Once upon a time there was a man named Mr. Prodigal. Mr. Prodigal lived on the Prodigal farm with his wife and his 100 sons.
One day, one of Mr. Prodigal's sons, "Shep", got to day dreaming to much. Why he started longing to be away from the Prodigal farm. Shep said to himself, "California is the place I need to be. I need to be a movie star in California. I need to go to California and see the beaches and be a movie star. It's in California where the red wood grows and I can be a movie star. Sunny California where the Spotted Owl roams and, did I mention I'm going to be a movie star?" "HOLLYWOOD! HERE I COME!" ...
"Dad, Dad, you got to let me go to California and Hollywood. Dad, Dad, please give me my inheritance so I can go off to Hollywood to pursue my destiny in style. I won't be so far away 'cause you'll be able to see me all the time on TV and the movies! I'm going to be a movie star!"
Reluctantly, Dad allowed for this and Shep's Dad converted his inheritance into a bag of silver. So, with a bag of silver tossed over his back, off Shep goes for California! Across the plains and over the mountains until finally, Shep is in California and Hollywood.
Sure enough, Shep gets a job on a movie. Not a big part, but a part. After this, Shep finds he is helping the cameraman, which is the wrong side of the camera for an up and coming star. Eventually, the only job Shep can find is pushing a lunch wagon around Hollywood for the actors and cameramen to break their fast upon.
If this were as bad as it gets the story might end here, but it isn't. Shep loses even this job and, eventually, the only job he can find is as a door greeter at Wal-mart. Shep is so depressed. The good folks at Wal-mart had to come tell Shep, "Shep, you are so depressing we just don't think you have what it takes to be a door greeter anymore. You'll have to go."
Oh, poor Shep. Could things be any worse? Shep lives in the bushes in the city park. When people come by and toss bird seed out for the birds to eat, Shep will spring out from hiding and snatch up the bird seed. You see, by now he had grown real long fingernails and he could pick up those little seeds real fast.
Shep thought to himself, "How much bigger the seeds are on the Prodigal farm than these birds seeds here. If I could just go home and be allowed to gather the seeds which were dropped on the Prodigal farm fields, why, I'd be so much better off."
Well, as we have already guessed, Shep is someone impulsive, and so Shep heads back home.
Meanwhile, Mr. Prodigal has not given up waiting for his son to come home and has kept a vigil eye out for him. One day, Mr. Prodigal sees his son coming home in the distance. Well, without batting an eye, Mr. Prodigal jumps into his pickup truck and speeds off to fetch his son.
"Son, Shep, son, are you home for good?" "Oh, Father, I've squandered everything and made so many mistakes. Please take me back as one of your shepherds and I'll be so happy."
"Shep, come on home! We'll make a fresh start of it together!" With his arm around Shep, he ushers Shep towards the pickup. "Whoa! Not IN the pickup Shep. Your still very scurvy. In the back of the pickup until we get you cleaned up." And off they go home again.
Getting home, Dad springs out of the pickup and runs into the house. "Ma, Ma, quit looking for silver coins on the floor Ma. Come on out here and see your son Shep, Ma. Shep has come home Ma. Ma, leave off looking for silver stuff on the floor. Ma!!!!!"
Mr. Prodigal rents a merry-go-round and they have booths setup selling ice cream, Pepsi, and there are games like ring toss and bingo. Oh, what a wonderful time. All the adults and all the little ones are there to help Mr. Prodigal celebrate the return of his son, Shep.
Now, about this time, the other sons come home from working the fields. When they see the carnival going on they are very upset. The will not join in so Dad has to come out to them to see what is ailing them.
"Dad, we've worked for you without complaint our entire lives and you have never let us have a concert for us and our friends. You know these carnivals you have are boring. You never let us do anything special and then this no account brother of ours comes home after have the adventures of a life time and you roll out the red carpet for him."
"It's just not FAIR!"
"Sons, you guys need to understand. Everything I have is yours. You have everything. But your brother, Shep, was lost, as if he were dead to us, and now he is found again. We should all be happy to have Shep back from the dead."
That is the story of the Prodigal son. Didn't I do a good job of telling the story?
[The children are always yelling out what's wrong with the story, sometimes even making it hard for me to finish it. The adults, however, said Mr. Mike did a good job and had no corrections or questions. They just clapped as if that were the end of it --- until "I" told Mr. Mike he had messed up the story. Grownups took some coaxing to help get Mr. Mike's story unravelled - which is the real learning process.]
That was the story. From here on out, we take the story which was given, and interactively, take it apart and put it back together again. By interactive, I mean I try to get whomever to tell me what certain things.
For example, was there a man named Mr. Prodigal?
(no)
Did "Mr. Prodigal" live on a Prodigal farm?
(no)
What, for that matter, does Prodigal mean?
(to live and spend lavishly)
Did "Mr. Prodigal" have a son named Shep?
(no)
How many sons did "Mr. Prodigal" have?
(2)
Where in the world did Mr. Mike come up with 100 sons?
[4"If you had one hundred sheep, and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it? 5And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders. 6When you arrived, you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found. 7In the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away! -- Luke 15:4-7]
It is easy to see why Mr. Mike might confuse the story of the 100 sheep with the story of the Prodigal son because both parables tell the same story. It's just repeated for additional emphasis and with a slightly different angle.
Does the Prodigal son story have narcotic Mom searching for silver on the kitchen floor?
(no)
So where did the silver coins come from?
[8"Or suppose a woman has ten valuable silver coins[1] and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and look in every corner of the house and sweep every nook and cranny until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her because she has found her lost coin. 10In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents." -- Luke 15:8-10]
Again, we have another parable which is meant to be third telling of the same truths. Mr. Mike just rolled all three parables into one. So maybe Mr. Mike isn't nearly as confused as he seems to be sometimes?
In the Lost Sheep parable,
the sheep isn't just going about it's own business and not really paying attention to where they are going or what is happening around them. Just munching along. Finally, the look up, and around, and find they are all alone. The sheep doesn't know how they go there nor how to get where?
And so are we, wandering about until some day we suddenly realize we are lost and in need of redemption.
And the Good Shepherd is Jesus Christ, who died for us so we could be saved, redeemed, and no longer lost.
In the Lost Coin parable,
the silver coins did not just jump out of her purse and get lost. On contriare. A coin is an inanimate object. If the coin is lost, someone lost it.
And so we have Christian brethren who we broke bread with and shared with and prayed with and now, where are they? Did they go somewhere? Did they change? Or did we get preoccupied and just lose contact with them? Are there Christians roaming around our Church who have needs which are not being met because we've lost sight of them?
The Holy Spirit needs to guide us and help us restore the lost amongst us. We need to restore our own.
The Prodigal son,
purposely and willfully determined to turn his back on his father. In so doing, the son became lost to himself.
Once the son was humbled and repentant, he returned home where he was restored. In the text, he was not only catered to, but received a ring on his finger, which is the symbol of sonship. He was family, once again.
God the Father is waiting for us to return and will joyful and loving welcome all those who are lost, back again.
Teacher's Notes:
Keep in mind the players have distinctly different dialects -- Dad is English, the prodigal son is southern, and the other sad son is Irish. Oh, and if you know Mr. Mike (the puppet), you know he ALWAYS insists on getting to tell the story and always confuses the story.