The Armor Of Light
Sermon
Sermons On The Second Readings
Series II, Cycle A
Object:
Characters
Harry Christian
Margaret Christian (Harry's wife)
Fed-Up Express Man
Accompanist (nonspeaking)
Props
Stuffed chair
Newspaper
Table
Lamp
Bible
Dressing mirror
Large box (containing the following items)
Silver shirt
Silver gloves
Silver sunglasses
Silver light saber
Silver-wrapped instruction book
Small box (containing the following item)
Huge, foil-covered binoculars
(Harry Christian is pacing. Margaret Christian is seated on the pulpit side of the sanctuary in a stuffed chair reading the newspaper. Next to the chair is a table upon which is a lighted lamp. There is a Bible on the table next to the lamp. There is a dressing mirror hanging or standing somewhere opposite the chair and table.)
Fed-Up Express Man: (pounds on door three times, tosses an enormous box toward Harry) Fed-Up Express! Package for Harry Christian!
Harry: It's here! Oh boy! I can't believe it's finally here.
Margaret: (from behind the newspaper) What's here, Harry?
Harry: (begins opening box) You'll see just as soon as I get this box open. (peers in) Awesome! It's even better than I expected!
(Accompanist begins playing Star Wars theme as Harry pulls a silver shirt out of the box and puts it on. Harry does the same thing with a pair of silver gloves and a pair of silver sunglasses. Finally, he dramatically lifts a silver light saber out of the box. As Accompanist continues to play, Harry leaps into several dramatic poses. During his last leap, he thrusts the light saber into Margaret's newspaper.)
Margaret: (sarcastically, looking over newspaper) Very impressive, Harry. What is it?
Harry: (grandly, to congregation) It's the armor of light!
Margaret: (returns to reading paper) Did it come with batteries, Harry?
Harry: (looks in the end of the tube, then in the box, finds some instructions) Batteries. I ... I don't know; lemme check here. (pulls silver-wrapped instruction book out of box) Let's see, uh, batteries not included.
Margaret: It figures. And just how many batteries does something like that need, Harry?
Harry: (still reading instructions; then sheepishly) Uh ... 163 D batteries.
Margaret: (looks over paper, disgusted) 163 D batteries, Harry? Couldn't you just plug it in?
Harry: How could I go anywhere with it then?
Margaret: (had returned to reading paper, but now looks over the paper again) And just where were you planning on going dressed like that, Harry? Halloween isn't quite here yet.
Harry: You're mocking me, Margaret. I can tell.
Margaret: (puts paper down) Oh! No! Far be it from me to mock a man dressed in aluminum foil! No, really, Harry, I always thought silver was your color. So what is that thing for anyway, Harry?
Harry: It's the armor of light! The apostle Paul writes about it in his letter to the Romans, chapter 13, verse 11: "You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep!... The night is far gone. The day is near! Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light!" (grandly flourishes the light saber at the congregation)
Margaret: (reading the paper again) The night's not the only thing that's far gone, Harry. So what do you do with it? Are you planning on wearing it to church on Sunday? I'm not sure that's what the pastor meant when he/she said, "Lutherans should learn to lighten up."
Harry: It's for battling against the forces of the Evil Empire, Margaret, and for slaying evildoers across the land to establish God's reign of peace and justice!
Margaret: Of course. Silly me. So just what evildoers do you plan on slaying, Harry?
Harry: Well, let's see ... murderers! Yes! We must rid the world of murderers!
Margaret: Okay. Let's! (picks up the Bible from the table) In Matthew, chapter 5, here's what Jesus has to say about murderers: "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, 'You fool!' you will be liable to the hell of fire" (Matthew 5:21-22).
According to Jesus, angry name-calling is no better than murder, Harry (closes Bible, replaces it on table), and if I remember correctly you called our president some pretty choice names just the other day.
(There are three loud knocks on the door; Harry jumps, hides behind the box.)
Harry: Who's that?
Margaret: (turns to look over her shoulder as if she were looking out the window) It's just the Jehovah's Witnesses, Harry. Should I let them in? Maybe they'd be interested in seeing you dance around dressed in Reynolds Wrap.
Harry: It's a trap, Margaret! Don't go to the door! They heard what I called the president. FBI agents always disguise themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses.
