Break Out of Our Comfort Zones—Part 9
The play The Return of the King, continues.
The man lowered his voice to a stage whisper, and the whole audience leaned forward to hear, “In the Kingdom of Light, everything’s right!”
Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h, sighed the house. And for a moment, everyone in the audience knew this was no play, no myth cycle dragged out of the palace archives.
“Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h,” sighed the gallery again, a long sigh. If only there were such a place, such a real place.
The man offered his arm to the actor-king standing on one side of him and his other arm to Thespia who also stood near. She looked out on the audience and gasped—the people in the gallery were clothed in warm garments, their runny sores were healed, they were clean and healthy. This couldn’t be true. She blinked her eyes and stared again and realized she was seeing the people through the glow of the man’s light.
Tears ran down her cheeks, real tears, not player’s tears. If it could only be; if there really were such a place. “Wh-wh-who are you?” she asked, and he answered, “You know who I am.” Sobs broke her words,
“But h-how do w-we find this kingdom of w-which you speak?”
He turned, took both her hands in one hand, and wiped away her tears. The other players gathered close, and one put his arm around Thespia’s shoulders to comfort her.
“Follow me,” said the man. “The real kingdom is wherever I walk and whenever anyone walks with me.”
Thespia knew. He was wearing common clothes, the plain garments of the people, but she wanted to fall at his feet and bow. Tears blurring her vision, she turned from the man, faced the audience, and walked to the edge of the stage. She stretched one hand to him and one hand to the gallery, as if in introduction. “The King,” she said. “My Lord, the people.”
Suddenly, the lights blinked off-on; the man-made power was coming up. Someone in the boxes shouted: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A KING! DEATH TO PRETENDERS! And several began to chant: DEATH! DEATH!
The orchestra stopped playing and all the notes tumbled together and fell in a heap, and the man-made power suddenly came fully on and the lights blazed forth. The audience shifted in their seats and patted their clothes straight. What a strange play—it must be intermission—but then all these old myth cycles were odd.
They stood to stretch. And the magical moment was gone and the players exited, trying to remember what lines had been said and which lines remained to be said and who had the last cue; and the stage director didn’t know which act to call next.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?
Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?
David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.
We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
