herod

i learned pretty early on how to get what i wanted. i would tweak things to benefit me. to be what i wanted them to be.

i wasn’t told “no”. i was told - anything you want is yours. so i took what i wanted. i took who i wanted.

i was pretty high up on the ladder. some people say my father helped me up a few rungs, but... i deserved it. i was ‘great’.

and once i was there, nothing was going to change that. no thing and no one!

opportunity knocks. they say. me? i say hunt opportunity down and bleed it dry.

i make it happen. if you stand in my way, you won’t be standing long.

and people didn’t normally stand in my way. so imagine my surprise when i hear the buzz about someone who will be taking my place.

me! i’m... king here. people don’t just replace someone like me.

and then i find this person isn’t even grown yet. he hasn’t spent his life grooming for this or defending it. killing for it.

he’s.. just a baby.

people are going nuts over some ancient... myth! some mumbo jumbo about this infant who they think is going to take my place. even surpass me.

i have done anything and everything to maintain my title, my power, and i am not about to let some sniveling, supposedly “special”, baby with a few ‘fans’ change things. do they have any idea what i can do? what i have done?

i am not going to take this sitting down. sitting is for the weak. sitting is for people who cannot stand on their own. that chair is where people lose themselves and give up every ounce of who they’ve made themselves to be and replace it with fear and dependence and a sad state of worthlessness. they don’t even belong to themselves anymore.

i will not sit down. i belong to me. i will not be thwarted. i will not be replaced. i make it happen!

i am great! i am all i need. i am second to no one.
i am herod.

this piece was performed at my church on 12/20 as the last in a three part series called i am second christmas.
my friend jim nailed this piece. jon asked me later how i thought jim did and i told him he did this exactly the way i had imagined it. exactly. very very well done, my friend.

joseph

there was this girl. isn’t that how the story of every man’s downfall begins? except this.. this wasn’t your ordinary girl. she would say she was, but. no.. not ordinary. not her. she was a dream. she was brought up right, loved the Lord, came from a good family... and her heart. phew! man!

and we were getting married. i couldn’t believe she said “yes”! i was beside myself. smiling like an idiot all the time. the right girl can do that to you. and i found her.

so... you can probably imagine how hard i fell when i found out she was pregnant. and i knew.. we were waiting, you know? so i knew it wasn’t mine.

i felt like i was kicked in the gut. you hear people talk about being devastated but this was.. i was spiraling. this was my downfall. what would our friends say? Our parents? what about our reputation?

i was gonna break it off. wouldn’t you?

but this un-ordinary girl, was carrying an extraordinary child. this was.. it’s hard to grasp even now.. this was God’s son. and He wanted me to stay. and be the child’s father.

a son. every guy wants a son. but my son. i wanted my son. this was not mine! this was not what i wanted.

i was gonna be a father. but not his father? what am i being asked to do? play along with what? what was this?

i thought i was going to have this awesome wife and i was going to build us a house and we’d have our own kids and we’d be living the life! but it turned into this whole thing that’s... not about me. and i can’t do anything about it.

but i can do something about it.

God wants me to stay. i can stay. and He wants me to be a father to His son. i can be the boy’s father.

the perfect life with a wife and kids and a house - it wouldn’t work anyway if God’s not in it. all of that takes backseat to Him and His son. our son. i can put what He wants me to do at the top. that goes first. that’s what i can do about it.

i choose His way.

my name is joseph
and i am second

this piece was performed at my church on 12/13 as the second in a three part series called i am second christmas.
this is the second time i've gotten to write a script for dan and have been just delighted to watch him bring them both to life. very nicely done.

mary

i’m just a normal girl. from a normal town. my parents have taught me well - to love God. to be good.

and i’ve always dreamed about the day i would get married. doesn’t every girl? i’ve always imagined my wedding day. and what it would be like to have a family of my own.

i didn’t.. i just didn’t imagine it.. like this.

i wanted to wait until i was actually married before i got pregnant. i wanted.. the fairytale. i guess i just expected everything to be ‘clean’ and ‘perfect’.

i don’t think people will look at this and think clean and perfect. they will think ‘tragic’ and ‘family embarrassment’ and ‘hide her away’.

even i think that. sometimes. that it might be easier to hide this. i mean, who would believe it?

“how can this be?” that’s what i said when i found out. how can this be?

who would believe i had never been with a man? but more than that. more than the physical. how can this be that i would find such favor?

i’m human! i think selfish thoughts! i sin! how can it be, then, that a sinful girl would bear a baby boy who would never know sin? who would rescue me from my own? i would give life to my own life-giver?

even now, it is hard to wrap my head around the idea. how do i care for this baby who is greater than myself? how do i dry the eyes that see so far into mine?

i am unworthy. my fears almost drown me. my inexperience frightens me.

but God sees me. and he is with me. and nothing - nothing! - is impossible with him.

may it be then. let it all happen. i will not hide!

because this isn’t about me. it’s so much bigger than me. it’s about Jesus, my son my savior and my God.

it’s about a love so big it can turn a normal girl’s life into something people will not consider tragic, but blessed. his overcoming, rescuing, nothing-is-impossible-for-him love. that’s what it’s about. not me.

my name is mary
and i am second

this piece was performed at my church on 12/6 as the first in a three part series called i am second christmas.
an amazingly talented young lady took on this role and i was thrilled to get to watch these words come to life under her skill and heart. loved it! amy - you did a fabulous job. i'm so proud of you.