Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

They are two of the great walk-on characters in theater.  They arrive as two courtier sent by Hamlet’s uncle to spy on Hamlet, and later are to escort him home, but with a letter ordering Hamlet’s death.  Hamlet finds the letter, rewrites it to condemn the two plotters, and leaves them to their fate.  W.S. Gilbert wrote a comedy about the two in 1874, but most of us know them as the protagonists of Tom Stoppard’s absurdist play and later movie, in which they befuddle themselves along when they are not onstage for Shakespeare.  Basically, they are bit players in a larger universe than they see from their corner of the world.

In Sunday’s lessons about Saul losing his eyesight on the road to Damascus, there is a similar person who plays a small role in the larger drama and then steps back into the shadows, Ananias, the mild-mannered believer God sends to restore Saul’s sight.  Ananias is a reminder that sometimes the life of faith puts us in awkward or very scary places, doing very hard things for God or others, just because that is the part written for us for the moment.  But he also reminds us that God keeps us safe when we take on such difficult roles.  Sometimes we are actors in a larger drama than we can see from our place in it.  But as my daughter’s theater friends say, “There are no small parts…”  Let’s play our roles for Christ as graciously as we can!

Please join us as we introduce ourselves to a minor character with major faith this Sunday at 10 am.  God will be there; I hope you are too!

                                                                                                            In Christ,
                                                                                                                      David


In the next couple of months, First Congregational Church will be holding several small, informal conversations at various homes and the church for people to share with me and members of the interim study planning group their experiences of this church over the years (not just in the past three) so I can understand the landscape and history.  If you are willing to host such a small group or have a suggestion, please talk to me or email me at interimpastor@fccithaca.org; I’d love to talk with you!



Texts For Sunday Worship:
New Testament          Acts 9:1-20
*Gospels                   John 21:1-14

Note: These texts will be read in the worship service and the one with an asterisk will be used as the focus for the proclamation of the word.