A Story For Holy Week - The Ragman

I first came across the story The Ragman during the summer of 2005 at our Teen Camp. Our speaker, Wayne Nelson, presented this story as a monologue/reader's theater. It fit in exceptionally well with our theme of "Extreme Makeover: Life Edition," as the story spoke of
exchanging our filthy, dirty rags for the new clothes that Jesus offers. Wayne made it clear that he did not write the story, and he told me where he got it, but I completely forgot about it until much later.

But I remembered about The Ragman a week ago when someone posted it on "NazNet." Intrigued, I went looking to find out who the original author was. Walter Wangerin Jr is a
Lutheran minister, lecturer, author, and radio personality, and you can find the full text of The Ragman (along with several other short stories) in his updated book Ragman: And Other Cries of Faith (Wangerin, Walter).

I won't reproduce the entire story here (since it's copyright, and you really should buy it if you intend to use it in a worship context), but I will provide a brief plot summary for you. The tale begins with the narrator of the story coming across a Ragman, who went from person to person exchanging their filthy and used rags for His new rags. And each time, not only did he take their rag--but also their infirmity. When he gave the one-armed man a new jacket, the man also got a new arm--and when the Ragman took the old jacket, he lost his arm. By the end of the night, the Ragman was bleeding, crying, wounded, and staggering through the streets. The narrator followed Him to the city dump where He laid down in his rags and died.

Want to know the rest of the story? You'll have to read it for yourself!

I'm considering using this story as part of the message for our Easter Sunrise service on the ocean (5:45 AM).

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon