Last Sunday (March 15), the St. Andrew Youth Group served as worship leaders, ushers, communion assistants, and even preached the sermon! It was both enjoyable and enlightening as we saw and heard a new take on a very old and familiar Bible passage. The Gospel lesson was a portion of the third book of John, and included the very familiar verse 16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
Through an original skit, with minimal props, we followed Pastor Zach through a day filled with frustration, aggravation, and futility. His day got off to a bad start with no coffee at home, and a mix-up on his order at Donutland. He got stuck in traffic, rushed past some bothersome street people, and then couldn’t get his congregation to listen to his sermon! Interestingly, at each juncture in this bad day, when our beleaguered pastor reacted with anger and impatience, a tall young man standing a little over to the side would say calmly, “But God still loved him.”
The skit wrapped up with the group reminding us of God’s never-ending love, and the great gift we have been given in the person of his Son, Jesus. The presentation was done so creatively, and it not only provided plenty of smiles and laughter, it was also a fine illustration of this beautiful statement of faith.
A classic children’s book is “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” by Judith Viorst, and as the title tells us, a little boy had nothing but problems from the beginning to the end of his day. But Alexander learned that bad days do come to an end, you can get through them, and the people who love you will help you.
This same theme played out in the story our young people told us — that even when someone behaves badly, and forgets he or she is a child of God, that foundation of love is still there, never letting us down. That is the source of strength and hope when we have to deal with irritations, frustrations, or truly terrible, difficult situations. And Pastor Zach was a good sport about the liberties taken with his sunny disposition. Opportunities to learn about and hear God’s word come to us in many forms, and that is something for which we can all be thankful.
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers