Reading the Bible in 90 Days: Day 14, Deuteronomy 9 - 23

I do love portions of Deuteronomy, that long sermon Moses preached just before the Israelites go over from the wilderness into the promised land.  I love the admonitions to remember, and not to forget, who you are and what God has done for you; I love the exhortations to tell the children the story.  I love how, in Deuteronomy's version of the ten Commandments, the Command to Keep the Sabbath is not on account of God's rest on the seventh day, but instead because the Israelites were slaves in the land of Egypt. 

Sabbath and Freedom are connected.  And your freedom is connected with freedom for other people.  (If you rest, your family and your servants and even your animals can rest.)

What I heard a lot of in reading today was this:  don't even be tempted, when you become prosperous in the land of Plenty, to forget what God has done for you, and believe that it's because you are so great that God blessed you.  You are not so great, God keeps telling them.  You're stubborn and whiny and you continually forget me and go after other gods.  But in spite of that I have chosen and blessed you.

Don't take my blessing for granted, God warns them.

Tomorrow's reading:  Deuteronomy 24 - 34

Prayer for Children

We used this prayer on Sunday at our Children's Sabbath. All the children moved to the center aisle, and the people raised their hands in blessing, and said:

"Great God,
Guard the laughter of children.
Bring them safely through injury and illness,
so that they may live
the promises you give.
Do not let us be so preoccupied with our purposes
that we fail to hear their voices,
or pay attention to their special vision of the truth;
but keep us with them,
ready to listen and to love,
even as in Jesus Christ you have loved us,
your grown-up, wayward children.
AMEN."

I believe that this prayer is from the Book of Common Prayer

Children's Sabbath

We had our second Children's Sabbath at church yesterday. For those in the know, ours was a little late (usually they are the third weekend in October), but we just started last year, and our October was already full this year. Last year was a very preliminary effort; we added a few more elements this year, including having some of the children read the parts of the liturgy and the lessons.

Some highlights at our early service:

• hearing "Jesus Loves Me" sung a capella by the whole congregation. I was standing next to a retired pastor, and we both got a little choked up when we came to the third verse, about the promise of eternal life (his wife died just this fall).
• hearing children read the lessons, and hearing a child say the words of Jesus in the gospel: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself."
• singing Herb Brokering's song, "Earth and All Stars."
• those who shared "what I offer to children," especially the retired teacher instead told us what children offer to him, and the little girl who told about how she serves in church.

At the later service:

• hearing the gospel read by two children, one Asian and one Latino
• giving Bibles to the third graders
• having all of the children stand in the middle aisle of the sanctuary, having everyone raise their hands, and saying a prayer of blessing.
• All of the children gathered during the call to worship.

At both services the preacher spoke powerful words about systemic racism and how it affects our ability to care for all the children, to protect, guard and guide them. She spoke about repentance and relying on Jesus' power and promise to keep us working for a more just world, even though we continue to be imperfect followers.

Many people put sticky hearts on cardboard, "What I offer to children." I'm looking forward to reading them.

I pray that our congregation more and more can recognize and welcome all God's children, and see how beautiful they are.