Considerable Provocation
Drama
The Bee Attitudes
And 5 More Extraordinary Plays for Ordinary Days
Object:
And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds....
-- Hebrews 10:24
Characters
Alice
Erwin (sings a solo)
Ernie
Edwin
Ellen
Mitch
Mr./Ms. Winston
Teacher
Props
Table
Chairs
Mitch's items:
Earphone
Cell phone with internet connection
Portable game player
CD player with earplug
Dark glasses
Scripts (optional, if play is memorized)
Backpack items:
Laptop
Video camera
Phone
Microphone
Production Notes
The play requires a small number of junior high youth. The adults can be played by junior high youth or by adults. Although the youth have been assigned male or female names, you may change the gender of the characters to match your youth group. For instance, Alice can become Alex, Ernie can be Erin, and so on.
The play was written for junior high youth Sunday for the Church of the Brethren in 2005. It was performed in many different churches by both junior high and high school youth. There are references to the recent flood in the Gulf Coast. However, these references can be easily changed to refer to more contemporary disasters. In addition, references to particular denominational offices can be changed to match those of different fellowships.
Mitch should have his electronic connections as visible as possible. I am envisioning one of those earphones that rest on the outside of the ear. Make sure that it rests on the ear that is visible to the congregation. His CD player with earplug, his cell phone, and his portable game player should be very visible. Mitch does not have to be a male. She could be Martha just as easily.
Although an ambitious group of junior high school youth is welcome to memorize the play, what is important is that all are understood. That means they may read directly from the script if necessary. There is nothing wrong with holding the script in the hand. Consider printing the script in a larger font so it is clearly visible so that youth do not have to have their nose in the paper, but can see clearly enough to raise their heads and make eye contact with the congregation. Also, the use of microphones is encouraged.
Youth may choose to make sound effects to go with the "Washington Office Rap." If another member of the group can play piano, then she or he can accompany the hymn text set to "Revive Us Again."
(Alice, Erwin, Ernie, Edwin, and Ellen enter and take their places at a table.)
Edwin: Hey, Alice. Hey, Erwin, Ernie, and Ellen. Looks like we're all here for Sunday school.
Ernie: Almost all, Edwin. One of us is missing, but Mitch should be here any minute now.
Edwin: Let's start the countdown.
All: Five - four - three - two - one ...
(Mitch enters, plugged in and tuned out)
Ellen: Mitch has entered the building!
(Mitch sort of staggers, his hands out groping for a solid surface)
Ellen: He should find a place any minute now.
(Mitch finds a seat and sits down)
Alice: How does he do it? What's he got there? Earphones. Internet connection on his cell phone. CD Player. Game player.
Edwin: It's like being everywhere at once without being anywhere at all.
Ernie: Well, that's about all the excitement we're having today.
(Mr./Ms. Winston enters)
Mr./Ms. Winston: Hi there, all you junior high youth. I've come to tell you that your teacher is running a little bit late. She called on her phone to say she'd be here in about ten minutes.
Ernie: Hey, can I come to your class?
Mr./Ms. Winston: Sorry. You're not in the fifth grade anymore.
Ernie: Yeah, but you always had such neat crafts. What are you doing today?
Mr./Ms. Winston: We're going to build a complete model of the Great Temple of Herod out of toothpicks and popsicle sticks. Then we're going to animate it with holograms and afterward recreate its destruction by the Roman Legionnaires with a couple of matches and some wadded up newspaper.
Ernie: (to the others) See what I mean? Fifth graders have the best crafts.
Mr./Ms. Winston: Now wait a minute. You get to do a lot of great things. You had that work camp and the sleepover and the trip to the water park. Anyway, your teacher said to study your scripture and be prepared to talk about it.
Alice: What scripture is that?
Ellen: I remember. It's Hebrews 10:24: "And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds ..."
Edwin: How do you remember stuff like that?
Ellen: Someone is going to win the Bible Memory Bowl and it might as well be me. Besides, it's kind of intriguing: "Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds...."
Ernie: What does it mean to provoke someone to good deeds? I thought if you got provoked it was a bad thing.
Alice: What does provoke mean, anyway?
