Maranatha

I had the good fortune of being part of an active youth group.  Unlike many young people today, I actually enjoyed going to church.  The Youth Group was counter cultural - if you didn't fit in with the world, no worries, you definitely fit in here and to a young person that is comforting. This group ranged in age from 13 - 35.  They were young adults who were successful in their lives, for the younger folks to look up to. One year, under the leadership of one of our members, a musical production was created called Maranatha. Maranatha means -  the Lord is coming. It was often a form of greeting in the early church.

The musical production was about Jesus, what He did, how He impacted lives and how He's coming again.
It was set in a modern day setting so that anyone could relate to it.
The music was hip and happening yet not taking away from the message, the sets were realistic (as we had some artists in our youth group) and the acting was superb. It was performed at a local theater for 2 nights and both nights to a packed house. This was approximately 20 years ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.
My description may not do it justice as I think it was something that everyone should have seen.

I distinctly remember this poem being quoted by a group of guys during the play set to  a rhythmic musical background.

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village

The child of a peasant woman

He grew up in another obscure village

Where he worked in a carpenter shop

Until he was thirty

He never wrote a book

He never held an office

He never went to college

He never visited a big city

He never travelled more than two hundred miles

From the place where he was born

He did none of the things

Usually associated with greatness

He had no credentials but himself

He was only thirty three

His friends ran away

One of them denied him

He was turned over to his enemies

And went through the mockery of a trial

He was nailed to a cross between two thieves

While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing

The only property he had on earth

When he was dead

He was laid in a borrowed grave

Through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone

And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race

And the leader of mankind's progress

All the armies that have ever marched

All the navies that have ever sailed

All the parliaments that have ever sat

All the kings that ever reigned put together

Have not affected the life of mankind on earth

As powerfully as that one solitary life

Dr James Allan © 1926.

It impacted me then and it impacts me now. Though many wish that Jesus did not exist there is no denying His existence. This is one of the hopeful messages of Christmas - that Christ came as a babe in a manger but He's returning as a King!

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20

Maranatha!

Have you ever heard of Maranatha? Does your church do anything special for Christmas? Does your church have an active youth group?