First Sunday In Lent
Monologues
MY TOMB WAS EMPTY
Seven Monologues For Lent And Easter
ORDER OF SERVICE
Prelude
Call To Worship (Responsive)
Leader: There are so many ways to see things, Lord.
People: There are so many people touched by Jesus.
Leader: Touch us as we come to know these three who walked with
him.
People: And change us as we consider him from other points of view.
Opening Hymn -- "More About Jesus Would I Know"
Invocation (Unison)
Dear God, We know you are and always have been a forgiving God.
We know, too, that none except you can know our thoughts or see
within our hearts. As we consider three who walked with Jesus
here tonight, we can't know exactly what they felt or thought,
but maybe as we wonder about them, we will be changed. Make it
so, Lord. Make it so! Amen.
Scripture -- Matthew 26:6-16
Introduction Of Character -- Prefaces the monologue
Dramatic Monologue -- "What's A Savior Worth?"
Pastoral Prayer
Hymn Of Commitment -- " 'Are Ye Able,' Said The Master"
Benediction
Loving and gracious God, send us forth considering the questions
asked by those who visited us here today, and remind us daily of
the meaning of the Lenten season. Amen.
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
Matthew 26:6-16
What's A
Savior Worth?
We don't often talk about money in the church, but the
scripture talks about it all the time.
Now don't panic! This is not going to be a sermon about money.
It's going to be about just what the sermon topic says -- "What's
A Savior Worth?"
If you listened to the scripture, you heard two different
stories, one story of a young woman who poured a flask of
expensive oil on Jesus' head, and another story about Judas who
sought out the authorities and negotiated with them to betray
Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
Nowhere else in the scriptures are these stories told as fully
as they are in Matthew, and the contrast between them is immense.
Do you know how much that oil was worth? John tells us it
could have been sold for 300 denarii, about $10,000 in our money.
In one simple act, that woman spent $10,000 on Jesus and then
just a few verses later, Judas, for whatever reason, agreed to
betray him for 30 pieces of silver.
What's a Savior worth? For this Lent and Easter season I want
to do something different. I'd like us to look back at Matthew's
story and hear the voices of some who answered the question,
"What's a Savior worth?" in different ways. Let's start with the
rich young man. Will you pause with me and hear his voice for a
moment?
The Rich Young Man
I don't know why I did it really.
I thought I had been faithful. Maybe I just wanted this great
teacher to look me in the eye and tell me so. Or maybe I really
wondered. Maybe no matter how I tried to keep the law, I had some
sort of sense that keeping the law was not enough. Maybe I wanted
him to tell me what he told me.
In any case, I went up to him, like a lot of you would. I
tried to be humble in his presence.
I don't know if you can understand how powerful a man like
Jesus is. Sometimes I think you all take him to be too easy.
He had fire and determination in his eyes. He had a vision,
God's vision, I think now. He was willing to give anything God
asked or do anything God commanded to see God's kingdom come.
We didn't know all that right then, of course. He was a great
teacher who inspired awe or sometimes hatred, and I went up to
him and said to him, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to obtain
eternal life?"
I'll never forget the great sadness in his eyes. He looked at
me as if he already knew the outcome of the conversation, but I
think he loved me too.
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" he asked. "One there
is who is good." He looked down in careful reverence as he said
it. But then he told me, "If you would enter life, keep the
commandments," and my heart surged.
I could have told him that I already do that. But I didn't
want to appear too eager, so instead, I said, "Which ones?" and
he listed several. "You shall not kill, or commit adultery, or
steal or bear false witness." And there were more.
"All these I have observed ... ," I said, and somehow my heart
jumped within me. I was about to hear what I wanted to hear. I
was about to be told I had earned eternal life.
But that's not what happened. Instead, Jesus, a great teacher,
just looked at me with sadness in his eyes and said, "If you
would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me."
Friends, we need to be careful with our words. I know there
are those of you out there who quote pieces of the Bible and use
them to condemn one another.
There are those who will speak about adultery or divorce,
quoting pieces of the Bible.
Don't you feel self-righteous when you do that?
Dear friends, let me warn you to be careful about what you
say. How many of you could look the Savior in the eyes and have
him say to you, "Go and sell everything you own and give to the
poor, and then follow me?" How many of you could hear those words
and not be condemned?
And so I was condemned. And so I had to walk away in sorrow,
and even more than that, in grief.
