Leaping Off the Page: Any Time of the Year Edition
Page 14
EVE’S ELEGY
A Monodrama Plus Lesson
This lesson may be taught by one or two people. One does the object lesson and application, while the other tells Eve’s story in the first person. If one person does the whole thing by herself, she should have a scarf she can drape around herself as a costume when she becomes Eve to show that she is stepping into Eve’s persona.
Theme: Separation from the God, the Source of Life, causes death. Being rooted in God by accepting Jesus results in life.
Scripture: Genesis 1-3
Memory Verse: Romans 3:23
Equipment Needed: A potted plant; a dead leaf from the plant; a leaf that has been sprouted in water; a scarf
The Introduction: PLANT OBJECT LESSON
(This story is written to be told indoors. However, this introduction could be adapted to an outdoor setting. Suggested adaptations are in brackets. Suggested directions are in brackets and italics. The object lesson is with a plant that can be sprouted from a leaf. If you’re outside, use a tree that could be sprouted in similar fashion. The kids already know all about this, so it makes them feel real smart when they can tell you what to do.)
Here is a lovely plant (tree—choose an indigenous tree, one which thrives in the local conditions). Isn’t it beautiful? It needs a lot of care. What does a plant (tree) need in order to grow? (As the kids answer, deal with their answers in the order they give them, not the order here.)
Dirt
It’s planted in good earth. See, it’s loose dirt, dark and with good nourishment in it. (Describe the earth in question.) The plant gets vitamins and minerals from the dirt and that helps it grow. If it were planted in sand or clay, it wouldn’t grow well at all. (Adjust this if you’re outside. A cactus in the desert needs different soil than a pine in the rain forest.) It would probably die. Being planted in the dirt means that it is stable, too. When the wind blows it, it stays put because the ground holds the roots. Only big winds like hurricanes and tornadoes can rip a tree out of the ground, and even those winds can’t get all the trees! (You might want to leave this last point out, unless the kids mention it. Judgment call.)
Water
We also water it. (It needs rain.) It needs just enough water to keep the dirt moist (change this to fit the plant in question). If I give it too much (if it rains too much) it’ll drown. If I don’t give it enough water, (if it doesn’t rain enough) it would die of thirst. The plant’s roots spread wide (or deep) so it can get all this water and send it to the leaves and flowers and stem. (Again, adjust this to the particular plant you’re using.)
Sunshine
The plant also needs sunshine. The leaves get important nourishment from the sun and sends it to the rest of the plant. Do you know what this process is called? Yes, it’s called photosynthesis. If it doesn’t get enough sunlight, the leaves would shrivel up and die. If it gets too much, it would burn.
Summing up
So the roots need the leaves to get the nourishment from the sun and the leaves need the roots to get nourishment from the soil and the water. When I pluck a leaf from the plant, that leaf will die because it has been separated from the roots and the nourishment that is in the soil and the water. If I separated all the leaves from the roots the whole plant would die because both parts need each other. This one leaf will die because I have separated it from the roots and from the soil. (A child might mention the solution of rooting the leaf in water, which is part of the conclusion. Affirm the child and say it’s such a good suggestion that you’re going to come back to it at the end of the story.)
This problem of death and separation started way back in the Garden of Eden. Eve will now tell you her story.
The Bible Story: EVE’S STORY
(This is the story of the Garden of Eden told in the first-person by Eve.)
God made the world and it was beautiful. Most beautiful of all was the garden where we lived. The Garden of Eden. In it grew beautiful trees and flowers of every description. Many animals lived there and we were beautiful, too. There was no killing, no violence, no ugliness of any kind. A clean, sparkling river flowed through the garden. The weather was always perfect. There was just the right amount of sunshine and water and earth for things to grow healthy and strong. All the animals had enough to eat because of all the different kinds of plants. Amongst the trees in the garden there were two very special ones: The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It was a truly beautiful place.
After that, God made us. First of all, He made my husband, Adam and then He made me. He breathed His life and His Spirit into us so that we could be His friends. That meant we were made in His image. He gave us the Garden of Eden to be our home. We were so happy there. So unbelievably happy. Adam was such a gentle, kind husband and we loved each other very much.
God told us we could eat the fruit of all the trees of the garden except one: the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Don’t eat of that one, He told us, because if you do, you will die.
Well, that seems pretty easy, doesn’t it? Only one rule! Now it seems there are so many rules to remember. Back then, it was just one. And that one rule was so easy, too. After all, there were hundreds of other trees there. So what if we couldn’t eat of that one. We could never go hungry with all the other fruit we had there to eat. There’s no way we could miss out on that one with all the rich variety we had.
