Prepare:  Bring a picture or ad of something outrageous that you want, like a new car, or an expensive guitar, or the newest phone, or whatever you dream about having that is just unattainable.

  Pretend to be totally absorbed in picture/ad that you brought as the children gather.  Look at them with sudden surprise once they are all gathered up.  Then show them the picture and talk about how much you want it.  Then . . .

  I know what I’ll do!  I’m going to go [to the store, etc] and beg them to give it to me until they do.  I’ll just stand there and pester them all day, all week if that’s what it takes!  Do you think that will work?  (I hope that you get some “no” answers here!)  You think it’s a bad idea?  But wait, it says to do that in the Bible!  Here, listen to this – (You can either read the story, or just tell it in your own words, whatever you think will work best for you.  This one doesn’t show up in many children’s Bibles!  Make sure you emphasize that the judge is unjust, mean, doesn’t care about people or God, etc – AND that the widow is seeking justice, not just some toy that she wants.)

Hmmm . . . now that I read that story again, maybe this isn’t a good idea.  The widow was trying to get the judge to fix something that was wrong, something that was not fair.  She was persistent because she knew what was right and good and needed the judge to help her fix things.  If I went to a store and begged for this I would just be annoying!  This isn’t anything that I need, and it doesn’t make the world better for me to have it.

What Jesus is really saying here is that we should ask for things that make our world better, and if we know that something is wrong we should ask for things to be fixed.  Jesus even says that if an unjust and mean judge can figure out how to do the right thing, imagine what God can do!

  Right and true God, thank you for giving us good things, and for giving us people in our lives who know how to take of things and make thing right. Amen.

  Make the sign of the cross and say, “God be in your head, God be in your heart, God be on your left, and God be on your right.  Amen”

~GB

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