The Sword of the Spirit

Scripture Reference: Ephesians 6:10-20

A lesson on the Armor of God.

Cast:
OZZIE – an excitable little monster
MR. MATT – the teacher who sets him straight

Props:
none

(MR. MATT starts on stage. OZZIE enters distracted & upset, mumbling to himself.)

MR. MATT: What’s the matter, Ozzie?

OZZIE: Oh. Hi, Mr. Matt. This is the worst day ever.

MR. MATT: That’s pretty bad. What happened?

OZZIE: As you may have heard, I’m trying to be a superhero.

MR. MATT: I heard about that.

OZZIE: Well, I’m trying to put on the full armor of God. Every week, I’ve come out here to show off some new piece of my armor. Each piece has been specially crafted and is quite creative and stylish, if I do say so myself.

MR. MATT: I’m sure it is, but so far, I don’t hear a problem.

OZZIE: The problem is that Mr. Mike and Miss Rebecca poopooed by armor.

MR. MATT: That doesn’t sound like them.

OZZIE: Well, they did. Mr. Mike said poo, and Miss Rebecca said poo. And that makes a poopoo. They said the armor was a metaphor or a symbol or some such silly thing.

MR. MATT: Oh, I see.

OZZIE: And that I don’t need to wear all my nifty armor. So now I’m a superhero without a name or a costume, and my friends won’t say ooh and aah, cause they don’t even know I’m supposed to be a superhero.

MR. MATT: But God’s armor is much better, because it helps you defend against evil and fight for God.

OZZIE: But it’s not as shiny as real armor.

MR. MATT: It’s not as shiny.

OZZIE: Then I’m finally ready to get the last piece of armor: (dramatically) THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT!

MR. MATT: The sword of the Spirit?

OZZIE: Not the sword of the Spirit. (dramatically) THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT!

MR. MATT: (dramatically) THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT!

OZZIE: Yeah. Don’t worry, Mr. Mike had the same problem. Anyway, I got my (dramatically) SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, and my mom makes me leave it at home. She says it’s too dangerous.

MR. MATT: You had a real sword?

OZZIE: Yeah.

MR. MATT: Really?

OZZIE: Well, it was a pointy stick, but it looked a lot like a real sword.

MR. MATT: I hate to tell you this, but you don’t need a real sword. Paul was just using…

OZZIE: Don’t say it!

MR. MATT: …a metaphor.

OZZIE: Oh, no! Not you too. Mr. Matt.

MR. MATT: Sorry, Ozzie, but I gotta call ‘em like I see ‘em.

OZZIE: But I thought you were so cool.

MR. MATT: I’m sorry if you don’t’ think I’m cool any more, but the sword of the spirit…

OZZIE: (clears throat)

MR. MATT: Sorry. (dramatically) THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT is the Word of God. It’s the Bible.

OZZIE: So wait. In this case, (dramatically) THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT is a real thing? It’s my Bible?

MR. MATT: That’s right.

OZZIE: Sweet! Then I do have my superhero costume: invisible armor and a sword, which is my Bible.

MR. MATT: I like it.

OZZIE: Thanks, Mr. Matt. I guess you’re cool, after all.

MR. MATT: Thanks. So what’s next?

OZZIE: I heard you’re studying the Fruit of the Spirit next.

MR. MATT: I believe we are.

OZZIE: Swell. ‘Cause I have a spiffy kiwi costume that would be just perfect. (exits)

MR. MATT: Ozzie!

The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace

Scripture Reference: Ephesians 6:10-20

A lesson on the Armor of God.

Cast:
OZZIE – an excitable little monster
MISS REBECCA – the teacher who sets him straight

Props:
most hideous pair of shoes that can be found

(MISS REBECCA starts on stage.)

OZZIE: (without zesty jolliness) Hi, Miss Rebecca.

MISS REBECCA: Hi, Ozzie. You seem a little down. What's wrong?

OZZIE: you know how I've been trying to be a superhero?

MISS REBECCA: Right. And you've been trying to put on the armor of God. Which reminds me, you're not wearing anything new this week.

OZZIE: That's the problem. I'm kinda scared.

MISS REBECCA: You're scared of the armor of God?

OZZIE: Not all of it. Just the gospel of peace.

MISS REBECCA: Why is that so scary?

OZZIE: 'Cause the Bible says I have to get shot!

MISS REBECCA: Are you sure about that, sweetie?

OZZIE: Yes! It's very specific. It says I have to be shot in the feet!

MISS REBECCA: Shot it the feet? (realizes what it really is) Oh. Not shot, shod. Your feet shod with the gospel of peace.

OZZIE: Shot. Shod. Either way, it scares me.

MISS REBECCA: Shod means to fit with shoes. It's the past tense of the verb shoe.

OZZIE: Wouldn't that be shoed?

MISS REBECCA: That's what we'd say now, but in the time the King James Bible was written, they said shod.

OZZIE: Like they said Thee and Thou and didst?

MISS REBECCA: Exactly.

OZZIE: That's stupendous.

MISS REBECCA: Putting on shoes is much better than getting shot.

OZZIE: Oh yeah, there is that, but I meant... (exits and returns with shoes) now I can wear these!

MISS REBECCA: What are those?

OZZIE: (dramatically) THE SHOES OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE!

MISS REBECCA: And of all the shoes there are to pick from, are those really the ones you want to wear?

OZZIE: Yeah! I figure they'd really scare the devil.

MISS REBECCA: Trust me that they scare more that the devil.

OZZIE: Can you please help me put them on?

MISS REBECCA: I could, but you don't need those shoes.

OZZIE: But I really want to put them on.

MISS REBECCA: But I really don't want to see them on you.

OZZIE: Huh?

MISS REBECCA: What I mean is – the shoes symbolize our readiness to go into the world to share the Gospel and spread God's peace.

OZZIE: Oh! And these wouldn't be very useful for that.

MISS REBECCA: I'm not sure those things are useful for anything by scaring crows.

OZZIE: And this is Texas.

MISS REBECCA: What does that have to do with anything?

OZZIE: I need to go get my (dramatically) FLIP FLOPS OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE! (exits)

MISS REBECCA: Ozzie!