Act III

The Tales of BART & ANDY

Have Spirit,

Will Travel

Or

To the Ends of the Earth

Or

The Holy Spirit Really Gets Around!

By

Paul Dallgas-Frey

3.

The PLAYERS

BART & ANDY

Bartholomew and Andrew... yep, again! The Holy Spirit has come – and amazing things are happening!

The TEACHER

She still knows everything!

The SETTING

The UPPER ROOM. Same ol' Upper Room! We see a bare table this time, otherwise, the room is empty. A reproduction of DaVinci's last Supper on the wall might be fun. If you are really ambitious, you could recreate the painting with your actors, one or two of them creating the various poses and then pasting them in with a photo editing program!

The PLAY Begins

Teacher    Welcome back! And look... we're back in the Upper Room again!

                  You remember Bartholomew and Andrew – Bart & Andy – two of Jesus' disciples. When we first met them they were hiding in here, remember? Jesus had died and then 40 days later had gone up into heaven – and now they didn't know what to do.

                  But Jesus promised he would send the Holy Spirit!

                  And that's just what he did – the Holy Spirit came! He came with the roar of a mighty wind and fire, and filled the disciples with his power! We call that day the Day of Pentecost.

                  Well, now it's a little while after that...

                  And the disciples have been busy, spreading the Good News of Jesus all through Jerusalem and all around. And some amazing things have been happening – people who were blind are seeing again, people who couldn't walk got up and walked!

But best of all, people were finding out that God is real – and that he loves us very, very much!

So now, let's see what's been going on with Bart & Andy!

[Bart & Andy come bursting in – carrying two Cokes and a sack from McDonald's

(if you can warm it up so the smell of McDonald's French fries fills the room...

 that would be cruel! :O)  )]

Bart           [overflowing with excitement!] Can you believe it!

Andy         It's a miracle!

Bart           Unbelievable!

Andy         Incredible!

Bart           This whole lunch for less than five dollars!!!

Andy         What???

Bart           Burgers, fries and a Coke – all for less than a five dollars!! It's a miracle!!!

Andy         [shaking his head] Bart, you never cease to amaze me!

Bart           Huh?!

Andy         Nevermind... Let's eat – those fries smell amazing!

[opens the bag and begin to dig into their burgers and fries, slurping Cokes loudly!]

Bart           Hey, Andy...

Andy         What, Bart?

Bart           You gonna eat all your fries???

[Enter Teacher]

Teacher    Ahem!

Bart           What?!

Teacher    Bart... Andy... you know they didn't have McDonald's in your day!

Bart           Burger King?

Teacher    Nope.

Andy         Wendy's? Pizza Hut??? Subway??? [teacher is quietly shaking her head 'no'] They had to have Subway – they're everywhere!

Bart           What's a subway, anyway???

Teacher    It's a train that goes underground... but, never mind that! C'mon, hand it over! [motions for them to fork over the goods! Bart and Andy are pantomiming to each other Ôwhat's a train?']

                  Here... I brought you some nice cheese curds and goat's milk. [pulls out a greasy package wrapped in cloth and a jug of goat's milk... I guess I should have you told you all this before now!)]

Bart           [sniffing the goat's milk suspiciously] Got any chocolate?

Teacher    Sorry.

Bart           Ketchup?

Teacher    Sorry, no... Enjoy your lunch!

Bart           [half-heartedly] Thanks.

[Teacher exits. Bart pulls a bag of fries out from under the table... hushes audience to keep quiet]

Bart           [munching on fry] Hey, Andy...

Andy         [sharing fries] What, Bart?

Bart           Wasn't that amazing?!!

Andy         What now??? These fries??? Those Big Macs we almost had???

Bart           No!!! What we've been doing the last few days!!!

Andy         Ohhh!!!  Totally!!!!

Bart           The blind can see!

Andy         Cripples can walk!

                  But that's not the most amazing thing – just think of how many people have been baptized!

Bart           Hundreds!

Andy         Thousands!

Bart           Lots even!

Andy         And now we all know that when we die – it's not the end – just like it wasn't the end for Jesus. Jesus rose from the dead – and one day, so will we – and we'll live with him forever!

Bart           Amazing!

Andy         Stupendous!

[Pause]

Bart           Hey, Andy...

Andy         What, Bart?

Bart           Our little group isn't so little anymore! The Good News is spreading through all of Jerusalem – and all around! It's spreading like wild fire!

Andy         That's because it IS a fire... well, sort of... the fire of the Holy Spirit!