I couldn't do what he asked of me. I had a wife and family. I
had so many servants to take care of, so many fields to have
tended.
What's a Savior worth? Tell me that, dear friends. What's a
Savior worth? Is he worth everything you own and everything you
have?
You have an advantage I didn't. You've seen the crucifixion
and the resurrection. I saw them, or at least I heard of
the resurrection, and I know now what my sinful life was worth.
Sometimes I wonder if Jesus' answer to me wasn't his way of
saying, "There's no way for you to earn salvation." I don't want
to make it too easy, but sometimes I wonder if he was saying to
me, even then, "Don't depend on your own wealth. Depend on me."
But even if that's exactly what he was saying, I still have to
wonder if he wouldn't say to me right now, "Sell all you have and
give to the poor and follow me."
And even after the crucifixion and the resurrection, I still
have to wonder if I could do that.
________
So there's one point of view.
And here's another. Here's the point of view of Mary's husband
Joseph.
Joseph's Point Of View
When I think what the Savior's worth, I think he's worth a
mother's tears. I don't want to talk about myself today. I want
to talk about Mary.
She was just a young woman, little more than a child when she
prayed, "My soul magnifies the Lord."
Think about what it means to say that.
How many of us can say that? Could God have come into the
world as a human being if it weren't for Mary or some other
faithful woman like her? "He has regarded the low estate of his
handmaiden," she said.
She knew how blessed she was. She knew she was to be the
instrument of the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham. She
knew God had come to her, in part, because she was poor and
hurting, just a lowly woman in a society which values men. She
even said God had sent the rich away empty and had fed the poor.
But if that's true, why did she have to cry? Why did she have
to stand at the foot of the cross and watch her son suffer? Why
did she have to walk with him to his grave?
All the men were gone from that lonely crucifixion hill,
except maybe the beloved disciple, and aside from him, it was the
women who remained. It was the women who stood there and watched
the one they had loved -- no, more than loved -- they hoped in him,
and yet they watched him die.
I like to think that, as his father, I would have been there,
but I was dead long before all that, and even so, I wonder.
What's a Savior worth? Is a Savior worth a mother's tears? Is
a Savior worth a mother's hopes, turned somehow upside down and
fulfilled in a way which even she could not have anticipated or
understood?
What's a Savior worth? I was dead before my Jesus died, and so
I didn't get to ask that question, but if I were to ask Mary now,
I think I know what she'd say, "A Savior's worth a mother's
tears," she'd say. "He's worth a mother's tears because in his
life and especially in his death and resurrection he scattered
the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he put down the
mighty from their thrones, and he exalted those of low degree."
________
And finally, there's a third voice to be heard today, the
voice of Judas.
Judas
I don't know if I can tell you this and have you hear it in
the way I hope you'll hear it. If there's just one thing you can
do today, let it be this thing.
Think about your life when it is over. Think about the regrets
you'll have.
I wish I'd done that. I couldn't know who Jesus was. I
couldn't. I wanted a different kind of kingdom than he seemed to
want, and maybe I wanted a bigger part in it.
I'm not going to apologize for that. I think most of you would
have been the same. There aren't very many Marys in the world.
And there aren't many like Zacchaeus either.
So I don't think I have to apologize. Even Peter denied his
Savior. Even for Peter, Jesus wasn't worth the embarrassment --
yes, I think it was embarrassment, not just fear for his life
that made Peter deny Jesus ... even for Peter Jesus wasn't worth
the embarrassment of having to claim him when he was about to
die.
But let's leave all that aside for a minute, and let's go back
to what it was that I was saying. The one thing I wish I'd done
was to think about my life when it was over.
I might not have been able to know who Jesus was or what kind
of kingdom it was he had come to bring, but if I'd just thought
about it, I could have understood how terrible it would be to be
the one who sold him.
There's where the terror is, dear friends. It's in having to
be the one who sold him.
You may see hell as a place of fire like your poet Dante did.
But I know what hell is. Hell is having to live with yourself
eternally knowing that you're the one who sold the Savior.
Listen, dear friends. Please listen. I don't know how it is
you sell the Savior in your life. I'm tempted to list some ways,
but I don't think I should.
All I think I need to say is this -- I don't know how it is you
sell the Savior in your life, but however it is, think about what
it will be like for you to be -- eternally -- the one who sold him.
________
Three voices, each voice a projection of what those people
might have thought and been. My prayer is that each voice will
help us ask in our own lives -- "What's the Savior worth?" Amen.
