General Assembly 2016 Bible Study: Mark 1:1-15
Drama script: Prepare the Way
Backround: This script was written by Angela Rigby following a series of Bible studies held at Trinity URC in Wigan. Together, we looked at Mark 1:1-15, and the similar passages in Matthew, Luke and John. We also considered the prophets Malachi and Isaiah. We asked the following questions: What is ‘the way’? Who is it for? How is ‘the way’ prepared? What does this mean for the URC in 2016? Our hope was to produce something that would bless the wider Church and to help us all think about what it means to follow Jesustoday. You are free to use this drama script in worship as you feel led.
Cast: Questioner, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
[All five sat at a table, like news talk show. Questioner in middle with two gospel writers on either side.]
Questioner: Good morning and a big welcome to you – all the representatives from the United Reformed Church, our family and friends. Let me introduce today’s panel.
Jewish-Christian writer keen to convey his passion for the urgency of sharing the Gospel by writing down the Jesus storiesas quickly as he possibly could – suddenly, it’s the Gospel writer Mark
Gentile-Christian writer, concerned about the power of the Roman Empire, he wrote his gospel to tell his friend Theophilus about the power of God as shown in Jesus and his followers – the gospel writer Luke
Jewish-Christian writer, wrestling with the reality of a Messiah of the Jews who turned the face of his church to the Gentiles– the gospel writer Matthew
Jewish-Christian writer, concerned that people really grasped the theological significance of Jesus as God’s living word, the ultimate sacrificial lamb, and the ‘I AM’ – HE IS the gospel writer John
[to gospel writers]Thank you all for joining us.
At our General Assembly we have been considering discipleship and what it means to be people of the way. What does it mean to follow someone who says ‘I am the Way’? Today we are thinking about Preparing the Way. Three of you actually quote the prophet Isaiah in your gospels and say the words, ‘Prepare the Way’, with John, of course, choosing the next verse‘Make straight the way of the Lord’. So I would like to begin by asking the questions – What is the Way? And who is it for?
[to Mark]Mark?
Mark: I started my gospel with this story featuring John the Baptist, because for me this is crucial in understanding why Jesus came. God prepared the Way for us. The rest of the gospel tells you how God does it – through the life and death of Jesus - and how God in Jesus brought others to follow in that way. It’s an amazing story, with a lot of unexpected twists and turns. But from the beginning, the good news is this proclamation ‘Prepare the way’! And like so much Jesus does, this message of the Way is both an unsettling message and a message of comfort!
The prophet Malachi warned us that God will come like a refiner’s fire and sort people out. That is scary for some. However, the prophet Isaiah speaks of a new exodus, a time of walking with God again. With God. This is a comforting promise. I quotethe prophets Isaiah and Malachi, as clear indications that this is not a new way of God being. This has been mentioned before. But suddenly,Jesus appears asa new way of us perceiving God already at work in the world. God has always been. But God was doing something new in Jesus that the people needed preparing for. God has made a way for the people to be with God and God with the people, so brace yourselves.
Questioner: Brace yourselves! Luke?
Luke: Prepare the way is like saying ‘Notice has been served’ and now it is time for the work to begin. God’s clearing the fields, laying down the tarmac, and putting in mass transport. The bulldozers are outside your doors. All the stuff that gets in God’s way – or rather gets in between God and God’s people – all that stuff is going. A new path is under construction. A holy path - set apart – the ribbon cut by Jesus himself – for people to journey from their mess to God. A direct line. All lights are on green.
Questioner:So the way is opened wide? Matthew?
Matthew:Sure, there is a widening going on, but also a refining of sorts. The ‘brood of vipers’ – well I tell it like it is. [to Luke] Luke, you were very polite not to name them, but the Vipers - the Sadducees and Pharisees - had a lot to be afraid of. They were in the way of God’s Way and needed dealing with. Some chose to follow Jesus, some did not. But change had to happen. Things could not just stay as they were in the Temple. John the Baptist’s cry ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’, for me, that was the start of preparing the Way. Repentance. Stop doing things our way and get back to doing things God’s ways.
Questioner: What about the role of John the Baptiser? John?
John: But it is important to remember that John the baptiser was not the Messiah. He was not Elijah. He was not the prophet. He was a voice, a witness, to what God was doing in Jesus. John quoted Isaiah – Isaiah who spoke of a highway of holiness that God would make so God could travel back home with his people. [to Mark]Mark, you mentioned before, a new exodus. Well, the Way is returning from exile – a period away from home and even from God – but then being liberated from that anguish of being separated from home and God. The Way is walking with God – unobstructed by anything – sin or forces at work in the world.