[pause]

Bart           [Thinking] Hey, Andy...

Andy         What, Bart?

Bart           It's not us.

Andy         Not us, what?

Bart           We're not doing anything amazing.

Andy         No?!

Bart           Nope. The blind seeing, the crippled walking... we're not doing it!

Andy         We're not?!

Bart           No! It's not us – it's the Holy Spirit!

Andy         You're right – it is the Holy Spirit... working in us!

Bart           Without the Holy Spirit...

Andy         ... we'd still be hiding in this room!

Bart           But the Holy Spirit came, just like Jesus promised...

Andy         ... and now we're doing amazing things!

Bart           You mean together with the Holy Spirit we are doing amazing things!

Andy         Yeah... you can't see or hear a spirit...

Bart           But you can see and hear us!

Andy         So the Holy Spirit works through us!

Bart           We go where he sends us...

Andy         And speak the words he wants to speak! We make a pretty good team – the Holy Spirit and us!

Bart           Yea Holy Spirit!!!

[Munch a little on their cheese curds and goat's milk... yum!]

Bart           Hey, Andy...

Andy         What, Bart?

Bart           That was pretty amazing!

Andy         Now what?!

Bart           Philip!

Andy         Philip???

Bart           The story he told! Of how the Holy Spirit used him!

Andy         Oh, yeah! It was amazing!

Bart           Hey... Andy!

Andy         What, Bart?

Bart           Let's act it out! You can pretend you're the Ethiopian, and I can be Philip... want to...?

Andy         I don't know...

Bart           Come on!

Andy         [hesitating] Oh...

Bart           It'll be fun!

Andy         Oh... all right.

Bart           Okay!!! Let's see... here, [pulling a chair out into the center of the room] this will be your chariot. Remember, Philip told us the Holy Spirit sent him to speak to someone riding in a chariot.

Andy         Yeah... but remember, this wasn't just some ordinary someone – he was a powerful official in the court of the QUEEN of Ethiopia... so I wouldn't be driving some cheap two door model chariot! I'd be driving a luxury model!

Bart           Of course! Covered in gold and expensive cloth...

Andy         That's sounds good!

Bart           Four camel drive.... Dual exhaust...

Andy         Huh???

Bart           With built in GPS navigation and DVD players for the kids!

Andy         What?!!!

Bart           Sorry... I must have been dreaming there for a second! Anyway... [grabbing the chair. Sizing up Andy's chariot in admiration] That's one fancy chariot!

Andy         Thanks!

Bart           Hey, Andy...

Andy         What, Bart?

Bart           Where's Ethiopia?

Andy         It's at the end of the earth! Remember how God led Moses and our people out of Egypt? Ethiopia is even farther away than that! You go all the way down through Egypt and then hang a left!

Bart           That is far away!!!

                   ...okay, so let's see, where were we? Oh yeah... Philip said he was in Samaria – telling the people there all about God....

Andy         He was spreading the Good News about Jesus!

Bart           But then the Holy Spirit told him to go down to the desert road, the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Egypt. He told him he would see a chariot there...

Andy         That was the Ethiopian! He came all the way from Ethiopia to worship in the temple in Jerusalem, and now he was on his way back home... he must have really wanted to find God – but he needed someone to guide him.

Bart           Like the Holy Spirit!

Andy         We all need the Holy Spirit to help us know God!

Bart           Okay... So you are the Ethiopian... [Andy strikes an aloof pose, nose in the air... very official! Bouncing along in a chariot.]

                  That's good!

Andy         I am very powerful - don't you forget it!

Bart           Okay... and I'm Philip, and I come running along side, just like the Holy Spirit said I should do. [Begins to jog in place alongside the 'chariot']

Andy         I was reading from the Book of Isaiah [pantomimes reading from a iPad]

Bart           What are you doing???

Andy         All those scrolls are just too big and bulky to carry in a chariot... so I have all the scriptures on this handy little electronic device...

Bart           Andy... what are you talking about??!!

Andy         Oh... sorry! I had the craziest dream lat night! You could put all the Scriptures in something you could hold in your hand!

Bart           That'll never happen!!!

Andy         That's for sure!!! The books of the Scripture are written on a large scrolls... [Pantomimes picking the scroll of Isaiah from a pretend collection] Here... here's the book of Isaiah...

Bart           That's better!

Andy         So... I was reading from Isaiah... [collects himself, opens the scroll and begins to read...]

                  "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

                  like a lamb before the shearer he was silent."

Bart           [as Philip] Do you understand what you are reading?

