Anthrocide

This weekend we are doing 4 performances (including the videoed dress rehearsal) of a musical drama about Jesus from the perspective of the two Sanhedrin members who believed in Him: Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. It is a marvelous play with excellent and effective music. So much so that I have been inviting people at work, etc., and offering to buy lunch (or dinner in one case) if they attend a performance and are not emotionally moved. Several have said they plan to come. I seriously doubt I’ll be buying any meals. There are scenes and songs that still give me goosebumps and this is the second year I’ve been in it. In one particular scene, last year I could hear audience members sniffling into Kleenexes.

While all of that is well and good, I’ve been pondering the question: What is my goal in being in this production?

Sure, it will be nice to hear the applause of people who were entertained, even moved. It is cool to think that, driving home, people will comment on the beautiful voice of the woman who portrays Mary or the man who portrays Nicodemus. It will be even neater to have someone come up to me at work on Monday and say, “That was great; and I love your church.” But my aim is something else.

Yes, of course it is to please the Lord. But one can do that without costumes, makeup (ugh!), and months of rehearsal. No, my true, deepest, desire and prayer is that somewhere in one of those audiences someone (or several someones) who do not have a vital relationship with the Lord will realize their need to completely give their lives to Him. I don’t expect them to do so immediately after the finale. But I want awakened in them a realization of what that emptiness they have is and that He can fill it. For them to see that there is more to life than the daily grind, shopping malls, and occasional recreation just to chase away the boredom or, perhaps, the pain. To see that life can go from being pointless stumbling into the fearful blackness of the future to being a wondrous adventure led by a Guide you trust completely. A life with purpose, power, and a “point” to it.

That is what Jesus has given me for 38 years and I would not trade any of it. It is a message I yearn for others to grasp. Perhaps those with humble, open hearts will.