Carson walks to sanctuary from back. Notices the overhead lights are off as he walks down the aisle
CARSON: HMMMM.
gets to the front, turns around
CARSON: LET THERE BE LIGHT! Gestures up in dramatic fashion.
(Lights come on, (turned on by Byjou in the prayer room))
CARSON: HEY! THAT’S PRETTY GOOD!
Carson points at the ground:
Carson: Let there be a million dollars!
(Nothing happens. Byjou laughs from the prayer room. )
Byjou: You didn’t know I was in here, did you?
Carson; Well……
Byjou: Hey, you know where light really comes from?
Carson: The light bulb? (Sarcastically)
Byjou: No, like where the electricity comes from—you know, like we were talking about in youth last week—where our tapwater comes from, where our toilet water goes. Where the cheese on our pizza came from….
Carson: Oh yeah—well, I’d say it probably comes from a power plant somewhere.
Byjou: Yeah, I was noticing that power plant outside Muskogee on the way to Camp Egan the other day. It was a really clear blue day except for the brown haze that was coming out of the plant.
Tori and Kassy enter with a Bible
Tori: Hey guys, get a load of this!
Offstage voice (Kendall) speaks into cordless mike from prayer room when Tori opens the Bible.
Kendall: I love you guys!
Byjou and Carson: Whoaaaaah! What was that?
Kassy: I think its God.
Kendall: That’s right! (Pleading) I’ve been telling ya’ll!
Carson: Hold on, God’s talking to us?
Kendall: Well, you’ve got the Bible open, don’t you. What did you expect would happen?
Carson: uhhhhh.
Byjou: Words! But—words on a page. This is weird.
Tori: God told me to come over here because ya’ll were discussing something important.
Carson: I was just kidding about that million dollars thing, God. Um, sorry!
Kendall: But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
Carson: Oooooookay?
Kendall: That’s 1 Timothy 6:9. That’s kinda how this “Me talking to you” thing works—you’ve got the Bible open, so the things you find in it you apply to your own life, and that’s one way I can speak to you. I really know you were kidding about the million dollars thing, I’m just pulling your leg, man!
Byjou: “puling your leg, Man??” (a little surprised that God is speaking to them so informally, like teenagers speak to each other)
Kendall: Well, almost man, I guess. But it’s really just a colloquialism. (ko-lo-kwee-al-ism) Like, “what’s up?”
Byjou: You!? (Kendall and Byjou laugh heartily)
Kendall: Oh, Byjou: You slay me! You’re not of Roman descent are you? (Laughs again with Byjou. Rest of teens are simply perplexed)
Tori: Well, what was it that you thought was so important, God?
Kendall: It was what Byjou was talking about the power plant. Kassy, why don’t you read Psalm 24: 1
Kassy: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the earth, and all that dwell therein.”
Kendall: ITS MINE, ITS ALL MINE! Mmmuuuuhahahahahah. Just kiddin! It’s actually kind of yours too. You hold it in trust for me. I needed some janitors for Creation, and you all seemed pretty handy. Check out Genesis 2: 7 and 15
Tori: “Then the Lord formed Adam out of the dust of the ground…The Lord took Adam and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.”
Kendall: Exactly. You kind of missed a few things from the original Hebrew. I like to play with words from time to time, but you sometimes don’t catch the brilliant little double entendres. (on-tawn-dras) The Hebrew word “Adam” simply means “human.” And “adamah” means “dust.” “Adam” comes from “Adamah.” Like it?
Carson: Cool!
Kendall: It is cool Carson! It is cool! But what do you expect, right? Anyway. What I was trying to get across by pairing those words together is that you humans are part of the earth. You are pretty deeply connected. That’s something you tend to forget, especially these days. Kassy, read Isaiah 24: 4-5
Kassy: 4The earth turns gaunt and gray,
the world silent and sad,
sky and land lifeless, colorless.
5-13Earth is polluted by its very own people,
who have broken its laws,
Disrupted its order,
violated the sacred and eternal covenant.
Byjou: So, you’re saying you care about that coal plant in Muskogee because we’re connected with the earth and we’re not really paying attention to how we’re polluting it?
Kendall: It’s not just one power plant I’m concerned about. It’s the whole system. It’s hard for you to see the big picture sometimes, but from my vantage point, well, like I said to Job one time, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”
Tori: That’s Job 38, isn’t it?
Kendall: Well done, my little padawan.
Tori: What?
Kendall: Woah—not a Star Wars fan? Well now you know I am! A padawan is a young Jedi…oh nevermind.
Byjou: So, basically, you’d like to see us put less pollution in the atmosphere?
Kendall: Yes indeed. Read Ezekiel 34: 15-19
Kassy: And I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. I'll go after the lost, I'll collect the strays, I'll doctor the injured, I'll build up the weak ones and oversee the strong ones so they're not exploited.
17-19 "'And as for you, my dear flock, I'm stepping in and judging between one sheep and another, between rams and goats. Aren't you satisfied to feed in good pasture without taking over the whole place? Can't you be satisfied to drink from the clear stream without muddying the water with your feet? Why do the rest of my sheep have to make do with grass that's trampled down and water that's been muddied?
Kendall: See, there I’m making a little metaphor. You all are like the sheep. When you foul up your environment, you affect others. And in this day and age, the ones who are hurt the worst by pollution and the climate change that results from it are the poorest people in the world already. And you know what? Matthew 25:40!
Tori: “Whatever you have done unto the least of my bretheren, you have done unto me.”
Carson: What can we do? We don’t own the power plant. We’re just “almost men” and “almost women!” Should I command all these lights to turn back off?
Byjou: Well, we’re using these lights while we worship, but we can at least turn off the lights when we leave a room. Then we’ll be using less electricity. And if we use less energy and convinced others to as well, then the power plant wouldn’t have to burn so much coal to produce electricity.
Kassy: Or I’ve seen those windmills west of Oklahoma City and they produce energy too! We could write our legislators and tell them we’d like to see more of those collecting energy without polluting the air rather than building more coal or gas plants. We’ve got plenty of wind, after all!
Tori: Or we could turn up our thermostat one degree, turn down the fridge one setting, or switch to those swirly new light bulbs. All those things aren’t that big of changes that add up to save energy.
Carson: Or right here in church we could start using glasses instead of Styrofoam when we get drinks at youth. That’ll take less energy, and we won’t be throwing away those cups that don’t decompose.
Kendall: Right on, guys! “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” Peace out!
No comments:
Post a Comment