Margaret: Yeah, I don't ever think I've ever seen Jehovah's Witnesses wearing sunglasses and earplugs before. Those evangelical types are sure going high-tech these days.
Harry: Shhhhh! We've got to pretend no one's home.
Margaret: That should be pretty easy for you, Harry.
Harry: Are they gone?
Margaret: (looks out again; then, as she says following lines, she gets out of chair to speak to Harry and congregation) Yes, yes, they're gone. Now, Harry, it seems to me that you've got this armor of light thing all wrong.
Harry: How's that Margaret? (begins coming out from behind the box)
Margaret: First of all, you just can't go around quoting one line of scripture here and another line there to support your own sick and twisted point of view, Harry.
Harry: You insulted me, Margaret! You're liable to the hell of fire!
Margaret: Someone will need to keep you company there, Harry. You have to understand every line of scripture in its context, Harry; how it's related to the rest of the letter or book it's part of. And you have to understand how the scripture is a part of the cultures of the Ancient Near East ... (Harry mocks Margaret during these lines, then ...)
Harry: Ancient schmancient! You talk like you know it all, Margaret. Where'd you get all this nonsense from?
Margaret: From church, Harry. The pastor had this sermon last week all about the armor of light. (picks up the Bible again) I learned that in the lines just before the armor of light part, the apostle Paul says twice that loving one another is fulfilling the law -- not going out and slaying one another -- even if the others are evildoers. One of the apostle Paul's most important points in his letter to the Romans is that everyone falls short of the glory of God, and since everyone falls short of the glory of God, Harry, then no one has the right to go out and slay evildoers. In fact, Harry, in the section just after the armor of light part the apostle Paul says, "Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God" (Romans 14:10) and "each of us will be accountable to God" (Romans 14:12). Finally, the apostle Paul says this about vengeance: "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written: 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay,' says the Lord" (Romans 12:19, italics Margaret's). Now, were you thinking that you're the Lord, Harry?
Harry: No.
Margaret: That's a good thing, Harry. There's hope for you yet. Anyway, the apostle Paul gets all these ideas about love being the fulfillment of the law directly from Jesus' teaching about the commandments and about not judging and about loving your enemies. That's why the apostle Paul says in Romans 12:20 that if your enemies are hungry, Harry, you're supposed to feed them (Harry is not convinced), and if they're thirsty, you're supposed to give them something to drink.
Harry: How about arsenic?
Margaret: The parallel literary construction of the apostle Paul's finale to this part of his letter to the church in Rome makes this essential truth so memorable: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). And finally, Harry, putting on the armor of light is really all about baptism.
Harry: (to congregation) Now I know she's all wet!
Margaret: When the apostle Paul encourages the Christians in Rome to "put on" the Lord Jesus Christ, he uses the same Greek verb here as he does when he writes about putting on the armor of light, which is also the same verb the apostle Paul uses in other discussions of baptism and the beginning of our life in the faith.1 Many of these images may refer to the white robes used in the early church that were put on newly baptized members and that symbolized their forgiveness and equality together in God's family. Putting on the armor of light is at least partly about God's promise of unconditional, forgiving love we receive in baptism, Harry. It's about the grace of being granted the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's about letting our light shine before others so they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. Putting on the armor of light is about doing good works, works of love, Harry. Putting on the armor of light is not about slaying evildoers. So put that silly thing away right now. By the way, how much did that stupid get-up cost, Harry?
Harry: Only $29.95 ... a month.
Margaret: $29.95 a month! For how many months, Harry?
Harry: Six.
Margaret: (angrily) $179.70?
Harry: (sheepishly) ... plus shipping and handling.
Margaret: Harry! Are you crazy? Talk about evildoers, Harry! Do you know what Lutheran World Relief could do with a $180?
Harry: (sarcastically) No, but I suppose you learned about it in the sermon last week.
Margaret: You bet I did. And you should have been there instead of sitting at home listening to Ann Coulter. For $180, Lutheran World Relief can cure twelve people of leprosy or provide seven people in India with artificial legs or treat 500 people for malaria. Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Harry, for wasting all that money on an overgrown flashlight? You haven't even bought the batteries, yet! Or disposed of the dead ones in the landfill to poison the ground water! I suggest you pack up all that tin foil trash right now, send it back, get a refund, and mail the money off to do some good!
