(Elisabeth sings at )
JOHN: 1994, East Alton, Illinois, Jeremy Slavens left home.
SYDNEY: His father kicked him out.
JOHN: He was polite about it, but he asked his son to leave.
SYDNEY: Jeremy’s dad worked in the mills near Granite City . . . a hard working man. At age 17 Jeremy’s friends invited him to Bible camp in Edwardsville. He went. He gave his life to Christ and came home to talk to his dad.
JOHN: “I don’t want to talk about it.”
SYDNEY: “But Dad…”
JOHN: “I’ve heard that stuff my whole life. Don’t preach to me, son.”
SYDNEY: And so one day in Jeremy’s sophomore year of college his dad had enough and told him to go find an apartment in Edwardsville. He helped him pay for the rest of his college, but he didn’t want a religious fanatic in the house . . . especially when after his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
JOHN: Jeremy moved out. He prayed for his dad. He visited his mother at Barnes Hospital and prayed with her.
SYDNEY: Easter morning, 1997. Jeremy stopped by the hospital then went to take his dad out to lunch. Hardees in Wood River. They hadn’t really talked for almost two years.
JOHN: They sat down. His dad looked strange. He looked at his son and said, “Would you pray?”
SYDNEY: Jeremy could barely breathe. Did his father just ask him to pray? He did pray. When his tears got too thick he had to stop and dry eyes with a paper napkin. “Dad…” he said. “What happened?”
JOHN: His dad slowly took a bite of a French fry and said, “I’ve been thinking. You were right. Let’s talk.”
SYDNEY: And that was the first Easter.
(song)
ELLY: This one little girl had bullied Maddy every since pre-school. One day she was her friend and the next day she called her names.
BROCK: Sometimes it even got physical. The teacher was no help. She said. .
ELLY: “Girls will be girls,” and let the bullying continue.
BROCK: Maddy would sometimes come home crying and her mother felt helpless. She’d tried to raise Maddy with a Christ-like attitude, but Maddy was only seven now and Jesus was a lot bigger. He’d be harder to push around.
ELLY: Do you tell her to stand up for herself? Do you tell her to keep loving the bully? Do you tell her to shove back? Maddy’s mother would look at the What Would Jesus Do? bracelet around her daughter’s wrist and wonder why He didn’t ever give an answer.
BROCK: Then one night just before Easter as her mother sat on the side of Maddy’s bed to pray with her, Maddy said, “Let’s pray for that girl, too.” Maddy’s mother had trouble doing that, but she figured, “….from the mouths of babes.”
ELLY: The story is still in progress. Maddy’s little “friend” hasn’t changed much, but something’s happened to Maddy. She has a new strength. She has a new understanding. And when June rolled around she invited the girl to her birthday party.
BROCK: And that was the first Easter.
(song)
SYDNEY: At age 90 she finally made the Springfield paper…not because of her age, but because of her salt and pepper shakers. Over 500 sets.
ELLY: Then just three days after the article came out we read a notice in the local paper. “I’m giving away all my salt and pepper shakers. Free. If you want ‘em, come get ‘em.” Signed Mary.
SYDNEY: We thought she’d lost her mind! A lifetime of collecting these beautiful porcelain pieces and now she was giving them away.
ELLY: She said, “Well, that thing came out in the paper and I read it and I thought…Now that’s about the dumbest thing I ever heard of! What good do they do me? They just sit there and the shelves and I spend half my life dusting them! I wonder what ever got in me to do such a foolish thing!”
SYDNEY: So we asked her… Mary, what are going to collect now?
ELLY: She held up a well-worn yellow legal pad with dozens of names written in her meticulous handwriting.
SYDNEY: “These!” she said.
ELLY: On that paper was the name of every elderly person in our town, everyone suffering from sickness, widow’s who’d lost their husband, and anyone who was suffering in some way.
SYDNEY: “You turn ninety,” she said, “and it’s time to start collecting something valuable. People! I pray for these folks every day! Don’t mess with me! I’m the most powerful old broad in town!”
ELLY: And that was the first Easter.
(song) JOHN: They used to all be drinking buddies. Nobody could party like they could party. . . about ten of them, all in the same fraternity at college, all woman chasers….some of them actually caught one.
BROCK: After graduation they’d meet once a year for a reunion. He’d sit there and listen to them embarrass their wives with the tales of their college parties, and he’d wish someone would change the conversation. It was awkward.
JOHN: He had partied right along with them but since those college days he’d given his life to Christ and now all their talked seemed so . . . I don’t know . . . empty. But he prayed for them.
BROCK: They entered their thirties and they talked about their jobs.
JOHN: They turned forty and they talked about their kids.
BROCK: They turned fifty and they talked about their prostates.
JOHN: He had to laugh. Funny when a group of guys age together. Still, they were his friends. He kept praying.
BROCK: Then as the years rolled by, something happened. Two of them had become Sunday School teachers. Baptist! They started talking about their churches….They started sharing about their faith.
JOHN: He sat there in wonder. Could these be the same guys who used to brag about chugging sixteen ounces of Bud Lite without stopping for a breath?
BROCK: He drove home that night confused. . . and delighted. . . but wondering what the heck happened. As he lay down on his bed he grabbed his devotional book . . “Pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ.”
JOHN: And that was the first Easter.
(song)
ELLY: They didn’t believe her. Maybe it was because she was a woman.
JOHN: She’d run three miles and was out of breath, but that didn’t keep her from pounding on the door. When they finally let her in it was like walking into a funeral.
SYDNEY: “You’ve got to believe me!”
BROCK: “She’s hysterical.”
JOHN: “Leave us alone, woman.”
SYDNEY: “I talked to Him! He spoke to me! John…you believe me, don’t you?”
ELLY: They did not believe.
JOHN: Days later he appeared walking with two of them on a country road. They ran to tell the others.
BROCK: They did not believe.
SYDNEY: Then the morning when eleven of them were gathered for a meal. . . and he walked right in.
BROCK: And although it took a while . . .
JOHN:. . . even though it didn’t happen all at once….
ELLY: . . . and even though some of them still weren’t sure what had happened.
SYDNEY: They believed.
BROCK: And that . . .
JOHN: . . . and that…
ELLY: . . . and that…..
SYDNEY: .. . . . was the first Easter.
(song) JOHN: Let’s go eat breakfast.
Order: Brock: Beethoven prelude Congregation song ..Do Lord John… What a Friend Sydney, Sermon Diary John & Brock…duet Congregation songs…I’ll Fly Away (Dueling Banjos ending) , Hymn led by Luke The First Easter, readers’ theatre