Mary's Song about the Kingdom of God- The Magnificat -

Text for Advent 4: Luke 1: 39-45

(The following object lesson can be used for in a children's sermon or for an introduction to an Advent Sunday school lesson)

 

Object lesson idea: Have some pictures of very sophisticated people and very poor and humble people. Have the children arrange them in order of importance. Kings and rulers on top and poor people on bottom. Explain how the coming of Jesus turns this world order “upside down.” Get the children to look through a magnifying glass that is held out at arms length. This will make everything look upside down. Jesus shows us that the worlds system and values are upside down.

 

Object Lesson items: Magnifying glass, Pictures of sophisticated people and poor people.

 

Children’s Sermon / Object lesson: Good morning children! This morning’s bible reading from Luke 1 is called Mary’s song or “the magnificat.” Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Mary is saying that her son to be born (Jesus) is going to “turn the world upside down.” To show you what this is like I’ll be using this magnifying glass. But first look at these pictures. Help me arrange them from top to bottom according to importance. (Pin the pictures on a board or get the children to hold them up.) That’s right; this person in the very fancy car would go on top. Yes, this poor person would go down here. (Get all the pictures in the “right” order.”) This certainly is the way that most people see things; the rich and famous on top and the poor and helpless at the bottom. However, the bible teaches us that Jesus turned things upside down. Jesus wasn’t that impressed by rich and glamorous people and he had a love and compassion for the helpless. Jesus saw the world very differently than other people. I’ll show you what I mean. Look at this magnifying glass. It’s used for making small things look big. But if you hold it out at arms length it makes things look upside down. (Hold it about two feet in front of the children so that they can see that it makes things look upside down.) Jesus looked at people differently. (Look through the magnifying glass at the ordered pictures) Now when I look at these pictures I see the poor people at the top and the rich and sophisticated people at the bottom.  Now the famous people look like they are at the bottom and the poor people are at the top. The way of Jesus and his kingdom makes the way of the world seem upside down. If you have a magnifying glass at home trying looking through it like this. When it makes things look upside down remember that this is like Jesus’ kingdom. In his kingdom many things are “upside down” compared to the world.

Children’s prayer. Dear God, we are so thankful that even though we are not rich or famous we are still very important to you. Help us to see the world the same way that you see it. Help us to follow Jesus and live the way you want us to live even when others may not understand. - In Jesus’ name. Amen!

 

 (Note: I realize I’ve used some big words here. Please substitute words that are appropriate for your audience. I’ll fix it up when I have some time)