BACK SAVED 5'2m?f David, guilt, salvation, forgiveness BOB -- (enters wearing business suit, carrying Bible, crosses to C, looks over front lip of stage, cringes, backs away, sets down Bible, runs toward edge, stops, looks down, cringes, makes two more unsuccessful attempts to fling himself off the edge of the stage from a standing start) DAVID -- (enters wearing tunic, sandals and crown) Good morning, friend. BOB -- (turns, gasps) Who are you? (losses balance) Wo! DAVID -- (grabs Bob's elbow) Steady there, friend. This building is fifteen stories tall. You could hurt yourself. BOB -- I know. That's the idea. Say. what's with the get-up? (motions broadly to David's clothing) DAVID -- The GET... UP? BOB -- The outfit, the clothing. Why are you dressed that way? DAVID -- I always dress like this. BOB -- Somebody from church sent you here, didn't they? DAVID -- Church? BOB -- Yeah, that's it. Somebody from church somehow read my body language and feared I would try something like this. DAVID -- Church. Oh, church! That's what your people call a gathering of believers of the Lord God. (picks up Bible) And this is your individual copy of the Holy Scriptures. (offers Bible) BOB -- (takes Bible) The Holy Scriptures. Hey, you're pretty good! You've got the character down to a tee. The Holy Scriptures! Very clever. DAVID -- Back in my day not everyone had their own copy of the scriptures. Now it looks like everybody can read the Holy Scriptures and even in their own language. In my day, only the priests and the kings could afford to have a copy of the scriptures and even then, they were only written in one language. But then, of course in my day, there weren't as many Holy Scriptures to copy. BOB -- You're really good. I suppose your not going to tell me who sent you. DAVID -- Sure. It's not a secret. God sent me. BOB -- No. I mean what PERSON sent you? DAVID -- God is a person and he was the one who sent me. BOB -- I can see that this line of questioning is getting me nowhere. How about this? Let me ask WHY God sent you. DAVID -- Because, in spite of the fact that every person in your... CHURCH... has his own personal copy of the scriptures translated to his own language, you still haven't read it. BOB -- Sure I have. DAVID -- How about the passage in Leviticus where it says "Do not LIE, do not DECEIVE one another?" BOB -- Alright, I haven't read it all. But I've read most of it. DAVID -- (tilts head) BOB -- Alright, let's put it this way. I've read a lot of it. DAVID -- Can you tell me where it talks about me? BOB -- And just who are you supposed to be? DAVID -- I am David son of Jesse, King of Israel. BOB -- Sure. DAVID -- Can you tell me where in your personal copy of the Holy Scriptures you will find the story of my life? BOB -- See, I knew it. Someone from the church sent you to lay a guilt trip on me. But let me tell you that I've had just as much guilt as I can handle. That's why I came up here. Now, who are you and how do you know so much about me?! DAVID -- I just told you. I'm David, son of Jesse.... BOB -- ...King of Israel. I heard. Alright, since I'm obviously not going to shake your story, why would God send the King of Israel to interrupt... what I was about to do. DAVID -- God wants you to know that there's more to the Bible than your New Testament. There is much wisdom in the Old Testament as well. And my story is the one God says you need the most. BOB -- If you're trying to get me to admit that I have no idea where your story is, I admit it. I have no idea. DAVID -- My story is in two places. The book of Samuel and the book of Chronicles. Your translator divided both of those books into two smaller books. And I'm in all four smaller books. BOB -- Four books? DAVID -- Four. BOB -- Why would God put you in four books? DAVID -- Maybe you should read them and find out. BOB -- And you say that your story applies to me? DAVID -- Yes. BOB -- Why? I'm no king. I'm not even a president or a CEO. I'm not even a director or a manager. DAVID -- There are two reasons God included me in the scriptures. The first and most important reason is that I was one of the ancestors of Jesus. The second reason is God allowed me to be one of the ancestors of Jesus IN SPITE of the fact that I was an adulterer and a murderer. BOB -- You were?! I mean, of course you were. I knew that. That thing with Bathsheba. I remember that. DAVID -- I stole Bathsheba from her husband and then I had him killed to cover it up. BOB -- Oh. Oh. (paces) Oh. I can't believe my own stupidity! I almost... (points to edge of stage, looks over edge) I must have been out of my mind! (paces) I almost made myself useless to God by... (stops, looks over edge) What was I thinking?! I was so paralyzed by my own guilt that I forgot about God's forgiveness. You committed the two worst sins possible and God forgave you. DAVID -- And he used me to do his work and to produce the offspring that would be his ancestors. BOB -- Hey, if God sent you to see me, he must have a lot of work for me to do too. (opens Bible) I need to get to work (exits, paging) What books did you say you were in again? DAVID -- (follows pointing) Samuel and Chronicles. Second Samuel. There it is. That's me there. ©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 |