A Children’s Sermon on Mark 13:24-37 — Advent 1

Household Staff of Curraghmore House, Portlaw, Co. Waterford, 1905 (no known copyright restrictions)

Preface for Pastors and Parents

This Sunday is the beginning of Advent, so here’s a children’s sermon on Mark 13:24-37, just for you. We are starting “Year B” of the lectionary, so for the next long while our focus will be on Mark’s versions of things — though there will be more than a few side trips into the other Gospels.

Every year the lectionary kicks off Advent, not with attention to the coming of Jesus at Christmas, but with the coming again of Jesus at the end of the age. As we transition from Year A to year B there is a kind of logical flow to this. Year A concluded with three weeks in Matthew 25, three different visions of the Last Judgment. (A party, an investment plan, and loving your neighbor.) Mark 13:24-37 seems like a simple continuation of the topic.

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It is potentially scary stuff, actually. I never feel like scaring children is really Jesus’ way of doing things. It doesn’t really embody the “good” in the “Good News.” So I’ll try to avoid that in my children’s sermon on Mark 13:24-37. There’s a little parable hidden in this text. Maybe I’ll see where that takes me…

A Children’s Sermon on Mark 13:24-37

Good morning kids! I’m so glad to see you here in worship this morning. Thanks for coming up to hear the children’s sermon. 

Today is a very special day in the life of the Church. Today is the first Sunday of the season of Advent. This is the start of a whole new year for the Church. Every year we start with Advent. Advent is four Sundays when we get ready for Jesus to come into our world.

When I think of Jesus coming, I think about Christmas, when Jesus was born. But every year at the start of Advent we think about the future, when Jesus will come back to us, at the end of the age. That’s what today’s story from the Gospel is about. 

Jesus had a lot to say about when he would come back. Let’s imagine we were there listening when the subject came up.

Scary stuff?

One evening Jesus and his friends were sitting around the campfire talking.

“Jesus?” asked Mary. 

“Yes Mary?” answered Jesus. 

“We were talking today,” Mary said, “Peter and I, and some of the others, and we all agreed: We’re kind of scared.”

“Oh really?” said Jesus. “That’s too bad. What is it you’re scared about?”

“About the end of the age,” said May. “About when you come back from heaven.”

“I see,” said Jesus, “What part seems scary to you?”

Mary said, “You said the sun and moon would even go dark. You talked about the stars falling. That’s scary!”

“Well,” said Jesus, “that stuff does sound scary. But didn’t I also tell you that at the end there’s going to be a big party?”

“Yeah,” said Mary. “And you told us about how we should be ready by using everything you give us to love our neighbors. But we’re still scared.”

When Will He Come?

“You know, Mary,” said Jesus, “I don’t really want you to be scared. I just want you to be ready.”

“I think there’s one thing that would help me not be scared,” said Mary. “And it would help me be ready too.”

“What’s that?” said Jesus. 

“If you told us exactly when you’ll be coming back,” she said. “Then we could plan ahead. We could relax till maybe a day or two before you came, then we could pack and get all organized right on time.”

“Oh,” said Jesus. “There’s just one problem. I don’t actually know when I’m coming back.”

“What?!?” said Mary and Peter and James and John all at once.

“How can you not know?” Mary asked. 

Jesus shrugged his shoulders. “Only my father knows. Anyone who tells you they know when I’m coming is wrong. Or they’re trying to trick you.”

“Then how can we know when to be ready?” said Mary.

“I want you to be ready all the time. Let me tell you a story.”

A Story

Once upon a time there was a King. He had a lot of people who worked for him in the palace. Some of them cooked. Some of them cleaned. Some of them stood guard in case enemies attacked.

The king had noticed that when he wasn’t looking, some of his servants didn’t do their work.

One time he went into a part of the palace he usually didn’t go into—and everything was a big mess. Nobody had been doing the cleaning.

Another day he was planning to eat dinner at a friend’s palace. But then the friend had to leave town, so the king stayed home—but at dinner time the cooks hadn’t made any food for him. They hadn’t even gotten anything at the market. 

And late one night he went up to the roof to thank the soldiers for guarding the palace—but when he got there, they were all asleep!

“How come you are sleeping!” he said. “Wake up! You’re supposed to be guarding my palace!” 

But the guards said “It’s been peaceful for so long, we didn’t think we had to bother.”

“What should I do?” the king thought to himself. “I want my subjects to run my Kingdom right all the time. It shouldn’t get sloppier. It should get better and better—even when I’m not looking.” 

He thought, and he thought. Then he had an idea.

A Big Meeting

The king called all his palace staff together in his big courtyard.

“I am going on a trip!” he announced. “Please have everything ready for me when I return!”

The chief housekeeper stepped forward. “How long will you be gone?” she asked. “We’ll close down most of the rooms while you’re gone so we don’t have to keep cleaning all the time.”

“I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone,” the king said, “Might be tomorrow. Might be next year. But I want every room ready all the time—just in case I come back!” 

Then the chief cook stepped forward. “But we need to know when you’re coming. If we cook food every day while you’re gone it will all go to waste!”

“Nonsense!” said the king. “If I am not here for a meal, then give the food to the hungry people in town. Then you will be ready for my return—and all my people will be taken care of.”

Then the chief guard stepped forward. ”I think the guards should have a vacation until you return. They need a break. We can’t all stand guard 24 hours a day!”

“Take turns,” said the king. “Your job is to always keep watch. While one rests, another must stand guard. You don’t want me to come back when you are sleeping and have to wake you up—again.”

So the king taught everyone to keep his Kingdom ready, whether he came back that night, or the next, or the next. 

Wondering

I wonder how the housekeepers, cooks, and guards felt about always having to be ready?

I wonder how the king felt, knowing his palace was clean, his people were fed, and his Kingdom was safe?

I wonder what you and I can do to be ready for Jesus to come back?

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