Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Dec/93

Contributor - Klaas Detmar

Title - The Christmas Play

Topic - Christmas

Little Lisa was all worried and up- set during rehearsal. Next week was the Sunday School Christmas play and she had still not memorized her Bible verses. Her costume fit great. Even the big angel wings her teacher had made and the wire halo put together by Patricia, the teacher's helper, all looked terrific. Why was it so hard to remember her lines? She opened the paper again to look at the verses. It said, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High." These verses were from Luke 1:30-32.

"Come on Lisa", shouted her girl friend Julie. "It's your turn to go on stage and say your lines". Mrs. Stone, her Sunday School teacher, noticed a worried look on Lisa's face.

"What's bothering you Lisa? Your not your usual happy self. Is it because your daddy won't be home for Christmas?", Mrs. Stone asked.

All of a sudden tears came to Lisa's eyes and she started to cry. Yes, she missed her daddy very much. He had to work far away and it didn't look like he would be home for Christmas. Putting her arms around Lisa, her teacher carefully guided her away from the rest of the Sunday School boys and girls. Not many of the kids noticed what had happened as they simply carried on with the next scene. As they sat down together in the hallway, Mrs. Stone said to Lisa, "Let's look at your verses together and see what they mean. Maybe we can both learn something there to help us now."

As Mrs. Stone started to read the words slowly, Lisa began to feel better. "Do not be afraid, Mary Mrs. Stone read and then stopped. Lisa looked up at Mrs. Stone with her dark brown eyes and started to smile. Yes, that was it! Those words were for her too! Mary, a young Jewish girl, had received some startling news. She was going to be a mother soon and she wasn't even married yet! This news announced to her by the angel, Gabriel, must have troubled and upset her at times. But she was not to be afraid of what she did not understand. She was simply to trust God to work out the details in her life. Lisa, too, realized that she had to trust God to bring her daddy home; in time.

Next Sunday evening, she played her part perfectly and along with the other children received a standing ovation from the congregation. And there standing near the front with her mother was her dad who waved to her with a big smile. Lisa looked over at Mrs. Stone and together they remembered the words of the angel, "Do not be afraid."

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