(Harry tosses light saber into the box.)
Fed-Up Express Man: (pounds on door three times, tosses another box to Harry) Fed-Up Express! Package for Harry Christian!
Margaret: Now what, Harry?
Harry: (getting excited again) I think it must be my Apocalyptic Binoculars. (opens box, takes out huge, foil-covered binoculars) Yup. Awesome! You know -- Matthew 24:42. (looks through binoculars) "Keep awake, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." (looks at Margaret; resumes looking through binoculars) With the Apocalyptic Binoculars, Margaret, you can see Jesus coming up to a whole week ahead of time, guaranteed, or your money back!
Margaret: Somebody tell me this is just a bad dream.
Harry: (briefly looks at Margaret) No, it's not a bad dream, Margaret. It's the sermon.
Margaret: Like I was saying: It's a bad dream. Do you know what time it is, Harry?
Harry: Yes! I see him! It's time for Jesus to return to smite all the evildoers!
Margaret: Wrong again, Harry. Nobody knows that time. No, Harry. Now's the time for you to wake up from your sleep.
Harry: (looks at Margaret again) I'm not asleep, Margaret.
Margaret: The night is far gone; the day is near. It's time for you to lay aside those works of darkness, Harry, and put on the real armor of light. It's time for you to put on the Lord Jesus Christ who did not come to smite you, but to love you.
Harry: Jesus loves me?
Margaret: Yes, Harry, it is hard to believe. It's hard to believe all of it. It's hard to believe God's love is our salvation -- not our good works. It's hard to believe love is our one commandment, our one mandate. It's hard to believe we're supposed to feed our enemies and give them something to drink. It's hard to believe curing twelve lepers or giving seven people in India artificial legs is going to accomplish anything at all. Love certainly doesn't make for exciting nightly news. And it certainly doesn't seem like love is going to accomplish anything when those who love end up on crosses. But we're all marked with that cross, Harry. (Harry looks in the mirror trying to see if he is marked with a cross, shrugs it off, then returns to looking through the binoculars.) In baptism, Harry, when we put on the armor of light, when we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, we were marked with his cross. The cross defines whose we are, but also who we are and how we are to live. The cross is a sign of the failure of the law as a way of life, because it was law-abiding religious people who put God on a cross. But the cross is also the sign that it's love that fulfills the law, the kind of love that sacrifices self for others.
Harry: I don't see the cross, Margaret.
Margaret: You don't need those stupid things to see the cross! In fact, you can't see the cross at all if all you're doing is looking for Jesus to come back to smite evildoers. You can see the cross in those firemen who died trying to evacuate the World Trade Center. You can see the cross in the life of Margaret Hassan, who had been leading efforts to restore water and sewage systems in Iraq but was kidnapped and murdered by religious extremists. You can see the cross in those people in our church who can and do give up hours and hours of their time to serve in a hundred different ways in our church and community. Those are examples of the cross, Harry. Those are examples of love.
Harry: So the cross keeps happening?
Margaret: Yes, Harry.
Harry: Well, that can't be a good thing! Too much of that kind of stuff and the church will be done for!
Margaret: Actually Harry, too little of that kind of stuff and the church is done for. The disciples also thought the cross was the end of everything: the end of Jesus, the end of the family he'd gathered. But the cross was the beginning, Harry, the beginning of the church that's now two billion people strong.
Harry: I guess you're right, Margaret. (throws the binoculars in the box)
Margaret: It was all in the sermon last week, Harry. So I suggest you pack up your evil-smiting equipment and ship it back, because, by the way, Jesus is already here.
Harry: (frightened; hides behind the box again) What? He's here? Where is he? I don't see him!
Margaret: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them" (Matthew 18:20).
Harry: Oh geez! He's gonna kill me!
Margaret: Jesus isn't like you, Harry.
Harry: Oh. Yeah. (comes out from behind box) I forgot. Whew! That is good news!
Margaret: Amen to that, Harry!
____________
1. Especially Galatians 3:27; if they are not about baptism specifically, the use of the verb in Ephesians 4:22-24 and Colossians 3:10-12 is definitely about conversion, about the beginning of Christian faith.
