Peace on Earth?

Peace on Earth?

Setting:  Bare stage except for Christmas tree on stage left and saxophonist on stage right

Characters (numbered characters play multiple parts)
Narrator
1: male
2: female
3: male
4: male
5: male
6: female

Narrator (walking in from stage left to front center): When we come to worship our Newborn King, Jesus Christ we can be very distracted.  We are distracted because we live in a world that is lacking peace.  We do not have peace in our world, in our nation, in our homes, in our relationships, or within ourselves.  You are about to see some scenes that take place every day in our world.  Many of us can identify with these situations, however, any similarities are a complete coincidence.  We are not at peace.  We live in a world filled with unrest and bad feelings.  We live in a world of broken relationships.  We live in a world of rebellion where parents and children are often pitted against each other as enemies.
(3 people – 1 - dad, 2 -  mom, 3 – child, in place center stage at end of Narrator’s lines)
1:  How could you do this to us?
2:  We are so disappointed in you.
1:  You are such a failure.  How can you live with yourself, knowing and doing what you do?
3:  How can I live with myself?  How can I live with you?  I’m leaving.  Good-bye.
(3 storms off down center aisle, 1 walks out stage left, 2 stays)

Narrator:  We live in a world where the bottom line can become the most important thing.
(2 people – 4 - boss, 2 -  employee, 4 enters from stage right)
4:  Henderson, you know that your production has been slipping.
2:  Yes, I know.  I’m doing the best I can, but things just don’t seem to be working out.
4:  No, they don’t.  We are going to have to let you go.  I want your desk cleaned out by the end of the day.
(2 leaves and stands in aisle on stage left, 4 stays)

Narrator:  We live in a world where friendships are betrayed.
(2 people – 4 standing center stage, 5 charges in from stage left)
5:  How could you betray me like that?  You knew that I loved her.  How could you split us up like that (hits 4 and knocks him down and stomps off, 4 gets up and leaves stage right, 5 leaves stage left).

Narrator:  We live in a world of dissolving marriages.
(2 people – 6 and 1, walking down center aisle)
6:  Dear, I have found someone else.  I am moving out at the end of the week to start a new life with him/her.
(1 leaves out stage left, 6 moves center stage).

Narrator:  We live in a world where pregnancy isn’t always welcome.
(2 people – 6 and 5, 5 enters from stage left)
6:  Honey, I’m glad you’re home.  I have good news, I’m pregnant.
5:  You’re what?
6:  Pregnant.
5:  How’d that happen?
6:  What do you mean?
5:  I don’t need that kind of commitment, I’m outta here.
(5 leaves and goes to the back, 6 moves in front of the tree on stage right)

Narrator:  Where is the peace in this world?  There are times when we feel
3:  (from front stage right) alone.
2:  (from front stage left) unwanted.
5:  (from back of auditorium on stage right side) betrayed.
1: (from back on of auditorium on stage left side) unloved.
6:  (in front of Tree) abandoned.

(soft saxophone –“God rest ye merry Gentlemen” is played under the following lines.)

Narrator:  2000 years ago, a man was struggling and confused.  His fiance was pregnant.

1 (coming down the center aisle): What am I going to do?  I love Mary, but she is pregnant and I know that I can’t be the father.  According to our laws, she could be stoned.  I don’t want her to be humiliated, but I feel so betrayed.  I will break the engagement quietly.
(1 exits and goes to back of auditorium on the stage left side)

Narrator: But after he had considered 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 home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.  (Matthew 1:20-25 - NIV)

(same spots as before for all from here on out - 3: (front stage right) 2: (front stage left) 5:  (back of auditorium on stage right side) 1: (back on of auditorium on stage left side) 6:  (in front of Tree).

Narrator:  When we feel alone in this world, Jesus says:
3:  “Surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20 - NIV).

Narrator:  When we feel unwanted, the Lord says:
2:  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1 - NIV).

Narrator:  When we feel betrayed, we are reminded that:
5: “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 - NIV).

Narrator:  When we feel unloved, Jesus says:
1: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in  him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17 - NIV).

Narrator:  When we feel abandoned, the Lord says,
6: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6 - NIV).

(Saxophone - "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” ends here)

Narrator:  Being a child of God, does not mean that our life will be perfect.  Even Jesus went through times feeling alone, unwanted, betrayed, unloved and abandoned.  But, Jesus came “to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18 - NIV).  There are times when he repairs the broken relationships in our lives, there are other times when he heals us and gives us the strength to keep going.  Our Prince of Peace came to give us peace and stand by us when the world and others reject us.  He is Immanuel – which means God with us and He is with us not matter what.

Christmas Eve 1999 - Youth Drama
© David S. Hall 1999