Characters: Girl (holding a strand of Christmas lights, an ornament, wearing a Santa hat, and juggling
gift bags or wrapped packages, one of which is holding a blank greeting card)
Boy (or second younger girl), holding a Bible
Prop person (holding a sign that says “BUS STOP”)
Scene: A Girl and a Boy are waiting together at a Bus Stop. The Girl has all of the appearances of a Shop-o-holic. The Boy is just looking at her with a confused expression as she begins to shift all her bags and things around to fill out a greeting card.
Girl (muttering to herself as she fills out the card): Dear Mom, Merry Krissmiss, K-R-I-S-S-M-I-S-S.
Boy: Excuse me, I couldn't help overhearing. Christmas is spelled C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S. With a “C”, not a “K”. As in “CHRIST”, you know?
Girl: What? What's a Christ?
Boy: Well…Jesus, the reason we celebrate Christmas. He was called “Jesus Christ.”
Girl: That's not how you spell “Christmas”. It doesn't even sound right! If you're right, then we should all be calling it “CHRIST-mas” instead of Krissmiss. That would just sound dumb! (sarcastically) “Merry CHRIST-mas! Ho, ho, ho!”
Boy: It is spelled with a “C”, I promise.
Girl: Why would we name the greatest shopping excuse of the whole year after someone named Christ? What does He have to do with lights and gifts and Santa Claus?
Boy: Not much anymore, unfortunately. But when people first celebrated Christmas, Jesus was the whole reason for the season. He is the Light of the world, He is the greatest gift we've ever been given, and even old Saint Nicholas was a saint because He loved Jesus and lived to serve Him. Everything's changed now. See, you didn't even know Christmas is named after Christ, let alone why He's important. A lot of people don't know.
Girl: I don't really care for all that religious stuff anyway. (Holding up packages with a flourish) Give me a sale at Macy's any day! Let me eat a ton of turkey, drink gallons of eggnog, shop till I drop, and really enjoy my vacation. You can keep your history lessons, thank you very much. (Turns away to ignore the boy)
(Boy thinks for a moment, then flips through the pages of his Bible)
Girl (looking curiously at him): “What are you doing?”
Boy: What you said…it reminded me of something I read in the Bible. I'm trying to find it…Ah, here it is.
(Girl rolls her eyes at him, but then leans in to read over his shoulder-every time Boy glances at her, she turns and pretends like she's not looking)
Boy: John 1:10 “He was in the world and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not recognize Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name.”
(Girl has no clue what the Boy just said and looks at him dumbly)
Boy: Don't you see? That's the reason for Christmas. What is the point of (pointing to the Girl's armload of stuff) Christmas lights if you're not lighting up darkness, or presents if you're not giving them out of love, or even a silly Santa hat if you have no joy in your life?
Girl (defensively): My hat's not silly! Well, it's not that silly.
Boy: You're missing the point! Look, I see your arms full of stuff that won't mean anything to you a week from now. It will be one more chore for you to do. You'll have to take everything down and put it in boxes for next year, and the gifts won't be exactly what you wanted and you won't feel well after you've stuffed yourself with turkey. Christmas won't mean anything any more for you. But I know something-or SomeONE-that you don't know; I know that Jesus means that I get to be a child of God. It means that God is my Father and loves me very much. I know that Jesus didn't come here for no reason. He came to be born so that He could die, for me and guess what! For YOU! And I know that I couldn't live without Him. Not just at Christmastime either. I mean every single day! When you can finally figure that part out, then Christmas becomes something you can celebrate every day of the year, not just in December. Isn't that a much better kind of holiday? It's like a permanent “vacation” from your guilt and shame and sinfulness.
Girl (looking at all her armload of stuff, shifting it because it's too heavy): So, that Bible verse. It basically means that if you believe in Jesus, you get to be like God's own child?
Boy: Yes, that's what it means. And He's a good Father, I promise. He loved the world so much, He sent His One and Only Son at Christmas, so that anyone who believes in Him will never die but will live forever. Look, Christmas lights burn out, sales end, and even Saint Nick can't help us now. But if you put Christ back into your Christmas, you and all your Christmases will never be the same.
Girl: I guess that leaves me with just one more question.
Boy: Ask me anything.
Girl: What in the world am I gonna do with all this stuff?!!
Vicki