Children's Sermon #2: Palm Sunday

I was incredibly blessed to be offered another opportunity to do children's sermon at my church again last week for Palm Sunday.  I can't believe they allowed me to come back - especially for a kinda holiday.  I was so scared I'd screw it up, but maybe I didn't.  This was the message.

Have your mom or dad every said, "If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you too?"

(At this point all the kids shook their heads no, because they're like, 3-6 years old.  So.)

Well, it means that all of us have to think for ourselves instead of following what the crowd thinks.  Our minds and our thoughts are what make each of us a unique person - an individual, and that's how God made us.

Now, the people of Jerusalem all had heard - and some had even seen - the miracles that Jesus had performed.  Can anyone tell me one of those miracles?

(Opening it up for kids' comments is one of my favorite and vehemently hated things to do, but do it you must, right, if you want them involved.  At this moment, a kid raised his hand - so brave, this kid, I love him so much, and said, "Well, he rose from the dead!"  "Yes!" I said, "He did!  But that hadn't happened yet.  Good one, though.  Anyone else?"  Then no one had the guts to speak up because they weren't sure when all the miracles had happened.  Poor babies.  So I went on...)

How about when he turned the water into wine?  (Nods)

And when he healed that blind man? (Nods)

Or when he had that bread and fish and he fed 5,000 people?  (Big nods)

Because of all these miracles, the Jerusalem people thought that Jesus was the real deal - and that he would create some miracles for them and save them from their leaders.  So they rolled out the red carpet for him - which, in this case meant palm leaves from the trees and their coats and blankets from their donkeys.  They waved the palm leaves and did all of this because that's what they did to give a special welcome to a special person.  And they didn't have balloons and streamers like we use for parades.  They did this for heroes back from the war, royalty, and other special guests.  

Not everyone in Jerusalem thought Jesus was such a cool guy.  There were leaders that thought He was a crook.  They reminded people that He didn't obey laws, like not working on Sundays, and that he took businesses out of the temple, and that he hung out with bad people like thieves and robbers!  They said, "Who is this guy who calls himself a King and doesn't obey our laws?  Why should he rule over us?"  

The people who didn't think Jesus was so great convinced the Jerusalem people that Jesus had bamboozled them, or tricked them.  Because of this, many of the Jerusalem people got together and told Pontius Pilate (one of the leaders) to kill Jesus!  They even saved a real bad guy - a robber called Barrabus - so that Jesus would be killed instead of him.

Were they thinking for themselves?  Or had they been corrupted by other people's feelings?  They were following the crowd, weren't they?

So remember when I asked you if all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you, too?  Well, here's my question to you: "If all your friends spoke out against Jesus, would you, too?"

(Lots of vigorous head shaking at this point)

As individuals and unique people, we are called to make our own choices.  Sometimes these choices go against your friends' choices.  Sometimes it's easy to make up our own minds and sometimes it's very hard.  But I know that as long as you always make your choice on the side of kindness, you can never go wrong.

Let's pray:

Lord, please help us to be strong and stand up for the weak, to be individuals who think for ourselves, and to be faithful people who always keep the carpet rolled out for you.  Amen.

Happy Easter!  As my pastor says, "Happy Easter - The original rock and roll!"