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“A Heavenly Morn”

©2013 byRev. Jenna L. Couch

Setting: Heaven, early Christmas morning. The angel is sleeping. The children angels rush on the set to wake him up, in Christmas excitement.

Characters With Speaking Parts: Angel 1, Angel 2, Angel 3, other angels (for “Heavenly Chorus) Matthew, Luke,

Non Speaking Parts; Joseph, Mary, Wisemen, Shepherd Children: Gabriel! Gabriel, wake up! It’s Christmas!!! (shout excitedly, jump up and down, high five) Gabriel: (waking up in a panic, and confused) What? Huh? What’s the matter, kids? Angel 1: Nothing’s the matter, Gabriel! It’s CHRISTMAS!!

Gabriel: (tiredly, yawning) Oh yeah. That’s right. Merry Christmas! (another yawn, rubbing his eyes, stretching, trying to wake up) Angel 2: Yeah, it’s Christmas! Yahooo!!! Angel 3: We want you to tell us the story! Gabriel: The story? What story? Angel 3: You know; the Christmas Story! Gabriel: (smiling, more awake now) Ohhh! THAT story. Ok, well kids, gather ‘round. (the kids sit on the floor by him) Gabriel: ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house…..” Angel 1: No, no no, Gabriel. Not that story! Gabriel: Well what story are you talking about? Angel 2: Think about it; We’re in Heaven and it’s Christmas morning….what other story would we want to hear? Gabriel: Rudolf? Angel 3: Ok guys, next year, let’s just let him sleep in….. Gabriel: OH! I think I know!!!! All the angels: DUH!!!! The story about when was born!!!!! 2

Gabriel: Yup! That’s the one I was thinking of. Sure. I knew that…I was just testing you to make sure you knew the TRUE meaning of Christmas. Angel 1:Surrrrrrrre, Gabriel…whatever you say……. Gabriel:(Smiling) Alright… but to make it more fun, how about I ask my friends Matthew and Luke to come help us out with it? They did write them, with God’s help, after all….. (Matthew and Luke come up behind Gabriel and taps him on the shoulder) Matthew and Luke: You called? Gabriel: Wow, that was fast! Good to see you, friends! Want to help us out with telling your versions of the Christmas story? Matthew: I’d love to! Luke: Me too! This is one of my favorite times of the year! I suppose you want to be the voice of the angel… Gabriel:Well, That would make the most sense…. Matthew: Sounds good. I’ll be, well, me; the narrator. Luke: And I’ll be the other narrator. Angels: (together) That would make the most sense… (Matthew, Luke, and Gabriel laugh)

Matthew:Now the birth of Jesus the * took place in this way. (ENTER JOSEPH) When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Spirit. 19Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,

Gabriel: (clears throat; and makes a show of saying his line) ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’

Matthew:22All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’

Song Break: Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel? Congregation? Bells?

Angel 1:Wait, wait wait. What’s this Emmanuel stuff? Joseph and Mary named their baby Jesus. If the prophet said they should name the child Emmanuel, then why did they name him Jesus? 3

Gabriel: Well, that’s a good question. You see, God gave Mary and Joseph a baby. And God had the angel tell Joseph to name the baby Jesus. Because the name Jesus means “to save.”

Angel 1:Ohhh. And that’s what Jesus did! Jesus saved us all from our sins!

Gabriel: That’s right! Good question though! Let’s let Matthew continue his story!

Matthew:Well, actually, I was about to turn it over to Luke. All I have left to say is that24When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took Mary as his wife, 25but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son;* and he named him Jesus. Actually, Luke has some pretty cool stuff to say about this too!

