11/6/10 Proper 6

Theme: David's deadful deed

Bible reading

2 Samuel chapter 12 verses 1-4

Preparation

You need a photograph of your own pet if you have one, or if not, will another member of staff oblige? A photograph of a baby lamb could also be helpful.

Introduction

Show the pet photograph and talk a little bit about the animal and what it means to you. Ask if anyone else has a pet - obvioulsy there will be a rush of answers at this point, but ask just a few of the children to say what animal they have and how they feel about it (try to curb the long sagas - this is only the introduction to the assembly!) Does anyone have a pet lamb? We are going to hear a parable story from the Bible about a pet lamb, but I should warn you now, it is a sad story.

The Message

There were once two men who lived next door to each other. One man was very rich and owned a huge flock of sheep. His neighbour was quite poor, but he owned a lamb which he kept as a pet. He loved the lamb so much that he used to feed it with his own hands, and let it sit on his lap. It was just like one of the family - just like your pets are! Then one dreadful night a visitor came to the rich man's house. The rich man wanted to throw a party for him and decided that roast lanb would be a very good thing to have on the menu. But he didn't send his servants to kill one of his own sheep for the meal, O no, he sent them to steal his poor neighbour's lamb and kill it and cook it! And that's exactly what they did.

What do you think of the way the rich man acted? What words would you use to describe him? (Selfish, greedy, mean, self-centred, uncaring, bully)

Now this was a made up story. A man of God, a prophet called Nathan, told the story to King David. He told the story because David had done something much worse than the rich man and the lamb - he had organised for a man to be killed so that he could marry his wife! David hadn't really thought about what he was doing, he just saw something he wanted - and he took it! It wasn't until he heard Nathan's story about the lamb that he suddenly realised how bad a thing he had done.

What about us? We haven't killed anybody or anything, but there are other things that we do which make other people miserable. Nathan was saying to David that he needed to check his attitudes and behaviour against what God expects, not just do dreadful things because he could. Nathan's story says the same message to us today.

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Help me to do good today, and if I have hurt others or let them down, help me to put it right. Amen.

Reflect on the message of the prayer.