Parable pageant

I skipped over the Thursday evening rehearsal for the parable pageant being held at the Guilford Church, Saturday evening and Sunday morning. It is a musical and dramatic presentation of five New Testament parables: the lamp, the Lost Sheep, the good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, and the Mustard Seed. A parable is read, the choir sings a song relating to the parable, and during the singing, a group of children and adults act out the parable through mime and dance. I am singing in the choir. It is quite enjoyable. It is being held out under the new pavilion.

Scenes from the parable rehearsal. At the last minute, Pastor Elisa was not able to be there for the Pageant, and Sue Owings asked me to fill in, which involved making an opening statement about Parables. Here is what I said: "Welcome to the Pageant of the Parables! The Parables of Jesus, recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, are central to Jesus' teaching, especially about the kingdom of God. How often he said, "The kingdom of God is like .... and then told a parable. Depending on what you count as a parable, there are upwards to 50 parables in the gospels. It is often said that Jesus taught in parables to make his teaching more understandable to the average person. He used everyday things like a lamp, or a seed, or a lost sheep, to explain more profound ideas. There is some truth in that, but it isn't quite that simple. Jesus himself said to his disciples: (Mark 4:11-12) "You have been given the secret of the Kingdom of God. But the others, who are on the outside, hear all things by means of parables, so that..... They may look and look, yet not see; they may listen and listen, yet not understand. For if they did, they would turn to God And he would forgive them. So, there is something mysterious going on here. Jesus was not unusual in his use of parables: something like 3200 parables can be found in the teaching of the Jewish rabbis of his time. But Jesus' way of using parables is more unusual. Scholars point out that there is often something utterly unexpected and surprising in his parables. For example, Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is like this: "A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field." Seems straight-forward. But in fact, Jewish law in Jesus' time made it illegal to intentionally sow mustard seed! It was an unwanted invasive that destroyed gardens, and thus had been made illegal. So his hearers would be thinking, "Wait a minute - what's going on here?" Similarly, the Good Samaritan who helps the injured Jewish man was an enemy of the Jews! The father of the prodigal son RUNS to meet his returning son, something no self-respecting Jewish man would do, because it required lifting his robe, a shameful thing to do in public. And on and on. So welcome to the provocative and fascinating world of the parables. May your spirits and your minds be enlarged!" Both presentations, Sat. evening and Sunday morning, were well-attended and enthusiastically received. People seemed to appreciate my introduction vrry much. Here are /more photos:

The shepherd and her sheep from the "Lost Sheep" parable

A bird nesting in a tall tree from the "Mustard Sed" parable

Parr of the congregation Sunday morning.

Sue Owings speaking to the congregation

The back drop painted on a tarp by someone in the church