Ellen: It means to anger, incite resentment, annoy, bullyrag, induce, bring about, bother, bebother, bedevil, rub the wrong way, and challenge to action.
Ernie: So if, for example, we were able to provoke Mitch to join the real world then we might bring the scripture text to life?
Mr./Ms. Winston: That's a good example. By the way, how's Mitch?
Ellen: Still plugged in.
Mr./Ms. Winston: (sighs) I miss that boy. We haven't talked since he was in the fifth grade. That's when we created the entire Sinai Desert with the sand from our shoes after that beach trip and built a working model of the Ark of the Covenant, hooked up to a car battery to simulate divine wrath.
Edwin: Like I told you. The best crafts. So if our teacher is not here in ten minutes can we come to your class?
Mr./Ms. Winston: Twenty. (exits)
Edwin: Okay, it sounds like we've got our work cut out for us.
Alice: What work is that?
Edwin: To provoke Mitch to good works. We can make the Bible verse come true.
Ellen: Good luck.
Ernie: Let's see what we're up against. Okay -- he's listening to music on his CD player. That's his left ear. He's got a phone receiver in his right ear. He's got his video game controller in his right hand. And his cell phone has got an internet connection.
Alice: Anything else?
Ernie: He's wearing dark glasses.
Alice: No. What I mean are there any other connections?
Ernie: I think he likes his grandma.
Alice: Maybe we'll get her involved later. She's not electronic, is she?
Edwin: Flesh and blood. She brought the cookies this morning for the fellowship hour after church.
Ellen: What act of love will we provoke him to?
Edwin: I think there's enough suffering from that flood. Let's see if we can get him excited about that.
Alice: (pulls out her cell phone) Me first. I know his phone number.
Edwin: What will you tell him?
Alice: Remember that trip we took to the Washington office? How we toured around?
Edwin: I remember. We learned about the influence we have in Washington through our office there, and how we need to think ahead of time if we want to take a stand against war. But Mitch was like talking on his cell phone the whole time to people back home.
Ellen: Do you remember what he was saying?
Edwin: Yeah. Stuff like "I'm in the hallway now. I'm on the stairs now. I'm going through the door now. I'm going to the bathroom now." He didn't pay attention then. What makes you think we can provoke him to love and good deeds now?
Alice: It's worth trying. Okay, here goes. (enters the number and all gather close to the phone, then she raps)
If you ever heard what a real deep cough is,
Then you'll guess I'm on the line from the Washington office.
There are people in the world who are down and still suffer.
And we're the only ones who can act like a buffer.
Between them and the pain of the world that they live in,
Our Washington office can help what we believe in.
We have to provoke all those Capitol people
So they will descend from their pretty white steeple.
And vote to send aid to the ones who are blue.
We stand up to hot shots, like Jesus would do.
Erwin: (continues) Mitch, can you hear me? It's you who must reach out.
With help for the hurting as part of this teach-out.
Alice: Mitch, now please listen. I know you can hear me.
We're waiting for answers. Oh my and oh dear me!
We need everybody, can't do it alone.
Mitch, get unplugged --
All: -- and get off of the phone!
(Mitch reaches for his ear and takes off the earphone.)
Ellen: He's not listening to his phone. Looks like he's pulling in the internet on that little screen in his cell phone.
Ernie: My turn. My turn. I want to provoke Mitch. Let me see ... I got it. (reaches into his backpack and pulls out a laptop, a video camera, and a microphone, then turns to face the congregation) All junior high students carry stuff like this around. (back to other students) Okay, do you remember what we learned a couple weeks ago about Brethren Disaster Response? Well, we're going to fake a mobile feed from the Gulf Coast. (taps a few keys on the keyboard) I think I've broken into his connection. (adjusts the camera and all face the camera) Five, four, three ... (holds up two fingers, then one, then signals) We interrupt this website to report on the latest news from Brethren Disaster Response. Weeks have gone by, but the needs are just as great as ever. The destruction is overwhelming, but good folks from around the world are trying to help -- including Brethren and Brethren Disaster Response. Isn't that right, Ellen?
