An assembly for KS2
You will need £1 in pennies
Ask for 5 volunteers (choose one from the oldest class, one of the smallest in the school and several from other classes). Invite them to the front
Today I would like to talk about money and giving.
I have here £1 in pennies (pour them out).
Ask children what would happen if I said that whoever could get these could keep these.
Ask children who would get them
The thing is, in our world, that is exactly what happens. The big and the strong get the wealth and it is the poor and the weak who suffer.
If this £1 represents the worlds wealth, how much do the richest 10% of the world's population own? 85p. How much do the poorest 50% of the worlds population own? 1%
To be in the top 10% you need to have about £40,000 in assets. If your parents own their own house then you are certainly in the top 10% of the richest people in the world.
Money usually goes to people who already have money.
Why? Because it is the richest and the strongest who get it.
You could say that that is right. Survival of the fittest and all that.
But it is not the way that God made us. It destroys us:
1. If the big one pushes the little one out of the way - and they are so big they can do it without getting into trouble - it hurts the little one and leaves the little one with nothing. But it makes the big one think that little ones do not matter. They think that what they have belongs to them by right, that they deserve it, that they are better or more clever or stronger than than everybody else. They become hard and cold.
Jesus said, 'What advantage is it to gain all the wealth in the world and to lose your soul?'
God made us to be people who care about others who have nothing.
So don't try to grab hold of the money for yourself. Could I ask you to share it out between the 5 of you.
2. Money that we grab gets a grip on us.
Imagine someone is trying to take away your 20p. Hold onto it. Grip it.
But look at their faces - all knotted up and stressed up
And people create bigger banks, build stronger front doors, install larger locks. we go around suspicious or fearful of other people. We say, 'They want my stuff'.
You think that you are gripping on to your money. But in fact your money is gripping on to you.
Jesus said there is a very simple way to solve the problem. Don't try to grip on to you money. GIVE the money.
On one occasion a very rich young man came to Jesus and said, "What must I do to gain eternal life". Jesus looked at him and saw that his money had got a grip on him. He said, 'Sell what you have, give to the poor, and then come and be one of my disciples following me on the road'.
He wasn't able to do that - and he missed out on being one of the first followers of Jesus.
We were made to give. When we are ready to give we are open and relaxed. Even if someone nicks it, well it is a shame, but it came from God in the first place and we were going to give it anyway.
To your volunteers: so could you share out the 20p that you have in your hand. Give it to these year 5's
Don't let money control you.
Can I suggest one very simple thing you can do - it is much easier to do when you are young. Many Christians tithe - that is they give 10% of what they get to the church or to some charity or to people in need. It is a good thing to do. So if you are given £1 pocket money, right at the beginning you put aside 10p and that will be money that you give to your church or to some appeal that your school is doing. Later, if you are given £10, you put aside £1. And when you start to work and earn money, you do the same thing. You give 10% of what you get away. It is something that many Christians - and people of other faiths - do.
It is the way to make sure that we do not end up hard and cold
It is the way to make sure that money does not control us.
And it is the way to begin to learn that we really were made not to grab, not to grip, but to give.
