jesus! He was alive.
And that is how the story of Easter starts. Mary knew a job needed to get done. She got up early to do the work and she prepared well. When she got to the tomb she couldn’t do the work she had set out to do. She was so focused on the work she missed what was really happening! The work was already done! Jesus was alive. And look! My work is done too! (point to your finished puzzle)
I bet you thought I was pretty silly to keep working on the puzzle when you could all see it was done. That’s what Mary was doing too and she almost missed that Jesus was alive. I want us all to remember that sometimes we get so focused on a job or a task that we miss when it’s time to stop. We can work on a project so much we get lost in the details of trying to make it perfect. It’s good to take breaks and who knows when we come back to it we might decide we have done enough and the work is done!
Let’s say a prayer asking God to help us
God, We know we should finish what we start. But Mary reminded us sometimes the things we are working on don’t need to be finished. Help us know when to stop, when to take a break, and when to keep working. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Mary set out Easter morning with a task, to prepare Jesus’ body for burial. That task quickly becomes irrelevant after meeting the risen Lord. Who probably wasn’t wearing any pants either.
This message will work for online services too. You will need some kind of puzzle. This can be a rubik’s cube, or a normal tabletop puzzle. It will need to be completely solved at the beginning of your message. You will be pretending to continue to solve the puzzle when you open. If you pick a rubik’s cube, keep flipping rows back and forth as if you were still trying to solve it even though everyone can see it’s already done. If you choose a table top puzzle, you can keep patting and straightening the pieces.
In your message say something like:
One second I just need to…(pretend to work on your puzzle). Almost there…(keep pretending). Just need to move this…(keep pretending). Hang on just a little longer…(keep pretending). Okay I’ll take a break for now.
I need to tell you about the story of Easter! It begins with Mary, one of Jesus’ best friends, going to where Jesus’s body was laid after he died. There was a practice in Jesus’ day to put good smelling oils and herbs on a body of someone who recently died. Mary wanted to do this for Jesus so she got up really early in the morning gathered a few jars and filled them with the oils and herbs. She packed them all in a basket to carry with her. Then when the sun was up enough for Mary to see where she was going she set out to the tomb.
When she got there, Jesus was gone! Mary didn’t understand what had happened. She thought maybe someone had stolen Jesus’ body. She was sad and worried because she needed to find Jesus’ body to finish the task with the oils and herbs. She went to tell the other disciples and ask them to help her find the body so she could finish her task. Mary was so upset she started to cry and suddenly two angels appeared to Mary. She asked them where Jesus was because she needed to finish the task she had started that morning.
The angels told her Jesus was alive, but Mary was so focused on finishing her task she didn’t really understand what they were saying. Then a man came up to Mary and asked her why she was crying. She explained to him she needed to find Jesus’ body so she can finish her task. Then the man said “ Mary it’s me…Jesus.” Mary looked up and it was Jesus! He was alive.
And that is how the story of Easter starts. Mary knew a job needed to get done. She got up early to do the work and she prepared well. When she got to the tomb she couldn’t do the work she had set out to do. She was so focused on the work she missed what was really happening! The work was already done! Jesus was alive. And look! My work is done too! (point to your finished puzzle)
I bet you thought I was pretty silly to keep working on the puzzle when you could all see it was done. That’s what Mary was doing too and she almost missed that Jesus was alive. I want us all to remember that sometimes we get so focused on a job or a task that we miss when it’s time to stop. We can work on a project so much we get lost in the details of trying to make it perfect. It’s good to take breaks and who knows when we come back to it we might decide we have done enough and the work is done!
Let’s say a prayer asking God to help us
God, We know we should finish what we start. But Mary reminded us sometimes the things we are working on don’t need to be finished. Help us know when to stop, when to take a break, and when to keep working. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
