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.)

You can listen to it here.

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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