Prelude
Call To Worship (Responsive)
Leader: There are so many ways to see things, Lord.
People: There are so many people touched by Jesus.
Leader: Touch us as we come to know these three who walked with
him.
People: And change us as we consider him from other points of view.
Opening Hymn -- "More About Jesus Would I Know"
Invocation (Unison)
Dear God, We know you are and always have been a forgiving God.
We know, too, that none except you can know our thoughts or see
within our hearts. As we consider three who walked with Jesus
here tonight, we can't know exactly what they felt or thought,
but maybe as we wonder about them, we will be changed. Make it
so, Lord. Make it so! Amen.
Scripture -- Matthew 26:6-16
Introduction Of Character -- Prefaces the monologue
Dramatic Monologue -- "What's A Savior Worth?"
Pastoral Prayer
Hymn Of Commitment -- " 'Are Ye Able,' Said The Master"
Benediction
Loving and gracious God, send us forth considering the questions
asked by those who visited us here today, and remind us daily of
the meaning of the Lenten season. Amen.
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
Matthew 26:6-16
What's A
Savior Worth?
We don't often talk about money in the church, but the
scripture talks about it all the time.
Now don't panic! This is not going to be a sermon about money.
It's going to be about just what the sermon topic says -- "What's
A Savior Worth?"
If you listened to the scripture, you heard two different
stories, one story of a young woman who poured a flask of
expensive oil on Jesus' head, and another story about Judas who
sought out the authorities and negotiated with them to betray
Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
Nowhere else in the scriptures are these stories told as fully
as they are in Matthew, and the contrast between them is immense.
Do you know how much that oil was worth? John tells us it
could have been sold for 300 denarii, about $10,000 in our money.
In one simple act, that woman spent $10,000 on Jesus and then
just a few verses later, Judas, for whatever reason, agreed to
betray him for 30 pieces of silver.
What's a Savior worth? For this Lent and Easter season I want
to do something different. I'd like us to look back at Matthew's
story and hear the voices of some who answered the question,
"What's a Savior worth?" in different ways. Let's start with the
rich young man. Will you pause with me and hear his voice for a
moment?
The Rich Young Man
I don't know why I did it really.
I thought I had been faithful. Maybe I just wanted this great
teacher to look me in the eye and tell me so. Or maybe I really
wondered. Maybe no matter how I tried to keep the law, I had some
sort of sense that keeping the law was not enough. Maybe I wanted
him to tell me what he told me.
In any case, I went up to him, like a lot of you would. I
tried to be humble in his presence.
I don't know if you can understand how powerful a man like
Jesus is. Sometimes I think you all take him to be too easy.
He had fire and determination in his eyes. He had a vision,
God's vision, I think now. He was willing to give anything God
asked or do anything God commanded to see God's kingdom come.
We didn't know all that right then, of course. He was a great
teacher who inspired awe or sometimes hatred, and I went up to
him and said to him, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to obtain
eternal life?"
I'll never forget the great sadness in his eyes. He looked at
me as if he already knew the outcome of the conversation, but I
think he loved me too.
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" he asked. "One there
is who is good." He looked down in careful reverence as he said
it. But then he told me, "If you would enter life, keep the
commandments," and my heart surged.
I could have told him that I already do that. But I didn't
want to appear too eager, so instead, I said, "Which ones?" and
he listed several. "You shall not kill, or commit adultery, or
steal or bear false witness." And there were more.
"All these I have observed ... ," I said, and somehow my heart
jumped within me. I was about to hear what I wanted to hear. I
was about to be told I had earned eternal life.
But that's not what happened. Instead, Jesus, a great teacher,
just looked at me with sadness in his eyes and said, "If you
would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me."
Friends, we need to be careful with our words. I know there
are those of you out there who quote pieces of the Bible and use
them to condemn one another.
There are those who will speak about adultery or divorce,
quoting pieces of the Bible.
Don't you feel self-righteous when you do that?
Dear friends, let me warn you to be careful about what you
say. How many of you could look the Savior in the eyes and have
him say to you, "Go and sell everything you own and give to the
poor, and then follow me?" How many of you could hear those words
and not be condemned?
And so I was condemned. And so I had to walk away in sorrow,
and even more than that, in grief.
I couldn't do what he asked of me. I had a wife and family. I
had so many servants to take care of, so many fields to have
tended.
