The West Side Of The River Jordan

Singing, dancing, and aggressive snapping. That’s right! It’s Bible on Broadway season at AUMC, and we’re kicking off with the iconic West Side Story! This tale of star-crossed lovers Tony and Maria–and the tragic conflict between the rival Jets and Sharks–is not only timeless, it also brings up themes found also in… Deuteronomy? Welcome to the “West Side” of Mount Sinai.

Bible On Broadway (Newsies)

AUMC's Bible On Broadway series focuses today on the historical musical drama, Newsies, depicting the 1899 newsboys' strike against publishing magnate Joseph Pulitzer.  In this campaign for dignity, we see the human economy of scarcity juxtaposed against God's economy of abundance. Pastor Scott leads us down this same path in Matthew Chapter 15 with the telling of the Canaanite woman.  Dignity is not a limited resource.  We may live in a zero-sum world, but with our faith fixed on the One who provides, all are fed from the Master's table.

Bible On Broadway (SpongeBob)

This morning, AUMC's Bible On Broadway series focuses on belonging from the musical SpongeBob.  The story celebrates friendship, cooperation, unity, and inclusion - very much the same way the apostle Paul instructs the church at Corinth about the body of Christ.  Every individual gift is given for the common good – the good of the whole body.  Even if you're only a simple sponge, you are essential to the whole! At Arapaho, we belong to each other.  Lean into your gifts, whatever they are.  You belong here.

You Can't Stop The Beat

You can’t stop the beat. You can’t stop the Spirit sweeping over the waters. You can’t stop the new thing God is doing making all things new. What is to prevent the beat? Absolutely nothing.

What I know for sure is this: there is this dance party of grace and justice and joy going on all the time and you are invited to come and dance. Yes, you. 

You who have been to the dance party before and you who have never been or never thought you couldn’t come, come and join in the party, you who think you are too old to dance, or too out of shape to dance, come to the party…

You who have been watching everyone from the sidelines, come to the dance floor, come all you saints and all you sinners, come all you who don’t know a thing about dancing and you who thought you knew but are learning new steps, come: the lord of the dance invites all to this dance party of grace and justice and joy and I don’t want you to miss it.

What is to prevent you from being a part of the movement of the spirit in the world making all things new, including you?

Absolutely nothing. 

Changed For Good (Wicked)

What is the pain and hurt you’ve experienced? Now I have learned that you can’t put an institution in the box, you can’t put the church in the box, you can’t put a business in the box or the government in the box. You’ve got to get specific here, who hurt you. People hurt other people-who has hurt you? 

Name the hurt, get your mind around what is in the box. It’s very freeing to be honest about the hurt you’ve experienced and how you were made to feel. So put it in the box and then you put the box down and you send it away. You could even do this for real, like you could do a ritual around this.

You could write it down and put it in an actual box and drive to a shredding company, watch them shred the paper and recycle the box, leave it there-you get the point: whatever you need to do whether literally or metaphorically with the box, send it away, leave it somewhere so you don’t have to carry it anymore. You can be set free from it, so this hurt is no longer in circulation.

When forgiveness happens, we no longer carry this burden around with us. We are changed for good and so is the world.