telling stories...

So, today at church the preacher got the kids and the middle schoolers to help him act out the Scripture passage. This took the place of the sermon with no notice to anyone in the congregation (except a comment during the announcement time when the preacher asked us all to forgive him or whatever might or might not happen with the children in a little while...we had no idea what he was talking about). Now, if our pastor didn't respect the children as much as he does and wasn't as energetic as he is, this would not have worked. And, as I'm coming to learn, there is a lot that can happen in a little church (think 30 folks in the pews...and that feels reasonably full in this small sanctuary) that just won't work in a bigger congregation.

Anyway, he got the kids to come up and started out like he was doing children's time (but had already read the Scripture) and then got them to help him act out the passage. It was the parable from Luke 16:19-31 with Lazarus and the rich man and the chasm between them after they die. It was explained that Lazarus means something like "God help him" and he was called "poor old God help him" throughout the story. No one wanted to play the part of "God help him." There were lots of volunteers for the rich man and his friends. The pastor incorporated some background teaching about the culture and moved through the story.

It was all impromptu, energetic, and slightly chaotic. No one knew exactly what was about to happen at any given moment (likely not even the pastor himself, given that small children and middle school boys were his helpers). The congregation got kind of energized and engaged, but also murmured and commented among themselves about the drama unfolding. They talked back when the pastor asked questions and were generally acting slightly more squirmy and engaged like kids rather than like adults. (The older teens in the pews were also completely enthralled with what their crazy church was up to now.)

At the end it started to get a little sad. Old "God help him" got to get up off the floor and go up to "the bosom of Abraham" and hang out with the angels in the choir loft...and that part was good. The rich man, though, had to stay behind...on the other side of the chasm. The pastor told the congregation that the rich man, even after seeing this chasm and seeing the difference between Lazarus and himself, was still commanding people what to do and even bossing around Father Abraham. The pastor looked at the young man playing the part of the rich man and asked if he could imagine anyone being so arrogant, so rude, so clueless? The boy thought for a minute and then said "yes"... and that no, the brothers probably wouldn't listen even if Lazarus were allowed to go back talk to them. The pastor said "Well, that makes sense...after walking past poor old 'God help him' every day and not ever even seeing him, why would they pay attention to him now...even if he came back from the dead?"

Then he asked the boy again "Can you imagine anyone being so set in their ways, so stubborn...maybe even arrogant...that they wouldn't pay attention and listen if someone came back from the dead...even if Jesus came back from the dead?!?" The boy said "well...yes." The pastor said "Yes, I'm afraid I can imagine that, too."

And then we prayed.

I think maybe that church today was more like what hearing Jesus teach would have been like than anything I've ever experienced before.

I love our little country church.