Object: a mask

I want to introduce you today to a man whom we would not want for a friend. That’s different, isn't it? I do not introduce you to people like this very often, but today we are going to pretend that we are listening to a thief. This is not an ordinary thief, but a very special thief. This is the thief who died on a cross beside Jesus when Jesus was crucified. I don’t know his name, but that is not very important for our story. Will you now please pretend that the thief is here, and that he is ready to speak to you?

[Raise the mask.] I am a thief. If you had lived next door to me, you would not have liked me. But I don’t care, or at least I didn’t care then. I took whatever I wanted from anybody when I wanted to. If you had something I wanted, I would wait until you went awa…