Questioner: Reminds me of a Jesus Culture song:
‘I am chosen, I am free
I am Living for eternity
Free now forever
You picked me up, turned me around
You set my feet on solid ground
Yours now forever
And nothing’s gonna hold me back’[1]
John:Exactly. That feeling,that unfettered freedom in God is what the Way is like –‘nothing’s gonna hold me back!’But it’s a community thing. Not just about individuals, but about individuals in community.
Luke: This Highway is a new exodus. People will be taken from out of Babylon or Persia or Rome or whatever Empire is holding them and be free to follow God.
Questioner: So it’s a bit like God is walking along the streets amongst the crowd, chanting, ‘We’re coming home! We’re coming home! We’re coming! God’s people are coming home!’ Waving their scarves. Inviting curious onlookers to join them. Sounds a bit like a street party after a final.
Luke: Sure. Except everyone gets invited, whatever team they’ve supported before.
Questioner:I’ll just go to our next question, because I think Matthew has already started to answer it. How is this way prepared, Matthew?
Matthew: I know it sounds boring, but repentance and obedience. Heart stuff, cleaning out God’s new spiritual home in our hearts.
Home and heart are important concepts. Mark wrote his gospel before Jerusalem was destroyed. Luke and I, we wrote when the city was gone. It was devastating. Here we were – a people without a spiritual home – again! Maybe not so much a problem for Gentile-Christians like Luke, but a huge problem for Jewish-Christians like me.
Questioner:Of course, the stories you grew up hearing about God all centred around Jerusalem and the Temple.
Matthew:The Temple was the home of God and the home of our faith. Either the stories moved towards this city being born, the Temple being built. Or the stories moved away, as the Temple was destroyed and the people taken into exile. It’s an ebb and flow, but throughout scripture, Jerusalem and the Temple were the centre of the stories of us and God.
Questioner:Forgive me if this sounds a bit flippant, but sounds like having your Jewish faith without Jerusalem would be like having the sitcom Friends without the coffee shop or the sci-fi movie X-Men without Professor Xavier. No one could conceive it happening!
Matthew: Exactly, so for Jesus to come and make a way for us to journey with God that did not rely on a geographical location or even a specific place – that people could journey out of Jerusalem and find God’s spirit on the banks of the River Jordan – well – this was wonderfully good news!
Mark: For me, the years before were a time of upheaval, not just for the Jews but also for Rome. Nothing was certain – but death and taxes.
We needed good news, and God gave us some – Jesus. God was making a way for God’s people. Not even Rome’s crucifixion could stop God’s people from following after Jesus.
Suddenly, the people were leaving Jerusalem and coming to John to be baptised, to repent, to have their hearts made right with God.
And then suddenly, Jesus came and was baptised. The spirit of God descended. In Jesus, people would be baptised by God’s spirit.
Luke: That’s all well and good, but actions have to change. It’s no good being baptised by water or fire or the holy spirit of God and still going around not sharing. And what about the power and influence of Rome? All those tax collectors and soldiers. Jesus changed things. Jesus was the refiner’s fire. Holy Spirit baptism changes things. To follow Jesus means sharing resources. Followers with access to money must be fair in how they manage the money. People in power must not abuse their power. Rome was everywhere. Some say ‘the empire’ still is.
Matthew:Sure, Luke, the Empire is everywhere…
John:[Interrupts] The 'I AM' is your Father, Luke!
Matthew:As I was saying, the Empire is everywhere, but it’s not just about the Empire. What about the Temple politics? What are the religious institutions doing? Are they blocking people from God or are they helping them towards God? There’s a big difference, my friend. Repentance starts in the heart of the people of God.
Luke: Look, Matthew, I’m not saying religious institutions don’t need to check themselves for blockages, but seriously, if our actions don’t show the love of God, then we might as well go eat donuts on the pier.
Questioner: I quite like the donuts on the pier here in Southport! But anyway, are you saying that people need to prepare themselves –to either do things God’s way andto allow God to change them,orto be prepare to be moved out of God’s way?
John?
John: Friends, it’s all about love. God’s mercy is wide, so wide that it extends even to the Gentile pagans who would accept the love of God. Jesus – the sacrificial lamb – died for this purpose. As I wrote in John 3:16-17, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’[2]
Questioner: But the prophet Malachi certainly infers that some of ‘the world’ doesn’t please God at all. Malachi would say that some of the world needs to change.
