Home Page: Treasures Old and New: Biblical Texts and MeaningCopyright 2007 by James M. LeonardThis dramatic choral reading may be freely used if the copyright and web address is properly cited: http://jmleonardfamily.googlepages.com/itwasinadream%3Aachristmascalltodisciplesh |
It Was in a Dream:
A Christmas Call to Discipleship James M. Leonard Christmas, 2007
Scene 1 All It was in a dream…. #4 …in a dream. #5 …in a dream. #1 When Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they had come together, #4 [interrupts] …this was not a dream…. #1 [continues] …she became pregnant through the Holy Spirit. #2 Knowing that he himself was innocent in this #5er, Joseph considered his choices. #3 Should he publicly assert his innocence and have Mary dragged out to the village square for disgrace and humiliation? #4 Or should he marry her anyway, even though in some sense she might belong to another man? All It seemed like a dream. #2 But because he was a righteous man, Joseph thought the most God-pleasing thing to do would be to divorce Mary quietly. #3 This would be easier on Mary…, #1 …but humiliating for Joseph, since he would have no opportunity to declare publicly his innocence. All And this was no dream. #1 Only after he had finally made his decision did he find out the truth. #2 An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph… All It was in a dream…. #4 …in a dream. #5 …in a dream. #3 Joseph…! All …Son of David… #3 Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from… All …the Holy Spirit! #4 And this was not merely a dream! All [deliberately] And Joseph did what the angel of the Lord told him to do! #1 He took Mary home as his wife and he was the one to give him the name Jesus…. All Just as the angel of the Lord told him to do.
Scene 2
#2 After Jesus' birth, magi from the east came seeking the one who was born king of the Jews. #1 King Herod and all Jerusalem was disturbed, and the king devised a plan and sent the magi to Bethlehem to find the baby… #4 Not to worship him, but to kill him. #5hew And this was no dream. #2 When the magi arrived at the house, they worshiped the child and made offerings to him. #1 And having been warned…. #4 …in a dream #1 They did not report back to Herod, but returned to their home on a different route.
Scene 3 #2 After the magi left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph…. All It was in a dream…. #4 …in a dream. #5 …in a dream. #3 Get up! Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there… All …until I tell you #3 …for Herod is going to try to kill the child! #5 And this was not merely a dream! #2 And Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, in the night, and fled to Egypt… #4 It seemed like a dream…. #2 ...and he stayed there until the death of Herod. All Just as the angel of the Lord told him to do.
Scene 4 #1 After the death of Herod, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph… All ...it was in a dream #4 …in a dream #5 …in a dream #3 Get up! Take the child and his mother, and return to the land of Israel, for the ones seeking the life of the child…. All ARE DEAD! #1 So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel All Just as the angel of the Lord told him to do. #2 But when he found out the Archelaus was reigning in Judea in the place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And having been warned…. All It was in a dream… #4 …in a dream. #5 …in a dream… #2 He withdrew to the district of Galilee and lived in a town called Nazareth. All Just as the angel of the Lord told him to do. [pause] And this was no dream. |