Nice Play Shakespeare

1 Christmas  C     December 30, 2018

Is.61:10-62:3     Ps. 147:13-21

Gal. 3:23-25,4:4-7  John 1:1-18

Lectionary Link

Youth Sermon for December 30, 2018

1-William Shakespeare was and is probably the greatest playwright of the English language.  Actors for more than four hundred years have wanted to perform his words.  It could be that William Shakespeare performed in his own plays because he was an actor too.  He was a playwright and an actor, and he probably directed too.  He was quite a genius with words both in writing and in acting and in the directing of his plays in the English language.

2-We might understand God as the playwright of the entire world.  But not just the playwright but also the star actor in the great play of the entire world.  Why could we say this?  The writer of the Gospel of John might think so too.  The Gospel writer wrote "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  And everything came into being through the Word."  So, God as Word is the creator or playwright of us existing as human beings.

  

3-But the Word is not just the great Playwright.  The Word became the very best actor too.  The Gospel writer wrote, "The Word became flesh and lived with us."  So, we understand Christ to be the eternal Word and the Playwright of life itself; and Jesus is the star actor of the great play of life created by the Eternal Word Playwright.

4-But is this just some nice poetry?  Does it have any practical meaning for our lives?  What does it mean for us that the Word creates everything?  What does it mean that the Word became flesh in Jesus and lived with us?

1-It could be that what makes us human is the fact that we are language users and our lives are made up of collections of words.  Even though we might think that we are flesh and bones and blood and nerves and brains with thought and hearts with feelings.  Flesh, bones, blood, nerves, brains, hearts and feelings are words that we use to describe ourselves.  Words are what we use to find meaning for our lives.  The best meanings of our lives are what we call truth.

  

2-To find and know truth in our lives, we have to find the best meanings.  To find the best meanings, we need to find people who can be the very best examples for us to teach us the best meanings for our lives.  That is what we believe about Jesus Christ.  He was the best Actor in the great play of life.  He taught us, and he lived the very best meanings of life.  He taught us how to find the best scripts in life to live.  And he gives us the very best acting lessons.

3-In the theater, acting is only pretending to be the person that you are playing.  In the real play of life, acting is not pretending.  It is trying to live out the very best script in all that we do or say.

4-Sometimes we find ourselves acting some bad scripts.  Sometimes we have some bad habit of speaking and acting that we just keep repeating.  We have learned these bad scripts from following the examples of some not so perfect actors and by having some imperfect directors.  We sometimes have accepted less than perfect scripts to follow.

1-What do we do when we find ourselves as bad actors in a bad play with some bad scripts?  The first thing that we do is to accept our freedom.  As actors we can choose the scripts.  As actors we can choose the directors of our play in life.  As actors we can choose the acting teachers to help us do our very best.

2-A good actor is always hoping to get better. A good actor is always looking for better roles.  He or she might look at all the roles that have been played.  An actor might want to play the same role again on stage because he or she might think that the role can be performed better.

3-Today we are about at the end of the year.  We are about to finish Act 2018 of our lives.  Today we may want to be the theater critics of Act 2018 of our lives.  How was our acting this past year?  Where did we improve and get better than we did in 2017?  Did we eat more broccoli and other healthy foods?  But more importantly, how did we do in the most important roles in life?   How did we do with love?  Kindness?  Self-control?  Patience?  Faith?

4-Let us review the scripts that we have followed in 2018 as we prepare for the next big play of our lives, the year 2019.  To write the scripts of our lives for 2019, let us consult the scripts in the Bible to improve our new roles for 2019.  Let us especially study the life of Jesus as our model of best behaviors.  Let us choose good role models who are in our lives now to help write the scripts for 2019.

1-Now the new year can seem like a big challenge and sometimes when we are on the big stage of life we can feel all alone.  But we should remember that we have an entire cast and crew of fellow friends and Christians to help us be the very best in our roles for the New Year.  Don't try to do 2019 alone.  Accept the very best advice and support from the best supporting cast in your life.

  

2-And remember when you think that you are alone on the stage of 2019, remember you have something better than cue cards when you forget your lines.  You have the very best prompter of all; you have God's Holy Spirit inside of you whispering what you need to say and to do.  God's Holy Spirit is with you as you walk on the stage of 2019.

3-Okay.  First Scene of Act 2019.  Quiet on the set. Camera.  Action. Roll.  Break a leg in the New Year!  Good luck.  God bless us as we follow Jesus.  We have been given the Word of God and Jesus as our acting model and teacher.  And may we have many curtain calls at the end of the year.  Amen.