Yesterday’s Voices are Today’s Choices

Watch the Stories Learn About Harry

Yesterday's Voices - Today's Choices by Harry L. Strong

What if the men and women of the Bible could step off the page and speak directly to you?

In this compelling collection of eighteen sermon-dramas, Reverend Harry L. Strong gives you that chance. Drawing on decades of ministry, Strong brings iconic Biblical figures to life—from Cain and Judas Iscariot to Simon Peter on Easter—through vivid first-person monologues and dialogues that make ancient Scripture startlingly personal.

Spanning the Hebrew Scriptures, Advent and Christmas, and the seasons of Lent and Easter, each script is paired with Questions for Reflection and Discussion—making this book ideal for personal devotion, small groups, or congregational study.

At its heart, Yesterday's Voices -Today's Choices is about the audacious belief that God is still speaking through these ancient personalities—that the heroes and villains, the saints and sinners of the biblical world, wrestled with the same temptations, guilt, forgiveness, and longing for faithfulness that we face today. Their voices have waited centuries to reach you. What will you do with what they have to say?

Who is Harry Strong?

The Reverend Harry Strong is a retired pastor in the Presbyterian Church USA. Since his ordination in 1967, he served as a pastor of 11 congregations in Iowa, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Colorado. For twenty of those years, he enjoyed his ministry as pastor of two collegiate churches: in Ames, Iowa (Iowa State University) and State College, Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania State University).

Back in 1993, when Harry turned 50, a dear friend gifted him with a birthday epistle entitled Fifty Proofs for the Infinite Wisdom of God! Two of those “proofs” read as follows: “God blessed Harry with a modest amount of thespian talent,” and next: “God blessed Harry with his own church, so he’d never have to try out for a part!” Humbly and prayerfully, Harry continued to strive to bring biblical personalities to life and to meet worshippers where they are in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Now, Harry has stepped off the stage and away from the pulpit and is enjoying retirement with his wife, Anna, and his double doodle dog, Santo, in western Colorado.

Watch the Stories

Story 1: Judas Iscariot

What did you learn about Judas that you had not realized before? As a result of “hearing his story” today, are you more or less angry with him? More or less sympathetic?
Were you disappointed you did not hear a more definitive answer to the question, “Why did Judas betray Jesus?” Or, in all likelihood, was it a combination of factors and reasons?
Why do you believe Jesus chose Judas as a disciple? Are you satisfied that it was probably because Jesus saw Judas had potential to be an effective leader and ambassador for the Christian faith?
Did Judas have a choice? Or, once Jesus declared, “one of you will betray me,” from that moment forward, was Judas predestined to betray his Lord?
Judas asserted that perhaps his greatest sin was not his betrayal of Jesus but his blindness to who Jesus was and to what God was calling Him to be and do as the Messiah. Judas also alleged that we are vulnerable to the same sin. When we know the truth and fail to see it, when we are faced with the right and choose the wrong, we sin. Can you recall times in your life, when you “missed the mark” (the original meaning of the word, sin) because you knew better, yet you opted for falsehood over truth, and wrong over right? Do you believe there are times when the church as a whole has been guilty of the same sin? Can you cite some issues or periods in history when you believe the church has “missed the mark?”

Story 2: Pontius Pilate

The next time you say, “He suffered under Pontius Pilate,” what will you remember about today’s message?
Had you noticed before how many times Pilate tried to find a compromise or tried to avoid taking responsibility for Jesus’ execution? Was Pilate a coward or a peacemaker? What do you think? Think about the last time you found yourself “in the middle.” Did you try to extract yourself from the situation, or did you try to help folks find a win-win solution?
Pilate confronted his modern listeners with the fact that he was neither the first nor the last to have to face up to the question, “What will you do with this Jesus who is called the Christ?” Can you recall times when, honestly, you attempted to ignore, evade, or reject Jesus? Under what circumstances? Have we been guilty of choosing “a moment of sin, pride, passion, popularity, money, or comfort” over discipleship?
Pilate also alleged that you and I sometimes abandon justice and righteousness to avoid people thinking ill of us. Can you recall a time when you “made waves” or “caused sparks to fly” because you dared to side with justice or righteousness? What are some issues currently facing your household, church, community, or nation where the Christ-like response is clear but not necessarily popular?
Over and over again, the Bible recounts stories of God guiding and instructing people through dreams and visions. Have you ever felt God speaking to you through a dream or vision? If so, would you be willing to describe that experience and your response to it? Do you believe people in Biblical times were more or less open to God’s voice than they are today? Do you have any thoughts as to how we might be able to “improve our reception” to divine messages?

