Dives and Lazarus

This is my up to date version of a parable that Jesus told about a rich man named Dives, and a poor man called Lazarus, only in this case the two main characters are ladies. First we have Little Miss Rich dressed in all her finery, complete with long wig and toy dog; and Little Miss Poor, who is wrapped in a shawl, holding her sickly child (a rag doll). The wise old man of the village is Abraham, who wears a white wig, and outfit representing authority. Abraham stands centre stage, with the ladies at either side of him. They all make up their own mime to the words below in the script. When this was first performed at a local school, Jubilee Primary, three boys volunteered to play the female characters, and they were excellent.

You may also need a bell and horn for the questions which round off the drama.

Narrator; Come with me to a village not so very far away from here.

Two little ladies live here, at opposite ends of the street.

Let’s meet the first one.

Her name is Little Miss Rich.

Here she is.

Can you see her luxurious hair, her fine clothes, all in fashion and very expensive.

Here is her house. It is big and grand, with huge gardens full of grand lawns, fruit orchards and magnificent shrubs.

Next to the house is her double garage. Her husband’s car is a Mercedes, hers is a Porsche so she can go shopping till her heart’s content at Silverlink and the Metro Centre*(or local shopping centre)

She has everything she needs and lives a life of luxury.

She loves to go on holiday and top up her tan.

She like to have her nails manicured every week.

She goes to the local Country Club to swim and have a relaxing massage whenever she can.

She likes to spend money more than anything else, and now has large collections of clothes, shoes and ornaments and gold and silver jewellery stuffed into her cupboards, which of course are all antiques. Look at her trying to close the drawers!

She has an adorable pet dog named Foo-Foo..she spoils him and pampers him all the time.

They both look very happy don’t they?

She gives very little thought to the lady who lives at the other end of the village.

Here she is.

Her name is Little Miss Poor.

You always know when you are near to Little Miss Poor’s house, because a strange small begins to form in your nose. As you get nearer and nearer, the smell gets stronger and fouler.

The smell comes from the rubbish dump where she lives in a hut put together with old bits of wood and corrugated iron.

(Little Miss Rich puts a peg on her nose)

Here there are flies and mosquitoes everywhere. Little Miss Poor ignores them now, but her skin is sore because of them.(She rubs her skin)

She's so very tired, and each day is a struggle.

She cleans her little kettle every day to boil water and make it safe for her family to drink. She must also to clean it because so many ants climb inside, when she is not using it.

Her five children are outside right now, but they’re not playing.

They are scrambling over the rubbish dump, searching carefully for food, left-over food...or even for something that they might be able to sell for money, to buy food. They can do this every day, as there is no school here for them to attend. She keeps an eye on them.

Little Miss Poor gives her children a wave from the door of her house, she loves them so. She’s afraid they might catch nasty diseases from the dump, she would love to join them and help them, but then there’s the baby to look after.

The Wise Old Man of the village, Father Abraham, decides to knock at Little Miss Rich’s door and he asks her to help Little Miss Poor. Little Miss Rich has no time to listen, she is far too busy looking after Foo-Foo.

Then something awful happens.

Little Miss Rich and her husband lose everything.

They had money in the bank, and now it has all gone. The banks have been very careless with their money. She's looking worried.

They cannot afford to run their house it is worth half of what they are paying for it, and now they can’t afford to sell it.

Suddenly Little Miss Rich has become very poor indeed. Look, she is in shock!

She has nothing to eat.

She will soon have to leave her home and Foo-Foo behind.

She goes to see the Wise Old Man, Father Abraham.

“Father Abraham!” she cries, “Tell Little Miss Poor, to give me something to eat, I am so hungry. I have nothing!

PAUSE...

Can you guess what Father Abraham is about to say....Can any of you finish our story?

 (use bell and horn for right and wrong answers)

What do you think Abraham is going to say...a) 'Go knock at her door and ask her yourself' (Horn ~wrong)

Will he say...b) Little Miss Poor is going to send help immediately? (Horn ~ wrong)

Will he say...c) You had everything and didn’t care for anyone but yourself, now you are able to feel the agony of it all (Bell ~ correct)

Jesus himself told a very similar story in the Bible in St Luke’s gospel Chapter 16 beginning at verse 19, if you want to look it up.

It too is a story designed to shock people into realising that they have a real responsibility to look after those in the world who are poor.

 Ask the question: If you were this poor in life, what would you want others to do for you?

Pause for thought. Then go do it for others!