Harry Christian
Margaret Christian (Harry's wife)
Fed-Up Express Man
Accompanist (nonspeaking)
Props
Stuffed chair
Newspaper
Table
Lamp
Bible
Dressing mirror
Large box (containing the following items)
Silver shirt
Silver gloves
Silver sunglasses
Silver light saber
Silver-wrapped instruction book
Small box (containing the following item)
Huge, foil-covered binoculars
(Harry Christian is pacing. Margaret Christian is seated on the pulpit side of the sanctuary in a stuffed chair reading the newspaper. Next to the chair is a table upon which is a lighted lamp. There is a Bible on the table next to the lamp. There is a dressing mirror hanging or standing somewhere opposite the chair and table.)
Fed-Up Express Man: (pounds on door three times, tosses an enormous box toward Harry) Fed-Up Express! Package for Harry Christian!
Harry: It's here! Oh boy! I can't believe it's finally here.
Margaret: (from behind the newspaper) What's here, Harry?
Harry: (begins opening box) You'll see just as soon as I get this box open. (peers in) Awesome! It's even better than I expected!
(Accompanist begins playing Star Wars theme as Harry pulls a silver shirt out of the box and puts it on. Harry does the same thing with a pair of silver gloves and a pair of silver sunglasses. Finally, he dramatically lifts a silver light saber out of the box. As Accompanist continues to play, Harry leaps into several dramatic poses. During his last leap, he thrusts the light saber into Margaret's newspaper.)
Margaret: (sarcastically, looking over newspaper) Very impressive, Harry. What is it?
Harry: (grandly, to congregation) It's the armor of light!
Margaret: (returns to reading paper) Did it come with batteries, Harry?
Harry: (looks in the end of the tube, then in the box, finds some instructions) Batteries. I ... I don't know; lemme check here. (pulls silver-wrapped instruction book out of box) Let's see, uh, batteries not included.
Margaret: It figures. And just how many batteries does something like that need, Harry?
Harry: (still reading instructions; then sheepishly) Uh ... 163 D batteries.
Margaret: (looks over paper, disgusted) 163 D batteries, Harry? Couldn't you just plug it in?
Harry: How could I go anywhere with it then?
Margaret: (had returned to reading paper, but now looks over the paper again) And just where were you planning on going dressed like that, Harry? Halloween isn't quite here yet.
Harry: You're mocking me, Margaret. I can tell.
Margaret: (puts paper down) Oh! No! Far be it from me to mock a man dressed in aluminum foil! No, really, Harry, I always thought silver was your color. So what is that thing for anyway, Harry?
Harry: It's the armor of light! The apostle Paul writes about it in his letter to the Romans, chapter 13, verse 11: "You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep!... The night is far gone. The day is near! Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light!" (grandly flourishes the light saber at the congregation)
Margaret: (reading the paper again) The night's not the only thing that's far gone, Harry. So what do you do with it? Are you planning on wearing it to church on Sunday? I'm not sure that's what the pastor meant when he/she said, "Lutherans should learn to lighten up."
Harry: It's for battling against the forces of the Evil Empire, Margaret, and for slaying evildoers across the land to establish God's reign of peace and justice!
Margaret: Of course. Silly me. So just what evildoers do you plan on slaying, Harry?
Harry: Well, let's see ... murderers! Yes! We must rid the world of murderers!
Margaret: Okay. Let's! (picks up the Bible from the table) In Matthew, chapter 5, here's what Jesus has to say about murderers: "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, 'You fool!' you will be liable to the hell of fire" (Matthew 5:21-22).
According to Jesus, angry name-calling is no better than murder, Harry (closes Bible, replaces it on table), and if I remember correctly you called our president some pretty choice names just the other day.
(There are three loud knocks on the door; Harry jumps, hides behind the box.)
Harry: Who's that?
Margaret: (turns to look over her shoulder as if she were looking out the window) It's just the Jehovah's Witnesses, Harry. Should I let them in? Maybe they'd be interested in seeing you dance around dressed in Reynolds Wrap.
Harry: It's a trap, Margaret! Don't go to the door! They heard what I called the president. FBI agents always disguise themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses.