Ellen: (panics) What? Did you call on me? (Calms down, speaks in a professional tone) I mean, yes, that's right. We're reporting from New Windsor, Maryland, the site of the Brethren Service Center, where tons of good stuff gets sent around the world as well as close to home to help people --
Alice: (interrupts) I thought we were reporting from the Gulf Coast.
Ellen: Whatever. I'm on a roll. So whether it's health kits and school kits, whether it's a tsunami or a major flood, whether it's a land far away, or our own Gulf Coast, whether -- (pauses)
Edwin: Whether it's weather or whether it's weathering weather before you wither before it gets worther, I mean, worser -- we Brethren are there.
Ernie: With a helping hand, or a hand on a hammer. We've got people on the ground, and the ones not found on the ground are still around through the mounds of cash they've found when they sound the depths of their hearts and sent it to Brethren Disaster Relief. You're never too old or too young to help. And don't forget those junior high work camps organized by the office of youth and young adults at the general board offices in Elgin, Illinois.
Alice: Want more information? Just go to brethren.org on the web. So what's happening out on the Gulf Coast?
Ellen: Let me tell you. We've got folks working with the Red Cross and helping with childcare for those who are filling out federal forms. We've got building crews. We've got tons of stuff getting shipped out of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor. We've got, we've got --
Ernie: We've got it all, but we don't have you. And that means you -- Mitch! We need you to feel provoked about the tremendous need near at hand and around the world. What do you say? Are you provoked to good deeds and love yet?
(Mitch lays his cell phone down on the table, waving his hands in front of his face.)
Alice: We're getting through.
Edwin: But we're not there yet. He's fighting us. Or he's fighting something. I think he's playing the video game.
Alice: Great. What game is he playing?
Edwin: It looks like Doom and Destruction. He's busy waging world war, chilling and killing, slicing and dicing. He's bombing with aplomb. He's shredding, beheading, and deading.
Ellen: Deading is not a word.
Edwin: Maybe not, but it's what he's doing. And it doesn't look very Brethren.
Ernie: What are we going to do?
Edwin: Very simple. It's a little known fact that if we can reach under his player and pull out these two wires ... (does this) ... then his game will play in reverse. Let's see, blue wire, red wire?
Ellen: You're pretty sure this won't set off the nuclear self-destruct?
Edwin: Not in this game. Here we go. That ought to do it. Now watch. (Mitch stiffens and holds the game at arm's length) Right now instead of killing, he's healing. Instead of destroying, he's deploying food supplies to people around the world. Flowers are springing up, while landmines shrink. Baby bunnies and puppies are playing tag. People are packing picnics for after church. Instead of the eve of destruction it's Sunday morning and everyone's gathered to worship God and to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Alice: Sounds a little boring.
Edwin: Must be. He's putting the game down. (Mitch puts the game down) We've got him! He's unplugged.
Ellen: No, he's not. He's listening to his CD player.
Ernie: What's he listening to?
Ellen: It's the album, Annoying Do Nothing, by the group, Apathy.
Edwin: Mitch! Wake up!
Ernie: Mitch! Come join us!
Alice: It's no use. He's still plugged in and tuned out.
Erwin: (clears his throat) Ahem.
Edwin: Erwin! You haven't said anything so far. Do you have an idea?
Erwin: As a matter of fact, I do. We're going to replace his CD with something by the new Brethren group, The Provokers.
Alice: Never heard of them.
Erwin: Is that computer still here? Good. You've never heard of them because they didn't exist until two seconds from now. We're going to record it right now. Where's that laptop? Help me record this song. (hands out pages to the others) Join me on the chorus. (plugs the computer into the CD player -- the song is sung to the tune of "Revive Us Again")
All: When God made the world
It was put in our hands
So we might live like Jesus
Throughout all the lands.
(Chorus)
Hallelujah, we're God's people.
Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
From our building and our steeple
Let us live out God's Word.
We've a message of love
But of strong action, too.
Love is more than just words.
It's the things that we do.
(Chorus)
We can close up our hearts
Let the world ache and bleed
Or like Jesus we'll reach out
To all those in need.
(Chorus)
We have one chance to serve
To come through or else choke.
