It wouldn’t be wrong to accuse Christians of being “drama queens.”  After all, we are always reenacting things!

At Christmas there are Nativity Scenes in various places—homes, churches, businesses.  Some churches even act out the first Christmas with “living nativities.”  That is, manger scenes with actual actors playing the different characters.

At Easter, Christians across the globe gather at dawn for worship to remember the sunrise that saw the Son rise some 2,000 years ago.

This Sunday we will be remembering the palm parade that ushered Jesus into Jerusalem by gathering at First Baptist Church at 9:00 a.m. and parading down Main Street in Melrose, waving palms behind a real donkey, to remember the beginning of Holy Week.

Then there are the smaller holidays that we recognize by physically recreating them.  Pentecost is a bit tougher to recreate; although there are some traditions that make a regular practice of speaking in tongues.  And while we don’t go so far as some cultures do in reenacting the crucifixion on Good Friday, each month we re-stage the final supper Jesus had with his disciples through the sacrament of Holy Communion.

There is something powerful about these reenactments of events from the life of Jesus through worship.  They make our faith tangible.  They involve us physically.  The stories are freed from the written page and become part of us; in our whole selves.  In doing so, we are mystically tied to those who first experienced the events in ways that widen our faith perspective.

Faith should never be an academic affair.  It is first and foremost something to experience, something to feel, something to live and breathe.  I hope that during the final days of Lent, you will consciously involve your whole being—body, mind, and spirit—in the story of Christ.  Reenactments help us to do just that.

In that sense, I’ll gladly wear the label of “drama queen” any day!

See you in church,

-Rev. Dominic