And so we were very happy. We had a good job, too. We were to name all the animals! What a wonderful time that was, getting to know them all so we could give them good names. I loved them all. The animals were happy and friendly.
But the best thing of all was God Himself. He was our friend. Each evening, as it got cooler, God would visit us in the garden. He walked with us through the trees and we talked. Oh, how we talked! We talked about everything. We knew God loved us and we loved Him. God made us and He wanted the very best for us. His friendship continued to nourish our bodies, minds, spirits and hearts. It was like He was our earth, our water, our sunshine. Everything was pure and holy because God, who was pure and holy, had made it.
And then I spoiled it all.
One day I was strolling through the Garden by myself when one of the animals spoke to me. None of the animals had spoken before. I didn’t know they could. Later, I realized it was the devil speaking through the serpent, but I didn’t know it then. We had named this animal serpent because that name means shining one. He was beautiful.
He asked me, “Did God say you were not to eat of every tree in the garden?”
I answered him. “We may eat of every tree in the garden except one. If we eat that one, we will die.”
The serpent snorted. “You won’t die. God doesn’t want you eating that fruit because He knows if you do, you’ll be just like Him, knowing good and evil.”
Now I didn’t know anything about evil because I’d never seen it before. Everything I knew was pure, clean, the way God had made it.
So the serpent said, “You’ll be like gods, knowing good and evil.”
Instead of believing God who loved me and wanted only the best for me, I listened to Satan who spoke through the serpent. I was so stupid, so incredibly stupid! My heart breaks as I remember how I broke the trusting, loving relationship I had with God.
I ate the fruit and then gave some to Adam who ate it, too.
Immediately, we were ashamed of what we had done. We knew we had disobeyed God. We couldn’t face Him. The wonderful, warm relationship we had with Him was gone because we didn’t trust Him, didn’t believe Him and didn’t obey Him.
That was our first death. The death of trust. The death of friendship. Our spirits shriveled and we were shamed and afraid. We, who had never known fear, cowered in hiding, knowing God would come in the evening as He always did.
God called out, “Where are you?”
And Adam replied, “I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid, so we hid.”
God then asked us if we had eaten of the tree He had told us not to e
at. He knew! We couldn’t hide from Him and we couldn’t hide what we had done. He knew. He always knows.
Adam said, “The woman You gave me gave me the fruit and so I ate.”
He blamed me! That was another kind of death, another separation. The beautiful relationship I’d had with my husband was ruined. He made it look like it was all my fault. He would never have done that before. My heart broke again.
So I blamed the serpent. I said he’d tricked me.
The thing is, I was to blame, and so was Adam. We both had a choice and we made a wrong one. We could believe God. We chose not to. We could obey Him. We chose not to. Nobody forced us. It was a decision we made and now we had to live with the results.
Our disobedience was sin. God sent us out of the Garden and we can never return. He put an angel to guard it so we couldn’t sneak back.
God said we would die if we ate of that tree. We are dying. Every day. We are growing older. We see animals die and rot into the ground and one day we know we, too, will die. Life is very hard. We have to work hard for our food. The animals are no longer gentle and friendly. They are wild, savage. They kill each other. Adam and I, we still love each other, but we lost something very precious when we made our choice to disobey God. We lost trust and we lost our friendship with God. He no longer visits us in the evening. Our sin separates us from Him. And that is the worst thing of all.
I would weep every day except for one thing. God made us a wonderful promise. He said that one day Somebody would come who would defeat both death and Satan. I don’t know who that will be, but I wait for Him. Because of that promise, I know God still loves us and wants to be our friend.
Application: Back to the Plant
Eve told us that God would send somebody who would defeat Satan and death. Do you know who that is? Yes, Jesus! Jesus defeated Satan by taking our punishment when He died for us. He defeated death by coming back to life three days later. We just have to accept that life by believing in Jesus.
Look! It’s like this dead leaf. See? It had fallen off the plant and died, but somebody stuck it in some water. Now it has roots of its own and it will live. We can plant it in the ground and it will grow. If nobody had put it in the water, it would have died.
Because of our sin, we are separated from God. That causes death. Just like a dead leaf, separated from everything that can give it life. If we don’t plant ourselves in Jesus, we too, will die. He gives us life. I put my roots in God and I will live. Will you do that, too? Will you choose life? Will you choose God, too?
Point of Decision
Eve has told us her story. It is a sad story but it has a happy ending because Jesus came. Jesus defeated death and Satan. He forgives our sins and He is our Friend. He wants to be your friend. If you want Him in your heart as your Friend, pray this prayer with me:
Prayer: Lord, I thank you for being my Friend. I want you in my heart. Please forgive my sins and make me your very own child. Amen.
Curtain
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