So to good deeds and love
Let us all now provoke.
(Chorus)
(Mitch starts to rise.)
Ellen: It's working! (Mitch sits down.) Or maybe not.
Erwin: We need help. We junior highs are the church, but the church is everybody. We need all of you out there to join with us. We need you to sing along with the chorus. Let's try it right now.
Congregation: (sings chorus) Hallelujah, we're God's people.
Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
From our building and our steeple
Let us live out God's Word.
Erwin: One more time!
Congregation: (sings chorus again) Hallelujah, we're God's people.
Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
From our building and our steeple
Let us live out God's Word.
(Mitch puts down the headphones and rises.)
Ellen: Hooray!
Mitch: Help! Help! I can't see! (waves his arms frantically)
Alice: I help here. This solution is decidedly low tech! (removes Mitch's glasses)
Mitch: Guys! Guys! Listen. There's a world of hurting people out there. We've got to get in touch with our Washington office. We've got to send more health kits and school kits to New Windsor. We've got to volunteer to work with Brethren Disaster Relief. We've got to make sure to support all our ministries. We've got to sign up for work camp. We've got to pick up trash around the church parking lot and volunteer to help with childcare and pass out bulletins and start a youth choir. We've got to make things happen in the name of Jesus! There's a world out there! (pauses) So what's the matter with you? Can't you see how badly we're needed?
(Teacher enters.)
Teacher: Whew! Sorry to be so late. Car trouble. Have you thought of any ways we can provoke each other to love and good works? (stops, shocked) Mitch! Are you all right?
Mitch: Sure, I'm all right. But the world is a mess. It's a good thing we have the gospel to share with others, and that the gospel sends us out in the world to minister in Jesus' name. We've got to do something. But what? Maybe I can get an idea on the internet. (reaches for his cell phone as the others grab his stuff) Hey! Hey! I'm provoked. Do you hear me? I'm provoked to love and good deeds. How about you? (to congregation) How about you? If you are provoked to love and good deeds, then join me in one last rousing chorus!
Congregation: (sings chorus) Hallelujah, we're God's people.
Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
From our building and our steeple
Let us live out God's Word.
-- Hebrews 10:24
Characters
Alice
Erwin (sings a solo)
Ernie
Edwin
Ellen
Mitch
Mr./Ms. Winston
Teacher
Props
Table
Chairs
Mitch's items:
Earphone
Cell phone with internet connection
Portable game player
CD player with earplug
Dark glasses
Scripts (optional, if play is memorized)
Backpack items:
Laptop
Video camera
Phone
Microphone
Production Notes
The play requires a small number of junior high youth. The adults can be played by junior high youth or by adults. Although the youth have been assigned male or female names, you may change the gender of the characters to match your youth group. For instance, Alice can become Alex, Ernie can be Erin, and so on.
The play was written for junior high youth Sunday for the Church of the Brethren in 2005. It was performed in many different churches by both junior high and high school youth. There are references to the recent flood in the Gulf Coast. However, these references can be easily changed to refer to more contemporary disasters. In addition, references to particular denominational offices can be changed to match those of different fellowships.
Mitch should have his electronic connections as visible as possible. I am envisioning one of those earphones that rest on the outside of the ear. Make sure that it rests on the ear that is visible to the congregation. His CD player with earplug, his cell phone, and his portable game player should be very visible. Mitch does not have to be a male. She could be Martha just as easily.
Although an ambitious group of junior high school youth is welcome to memorize the play, what is important is that all are understood. That means they may read directly from the script if necessary. There is nothing wrong with holding the script in the hand. Consider printing the script in a larger font so it is clearly visible so that youth do not have to have their nose in the paper, but can see clearly enough to raise their heads and make eye contact with the congregation. Also, the use of microphones is encouraged.
Youth may choose to make sound effects to go with the "Washington Office Rap." If another member of the group can play piano, then she or he can accompany the hymn text set to "Revive Us Again."
(Alice, Erwin, Ernie, Edwin, and Ellen enter and take their places at a table.)
Edwin: Hey, Alice. Hey, Erwin, Ernie, and Ellen. Looks like we're all here for Sunday school.
