BACK COUNCIL 5'2m*f RT: Jerusalem council, works, baptism, sabbath (RT == Readers' Theater: requires little or no memorization, little or no rehearsal. An indefinite number of delegates are salted throughout the audience.) PETER -- (enters wearing tunic and sandals, crosses to podium) Welcome to the Jerusalem Council, fellow Christians! We have delegates here at this council from all over the Roman Empire. I'm sorry that it took such a heated controversy to get us all together for a reunion, but I am pleased to see so many old friends again. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Simon Son of Jonah. To some of you I am also known as Peter. I am an apostle of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. DELEGATE -- (stands in audience) How do you stand on the issue of circumcision? DELEGATE -- (stands in audience) Yes, why are Paul and Barnabas allowed to convert the gentiles to Christianity without requiring them to be circumcised? DELEGATE -- Paul of all people should know better! He's a Pharisee! DELEGATE -- I think Paul has lost his mind! (all shout their own personal biases about Paul and circumcision) PETER -- (raises hands) People, please! (waits for crowd to quiet) Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are. DELEGATE -- (stands in audience) Then why did the Lord command circumcision through Abraham and Moses? DELEGATE -- (stands in audience) Has Paul's craziness infested your mind too?! (all shout their own personal biases about Paul and circumcision) JAMES -- (enters wearing tunic and sandals, raises his arms) Please! Please! Listen to me. Peter and Paul are right. DELEGATE -- (stands in audience) They have all taken leave of their senses. DELEGATE -- (stands in audience) Who is this stranger? He's not an apostle! JAMES -- (steps up to podium) I am James, Son of Joseph. I am the brother of Jesus our Lord. DELEGATE -- You have no right to speak to this assembly. This is a CHRISTIAN assembly! JAMES -- I am a Christian. DELEGATE -- Merely SAYING you're a Christian doesn't MAKE you a Christian. PETER -- I will attest to this man. James did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God until after Jesus rose from the dead. Now, he is not only a believer, he is one of the pillars of the church. JAMES -- Brothers, listen to me, please. (all grumble and sit) JAMES - Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: "After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things" that have been known for ages. DELEGATE -- (stands) So, you're siding with Paul too?! DELEGATE -- No circumcision? PETER -- Circumcision, like the Sabbath and the passover observance, was given to us Jews, not to the gentiles. JAMES -- But, you see, people, all of these observances were given as a foreshadow of Jesus and all were fulfilled in Jesus. PETER -- That's right. Jesus himself is our circumcision. He himself is the flesh that was cut off from mankind. JAMES -- Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. HE is our sabbath rest. DELEGATE -- I suppose you're going to tell us that the gentiles don't have to even be baptized to be saved! PETER -- The Lord is the cleansing for our sins. JAMES -- That's right. Jesus is our baptism. And we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. PETER -- That's not to say that we shouldn't be baptized. JAMES -- We SHOULD be baptized. Jesus himself commanded baptism, but it isn't baptism that saves you. PETER -- You have been saved by a person, not a ritual. JAMES -- No ritual can save you. It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. PETER -- I agree. If we command any Christian whether Jew or gentile to do ANY ritual that Jesus himself did not command them, we run the risk that people will conclude that it is the ritual itself that saves you, not the person the ritual points to. DELEGATE -- Well, then, if you're going to go that far, why even forbid food polluted by idols, or sexual immorality or strangled animals or blood? DELEGATE -- Yes, if the letter you write to the gentiles is not going to require any of the Jewish rituals, perhaps you should not give the gentiles any Jewish prohibitions either. JAMES -- These prohibitions I've mentioned are common practices of idol worshippers. Do you want our believers to be counted as idol worshippers? DELEGATE -- Well, no. DELEGATE -- I suppose it would be alright to set us apart from idol worshippers. PETER -- Very well, then, let's all go back to our churches and tell them that circumcision, and baptism, and the passover meal, and all the Jewish observances have been fulfilled in Christ. JAMES -- Yes, and let's all celebrate our freedom in Christ! (cast members in audience applaud as James and Peter exit) ©2007 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: Do not sell any part of this script, even if you rewrite it. Pay no royalties, even if you make money from performances. You may reproduce and distribute this script freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.fea.net/bobsnook email: bobsnook@fea.net BACK |