Followers

Monday, November 16, 2015

The Warm-Up Act

He stands centre stage
dressed in an echo of another man
He knows his lines and
delivers them with authority
to a packed crowd

“Snakes!”
He names those in the gallery
who peer down from lofty heights
fools that think they are near to God
They bear no fruit of repentance

To those in the stalls
he sets the challenge to sacrifice 
spare shirts and
scrap all their schemes to swindle
Savour contentment instead

He tosses water
into the audience
cold and clear, bestowing on them a
clean slate start

Of course, he’s only the warm-up act to
the man with top billing who waits in the wings
He knows he’s being
written out of the drama

Will he surrender the stage,
gracefully step aside and
take his final bow
before the curtain falls?
No lengthy encores?

Jesus of Nazareth arrives
quietly
He sees him and declares,
“The Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.”

An aside to the audience
Last lines spoken humbly,
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
The spotlight shifts as
a dove flutters down


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Beautiful words.