Repentance
Drama
Watch And Pray
Meditations In Dramatic Form For The Season Of Lent
1 - Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand!
2 - Repent!
3 - Repent!
4 - Turn from your sin and repent!
5 - Each year we hear these cries.
6 - Each Lenten season reminds us that we are sinners and need God's salvation.
7 - Last week, we called for all to examine themselves,
8 - to look into the darkness of their own souls.
9 - But repentance is more than feeling regret or remorse for our sin.
10 - Repentance is actively turning away from that sin and accepting the challenge to live a godly life.
11 - We say yes to the challenge when we turn away from our human nature and respond to God's gift of grace.
12 - But we do not repent once and go on to live godly lives.
13 - We repent daily.
14 - We turn to God daily for his grace to carry on in our human weakness.
15 - Each day we need to be born again to accept this challenge.
16 - WATCH AND PRAY.
17 - A reading from the book of Jeremiah, the prophet.
The Lord told me to say to his people, "When someone falls down, doesn't he get back up? If someone misses the road, doesn't he turn back? Why then, my people, do you turn away from me without ever turning back? You cling to your idols and refuse to return to me. I listened carefully, but you did not speak the truth. Not one of you has been sorry for his wickedness; not one of you has asked, 'What have I done wrong?' Everyone keeps on going his own way, like a horse rushing into battle. Even storks know when it is time to return; doves, swallows, and thrushes know when it is time to migrate. But, my people, you do not know the laws by which I rule you."
Here ends the reading.
18 - In baptism, we receive a promise.
19 - A promise of grace.
20 - In Adam and Eve, we received a worldly nature that rejected God and his creation.
21 - But through baptism, we drown the old nature and receive a new nature.
22 - We become new creations.
23 - We are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the Cross of Christ forever.
24 - We often forget this promise, however.
25 - It is much easier to follow the path of Adam than to follow the path of Christ.
26 - That is why we have said we must actively turn away from sin.
27 - That is why we say we must repent daily.
28 - And Jeremiah tells us what repentance is:
29 - Repentance is knowing that we have fallen and need to get back up.
30 - Repentance is knowing when we have taken the wrong road and need to turn back and find the right one.
31 - Birds know when to return in the spring,
32 - and Lent is our season to return to our God.
33 - WATCH AND PRAY.
34 - A reading from Paul's letter to the Romans.
For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose. It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. But God has shown us how much he loves us - it was while we were sinners that Christ died for us! By his sacrificial death we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God's anger! We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life! But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God's friends.
Here ends the reading.
35 - When we turn to Christ, he accepts us, even though we were once his enemies.
36 - Jesus takes us in when he should want nothing to do with us.
37 - Are we to ignore his example?
38 - Jesus prayed for the ones who nailed him to the cross.
39 - How many of us would pray for a person holding a gun to our heart?
40 - Of course, this is the obvious scenario when we speak of enemies. We imagine a violent or brutal crime.
41 - But few of us ever meet such a frightening situation.
42 - In fact, some of us may feel we have no enemies at all.
43 - But we do have enemies if we include all the people we simply don't get along with.
44 - If we consider these people enemies, we must realize that what makes two people enemies has more to do with the sinfulness of our human nature than with the righteousness of one over the other.
45 - We must learn to admit that we are not wholly righteous and those who oppose us are not wholly unrighteous.
46 - We do not have the ability nor the right to judge another.
47 - All we can do is be sure of our own sincere attempts at repentance.
48 - From there we must trust God's grace.
49 - WATCH AND PRAY.
50 - A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke.
51 - GLORY TO YOU, O LORD.
52 - At that time some people were there who told Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices to God. Jesus answered them, "Because those Galileans were killed in that way, do you think it proves that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No indeed! And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did. What about those eighteen people in Sioam who were killed when the tower fell on them? Do you suppose this proves that they were worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem? No indeed! And! tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did."
The Gospel of the Lord.
53 - PRAISE TO YOU, O CHRIST.
54 - The lesson of the Gospel is clear.
55 - God's judgment falls on all people. His grace is equally distributed as well.
56 - Those who suffer are not in punishment,
57 - and those who lead lives free of tragedy are not necessarily godly people.
58 - But all are in need of God's loving salvation.
59 - All are in need of repentance,
60 - our enemies
61 - and ourselves.
62 - For none of us would be found worthy in and of our own deeds.
63 - Praise God for the means to salvation.
64 - Praise God for a refuge from the storms of sin and death.
65 - Praise God for the sacrifice of his Son, who calls us to turn and be with him.
