Making Room a Christmas Drama

Making Room – a Christmas drama

Characters:Narrator 1, Narrator 2, Grown-Up

Setting: In a bedroom, the night before Christmas...

Narrator 1: What are you doing in bed?

Grown-Up: Well, it's Christmas tomorrow and I thought that the sooner I got to bed, the quicker Christmas would come!

Narrator 2: Good thinking. We'll let you get to sleep then...

Grown-Up: Oh no, please don't go. I've been lying here for a while and I just can't seem to get to sleep. Would you mind reading me a story? Perhaps you could tell me the Christmas story just one more time.

Narrator 1: Sure, we can do that.

(Narrators sit down on bed and get book out. Turn to first page)

Narrator 2: About two thousand years ago, in the town of Nazareth, there lived a young woman named Mary. She was engaged to be married to Joseph, a carpenter. One day an angel appeared before her and told her she had been chosen to have a special baby. The baby would be God's son and she must call him Jesus.

Grown-Up: Wow! Imagine how you would feel if an angel suddenly appeared in front of you and gave you such unbelievable news?

Narrator 2: I would have been terrified, that's for sure! You read the next part... (to Narrator 1)

Narrator 1: At this time, the land where Mary and Joseph lived was part of the Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor Augustus wanted to have a list of all the people in the empire, to make sure they paid their taxes. He ordered everyone to return to the town where their families originally came from, and enter their names in a register there. Mary and Joseph travelled a long way from Nazareth to Bethlehem, because that is where Joseph's family came from.

Narrator 2: About how far was Nazareth from Bethlehem?

Grown-Up: Apparently it's about 120 km, and by most guesses would have taken them between 4-7 days to walk.

Narrator 1: Christmas cards always show Mary riding on a donkey. Was that how she would have travelled, do you think?

Grown-Up: I don't know, but whatever the case, if on foot or on the back of a donkey, it would have been very long and very uncomfortable journey for a woman who was just about to have a baby.

Narrator 2: Joseph and Mary travelled very slowly because Mary's baby was due to be born soon. When they reached Bethlehem they had problems finding somewhere to stay. So many people had come to register their names in the census, that every house was full and every bed was taken in all of the inns. The only shelter that they could find was a stable or cave with the animals. In this poor place Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God.

Grown-Up: How do you think you would have felt after travelling such a long way, to find out that there was no where to stay in Bethlehem? You would have thought that Joseph's family would have saved them a space somewhere or that someone seeing that Mary was so pregnant would have offered to share.

Narrator 2:Wow, it's hard to comprehend that the Son of God was born in such a lowly place and that his bed was the manger that the animals ate their hay from.

Read on, let's hear about the shepherds...

Narrator 1: In the hills and fields outside Bethlehem, shepherds looked after their sheep through the long night. As the new day began, suddenly an angel appeared before them and the glory of God shone around them. The shepherds were very, very scared, but the angel said, 'Don't be afraid. I have good news for you and everyone. Today in Bethlehem a Saviour has been born for you. You will find the baby lying in a manger'.

Grown-Up: I bet the shepherds were surprised that these angels were talking about a baby lying in a animal feeding trough. It's even more surprising that they believed them! Read on..

Narrator 2: When the angels had gone the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem to see what has happened.' So the shepherds went to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph. The baby Jesus was lying in a manger as they had been told.

Grown-Up: The wise men are next up in the story, aren't they?

Narrator 1: When Jesus was born, a brand new bright star appeared in sky. Some Wise Men in faraway countries saw the star and guessed what it meant. They were very clever men that studied the stars and had read in very old writings that a new star would appear when a great king was born. They set out to find the new king and bring him gifts.

Narrator 2: The wise men were guided by the star to the stable in Bethlehem. Here they knelt down and worshipped Jesus. They gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The Light of the World was born.

Grown-Up: Wow, that's such an amazing story! I guess sometimes because we hear the same story every Christmas, we can forget what an extraordinary story it is.

Narrator 1: Yeah, that God chose to send his Son, not just as a little baby, but into a world that wasn't ready for him, that didn't 'have room' for him.

Grown-Up: I guess though, that although there was no room in the inn for baby Jesus, there were people (the Shepherds, Wise men, Mary and Joseph), who were 'making room' in their lives for this new king and who realised that his arrival signaled the arrival of God-among us - Emmanuel.

I think I'd like to get to sleep now...

Narrator 1 and 2: Bye/See you..

The End

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