Jesus Teaches the Disciples

For Year B Proper 20.  Mark 9:30-37.  "Jesus speaks again about his death," "Who Is the Greatest?"  There are several pieces for this story: walking and sitting Jesus, walking and sitting disciples, three crosses, a risen cross, columns and a child.

I wonder if you have ever tried to teach something that was hard to understand

I wonder if you have ever tried to explain something to someone and they didn't understand what you were saying.

 

In today's story, Jesus tries to teach his disciples some things but his disciples don't get it.

 

Jesus [place the walking Jesus] and his disciples [place the walking disciples] were passing though Galilee.  Jesus didn't want anyone to know because he was teaching his disciples, saying, "I will be betrayed and handed over to the soldiers.  They will kill me, [place the three crosses and pause] and three days after I've been killed, I will rise again.  [remove the three crosses and place the risen cross, pause] But the disciples didn't understand what Jesus was saying and were afraid to ask him what he meant.

 

They came to Capernaum. [place the columns] When they were alone, Jesus asked the disciples, "What were you arguing about along the way?"  The disciples were silent because along the way, they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.

 

Jesus [remove the walking Jesus and place the sitting Jesus] sat down, called the disciples [remove the walking disciples and place the standing disciples] to him and said, "Whoever wants to be first, must be last of all and servant of all." 

 

Then he took a little child [place the child before the disciples, pause] and put it among them; and taking the child into his arms, [move the child to Jesus's lap] he said to them, "Whoever receives one such child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me, but God who sent me."

 

I wonder what the most important part of that story was.

I wonder what part you liked the most

I wonder what part could have been left out

I wonder which part of the story you are experiencing right now

Lady Wisdom Cries Out

This is the story for Year B Proper 19, Proverbs 1:20-33.  The figure pieces are Lady Wisdom, a marketplace, city gates, and four groups of people.

I wonder if you have ever had something important to tell people, but no one would listen to you.  I wonder how it made you feel that no one would listen to the important thing you had to say.

 

This is a story about a woman who has something important for everyone to hear.

 

Her name is Lady Wisdom.  In Greek, her name is Sophia and in Hebrew, her name is Hohkma.

 

Listen!  Lady Wisdom  is in the street, [place Lady Wisdom in the center of the storyboard] in the marketplace [place the marketplace in an upper corner] and on the busiest street corners.  She is at the entrance to the city gates.  [place the city gates opposite the marketplace]

 

Wherever there were lots of people, there was Lady wisdom calling out.  [place four groups of people surrounding Lady Wisdom]

 

"Fools!" she says, "How long will you be foolish? How long will you make fun of important news?  I want to tell you about God.  But you won't listen.  I want to share wise things with you, but you walk away!  Listen to me.  When you are afraid, God is with you.  When your world is troubled, God will keep you safe."

 

But no one listened to her.  Some people laughed.  Others walked away. [remove two groups of people]

 

"You laugh at me and you don't listen.  When something bad happens, you won't know how to talk to God.  If you keep ignoring me, when you need help, you won't know that God is there.  When trouble comes like a whirlwind and you are distressed and anguished, you won't be able to find God."

 

Nobody listened to Lady Wisdom.  They all just kept going in their busy lives. [remove two more groups of people leaving Lady Wisdom alone on the story board]

 

So Lady Wisdom kept calling out, hoping someone would hear her.

 

[pause]

 

I wonder what part of that story you liked most.

I wonder what the most important part of that story is.

I wonder what part of that story you are experiencing right now.

I wonder what part of that story could be left out.

 

Ephphatha

I'm back and experimenting with "Godly Play" story style.  The figures needed for this story which appears in Year B Proper 18 of the revised common lectionary are: Jesus, a Sea of Galilee, the man whose ears will be opened, and I used the words: "Be Opened!" "Opened" "Released" "Hear" and "Speak"

What does it mean to be amazed?

I wonder what would amaze you

I wonder what would make you so amazed, you would want to run out and tell everybody about it

 

This is a story about Jesus that made some people so amazed, they ran out and told everybody what had happened.

 

Jesus [place the Jesus figure in the center of the story board] was returning to the Sea of Galilee. [I placed a long triangular strip to represent the Sea stretching out to the horizon]

 

They brought to him a man who was deaf and could not speak.  They begged him to lay his hands on him.

 

Jesus took the man [place the man before Jesus] aside, away from the crowd.  He put his fingers in the man's ears; he spat and touched the man's tongue.  Then he looked up to heaven, sighed and said, "Ephphatha," which means, "Be Opened!" [place the words "Be Opened" at the top of the storyboard]

 

Immediately, the man's ears were opened [place each of the following words when they are spoken] and his tongue was released. And he could speak clearly.

 

Jesus ordered them to tell no one.  But the more he ordered them, the more they told EVERYONE.  They said, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

 

[pause]

 

I wonder what the most important part of the story is

I wonder what part of the story do you like most

I wonder what part of this story is most amazing

I wonder if there is a part of this story we could leave out

I wonder what part of the story you are experiencing right now

As I use the story in the middle of worship, I don't put the pieces away when the time of wondering is done.  However, if I were using the story separate from larger service, I would light a candle at the beginning, perhaps with a prayer, some breath work and silence.  At the end, I would carefully remove each of the pieces reminding the listeners of the part each piece played in the story.

I'm using free hand drawings on white paper stuck to a black sheet as a story board.