66 - WATCH AND PRAY.
67 - We can see the cross.
2 - Repent!
3 - Repent!
4 - Turn from your sin and repent!
5 - Each year we hear these cries.
6 - Each Lenten season reminds us that we are sinners and need God's salvation.
7 - Last week, we called for all to examine themselves,
8 - to look into the darkness of their own souls.
9 - But repentance is more than feeling regret or remorse for our sin.
10 - Repentance is actively turning away from that sin and accepting the challenge to live a godly life.
11 - We say yes to the challenge when we turn away from our human nature and respond to God's gift of grace.
12 - But we do not repent once and go on to live godly lives.
13 - We repent daily.
14 - We turn to God daily for his grace to carry on in our human weakness.
15 - Each day we need to be born again to accept this challenge.
16 - WATCH AND PRAY.
17 - A reading from the book of Jeremiah, the prophet.
The Lord told me to say to his people, "When someone falls down, doesn't he get back up? If someone misses the road, doesn't he turn back? Why then, my people, do you turn away from me without ever turning back? You cling to your idols and refuse to return to me. I listened carefully, but you did not speak the truth. Not one of you has been sorry for his wickedness; not one of you has asked, 'What have I done wrong?' Everyone keeps on going his own way, like a horse rushing into battle. Even storks know when it is time to return; doves, swallows, and thrushes know when it is time to migrate. But, my people, you do not know the laws by which I rule you."
Here ends the reading.
18 - In baptism, we receive a promise.
19 - A promise of grace.
20 - In Adam and Eve, we received a worldly nature that rejected God and his creation.
21 - But through baptism, we drown the old nature and receive a new nature.
22 - We become new creations.
23 - We are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the Cross of Christ forever.
24 - We often forget this promise, however.
25 - It is much easier to follow the path of Adam than to follow the path of Christ.
26 - That is why we have said we must actively turn away from sin.
27 - That is why we say we must repent daily.
28 - And Jeremiah tells us what repentance is:
29 - Repentance is knowing that we have fallen and need to get back up.
30 - Repentance is knowing when we have taken the wrong road and need to turn back and find the right one.
31 - Birds know when to return in the spring,
32 - and Lent is our season to return to our God.
33 - WATCH AND PRAY.
34 - A reading from Paul's letter to the Romans.
For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose. It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. But God has shown us how much he loves us - it was while we were sinners that Christ died for us! By his sacrificial death we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God's anger! We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life! But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God's friends.
Here ends the reading.
35 - When we turn to Christ, he accepts us, even though we were once his enemies.
36 - Jesus takes us in when he should want nothing to do with us.
37 - Are we to ignore his example?
38 - Jesus prayed for the ones who nailed him to the cross.
39 - How many of us would pray for a person holding a gun to our heart?
40 - Of course, this is the obvious scenario when we speak of enemies. We imagine a violent or brutal crime.
41 - But few of us ever meet such a frightening situation.
42 - In fact, some of us may feel we have no enemies at all.
43 - But we do have enemies if we include all the people we simply don't get along with.
44 - If we consider these people enemies, we must realize that what makes two people enemies has more to do with the sinfulness of our human nature than with the righteousness of one over the other.
45 - We must learn to admit that we are not wholly righteous and those who oppose us are not wholly unrighteous.
46 - We do not have the ability nor the right to judge another.
47 - All we can do is be sure of our own sincere attempts at repentance.
48 - From there we must trust God's grace.
49 - WATCH AND PRAY.
50 - A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke.
51 - GLORY TO YOU, O LORD.
52 - At that time some people were there who told Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices to God. Jesus answered them, "Because those Galileans were killed in that way, do you think it proves that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No indeed! And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did. What about those eighteen people in Sioam who were killed when the tower fell on them? Do you suppose this proves that they were worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem? No indeed! And! tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did."
The Gospel of the Lord.
53 - PRAISE TO YOU, O CHRIST.
54 - The lesson of the Gospel is clear.
55 - God's judgment falls on all people. His grace is equally distributed as well.
56 - Those who suffer are not in punishment,
57 - and those who lead lives free of tragedy are not necessarily godly people.
58 - But all are in need of God's loving salvation.
59 - All are in need of repentance,
60 - our enemies
61 - and ourselves.
62 - For none of us would be found worthy in and of our own deeds.
63 - Praise God for the means to salvation.
64 - Praise God for a refuge from the storms of sin and death.
65 - Praise God for the sacrifice of his Son, who calls us to turn and be with him.
66 - WATCH AND PRAY.
67 - We can see the cross.