Margaret: Yeah, I don't ever think I've ever seen Jehovah's Witnesses wearing sunglasses and earplugs before. Those evangelical types are sure going high-tech these days.
Harry: Shhhhh! We've got to pretend no one's home.
Margaret: That should be pretty easy for you, Harry.
Harry: Are they gone?
Margaret: (looks out again; then, as she says following lines, she gets out of chair to speak to Harry and congregation) Yes, yes, they're gone. Now, Harry, it seems to me that you've got this armor of light thing all wrong.
Harry: How's that Margaret? (begins coming out from behind the box)
Margaret: First of all, you just can't go around quoting one line of scripture here and another line there to support your own sick and twisted point of view, Harry.
Harry: You insulted me, Margaret! You're liable to the hell of fire!
Margaret: Someone will need to keep you company there, Harry. You have to understand every line of scripture in its context, Harry; how it's related to the rest of the letter or book it's part of. And you have to understand how the scripture is a part of the cultures of the Ancient Near East ... (Harry mocks Margaret during these lines, then ...)
Harry: Ancient schmancient! You talk like you know it all, Margaret. Where'd you get all this nonsense from?
Margaret: From church, Harry. The pastor had this sermon last week all about the armor of light. (picks up the Bible again) I learned that in the lines just before the armor of light part, the apostle Paul says twice that loving one another is fulfilling the law -- not going out and slaying one another -- even if the others are evildoers. One of the apostle Paul's most important points in his letter to the Romans is that everyone falls short of the glory of God, and since everyone falls short of the glory of God, Harry, then no one has the right to go out and slay evildoers. In fact, Harry, in the section just after the armor of light part the apostle Paul says, "Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God" (Romans 14:10) and "each of us will be accountable to God" (Romans 14:12). Finally, the apostle Paul says this about vengeance: "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written: 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay,' says the Lord" (Romans 12:19, italics Margaret's). Now, were you thinking that you're the Lord, Harry?
Harry: No.
Margaret: That's a good thing, Harry. There's hope for you yet. Anyway, the apostle Paul gets all these ideas about love being the fulfillment of the law directly from Jesus' teaching about the commandments and about not judging and about loving your enemies. That's why the apostle Paul says in Romans 12:20 that if your enemies are hungry, Harry, you're supposed to feed them (Harry is not convinced), and if they're thirsty, you're supposed to give them something to drink.
Harry: How about arsenic?
Margaret: The parallel literary construction of the apostle Paul's finale to this part of his letter to the church in Rome makes this essential truth so memorable: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). And finally, Harry, putting on the armor of light is really all about baptism.
Harry: (to congregation) Now I know she's all wet!
Margaret: When the apostle Paul encourages the Christians in Rome to "put on" the Lord Jesus Christ, he uses the same Greek verb here as he does when he writes about putting on the armor of light, which is also the same verb the apostle Paul uses in other discussions of baptism and the beginning of our life in the faith.1 Many of these images may refer to the white robes used in the early church that were put on newly baptized members and that symbolized their forgiveness and equality together in God's family. Putting on the armor of light is at least partly about God's promise of unconditional, forgiving love we receive in baptism, Harry. It's about the grace of being granted the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's about letting our light shine before others so they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. Putting on the armor of light is about doing good works, works of love, Harry. Putting on the armor of light is not about slaying evildoers. So put that silly thing away right now. By the way, how much did that stupid get-up cost, Harry?
Harry: Only $29.95 ... a month.
Margaret: $29.95 a month! For how many months, Harry?
Harry: Six.
Margaret: (angrily) $179.70?
Harry: (sheepishly) ... plus shipping and handling.
Margaret: Harry! Are you crazy? Talk about evildoers, Harry! Do you know what Lutheran World Relief could do with a $180?
Harry: (sarcastically) No, but I suppose you learned about it in the sermon last week.
Margaret: You bet I did. And you should have been there instead of sitting at home listening to Ann Coulter. For $180, Lutheran World Relief can cure twelve people of leprosy or provide seven people in India with artificial legs or treat 500 people for malaria. Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Harry, for wasting all that money on an overgrown flashlight? You haven't even bought the batteries, yet! Or disposed of the dead ones in the landfill to poison the ground water! I suggest you pack up all that tin foil trash right now, send it back, get a refund, and mail the money off to do some good!