Andy         [as the Ethiopian] How can I? I don't have anyone to help me!

Bart           I can help you!

Andy         Well, then get in my chariot and show me! [Bart pulls up the other chair next to Andy. They both bounce up and down together for a bit].

                  Now... this part I was reading in Isaiah... it talks about someone being sacrificed... like a lamb... who is Isaiah talking about?

Bart           He was talking about Jesus! Jesus was sacrificed for us. Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sins!

                  [Pantomimes picking up another scroll and turning to another part in the Scripture] See this part here?

Andy         Yeah... I never could understand it...

Bart           It's talking about Jesus! [picks up another scroll] And this part here, this part about the Messiah...

Andy         I don't understand that part either!

Bart           It's talking about Jesus! [reaches down for another scroll] And this part here...

Andy         Let me guess... it's talking about this Jesus too!

Bart           Yep, Jesus! It's ALL about Jesus! Jesus is the One God promised he would send to save us from our sins, so we can live with him in heaven forever!

Andy         What do I have to do to live forever with Jesus?!

Bart           Believe and be baptized!

Andy         Look! There's some water! What's to stop me from being baptized right now!

Bart           Nothing at all!

                  [as himself] So the Ethiopian stopped his chariot right there and they went down into the water – and Philip baptized him right then and there! He baptized him in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Andy         [as himself] And then, when I came up from the water...

[As the Ethiopian, looking around, bewildered] Where'd he go?  Where'd he go?!

Bart           [as himself] Just like that - Philip was gone! The Holy Spirit took him away!

Andy         That must have been a little freaky!

Bart           Totally!

Andy         But I went on my way rejoicing – now I had the joy of the Holy Spirit too!

                  And I brought the Good News all the way to Ethiopia!

Bart           All the way to the ends of the earth!

[slight pause]

Bart           Hey, Andy...

Andy         What Bart?

Bart           Remember what Jesus said, just before he went up into heaven, when he said he would send the Holy Spirit?

Andy         What?

Bart           He said we would receive power from the Holy Spirit, and we would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth!

                  And that's just what's happening!

Andy         Yeah... and I remember now, the prophet Isaiah said the same thing! He said, ÔI will make you a light to the Gentles, that you will bring my saving grace to the ends of the earth!

Bart           WOW! Our God really is a Great God!

Andy         He sure is!

[Enter Teacher. She has goodies - Hostess Twinkies. You'll see why!]

Teacher    Well, the Holy Spirit sure is doing some exciting things!

Bart           Yes he is!

Andy         He wants the whole world to know how much God loves us!

Teacher    Oh, and I think maybe... just maybe... he wanted me to bring you these! [gives them each a Twinkie]

Bart           What are these?!!!

Teacher    Hostess Twinkies! They are delicious... soft yellow cake with a creamy filling!

Bart           Hey! Sort of like us! ...with the Holy Spirit inside!

Teacher    [laughs] Well... maybe! Sort of! But Twinkies haven't been invented yet... so don't tell anyone!

Andy         Thanks!

Bart           Hey Andy...

Andy         What, Bart?

Bart           We've got more work to do! There are still lots of people who don't know about Jesus!

Andy         We better get to work!

Bart           With the Holy Spirit's help!

[They run off]

Teacher    There they go again! They really are letting the Holy Spirit take them wherever he leads!

                  [ad lib... Just some ideas to consider... I am sure you have better ones!] Do you know what your spirit is? You can't see it or touch it. It's like it's inside you... but it is you! Your body is always changing – you don't have the same body you had when you were a baby! But you have the same spirit.  No matter how your body changes, the same spirit is there - it's the part of you that will go to heaven – and get a new body!

                  Your spirit is the part of you that makes you you.

                  The Holy Spirit is kind of like that – The Holy Spirit is God, like your spirit is you. And when we believe in Jesus, God's Holy Spirit comes to us – it joins with our spirit [fingers intertwined] and lives in us, and with us.

                  And the Holy Spirit wants to tell the world how much God loves us – and how Jesus died so we can live with him forever.

                  The Holy Spirit wants every single person to know Jesus!

                  But because you can't see or hear the Holy Spirit, he needs our help! He needs our feet and our voices! He needs us to go out into the world and tell everyone about Jesus!

                  He needs your voice to tell the people you know about Jesus!

                  The Holy Spirit will show you how – if you let him!

                  And then some amazing things can happen!

A Couple of References

                  Acts 1:8

                  "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

                  Isaiah 49:6

                  Says the Lord, "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."