For our St George's Day celebration I wrote this little play about St George, the Serpent (no dragons in this play thank-you!) and the Empress Alexandra (no damsels in this play either - enough of that nonsense.)
George and the Serpent!
Today we are going to act out the story of St George
who do we need?
- George
- Serpent
- Empress Alexandria
- Emperor Diocletian
- Sub-emperor
- Christian commanders
- Non-Christian commanders and torturers
Along time ago (around 300CE) there was an emperor called Diocletian.
He ruled all the Roman Empire from Britain all the way to Persia and down to North Africa
He was tough
He made Rome great again.
He had some soldiers who were always with him
They were called the Praetorian Guard
One of their commanders was George
George was born either in Palestine or Turkey
He was known to be brave and fearless in battle
He was a Christian.
He was known to be generous and kind.
People looked up to George.
Diocletian had some sub emperors to help him rule
It was a big empire
They all hoped that one day they might become the main emperor
One day one of the sub emperors was thinking about how he could become the emperor.
The serpent sneaked up to him and gave him an idea.
The serpent wanted to stop people following Jesus.
So the serpent said,
“Tell Diocletian to make all the soldiers in the army to worship him as a god,
and if they don’t
tell him to kill them”.
The sub emperor thought this was his idea -
the serpent was sneaky.
So he rode to Diocletian
And he said
“O great emperor
prince of peace
son of god
I have an idea!
To make sure of the army’s loyalty to you
make all the soldiers worship you as a god
and if they don’t
put them to death.”
Diocletian wasn’t sure about this idea
it sounded risky.
But the sneaky serpent whispered into his ear
“This is a great idea”
So Diocletian thought, “this is a great idea.”
So he made a law
“All the soldiers in the army are to worship me as a god,
and if they don’t
they are to be put to death.”
Then Diocletian summoned all his commanders,
including George
and he said,
“All the soldiers in the army are to worship me as a god,
and if they don’t
they are to be put to death.”
Some of the commanders cheered
but others, like George, were silent
They were Christians.
This was bad news.
George was sad.
He liked Diocletian
and he wondered,
“What am I to do?
I can only worship the one true God through Jesus Christ
I cannot possibly worship the emperor as a god.
This is wrong!”
But the serpent sneaked up to George
and whispered
“just pretend
no-one will know.
Tell the other Christian soldiers
“pretend, no one will know”
It will be all right.”
But George couldn’t pretend
His mother would find out and she would know
His fellow Christians would find out
and they would know
But most of all
God would know!
So he thought
“I can’t pretend!”
So the serpent sneaked in again and said
“just do nothing
The emperor likes you
he will not do anything.”
But, George could not do nothing
His mother would find out and she would be sad
His fellow Christians would find out
and they would be sad
But most of all
God would know
and God would be sad!
So, George thought
“I have to speak up!”
But he knew he would be killed.
So, he sold all his land and all his things
and he gave the money to the poor.
Then George went to the emperor Diocletian (make sure Alexandra is there)
and he said
“O great emperor
prince of peace
I am a follower of Jesus Christ.
I worship the one true God.
You are not a god.
I will not worship you
I will not put my fellow Christians to death.
This is wrong!
It is the work of the evil serpent.”
Diocletian was stunned
he liked George
George was his favourite commander.
He didn’t want to hurt George
But George had said all these things in front of so many people.
Even his wife
the empress Alexandra had heard.
What was he to do?
The serpent sneaked in and whispered
“talk to him privately
give him wonderful and lavish gifts
he will change his mind!”
The emperor tried to talk to George privately
he tried to bribe him with lavish gifts
But George just said,
“This is wrong.
You are not a god
I will not worship you.
I will not put my fellow Christians to death”
The serpent was nervous.
this was not going to plan,
He whispered
“torture him,
he will change his mind then.”
Diocletian was angry
he didn’t need much prompting.
He ordered George to be tortured
He was taken to a public place
and he was hurt in many horrible ways
They cut him and burnt him
they put salt on his wounds.
But George just praised God
and he prayed for those who hurt him
He said
“O God, forgive them.”
And he said to the emperor
“You are not a god
what you are doing is wrong!”
Now the serpent was worried
people were amazed at George’s courage
They were impressed by his faith
They were surprised by his forgiveness
and because of all that
some of them wanted to follow Christ as well.
This was not part of the plan
So the emperor called George back before him
He gave him one last chance to stop being a Christian
and to worship him as a god
Instead his wife stepped forward and said,
“You are not a god!
what you are doing is wrong.
You are just being a naughty boy.
Because of George’s courage and faith
I now am a follower of Christ!”
The serpent’s plans had all gone wrong
Diocletian’s plans were all going wrong
He ordered his wife to be executed
He ordered George to be executed
He ordered any who were Christians to be executed
and it just made more people realise
he was not a god
and what he was doing was wrong!
So today we have these pictures of George to remind us
that he defeated the serpent
not a dragon!
And we are reminded that the Empress Alexandra and many others
became Christians because of George’s courage and faith.
Thank you, God, for George,
The Great Martyr!
He did not rescue a damsel in distress
But he gives us the courage
to stand up and say to people in power who think they are like god
“you are not a god
and what you are doing is wrong!”
All go back to your seats
Pray together (please stand)
Going to use the te reo Māori name for Saint George – Hori Tapu
God, make us
brave like Hori Tapu (St George) (Stand up straight.)
gentle like Hori Tapu (Mime holding a butterfly.)
truthful like Hori Tapu (Point to lips)
and help us to love Jesus as much as Hori Tapu did (Hand on heart).
Amen.
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