What's a Savior worth? Tell me that, dear friends. What's a
Savior worth? Is he worth everything you own and everything you
have?
You have an advantage I didn't. You've seen the crucifixion
and the resurrection. I saw them, or at least I heard of
the resurrection, and I know now what my sinful life was worth.
Sometimes I wonder if Jesus' answer to me wasn't his way of
saying, "There's no way for you to earn salvation." I don't want
to make it too easy, but sometimes I wonder if he was saying to
me, even then, "Don't depend on your own wealth. Depend on me."
But even if that's exactly what he was saying, I still have to
wonder if he wouldn't say to me right now, "Sell all you have and
give to the poor and follow me."
And even after the crucifixion and the resurrection, I still
have to wonder if I could do that.
________
So there's one point of view.
And here's another. Here's the point of view of Mary's husband
Joseph.
Joseph's Point Of View
When I think what the Savior's worth, I think he's worth a
mother's tears. I don't want to talk about myself today. I want
to talk about Mary.
She was just a young woman, little more than a child when she
prayed, "My soul magnifies the Lord."
Think about what it means to say that.
How many of us can say that? Could God have come into the
world as a human being if it weren't for Mary or some other
faithful woman like her? "He has regarded the low estate of his
handmaiden," she said.
She knew how blessed she was. She knew she was to be the
instrument of the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham. She
knew God had come to her, in part, because she was poor and
hurting, just a lowly woman in a society which values men. She
even said God had sent the rich away empty and had fed the poor.
But if that's true, why did she have to cry? Why did she have
to stand at the foot of the cross and watch her son suffer? Why
did she have to walk with him to his grave?
All the men were gone from that lonely crucifixion hill,
except maybe the beloved disciple, and aside from him, it was the
women who remained. It was the women who stood there and watched
the one they had loved -- no, more than loved -- they hoped in him,
and yet they watched him die.
I like to think that, as his father, I would have been there,
but I was dead long before all that, and even so, I wonder.
What's a Savior worth? Is a Savior worth a mother's tears? Is
a Savior worth a mother's hopes, turned somehow upside down and
fulfilled in a way which even she could not have anticipated or
understood?
What's a Savior worth? I was dead before my Jesus died, and so
I didn't get to ask that question, but if I were to ask Mary now,
I think I know what she'd say, "A Savior's worth a mother's
tears," she'd say. "He's worth a mother's tears because in his
life and especially in his death and resurrection he scattered
the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he put down the
mighty from their thrones, and he exalted those of low degree."
________
And finally, there's a third voice to be heard today, the
voice of Judas.
Judas
I don't know if I can tell you this and have you hear it in
the way I hope you'll hear it. If there's just one thing you can
do today, let it be this thing.
Think about your life when it is over. Think about the regrets
you'll have.
I wish I'd done that. I couldn't know who Jesus was. I
couldn't. I wanted a different kind of kingdom than he seemed to
want, and maybe I wanted a bigger part in it.
I'm not going to apologize for that. I think most of you would
have been the same. There aren't very many Marys in the world.
And there aren't many like Zacchaeus either.
So I don't think I have to apologize. Even Peter denied his
Savior. Even for Peter, Jesus wasn't worth the embarrassment --
yes, I think it was embarrassment, not just fear for his life
that made Peter deny Jesus ... even for Peter Jesus wasn't worth
the embarrassment of having to claim him when he was about to
die.
But let's leave all that aside for a minute, and let's go back
to what it was that I was saying. The one thing I wish I'd done
was to think about my life when it was over.
I might not have been able to know who Jesus was or what kind
of kingdom it was he had come to bring, but if I'd just thought
about it, I could have understood how terrible it would be to be
the one who sold him.
There's where the terror is, dear friends. It's in having to
be the one who sold him.
You may see hell as a place of fire like your poet Dante did.
But I know what hell is. Hell is having to live with yourself
eternally knowing that you're the one who sold the Savior.
Listen, dear friends. Please listen. I don't know how it is
you sell the Savior in your life. I'm tempted to list some ways,
but I don't think I should.
All I think I need to say is this -- I don't know how it is you
sell the Savior in your life, but however it is, think about what
it will be like for you to be -- eternally -- the one who sold him.
________
Three voices, each voice a projection of what those people
might have thought and been. My prayer is that each voice will
help us ask in our own lives -- "What's the Savior worth?" Amen.
