Pictures of the Kingdom—Introduction A Six-week Series, Exploring the Parables through Visual Art

This is part of the worship series, 
"Pictures of the Kingdom”

Series Introduction 
Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  
 Week 5 | Week 6 

Introduction

The parables of the kingdom that Jesus told are word pictures that entreat the hearers to engage the imagination and visualize the story. German pastor Helmut Thielicke preached a series of messages on the parables that he called “God’s Picturebook.” In these stories Jesus would describe easily visualized, everyday scenarios—going fishing, asking a neighbor for bread, lending a hand, sowing seeds in a field, investing some money, hiring an employee, looking for a lost coin—to spark a conversation about eternal and universal truths. Our sermon series, “Pictures of the Kingdom,” keyed in on the visual nature of these parables in a number of ways, and we invited children to use their creative gifts to share kingdom truths with the congregation.

We used visual media in two ways: The church-school children were asked to create a visual work to depict the parable each week, while the adults in the sanctuary would explore an interpretation of a parable through the lens of a specific work of art.

The basic process was this: The children were called up to the front of the sanctuary, at which time I (the pastor) introduced the week’s parable. On some occasions I would paraphrase the story Jesus told. Other times I would simply talk about the main point of the parable (e.g., prayer, forgiveness) and place it in a contemporary setting. Then the children would go to their classroom with a teacher, read the parable, and discuss it while creating a picture of the story. Meanwhile, the rest of the congregation explored the parable through a sermon that interpreted the parable with help from professionally made art based on the text that was displayed on a screen. (The preacher should resist the temptation to turn this into an art history lesson. The parable and its message must be the main focus, with the visual depiction a lens through which to view the story.) Following the message, the children returned to the sanctuary and presented their creation, explaining any aspect of the narrative they felt important to share. The congregation was delighted as the children enthusiastically shared their thoughts on the stories. The six images they created were hung in the sanctuary to create a collage of the parables of the kingdom.

Two artistically gifted teachers were instrumental in making this an intergenerational experience. Evelyn Huizinga arranged for the art supplies and led one creative session. Janette Seinen facilitated the creative process on the other five occasions, and she describes her experience in the section below. They found that one of the unexpected blessings of this activity was the time in which the children discussed the story as they were creating the work of art. The process of creation and spiritual exploration proved to be as meaningful as the resulting work of art. Our worship committee also helped to develop ideas for this series. 

Art Activity with Children

Each Sunday we met with a group of children from pre-kindergarten through grade six. I set up two tables: a low one for smaller children and a regular-height table for taller children. We had a large variety of art supplies available for our creations: paper, fabric, glue guns, tape, felt pens, crayons, plastic leaves, glitter, scissors, and other odds and ends.

After going over the parable, I asked a few questions to make sure the children understood the basic point. I reminded the children that they were real artists with a job to do together. We were to come up with a plan to convey the parable on the canvas, with each child contributing. I encouraged them to share their ideas and not depend on me to tell them how or what to create. They had good ideas and were very confident with the idea of being artists. 

The parable of the talents was a wonderful time for them to share what they were good at and to think of ways to please God by sharing those talents. How they played sports was important. Sharing clothes and toys with others was important. Together they concluded that everything—possessions, talents, skills, and abilities—were God-given and needed to be shared, not hidden away. The heading on the canvas read, “Use your unique talents to please God!!”

The parable of the vineyard workers has always been a bit troubling for me. I’ve worked twenty years for the Christian Labour Association of Canada, a labor union that works toward Canadian workers receiving fair wages. Why should part-time workers receive the same wage as the full time worker? The children did not share my concern but came to a lovely conclusion: “We all work hard and we all get different stuff. That’s okay. But when we get to heaven, everything is fair, so it doesn’t matter if they all got paid the same! Yes, in heaven everything is fair!” It is a lesson I will remember for a long time.

I loved listening to the children brainstorm ideas and suggest things they could add. “Can I draw the rich man?” “Can we make this canvas into a cartoon and each do one scene?” “I know how to use a glue gun and can get the background on nice and straight.” “Can I make a clock tower so everyone knows the friend came at midnight?” The children were serious about what they created and proudly carried the canvases back to show the congregation. The process of listening to the story, creating a picture, then explaining their creation was good not just for the children but for me and for the congregation as well. Children can be good leaders! When they stood in the sanctuary to explain their pictures it brought insight and delight to people of all ages. The children so freely gave their ideas and blessed others with their simple but profound understanding of God in their lives.
—Janette Seinen

Using Images

The images used in this series are all in the public domain and can be used in church slides and bulletin covers with attribution to the artist. Links to the online source of each image will be provided in the outline below and wherever the image appears in the series.

Series Outline

	Title	Scripture	Picture
Week 1	The Parables of the Growing Seek: The Kingdom	Mark 4:26–32
Week 2	Parable of the Vineyard Workers: Grace	Matthew 20:1–16
Week 3	Parable of the Friend at Midnight: Prayer	Luke 11:5–13
Week 4	Parable of the Unmerciful Servant: Forgiveness	Matthew 18:21–35
Week 5	Parable of the Talents: Stewardship	Matthew 25:14–30
Week 6	Parable of the Good Samaritan: Neighboring	Luke 10:25–37