Story 3: Barabbas

What has Jesus freed you from? What has He freed you for?
Barabbas seems to have mistaken Christ’s look of forgiveness for a look of condemnation. Are there things for which you still have been unable to forgive yourself? Does it help to realize that Christ’s death on the cross was for your sins and not just for the sins of others? Would you agree that sometimes an unhealthy sense of guilt can paralyze us and prevent us from being as faithful and useful to God as we might be in the future?
Barabbas’ violent response to the Roman oppressors of his nation raises the old issue of ends versus means. Under what circumstances (if any) do you believe Christians have a right or even an obligation to resort to violence as a means of faithful discipleship?
Have you ever interpreted an incident or experience as a sign from God that your life’s direction was being affirmed? Can you recall a time when you felt God’s pointing, prompting, or directing? When? How did you come to attribute such events as a sign from God?
What is your philosophy of life? To put it another way: what are some values, mottos, or eternal truths that you strive to live by? Do you believe we are living in a time in which good is frequently defeated by evil? Do you believe justice and righteous ultimately triumph “in the long run?”

Story 4: Simon of Cyrene

Have you ever looked forward to a celebration of the worship of God with such eagerness and anticipation and effort to be there as Simon demonstrated prior to that Passover observance in Jerusalem? When?
How did you respond to the “cross in your pocket or purse” story? Did it make you angry? Did you feel guilty? Do you think we have trivialized the cross of Christ? Is it wrong to wear the cross as a necklace or earring or on a lapel, or is it a public testimony of what we believe?
Did you realize that the Bible gives us some clues about Simon’s witness, evangelism, and mission following the crucifixion? Who are some of the people who have helped shape your faith in God and in Jesus Christ? What did they do? How is your life different because of their witness? Can you think of people whose faith perspectives may have been shaped, in part, by your Christian witness? Who? What exactly did you say or do that might impacted them in some way?
Did it surprise you that, initially, Simon found himself being angry with Jesus for his inability to bear His own cross? Was that idea offensive to you, or did it seem quite natural, given the circumstances? Can you recall a time when you were angry with someone only to have that anger subside when you received new information and gained a different perspective?
What is a “cross” to you? When you hear someone claim that, “as Christians, we are called to pick up our crosses and follow Jesus, or to bear certain crosses,” what does that mean to you? Do you think it has something to do with sacrifice, self-denial, and suffering; or is it something else entirely? If someone were to ask you, “What has it cost you to be a Christian?” how would you respond? Can you identify a time when God helped transform a cross into a blessing for you?

Story 5: The Centurion

The Centurion seems to think modern day Christians have a lot to learn about the necessity of obedience and submission to Jesus Christ. Would you agree? Are we guilty of accenting our freedom as Christians and ignoring what Christ has a right to expect of us?
What might a life look like if Jesus Christ were above every loyalty to that person? Do you know anyone who lives like that? Would anything be different for you if you looked at loyalty to Jesus in a new way?
Jesus once said, “If you do not hate your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, you cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26) What do you believe Jesus was asking of us with such a seemingly impossible and offensive demand?
Have you ever been caught up in a crowd? Have you ever found yourself saying things or doing things in a group that you would never have said or done had you been alone? Why did you respond that way? To be popular? To make sure you blended in? Was it that you did not have enough courage to challenge the “mob mentality” or to articulate what you knew to be faithful or right?
When you recite The Apostles’ Creed in a service of worship, do you believe all of it sincerely and completely, or are there certain phrases which prompt you to want to cough or cross your fingers?