The Long Haul

There I sat at the high school play,
Amazed at all the talent.
The singing and dancing all superb,
The director’s effort gallant.

Each of these students was playing a part,
They were not at all what they seemed.
They lived out the story before us.
The characters’ hopes and dreams.

For two hours I sat there, enchanted.
Entering lives of people unseen.
Fictitious situations and problems,
All the places they have been.

All at once I found myself getting lost,
In the characters’ make believe lives.
A mystery “who done it”…a story.
Who is kidnapped or killed…who survives?

It’s easy to get lost in the action.
When soon you will leave your seat.
Never a care or a worry,
About any of the people you meet.

It is hard to sustain conversation,
When we live in the long haul of life.
That’s exactly what God calls His children to do,
Throughout all of our struggles and strife.

It’s easy to talk to a stranger.
And get up from the chair when you’re done.
It’s hard to sustain a relationship,
See it through from the time it’s begun.

God calls us to love one another.
Hang in there through thick and through thin.
For the long haul is more than play acting,
Long ago is where you begin.

A play always wraps up so neatly,
Never a plot out of place.
The long haul is uphill very often,
Your guide, as you travel, is grace.

Grace for the plot lines so fragile.
Grace for the slips and the falls,
Grace for applause when it happens.
Grace for the rare curtain calls.

Being led by the one Director.
Who is holding the script in His Hand.
The twists and the turns of His making.
Hold us up so we always can stand.

Life isn’t staged like play acting.
There’s purpose…yet each minute’s unknown.
The Story unfolds as He planned it.
One day He will bring His Play home.

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Hypocrite comes from the Greek word meaning actor or playing a part.
Hypocrite typically meant “behind the mask”.
In Greek theater, the actors wore masks with happy or sad faces.
The Comedy/Tragedy mask has become our theater icon.

We now have a negative connotation for the word hypocrite.
Saying one thing and doing another.

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. (Matthew 15: 7-9)

Jesus had scathing things to say about hypocrisy.
Play acting was not acceptable to Jesus.
Since He knows our hearts, we cannot hide behind a mask.

We may fool others with the parts we play.
We may even fool ourselves into believing we are something we are not.
We cannot fool the One who made us.
So why do we try?

It is HIS play…HIS story.
He is the Director.
We do have freedom in the roles He has set for us.
We are to follow His lead.

There will be a final curtain call on closing night.
We are eager to listen to the review we have waited so long to hear.

Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your Master’s happiness. (Matthew 25:21)

We are in His play for the long haul.
How can we help each other along the way?
We must take a vested interest in His story…and in each other.
We ALL have important parts.

No masks.
No hypocrisy.
Saying one thing…and doing what we say!
Going the distance…for the audience of ONE!