Ernie: Almost all, Edwin. One of us is missing, but Mitch should be here any minute now.
Edwin: Let's start the countdown.
All: Five - four - three - two - one ...
(Mitch enters, plugged in and tuned out)
Ellen: Mitch has entered the building!
(Mitch sort of staggers, his hands out groping for a solid surface)
Ellen: He should find a place any minute now.
(Mitch finds a seat and sits down)
Alice: How does he do it? What's he got there? Earphones. Internet connection on his cell phone. CD Player. Game player.
Edwin: It's like being everywhere at once without being anywhere at all.
Ernie: Well, that's about all the excitement we're having today.
(Mr./Ms. Winston enters)
Mr./Ms. Winston: Hi there, all you junior high youth. I've come to tell you that your teacher is running a little bit late. She called on her phone to say she'd be here in about ten minutes.
Ernie: Hey, can I come to your class?
Mr./Ms. Winston: Sorry. You're not in the fifth grade anymore.
Ernie: Yeah, but you always had such neat crafts. What are you doing today?
Mr./Ms. Winston: We're going to build a complete model of the Great Temple of Herod out of toothpicks and popsicle sticks. Then we're going to animate it with holograms and afterward recreate its destruction by the Roman Legionnaires with a couple of matches and some wadded up newspaper.
Ernie: (to the others) See what I mean? Fifth graders have the best crafts.
Mr./Ms. Winston: Now wait a minute. You get to do a lot of great things. You had that work camp and the sleepover and the trip to the water park. Anyway, your teacher said to study your scripture and be prepared to talk about it.
Alice: What scripture is that?
Ellen: I remember. It's Hebrews 10:24: "And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds ..."
Edwin: How do you remember stuff like that?
Ellen: Someone is going to win the Bible Memory Bowl and it might as well be me. Besides, it's kind of intriguing: "Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds...."
Ernie: What does it mean to provoke someone to good deeds? I thought if you got provoked it was a bad thing.
Alice: What does provoke mean, anyway?
Ellen: It means to anger, incite resentment, annoy, bullyrag, induce, bring about, bother, bebother, bedevil, rub the wrong way, and challenge to action.
Ernie: So if, for example, we were able to provoke Mitch to join the real world then we might bring the scripture text to life?
Mr./Ms. Winston: That's a good example. By the way, how's Mitch?
Ellen: Still plugged in.
Mr./Ms. Winston: (sighs) I miss that boy. We haven't talked since he was in the fifth grade. That's when we created the entire Sinai Desert with the sand from our shoes after that beach trip and built a working model of the Ark of the Covenant, hooked up to a car battery to simulate divine wrath.
Edwin: Like I told you. The best crafts. So if our teacher is not here in ten minutes can we come to your class?
Mr./Ms. Winston: Twenty. (exits)
Edwin: Okay, it sounds like we've got our work cut out for us.
Alice: What work is that?
Edwin: To provoke Mitch to good works. We can make the Bible verse come true.
Ellen: Good luck.
Ernie: Let's see what we're up against. Okay -- he's listening to music on his CD player. That's his left ear. He's got a phone receiver in his right ear. He's got his video game controller in his right hand. And his cell phone has got an internet connection.
Alice: Anything else?
Ernie: He's wearing dark glasses.
Alice: No. What I mean are there any other connections?
Ernie: I think he likes his grandma.
Alice: Maybe we'll get her involved later. She's not electronic, is she?
Edwin: Flesh and blood. She brought the cookies this morning for the fellowship hour after church.
Ellen: What act of love will we provoke him to?
Edwin: I think there's enough suffering from that flood. Let's see if we can get him excited about that.
Alice: (pulls out her cell phone) Me first. I know his phone number.
Edwin: What will you tell him?
Alice: Remember that trip we took to the Washington office? How we toured around?
Edwin: I remember. We learned about the influence we have in Washington through our office there, and how we need to think ahead of time if we want to take a stand against war. But Mitch was like talking on his cell phone the whole time to people back home.
Ellen: Do you remember what he was saying?
