Reading 1-Luke 1:28-35
And he [Gabriel] came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘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.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘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.
Script 1
Angel 1: (Excitedly) It’s here! It’s here! The time has come at last! It’s finally going to happen!
Angel 2: What is? What’s going to happen?
Angel 1: What the prophets have been telling the humans for hundreds of years. It’s all about to
come true!
Angel 2: About the Son you mean? About him going down to earth?
Angel 1: Yes, yes, of course. Oh, I’m so excited – and we’ll have our part to play, you mark my
words.
Angel 2: So he’s really going to go? We’d better prepare them. This is going to knock them for a
loop.
Angel 1: Well, they’ve been waiting for it to happen for years so they should be ready.
Angel 2: Yes, but they always get the wrong end of the stick, don’t they – you never know with
humans; but then, of course, when they see him, they’ll know, won’t they?
Angel 1: How do you mean?
Angel 2: Well, when he appears in all his glory, there’ll be no doubt about who he is, will there?
Angel 1: I’m not so sure – you see, he’s not going to appear in all his glory.
Angel 2: Oh, I get it – he’s going to go incognito at first and then whip off his disguise and say,
“Ta da!”
Angel 1: Not quite.
Angel 2: What then?
Angel 1: He’s going to become one of them.
Angel 2: A human? No, he can’t – surely – how will people know who he is?
Angel 1: It might take a bit of time.
Hymn: ELW 270 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
Reading 2-Matthew 1:19-21
Her [Mary’s] husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘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.’
Script 2
Angel 2: So he’s going to become one of them for a bit and then reveal who he really is?
Angel 1: For 33 years actually.
Angel 2: Thirty-three years?! How’s he going to do that?
Angel 1: He’s going to do the whole human thing – so he’ll experience everything that they do.
Angel 2: Oh, no! He doesn’t deserve that! Where will he start?
Angel 1: He’ll be born as a baby.
Angel 2: A baby? But what about his majesty and his glory?
Angel 1: All left behind – here.
Angel 2: Well, at least he’ll be born in a palace somewhere I’d expect.
Angel 1: No.
Angel 2: Where then?
Angel 1: In a stable.
Angel 2: A stable?! A stable where animals are kept?! You must be joking! How come?
Angel 1: Well, you know how humans often like to count things?
Angel 2: Like their money, you mean? Why can’t they see that that won’t last forever?
Angel 1: Well, this time they’ll be counting people and everyone will have to travel to the place
where they were born so that they can be counted.
Angel 2: What for?
Angel 1: Who knows – but it means that Mary – that’s who’s going to be his mother – will have
to travel away from home just at the time when he’s going to be born and there’ll be so many people that they won’t be able to find a decent place to stay.
Hymn: ELW 275 “Angels, from the Realms of Glory”
Reading 3-Luke 2:8-14
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!’
Script 3
Angel 2: And this Mary – surely she’ll be someone important – after all, she’ll be giving birth to a
king.
Angel 1: No, she’s just an ordinary girl – engaged to a carpenter actually.
Angel 2: Does she know who she’s giving birth to?
Angel 1: Well, Gabriel has been to tell her, but Joseph, who she’s engaged to, is going to take a
bit of persuading.
Angel 2: I bet he is! So let me get this straight – will anybody know just who this baby is? I mean,
won’t there be any trumpets heralding his birth – any national celebrations, any parties in the streets? I’ll be bursting to tell everyone just who has landed on earth!
Angel 1: I’m glad you’ve said that because quite a few of us will be appearing in the night sky to
tell some people about his birth, and you’re included.
Angel 2: Yippee! About time! So we’ll be going to the main leaders, kings, rulers and so on?
Angel 1: Not exactly. It’ll be to some shepherds looking after their sheep.
Angel 2: What?! What have they done to deserve such an honor?!
Angel 1: Well, he himself will be a shepherd to people – to lead them in the right way, so that’ll
be quite fitting really.
Angel 2: So just shepherds – no kings, no rulers, no important people?
Angel 1: You haven’t got the hang of this, have you? There aren’t any favorites with our God –
everyone from the least to the greatest is loved just as much by him.
Angel 2: (sulkily) So no kings then?
Angel 1: Well, you might be surprised to hear that some wise men from the east will be coming
later to find him – because at least they recognize his royal status – and they will be
going to worship him and will take costly gifts to present to him.
Angel 2: Well, thank goodness for that! (Pause) By the way – I forgot to ask – just exactly why is
he putting himself through all this?
Angel 1: Don’t you remember what the prophet Isaiah said? He’s going to be despised and
rejected by men, oppressed and afflicted, and he is going to bear their sins.
Angel 2: Oh, he really does love them, doesn’t He? Let’s get going to those shepherds – they
need to know that a Savior is coming to them and they can be the first to welcome him.
Hymn: ELW 289 “Angels We Have Heard on High”
