Abandoned
(Based on the book of Ephesians and Revelation 2:1-7.)
Establishing shots of the city of Ephesus in biblical times
NARRATOR
There was the Ephesus then, that Paul wrote so fondly to, knowing his proud, father-like, prized letter would be circulated to the entire Ephesus-ish area. Though Paul’s emphasis was on Ephesus, the Ephesians understood the contents of the letter were meant for them to pass on to others, and they contently and generously did so.
CUT TO:
A dry farmland
EPHESIAN 1
Hey, have you heard the good news?
FARMER
Is the drought finally over?
EPHESIAN 1
Um, well, uh…
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Modern-day Ephesus
NARRATOR
Then came the Ephesus in Revelation, that seemed at first as if they did everything right. They were almost perfect – so they thought.
TWO EPHESIANS appear, saturated and pristine. Halos show up over their heads. Their teeth sparkle.
GOD
(voiceover)
Wrong!
Thunder crashes and lightning flashes.
CUT TO:
The parking lot of a grocery store
NARRATOR
They patiently endured people upon people with patient endurance.
A SMALL GIRL sneezes as she walks by EPHESIAN 2 and EPHESIAN 3.
EPHESIAN 2
(enduring dramatically)
Bless you, my child.
A WOMAN walks by carrying multiple grocery bags to her car, having a very difficult time holding everything. A bag breaks and a carton of eggs falls to the ground, oozing a yellow, sticky mess. A bunch of apples and oranges fall out, and roll across the parking lot.
EPHESIAN 2
God bless her.
EPHESIAN 3
Mm-hmm.
CUT TO:
An underpass beneath major streets
As they quickly and smugly walk by while keeping their distance, EPHESIAN 2 and EPHESIAN 3 toss coins at homeless people under the bridge.
EPHESIAN 3
(while still looking straight ahead)
May God bless you.
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A pet store
NARRATOR
They threw out false apostles from their misty midst…
EPHESIAN 4 opens the door and kicks out a FALSE APOSTLE who brought his snake in with him.
EPHESIAN 4
Dude, get your crazy, Kool-Aid-selling self outta here and take your snake with you! Who do you think you are!? Judas?
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Downtown Ephesus
EPHESIAN 2 and EPHESIAN 3 walk along the sidewalk as the sky darkens and it starts to rain.
NARRATOR
…until their major wrong was suddenly righted by the Almighty God: they had lost their first and primary love (thunder crash), their singular priority over all others – that included their individual selves (thunder crash, crash).
EPHESIAN 2 and EPHESIAN 3 run to get under an awning.
NARRATOR
They had dropped their hearts along the road somewhere while they did all their seemingly good deeds.
EPHESIAN 2 and EPHESIAN 3 suddenly look down at their chests and see holes that go right through them where their hearts used to be.
NARRATOR
They knew their hearts were out there somewhere, abandoned and lost. They tried not to think about them bouncing along the road (ploppish bloop) and squished beneath the traffic.
Cars drive by and horns blare. A car runs over a heart (koosh), and blood spurts out onto the sidewalk in front of EPHESIAN 2 and EPHESIAN 3.
NARRATOR
The enitre, full armor of God suddenly had a whole new meaning they had never understood before, and they felt fully foolish.
EPHESIAN 2 and EPHESIAN 3, ashamed, hold their hands over the area where their hearts should have been.
NARRATOR
They tried to cover over the emptiness of their empty hearts that they themselves had emptied, as if they could fool God…
GOD
(voiceover, under His breath)
Heh.
NARRATOR
…who knew about all their emptying before they had ever emptied anything. They had gotten so caught up in themselves, and affinity-ed themselves with everyone they had an affinity to, that they had lost their true identity in the one who gave them an identity in the first place.
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The backyard of a mansion, with a pool, spa, high-end outdoor furniture and a built-in BBQ
EPHESIAN 4 holds up some salmon and places it on the grill.
NARRATOR
All the things they tried to identify with were watered down, flimsy and floppy. When told to repent, many Ephesians adopted the Parisian way of life instead, choosing to enjoy, while they could, the fish, wine and bread.
EPHESIAN 4 clinks his wine glass to the glass of his GIRLFRIEND and they each take a sip of wine.
EPHESIAN 4
Mmmmmmm…
NARRATOR
Though some understood at first, this mysterious mystery Paul had so eloquently explained to them remained a mystery to many.
GOD
(voiceover)
You there!
EPHESIAN 4 is startled. He looks all around and up at the sky.
GIRLFRIEND doesn’t notice anything.
GOD
(voiceover)
Yeah, you can hear me just fine.
EPHESIAN 4 looks around some more.
GIRLFRIEND is still oblivious.
GOD
(voiceover)
He’s the light of the world! You didn’t really think that meant He would light up with actual LEDs did you?
EPHESIAN 4, with a guilty look on his face, goes back to grilling his fish.
CUT TO:
A busy mall
NARRATOR
They hardened the hearts they had left toward what they had seen and heard. Their once livened aliveness slowly deadened, decayed and darkened.
EPHESIAN 2 leans against a wall, frowning at all the people walking in the mall.
EPHESIAN 3 wanders around slowly, aimlessly, zombielike.
NARRATOR
And they tried to fix themselves by themselves, doing the things they thought they ought to, hoping that in the end, those deeds they had done would all be enough.
EPHESIAN 2 sees A WOMAN carrying a lot of department store bags. He frowns even bigger, but reaches out to open the door for her.
EPHESIAN 3 reluctantly drops a few bucks in the Salvation Army bucket.
SALVATION ARMY LADY
(loudly enough to be heard over the ringing bell)
Bless you, Sir!
EPHESIAN 3 scowls at her.
NARRATOR
They had forgotten almost entirely about grace.
GIRL
(named Grace)
Who, me?
NARRATOR
No, not you. The grace by which they had been saved in the first place, the grace from their first taste of their first love, who had first loved them.
Thanks to Pat Dill for his help in editing and formatting, as well as affectionately titling this piece, “Pushing Ephesians” due to the similar narration style of Pushing Daisies.