Edwin: Yeah. Stuff like "I'm in the hallway now. I'm on the stairs now. I'm going through the door now. I'm going to the bathroom now." He didn't pay attention then. What makes you think we can provoke him to love and good deeds now?
Alice: It's worth trying. Okay, here goes. (enters the number and all gather close to the phone, then she raps)
If you ever heard what a real deep cough is,
Then you'll guess I'm on the line from the Washington office.
There are people in the world who are down and still suffer.
And we're the only ones who can act like a buffer.
Between them and the pain of the world that they live in,
Our Washington office can help what we believe in.
We have to provoke all those Capitol people
So they will descend from their pretty white steeple.
And vote to send aid to the ones who are blue.
We stand up to hot shots, like Jesus would do.
Erwin: (continues) Mitch, can you hear me? It's you who must reach out.
With help for the hurting as part of this teach-out.
Alice: Mitch, now please listen. I know you can hear me.
We're waiting for answers. Oh my and oh dear me!
We need everybody, can't do it alone.
Mitch, get unplugged --
All: -- and get off of the phone!
(Mitch reaches for his ear and takes off the earphone.)
Ellen: He's not listening to his phone. Looks like he's pulling in the internet on that little screen in his cell phone.
Ernie: My turn. My turn. I want to provoke Mitch. Let me see ... I got it. (reaches into his backpack and pulls out a laptop, a video camera, and a microphone, then turns to face the congregation) All junior high students carry stuff like this around. (back to other students) Okay, do you remember what we learned a couple weeks ago about Brethren Disaster Response? Well, we're going to fake a mobile feed from the Gulf Coast. (taps a few keys on the keyboard) I think I've broken into his connection. (adjusts the camera and all face the camera) Five, four, three ... (holds up two fingers, then one, then signals) We interrupt this website to report on the latest news from Brethren Disaster Response. Weeks have gone by, but the needs are just as great as ever. The destruction is overwhelming, but good folks from around the world are trying to help -- including Brethren and Brethren Disaster Response. Isn't that right, Ellen?
Ellen: (panics) What? Did you call on me? (Calms down, speaks in a professional tone) I mean, yes, that's right. We're reporting from New Windsor, Maryland, the site of the Brethren Service Center, where tons of good stuff gets sent around the world as well as close to home to help people --
Alice: (interrupts) I thought we were reporting from the Gulf Coast.
Ellen: Whatever. I'm on a roll. So whether it's health kits and school kits, whether it's a tsunami or a major flood, whether it's a land far away, or our own Gulf Coast, whether -- (pauses)
Edwin: Whether it's weather or whether it's weathering weather before you wither before it gets worther, I mean, worser -- we Brethren are there.
Ernie: With a helping hand, or a hand on a hammer. We've got people on the ground, and the ones not found on the ground are still around through the mounds of cash they've found when they sound the depths of their hearts and sent it to Brethren Disaster Relief. You're never too old or too young to help. And don't forget those junior high work camps organized by the office of youth and young adults at the general board offices in Elgin, Illinois.
Alice: Want more information? Just go to brethren.org on the web. So what's happening out on the Gulf Coast?
Ellen: Let me tell you. We've got folks working with the Red Cross and helping with childcare for those who are filling out federal forms. We've got building crews. We've got tons of stuff getting shipped out of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor. We've got, we've got --
Ernie: We've got it all, but we don't have you. And that means you -- Mitch! We need you to feel provoked about the tremendous need near at hand and around the world. What do you say? Are you provoked to good deeds and love yet?
(Mitch lays his cell phone down on the table, waving his hands in front of his face.)
Alice: We're getting through.
Edwin: But we're not there yet. He's fighting us. Or he's fighting something. I think he's playing the video game.
Alice: Great. What game is he playing?
Edwin: It looks like Doom and Destruction. He's busy waging world war, chilling and killing, slicing and dicing. He's bombing with aplomb. He's shredding, beheading, and deading.
Ellen: Deading is not a word.
Edwin: Maybe not, but it's what he's doing. And it doesn't look very Brethren.
Ernie: What are we going to do?
Edwin: Very simple. It's a little known fact that if we can reach under his player and pull out these two wires ... (does this) ... then his game will play in reverse. Let's see, blue wire, red wire?