John:And I tend to agree with Malachi in that often religious leaders got things wrong. They were and are human, not God.
Matthew: Yes I agree. Part of the world does need to change - the religious institutions that claim to be living a life of faith, but aren’t trusting in God. Those people participating in those institutions who tell others to ‘fear God’ but don’t fear God themselves. That is what Malachi was addressing in his message. The religious institutions need to change, to reflect who God is and to live out who God has called us to be as God’s people. We can’t just go through the motions and ceremonies.
Questioner: So our actions and our words need to be genuine reflections of what we believe, because if they aren’t, people will figure it out quick. People are pretty clued up.
Which brings us to our last question.
Since God prepared the way for us, by sending his Son Jesus to die on a cross for sin and to raise him up again into new life.
And Jesus prepared the way also by teaching others about the way he was preparing and how to share this new way with others, encouraging his disciples to baptise others.
Since the way was both practical and life changing - my last question is: what does preparing the way mean for the URC in 2016? Mark?
Mark: Well if Malachi’s message is about refining the good and letting the not so good go, then it might help us to reflect on what is working. What is the URC doing that is kingdom or kin-dom building?
John: There seems to be an emphasis on ecumenical partnerships. Either nationally by being an active part of the Joint Public Issues team or locallyeither through LEP’s or just working with other churches in their local community on a range of things from Pentecost celebrations, Food banks and Street Pastors.
Luke: The URC often punches above its weight. It doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer on the things that matter, like compassion and justice. We support Christian Aid and Commitment for Life. This year we are partnering with Green Belt. We are committed to social justice and community building all over the world. But locally, we get involved too. There may be only twenty people in our congregation, but those twenty will be part of Rotary, or involved with local politics, campaigning for asylum seekers or helping local mums and dads.
Matthew: There is a commitment to diversity too. We live in a multi-ethnic society, and the URC is committed to that being reflected in the life of the church. Having said that, if we looked at our ‘not hierarchical power but still decision making’ councils at the moment – how much ethnic diversity is there? Whatever committee you serve on, ask yourself – is this meeting reflecting the diversity that we seek in the URC? If it doesn’t, then a conversation needs to be had to find out why.
We aren’t perfect, but we are committed to God’s love of diversity so apparent in creation. And the commitment is genuine.
John: Diversity sometimes can be very exciting and life giving, but at other times can be a bit scary and uncertain. The URC is committed to a theological diversity as well. [to Mark and Matthew] A bit like when the early church had no idea what to do with this Gentile lot [gestures to Luke]. Do we circumcise them or what? We had our disagreements.
Luke: I’m so glad you decided circumcision was not necessary.
Mark: But that commitment to each other and to God at work in the uncertainty, that holds us together somehow. I mean, some people look at the ocean and think ‘Wow, look at the possibilities! All that space!’ And some people look and think, ‘I can’t see the other side. It feels out of control, chaotic almost.’ Somehow the URC is committed to both people – to come along side and give people the opportunity to explore the sea – or not– in their time. To consider our need to control versus giving things to God.
Matthew:Or even our lack of obedience to God at times. I think sometimes we forget the yoke. Jesus’ yoke is a loving yoke, yet still slightly restraining. Yokes by nature just are.
John:Somehow, in our differences, God in God’s mercy holds us together.
Questioner: But there are also practical concerns. Are churches growing? What do we mean by growth? What about deployment of ministers? Are we fostering spiritual growth in our congregations? Where are future leaders going to come from? And there are many social justice issues – locally and around the world. Migration being just one. How do we ‘prepare the way’ in these conditions?
Mark: Peter wrote a great letter, and in it he talked about us being living stones. You know, being built into a spiritual house.
Luke: The problem with that imagery is people tend to think of the church building or structures that hold people in. We need to get out.
Matthew: Besides, I suspect the URC is not into building walls like some are[mimic doing a comb over with your hair]. No matter who pays the construction bill, we all pay for walls eventually in one way or another. At the end of the day, walls are obstructing. We’ve been talking about paths.
John: God’s the builder. Jesus embodies the Way. I guess the real question is: would you let God use you to build a path for others?
Questioner: Good question. Would we let God use us to build a path for others? Something about laying down pride, or even identity. Something about humility and wanting God to be God. Something about as a denomination being born to die, for new life to emerge. Becoming a path for others to journey closer to God.