Luke: Well thanks, Matthew! Indeed I do! In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. (enter Mary) And he came to her and said, (points to Gabriel)

Gabriel:‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’*

Luke: But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.The angel said to her,

Gabriel:Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’

Luke:Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’*The angel said to her:

Gabriel:The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born* will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’

Luke: Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her. Angel 2: Wow. Mary must have been scared, but she sure had a lot of faith that God knew what he was doing! Gabriel: She seemed a little scared at first. That’s why I tried to reassure her by saying “Do not be afraid.” Angel 3:Gabriel, you also told her that God was with her too. I’m sure that made her feel better. Gabriel: It did. It helped a lot. Doesn’t it help you to know that God is right here with us when we’re scared? Even when we’re not scared, God is always with us. That’s what Emmanuel means, after all! 4

Angels: (together) Ooohhhhh!!!

Angel 1: That makes a lot of sense! Angel 2: And God came to be with us through Jesus, right? Gabriel: That’s exactly right! Angel 3: See, Gabriel; this story is WAY better than that one! Angel 1: Yeah! Santa Claus only comes once a year; but God is with us ALL the time! Gabriel: That’s very true! Good point! Gabriel; Well, we gotta keep going with this story! We haven’t gotten to the best part yet! Luke; I think it’s your turn!

Luke: (clears throat) In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. All went to their own towns to be registered. 4Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called , because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Gabriel: Ya know; even being born in a manger, that was still a beautiful night. An incredibly Holy Night.

Luke: It really was.

Break for hymn, special music, OR, (Someone begins to play O, Holy Night on piano as story continues.)

Luke: In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them:

Gabriel: Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah,* the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’

Luke: And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,* praising God and saying, 14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’*

Song Break? Congregational Hymn? Hark the Herald Angels Sing?

Luke:When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ 5

16So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Angel 1: What about the Wise Men? Where were they?

Matthew: They didn’t come until later. You see, once they found out about Jesus, they had to travel quite a ways to get to him. King Herod sent them out to look for Jesus. But Herod lied to the wisemen. He said he wanted to go worship Jesus, too, but he really wanted to get rid of him.

Angel 2: Get rid of him? But why would he want to get rid of Jesus? He was just a baby!

Matthew: Well, Herod was a very jealous man. They were already calling Jesus a King; and that scared Herod. He didn’t want there to be any other king but him. Herod told the wisemen about the star that rose the same time Jesus was born, and told them to go to Bethlehem, find he child, and to let Herod know where the child was.

Angel 3: I hope the wisemen were named the wise men because they didn’t fall for Herod’s mean old trick….

Matthew: They didn’t fall for the trick. But they did find the child in Bethlehem, just like Herod said. When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Angel 2: Phew! Glad they decided not to tell Herod!

Matthew: Me too! But boy, Herod was not happy when he found out the wisemen had tricked him! But God wanted to make sure to keep the child safe, so after the wisemen had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 2

Gabriel:0“Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.”

Matthew:21Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.” 6

Angel 1: Boy; that Joseph sure slept a lot…

Angel 3: Yeah: how come the angel only came to Joseph in his dreams?

Matthew: That’s a good question! I’m not sure. Maybe Joseph was more alert when he was sleeping and dreaming. The important thing was that Joseph listened to the angel; even when it came to him in a dream.

Gabriel: So, angels; how was that for your Christmas morning story?

Angel 1: Even better than we imagined!

Angel 2: It’s always good to hear the story of how God came into this world through Jesus!

Angel 3: And to be reminded that God is always with us!

Angel 1: And that God still finds new ways to talk to us; whether in dreams, or through other people, like Matthew and Luke, and the other writers in the Bible!

Gabriel: (clears throat loudly) Ahhemmm….

Angel 3: Oh yeah…and through angels too….

Gabriel: That’s right! God’s promise of Emmanuel, of God with us, is a beautiful promise that holds truth for us as people of God. And as God chose Mary to be the one to literally bring Jesus into this world, God chooses us to be the recipients of Christ; of God’s love and grace and to share the joy that God has brought us with all the world. Thanks be to God for that! May the meaning of Christmas, of Emmanuel, be with you always!

Everyone: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Sunday School Sing 1st verse of ; Congregation joins in at 2nd verse

 *Scripture within the text is from the NRSV.