Ellen: You're pretty sure this won't set off the nuclear self-destruct?
Edwin: Not in this game. Here we go. That ought to do it. Now watch. (Mitch stiffens and holds the game at arm's length) Right now instead of killing, he's healing. Instead of destroying, he's deploying food supplies to people around the world. Flowers are springing up, while landmines shrink. Baby bunnies and puppies are playing tag. People are packing picnics for after church. Instead of the eve of destruction it's Sunday morning and everyone's gathered to worship God and to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Alice: Sounds a little boring.
Edwin: Must be. He's putting the game down. (Mitch puts the game down) We've got him! He's unplugged.
Ellen: No, he's not. He's listening to his CD player.
Ernie: What's he listening to?
Ellen: It's the album, Annoying Do Nothing, by the group, Apathy.
Edwin: Mitch! Wake up!
Ernie: Mitch! Come join us!
Alice: It's no use. He's still plugged in and tuned out.
Erwin: (clears his throat) Ahem.
Edwin: Erwin! You haven't said anything so far. Do you have an idea?
Erwin: As a matter of fact, I do. We're going to replace his CD with something by the new Brethren group, The Provokers.
Alice: Never heard of them.
Erwin: Is that computer still here? Good. You've never heard of them because they didn't exist until two seconds from now. We're going to record it right now. Where's that laptop? Help me record this song. (hands out pages to the others) Join me on the chorus. (plugs the computer into the CD player -- the song is sung to the tune of "Revive Us Again")
All: When God made the world
It was put in our hands
So we might live like Jesus
Throughout all the lands.
(Chorus)
Hallelujah, we're God's people.
Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
From our building and our steeple
Let us live out God's Word.
We've a message of love
But of strong action, too.
Love is more than just words.
It's the things that we do.
(Chorus)
We can close up our hearts
Let the world ache and bleed
Or like Jesus we'll reach out
To all those in need.
(Chorus)
We have one chance to serve
To come through or else choke.
So to good deeds and love
Let us all now provoke.
(Chorus)
(Mitch starts to rise.)
Ellen: It's working! (Mitch sits down.) Or maybe not.
Erwin: We need help. We junior highs are the church, but the church is everybody. We need all of you out there to join with us. We need you to sing along with the chorus. Let's try it right now.
Congregation: (sings chorus) Hallelujah, we're God's people.
Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
From our building and our steeple
Let us live out God's Word.
Erwin: One more time!
Congregation: (sings chorus again) Hallelujah, we're God's people.
Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
From our building and our steeple
Let us live out God's Word.
(Mitch puts down the headphones and rises.)
Ellen: Hooray!
Mitch: Help! Help! I can't see! (waves his arms frantically)
Alice: I help here. This solution is decidedly low tech! (removes Mitch's glasses)
Mitch: Guys! Guys! Listen. There's a world of hurting people out there. We've got to get in touch with our Washington office. We've got to send more health kits and school kits to New Windsor. We've got to volunteer to work with Brethren Disaster Relief. We've got to make sure to support all our ministries. We've got to sign up for work camp. We've got to pick up trash around the church parking lot and volunteer to help with childcare and pass out bulletins and start a youth choir. We've got to make things happen in the name of Jesus! There's a world out there! (pauses) So what's the matter with you? Can't you see how badly we're needed?
(Teacher enters.)
Teacher: Whew! Sorry to be so late. Car trouble. Have you thought of any ways we can provoke each other to love and good works? (stops, shocked) Mitch! Are you all right?
Mitch: Sure, I'm all right. But the world is a mess. It's a good thing we have the gospel to share with others, and that the gospel sends us out in the world to minister in Jesus' name. We've got to do something. But what? Maybe I can get an idea on the internet. (reaches for his cell phone as the others grab his stuff) Hey! Hey! I'm provoked. Do you hear me? I'm provoked to love and good deeds. How about you? (to congregation) How about you? If you are provoked to love and good deeds, then join me in one last rousing chorus!
Congregation: (sings chorus) Hallelujah, we're God's people.
Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
From our building and our steeple
Let us live out God's Word.
