God In 21st Century

Scene 1: 

Office area, inside Boss' room. In a mute scene, Andy was being scolded by his boss, complete with finger waving, pointing and so forth. After that, Andy came out from the room and his colleague Ted started talking.

Ted: (grinning) That's a long one. I believe you've broken your previous record.

Andy: (sighing) Yeah, me and my big mouth.

Ted: you could have kept it shut, but no, good ol' Andy just had to say the truth, didn't  he?

Andy: (staring at Ted in disbelief) I couldn't help it. I had some concerns with his plan as he didn't seem to notice the flaw in it.

Ted: (chuckling) and where did that land you? A nightmare before Christmas, literally.

Andy: What would you do then, if you were in my position?

Ted: What I do best. Telling him things he wants to hear.

Andy: (shaking head). How do you sleep at night?

Ted: (smiling) Peacefully. I'm not the one who got scolded here. You see, Andy,  you and your conscience, it always gets you into trouble. Me? I couldn't care less. His decision. Not my problem.

Andy. Oh God...

Ted: (packing up and ready to go) Now, now. If God was real, shouldn't you be problem-free? Anyway, Merry Christmas to you. I gotta go.

Scene 2:

In the train, on the way home, Andy was scrolling the news feed on his Facebook. He stopped at one posting from someone he knew. The Facebook status was basically a prayer to God.

Andy: (not quite sure how to react to this): Oh my, people even pray on Facebook these days. Being omnipresent, God must be busy maintaining many social media accounts.

Andy scrolled again and saw a loving picture of a couple. They smiled and seemed to be madly in love. At the same time, the vacant seat next to him was suddenly taken by a friend.

Bob: Hey, what's up, man. You seem to be deep in thoughts. 

Andy: Hi, Bob. Good to see you again. No, I was just looking at the picture of Sue and John. They were so lucky to find each other. Check it out.

Bob (looking at the phone as Andy shared with him what he was looking at): Ah, this trip. A bit of a friendly advice here, Andy. Don't always believe what you see on social media.

Andy: What? Why would you say something like that?

Bob: (scratching his forehead while frowning): I was there when the picture was taken.

Andy: Oh yeah, you went with them, too.

Bob: Yes, and they argued like mad through out the whole trip. It was almost magical that they could pause for a while just to pose for the picture before they resumed quarrelling. 

Andy: What? (Andy stared at the picture before turning back to Bob again). I didn't see that coming.

Bob: Yeah, me, too. It's crazy what people will do for their existence on social media. Anyway, I'll stop here. Gotta go. Merry Christmas, Andy.

Andy: Oh, Merry Christmas to you, too, Bob.

Scene 3:

It was night time and Andy was fast asleep on his bed. In his dream, he thought he heard some clicking noise and he came out of bed to check the shining light from the room next door. He saw a man busy with computer gadgets, from laptop, phone to tablet. As he approached, Andy realised that the man was manning all sorts of social media accounts. His profile name is @god.

Andy: Oh my God! Are you for real?

God: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 

Andy: (stunned, then he mumbled) Not exactly the answer I would expect, but that sounds about right.

Andy stood behind God and observed what God did. God scrolled the news feed and much to the amusement of Andy, God actually read through each and every prayer. But he never replied directly. Out of curiosity, Andy blurted out a question. 

Andy: God, You left all these prayers unanswered.

God: When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Andy: How would I know if my prayer is answered? How would I know if I hear it from You?

God: (smiling) My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Andy: Praise be to God.

God: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Andy: (surprised by the words of God, then suddenly remembered what happened earlier that day). Yes, Lord, I had an unpleasant encounter with my boss today.

God: Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

Upon hearing that, Andy felt that his burden was lifted up from him. Then he heard the bell from the clock, reminding him that it had passed midnight.

Andy: Oh, it's Christmas already.

God: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Andy smiled and, as he said goodbye, he saw God looking at the picture of Sue and John and clicked the angry emoji, the only one out of 100 responses.

Andy: He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him!

Scene 4:

Andy woke up and checked the phone. As he scrolled his messages, he saw one from his boss: I was wrong and you were right. Thanks for speaking up the truth. Merry Christmas.

Andy smile and sang Joy to the World as he walked towards the bathroom.

Before watching the play of this script.