(Harry tosses light saber into the box.)
Fed-Up Express Man: (pounds on door three times, tosses another box to Harry) Fed-Up Express! Package for Harry Christian!
Margaret: Now what, Harry?
Harry: (getting excited again) I think it must be my Apocalyptic Binoculars. (opens box, takes out huge, foil-covered binoculars) Yup. Awesome! You know -- Matthew 24:42. (looks through binoculars) "Keep awake, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." (looks at Margaret; resumes looking through binoculars) With the Apocalyptic Binoculars, Margaret, you can see Jesus coming up to a whole week ahead of time, guaranteed, or your money back!
Margaret: Somebody tell me this is just a bad dream.
Harry: (briefly looks at Margaret) No, it's not a bad dream, Margaret. It's the sermon.
Margaret: Like I was saying: It's a bad dream. Do you know what time it is, Harry?
Harry: Yes! I see him! It's time for Jesus to return to smite all the evildoers!
Margaret: Wrong again, Harry. Nobody knows that time. No, Harry. Now's the time for you to wake up from your sleep.
Harry: (looks at Margaret again) I'm not asleep, Margaret.
Margaret: The night is far gone; the day is near. It's time for you to lay aside those works of darkness, Harry, and put on the real armor of light. It's time for you to put on the Lord Jesus Christ who did not come to smite you, but to love you.
Harry: Jesus loves me?
Margaret: Yes, Harry, it is hard to believe. It's hard to believe all of it. It's hard to believe God's love is our salvation -- not our good works. It's hard to believe love is our one commandment, our one mandate. It's hard to believe we're supposed to feed our enemies and give them something to drink. It's hard to believe curing twelve lepers or giving seven people in India artificial legs is going to accomplish anything at all. Love certainly doesn't make for exciting nightly news. And it certainly doesn't seem like love is going to accomplish anything when those who love end up on crosses. But we're all marked with that cross, Harry. (Harry looks in the mirror trying to see if he is marked with a cross, shrugs it off, then returns to looking through the binoculars.) In baptism, Harry, when we put on the armor of light, when we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, we were marked with his cross. The cross defines whose we are, but also who we are and how we are to live. The cross is a sign of the failure of the law as a way of life, because it was law-abiding religious people who put God on a cross. But the cross is also the sign that it's love that fulfills the law, the kind of love that sacrifices self for others.
Harry: I don't see the cross, Margaret.
Margaret: You don't need those stupid things to see the cross! In fact, you can't see the cross at all if all you're doing is looking for Jesus to come back to smite evildoers. You can see the cross in those firemen who died trying to evacuate the World Trade Center. You can see the cross in the life of Margaret Hassan, who had been leading efforts to restore water and sewage systems in Iraq but was kidnapped and murdered by religious extremists. You can see the cross in those people in our church who can and do give up hours and hours of their time to serve in a hundred different ways in our church and community. Those are examples of the cross, Harry. Those are examples of love.
Harry: So the cross keeps happening?
Margaret: Yes, Harry.
Harry: Well, that can't be a good thing! Too much of that kind of stuff and the church will be done for!
Margaret: Actually Harry, too little of that kind of stuff and the church is done for. The disciples also thought the cross was the end of everything: the end of Jesus, the end of the family he'd gathered. But the cross was the beginning, Harry, the beginning of the church that's now two billion people strong.
Harry: I guess you're right, Margaret. (throws the binoculars in the box)
Margaret: It was all in the sermon last week, Harry. So I suggest you pack up your evil-smiting equipment and ship it back, because, by the way, Jesus is already here.
Harry: (frightened; hides behind the box again) What? He's here? Where is he? I don't see him!
Margaret: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them" (Matthew 18:20).
Harry: Oh geez! He's gonna kill me!
Margaret: Jesus isn't like you, Harry.
Harry: Oh. Yeah. (comes out from behind box) I forgot. Whew! That is good news!
Margaret: Amen to that, Harry!
____________
1. Especially Galatians 3:27; if they are not about baptism specifically, the use of the verb in Ephesians 4:22-24 and Colossians 3:10-12 is definitely about conversion, about the beginning of Christian faith.
