Pajama Jones
Light and dark go toe to toe in this quirky melodrama of good vs evil. The lights go out for the Lord of Darkness, as the hero, Pajama Jones, saves the day with the light of God’s love.
Characters: Pajama Jones, Darkness, two ladies in distress
Props & Setup: Pajamas and cape for PJ, flashlight, Bible, cape for Darkness, CD with thunder and lightning noises, someone to turn the lights off and on
The Skit: The lights in the sanctuary slowly dim as two ladies walk out laughing and talking to each other. Once the lights are off, a dark figure slips out from the side and eyes the ladies from the darkness. They giggle as he sneaks around.
One of the ladies asks, “Who is that over there?” The other one giggles, “Yeah, why don’t you come over here and show yourself shy boy.”
The dark figure walks out slowly eyeing the ladies, who nudge each other and giggle softly. The dark figure circles the ladies like a snake with a long black cape swooshing behind him. He is evil in a sinister, disgusting, yet goofy, childish sort of way. (Kind of like Captain Hook.)
He says, “My, my, my, aren’t you two lovely ladies just the sweetest little sugar plums I’ve ever seen.”
They giggle and ask, “And who are you to say that?”
He says, “I am (pause for dramatic effect) Darkness!”
The ladies giggle and squirm, somewhat amused by his answer. They ask, “So why are you here?
Darkness swooshes in close and asks, “Why are YOU here? We’re out pretty late aren’t we ladies?”
One of them asks, “What do you mean by that?”
Darkness says, “Oh, it’s just that you look so pure and undefiled, so sweet and innocent.” He swooshes in close and touches the chin of one lady. “And what fun is that?” he asks as he turns her head back and forth slowly.
As if falling under some sort of spell, together the ladies ask, “And what do you mean by that?”
Darkness lies, “Well, you know, God doesn’t want you too be too nice or too good or too pure.”
The ladies ask, “Why not?”
Darkness lies, “God wants you to know and experience the dark side! So you know what you’re missing.”
One of them says, “That doesn’t sound quite right.”
Darkness says, “But you don’t know what you’re missing, do you?”
One of them says, “Well, I guess not. It sounds kind of dangerous, the dark side, mysterious, intriguing, interesting.” They step blindly towards Darkness as if in a trance.
Darkness suddenly swoops his black cape around the ladies and laughs, “A ha, ha, ha! I have you now! There’s no escaping the dark side once you’ve fallen prey to it! Even God can’t save you now! In fact, God can’t stand the sight of you! After all that you have done! Shame, shame, shame on you!”
The ladies cry out in fear. Darkness laughs wickedly as he heads for the door. But just before he steps outside a bolt of lightning crashes from the back of the sanctuary. Darkness freezes in his steps. Everyone turns to see a man standing in the back of the room dressed in his pajamas with a red cape draped around his neck.
With a Bible in one hand and a flashlight in the other, Pajama Jones says, “This looks like a job for Pajama Jones!”
The ladies cry out, “Oh, Pajama Jones! He’s our hero!”
Pajama Jones turns on his flashlight and runs up the center aisle. His red cape flies behind him as he runs. Halfway up the aisle, he darts to the left and squeezes down an aisle full of people just for the fun of it. He stops to talk to a child. He says, “There’s no need to hide, when you’ve got Christ inside!” Then he continues on his way. When he reaches the side aisle he looks around for a second then darts up toward the front again with his flashlight swooshing and his red cape flying behind him in the wind. He is clearly having a good time being the superhero, or at least acting like one.
All the while, Darkness eyes Pajama Jones with fear and trepidation, and a slight twitch in his cheek. He swallows hard and starts to tremble as Pajama Jones draws near.
The ladies can hardly contain themselves as they sigh and swoon and cry out to their hero, “Oh PJ! Isn’t he just the cutest thing!” Darkness yells at the ladies, “Hush up ladies! He can’t save you! You’re mine!” The ladies continue to sigh and swoon and cry out to their hero, “Oh PJ! He’s so adorable in his pajamas! He’s so brave!” They swoon and gush and bat their eyes as Pajama Jones draws closer.
When Pajama Jones reaches the front, he turns slowly to face Darkness, with one hand on his Bible and one hand on his flashlight (like a gunfighter waiting to draw). Darkness cowers from across the room and tries to keep from trembling. In an evil tone Darkness yells out, “Pajama Jones! You can’t stay here in the darkness for very long! One of us has to go!”
Pajama Jones responds with undaunting courage and truth, “Well I’m not leaving, so it must be you!”
Darkness shudders in panic, fear, and confusion all at once. He cries out like a spoiled brat, “Well I’m not going! So what are you gonna do about it?”
Pajama Jones says, “Oh, you’re going alright! And I’m gonna rescue these two lovely ladies out of your clutches, Darkness, and lead them back into the light.”
Darkness cries, “You can’t do that! You don’t know what they’ve done! They’ve been (pause) naughty! I can tell you what they’ve done in the darkness!”
Pajama Jones says, “Why don’t you come over HERE and tell me.”
Darkness shakes violently at this suggestion, and cries out like a child about to be spanked, “Okay!”
As Darkness approaches Pajama Jones, he begins to tremble uncontrollably from head to toe. When Darkness reaches Pajama Jones he stands there shaking and twitching. He blurts out, “They were naughty! Staying out late, flirting with Darkness! They were flirting with me, with me Pajama Jones, with me Darkness!”
Pajama Jones says, “Enough!” He opens his Bible to John 1:4-5 and reads loudly and confidently, “In him was life, and the life was the light of all flesh. The light shines in the darkness and the dark has NEVER overpowered it.” This sends a shockwave through Darkness.
Pajama Jones looks Darkness straight in the eye and slowly lifts his flashlight up. It shines first on the wall behind him, then moves up to the ceiling, then slowly comes down closer and closer to Darkness. Then all of a sudden Pajama Jones shines it directly into the eyes of Darkness. Thunder and lightning crash all around them and the lights flicker back on. Darkness lets out a great shriek and shakes violently as if being electrocuted by a giant bolt of lightning. He crumples to the ground, and with a whimper, the life slowly drains from his body.
Pajama Jones smiles and swooshes over to the ladies who blush and fawn over his every move. As he unwraps the black cape he exclaims, “You’re free ladies. You don’t have to worry about Darkness anymore! God still loves you, (he turns his head to the audience) and I do too! Go walk in the light and live in the light of God’s love.”
The two ladies sigh and swoon, “Pajama Jones, you’re our hero!” PJ turns and swooshes out the door with his red cape flying behind him in the wind.
The End
Scripture Emphasis: John 1:4-5
The light of Christ overpowers all the forces of darkness. There is a battle still raging, but the outcome is already sure. We should get on the winning side now.
Discussion Starters:
1. In what areas of life does it appear as if darkness is winning the battle?
2. What areas of your life do you struggle with?
3. How can we help each other fight the dark and draw closer to the light?
4. How do the words of Christ help us in dark situations?
5. Think of one thing you can do to help someone turn back to the light of Christ.
6. Pray and ask God to help you do that this week.
“Pajama Jones” Copyright 2005 Cross the Sky Ministries
From the Skit Central resource book.
www.crossthesky.com