Bring Your Ticket Archive Book.
Hi everyone!
I’m very glad to see you today.
So tonight is a very special night in my household. It’s the night when my family gather arounds to watch the greatest awards show there is – the Tonys! The Tonys, if you don’t know, is a show that celebrates all the amazing plays and musicals that were on Broadway, in New York City, over the last year. The awards are given out for best musical, best play, best actors, and more. And what’s really fun about it is that a lot of the musicals on Broadway bring a song from their show and perform it at the award show. That means if we’re not able to go to a Broadway show because we can’t afford it or live far away – we can still get a taste of this amazing plays and musicals are about – by turning on the tv and watching this fun show.
So since it’s the Tonys tonight – that got me thinking – and so I brought with me today…this. Show your ticket archive. It’s my ticket stub archive. Inside, I’ve shoved all sorts of ticket stubs, flyers, and some playbills from shows I saw. I don’t think it’s in any kind of order. We can see up in the front this these small little flyers from punk shows I saw when I was in college. Then there’s a few playbills and flyers talking about a Roller Derby show I’ve been to, an improv musical where the actors on stage make up songs, a playbill from the show Matilida…and then when we get into the center…we see rows and rows of tickets. I don’t have every ticket to everything I’ve seen but I’ve got most.
Walk through with them. Show the tickets and ask what the kids see. They see names, dates, numbers.
After a bit, go to the one that is your first Broadway.
Now, I didn’t grow up that interested in Broadway shows. I didn’t really see too many plays or musicals. I was much more interested in rock ‘n roll shows so that’s what I tried to do. But then someone invited me to see my first Broadway show. And it was this one – almost 12 years ago to this day. It was called Hot Feet. And it was…terrible. The story made no sense. The costumes were ridiculous. And the music, while entertaining, didn’t really fit at all. It was such a terrible show that the person who took me to it had to apologize, it was so bad.
Now, I could have decided then and there to never see another musical or play again. I tried it. I went. I stayed in my seat the whole time. I did the whole thing…and I just didn’t like it. But just because something isn’t great the first time – doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it again. And so the next time I was invited to a Broadway show I went. And I liked it. And then I kept going, over and over again. And, now, certain musicals and shows are just a part of my life.
All of you are going to sometimes experience things that, at first, seem boring. Or maybe a little scary. Or maybe you’ll try it and it won’t go well so you’ll want to give up. But I’m going to invite you to keep trying. Don’t give up. If it seems too hard at first, be patient and try again. Because, no matter what we’re trying, no matter how difficult it is, no matter how scared we are – we have someone on our side who is right there with us. And that’s…Jesus. Jesus is with you when things are going well and when things aren’t going well. Jesus is there when you’re working hard and winning all the time. And he’s there when you feel like you want to just give up. Jesus is our ticket [Pass out Tickets that you made talking about Jesus] to keep trying, over and over again, because when as we try, we grow and discover just who Jesus knows we can be.
Thank you for being here and I hope you have a blessed week.
Each week, I share a reflection for all children of God. The written manuscript serves as a springboard for what I do. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship on 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, 6/3/2018.