Prep Time: To Illustrate
July 1, 2003
Walking Across Egypt
Rated PG-13
(Square Dog Pictures, 1999)
Scene begins at 01:33:50
Length: 00:01:00
Compassion, Mercy, Perseverance
Matthew 25:34-40, James 2:5-8
Set-up: In the movie Walking Across Egypt, a widow named Mattie (Ellen Burstyn) is moved by her pastor's message to care for "the least of these." She reaches out to a 16-year-old boy, Wesley (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), whose parents abandoned him as a baby and who is serving time for stealing a car.
After Mattie visits Wesley at the youth correctional center a couple of times, he breaks out of the center and goes to her house. Thinking he is on leave, she allows him to stay with her. Ultimately, Wesley is apprehended and returned to the center.
As Mattie's compassion for the orphan grows, her adult children, Robert and Elaine, are angered. They insist Mattie stop caring for him.
Scene (show or tell): Elaine argues, "He's an escaped convict. You could be charged with aiding and abetting a criminal."
Mattie snaps, "He's not a criminal, Elaine."
Robert disagrees. "He's a thief, Mama. He's a juvenile delinquent."
Mattie says, "Robert, nobody ever loved him."
Robert replies, "If they did, he probably stole their car."
When Mattie begins to say, "The Bible says—" Elaine interjects, "We know what the Bible says. The Bible is full of wonderful stories, Mama. It is a monument to humanity, but that's all it is—it's just a story book."
"The good Lord says that we must help the least of these thy brethren," Mattie says. "That boy is one of the least of these."
"I'll say!" Robert growls.
"You have already done plenty for him. You have done more than most would. Doesn't the Bible say when to stop?" Elaine asks.
Mattie replies emphatically: "No."
Conclusion: Jesus said care for the least of these. ...
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