Summary: Christmas raises the question of whether we are available to do what God asks us to do. This script contrasts different attitudes to being willing to fit in with God's purposes. 
Style: Light-hearted.    Duration: 10-15min.
Actors: 1N, 3M, 1F, 2M/F, + extras


Characters: (min 7, adaptable to a large number)
Speaking parts
Narrator:
Angel 1:
Angel 2:
Mary:
Joseph:
Shepherd 1:
Shepherd 2:
Non-speaking and extras
Host of angels
extra shepherd
lambs


Script

Scene 1 (Angels & Mary)


Angel 1: I've noticed that people just don't seem to care about anyone but themselves these days.

Angel 2: Yes, and they're so busy...with so many things.

Angel 1: What if the people we visited that first Christmas had responded with this attitude?

Angel 2: Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.

Mary: (Looking up her stitching work ) Huh, What?

Angel 2: You have found favor with God. You will bear a son and you will call him Jesus and...

Mary: Hang on, wait a minute, I've never been with a man, how can this be? Yeah I'm engaged...but we are not planning on kids for a LONG time, IF at all.

Angel 2: The Holy Spirit will come upon you and you will bear a son, he will be the Messiah and ...

Mary: (interrupting) What, and I just don't think I'm up for that. How will this benefit me? I mean I have plans of my own. I'm sorry I just can't do this not now. I have so much to do... you know, to plan my own wedding.

Angel 1: Stop! I can't take this... that is not how it happened.

Angel 2: No, Mary was of course perplexed, but she made herself available to do what do what God asked.

Angel 1: Yes, her words recorded in Luke 1: 38 are beautiful.

Mary: Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.

Scene 2 (Angels & Joseph)

Angel 2: Remember, you visited Joseph in a dream... because he was going to quietly find a way to break his engagement to Mary without humiliating her. But what if it happened this way...
Angel 1: Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Joseph: (rubbing his eyes) Hey, hang on... you want me to raise a child that's not even mine? What, no. I don't want that responsibility. I have so many things to do with my life and that is not on my list. Oh well, it was just a dream anyway. I'm just going to do what I had planned. That will be the best for me.
Angel 2: Ok, enough we get the picture. Good thing this didn't happen – it would have been a true tragedy.
Angel 1: Yes, It would have. Thankfully, Joseph made himself available and he was willing to adopt and raise Jesus as his own son. He obeyed and took Mary to be his wife.

Scene 3 (3 Shepherds, Angels, optional extra angels, shepherds and sheep)
Angel 2: Remember a whole bunch of us appeared that first Christmas to the Shepherds?
Angel 1: How could I ever forget? That was a beautiful moment... the singing.
Angel 2: Yes, but what if the Shepherds had responded the way most people would today...
Angels1: Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
Shepherd 1: Wow! They sure are pretty, and what lovely singing voices... but, I don't know, it's a pretty long walk from here to Bethlehem.
Shepherd 2: Yeah, this is really inconvenient. It's not like we don't have anything to do. What are we supposed to do, just leave all these sheep here grazing by themselves?
Shepherd 1: Oh, someone else will go. I'm sure we aren't the only ones who saw the sky... I mean... It is a big sky.
Angel 2: That certainly would have been a disappointment.
Angel 1: Thankfully, the Shepherds did not react this way. They got up right away and went to find baby Jesus. They were willing to just simply get up and go.
Angel 2: You know. I am so thankful that on that first Christmas the ones we visited made themselves available so that we could have the best gift ever Jesus.

Scene 4 (All Cast)
Narrator: Let us also make ourselves available and willing to do as our Lord asks. These are gifts which we thought show a servant's heart. Gifts we present to our Lord and to others as we strive to be the hands and feet of our Lord.

Those in the play present gifts wrapped with these huge words on them: Either presented around a manger or the foot of a cross (Kindness, humility, helpfulness, obedience, generosity, patience, loving, prayers, time, friendliness).

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© Ruth Sen. All rights reserved.
This script may be used free of charge, on the condition that copies are not sold for profit in any medium, nor any entrance fee charged to a performance. In exchange, the author would appreciate being notified of any occasion the script is used in public performance. She may be contacted at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.