Matthew 2:1-12 – Away with the Tinsel

Posted on by Fay Rowland (Mother Clanger)

Ornaments-in-box.jpg

Away with the Tinsel – a Sketch for Epiphany

Characters

Noel is wearing a garish Christmas jumper and clearly sad about putting Christmas decorations away.

Holly is strait-laced and business-like.

There is a large box centre stage. Various Christmas decorations, including a crib scene, are scattered around the stage. Holly is packing things away.

 

Noel:    What are you doing?

Holly:   I’m just packing up the Christmas stuff. 12th Night, you know. Got to get rid of off the tinsel and glitter. Back to real life.

Noel:    Already? Do we have to?

Holly:   Yes, we do. And you can help.

Noel:    OK

[Next lines said rapidly one after another as they put things in the box.]

Holly:   I’ll take down the tree.

Noel:    I’ll wash up the wine glasses.

Holly:   I’ll pack the posh china.

Noel:    I’ll stow the stockings.

Holly:   I’ll box the baubles.

Noel:    I’ll sweep up the last of the glitter. (Yeah, right).

Holly:   I’ll finally hide that hideous Christmas jumper at the back of the wardrobe.

Noel:    I’ll … [long silent stare]

Holly:   [penny drops]

Noel:    I gave you that jumper.

Holly:   Yes … and … ummm … did I say hideous? I meant … ummn … hilarious! Yes, hilarious.

Noel:    [with a sideways look at Holly] I’ll wind the fairy lights up neatly.

Holly:   They’ll have tangled themselves again by next year, mind.

Noel:    Yeah. I’ll feed the left-over mince pies to the birds.

Holly:   I’ll pack away the crib.

Noel:    I’ll fold up the … wait! What did you say?

Holly:   I’ll pack away the crib. What’s the matter with that?

Noel:    Pack away the crib? Pack away the crib? You can’t do that!

Holly:   Why ever not?

Noel:    Because we haven’t finished with it yet.

Holly:   Of course we’ve finished with it. Christmas is over. Baby Jesus, cows and donkeys, nice story for the kids. Done. Finished. Crib – box!

[Holly tries to put crib scene in the box, Noel pulls it out.]

Noel:    No, no, no, no, no. We can’t put it away before the story finishes. It’s still going on. Not everyone has even got to the stable yet.

Holly:   What do you mean? Everyone got there on Christmas Day – Mary and Joseph, little cutesy baby Jesus, shepherds, wise men. The story is finished and now it’s time to clear everything away. Time to go back to normal life without all this silly, frilly nonsense. Christmas is only one day, after all. There’s no need to drag it out for the rest of the year.

Noel:    But the story isn’t finished. The wise men didn’t get there on Christmas Day. They arrived much later (should have used sat nav).

Holly:   Later? How much later?

Noel:    Probably a couple of years.

Holy:    A couple of years! You mean I have to keep Jesus around until 2020?

Noel:    I guess.

[Holly is getting exasperated]

Holly:   But he’s going to be really in the way, he won’t go with my house décor at all!
And two years? By then we’ll have got him out for another Christmas.
And we’ll have to keep him around for another two years after that …
And then another two after that …
And …

Noel:    And?

Holly:   Well, is Jesus intending to stay around for ever? I mean, will I never be able to pack him away with the tinsel?

Reading

Matthew 2:1-12 Holman Christian Standard Bible

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.

“In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:

And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the leaders of Judah:
because out of you will come a leader
who will shepherd My people Israel.”

Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find Him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship Him.”

After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen in the east! It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure. Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

Credits

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

5 thoughts on “Matthew 2:1-12 – Away with the Tinsel”

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