Messiah

Christmas Pageant: The GOAT

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 3 Comments

The GOAT
A Christmas Skit

By Eric Anderson

CHARACTERS

Shepherd 1: A tender of sheep
Shepherd 2: A tender of sheep and one goat
Sheep: A wooly creature
Goat: A non-wooly creature
Lead Angel: A messenger to shepherds
Angels: A backup chorus of messengers
Mary: A young woman
Joseph: A young man
Magi 1: A scholar dressed a lot like a king
Magi 2: Another scholar dressed a lot like a king

SCENE 1: A hillside

[SHEPHERD 1, SHEPHERD 2, GOAT, and SHEEP enter]

Shepherd 1:                I can’t believe you brought a goat.

Shepherd 2:                Why not bring a goat? Goats are cool. They don’t get lost as often as sheep. And they give milk. That’s useful.

Shepherd 1:                OK, all that is true. But you only brought one goat. Shouldn’t you have brought a herd of goats?

Shepherd 2:                Of course I’ve heard of goats.

Shepherd 1:                Ha, ha. I’m not sure that joke is going to be funny even if two thousand years go by.

Shepherd 2:                I thought it was funny. And I’m sure the goat heard. Did you think it was funny?

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Shepherd 1:                Why did you bring just one goat?

Shepherd 2:                I’m picky.

Shepherd 1:                So brought just one goat because…

Shepherd 2:                It’s the best goat.

Shepherd 1:                Just how do you choose the best goat?

Shepherd 2:                The best goat has great hair, great hooves, great ears, and most of all, great horns.

Shepherd 1:                And this one is the best goat, is it?

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Shepherd 2:                You hear them? They agree.

Shepherd 1:                That sounded like “Bah” to me.

[The LEAD ANGEL and the ANGELS enter]

Shepherds:                 Aaaggghhhh!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Goat:                           Bah!

Lead Angel:                 Do not be afraid!

Shepherd 1:                Why not? I’m terrified!

Shepherd 2:                Me, too! I planned on the best goat, not the Lead Angel.

Angels:                        Us, too!

Shepherd 2:                Plus the other angels. Sorry.

Lead Angel:                 I bring you good news!

Shepherd 1:                We’re getting good grass this season?

Shepherd 2:                The price of goat’s milk is going up?

Shepherd 1:                My family is going to learn to spin and weave wool?

Shepherd 2:                This really is the best goat ever?

Sheep:                         Bah!

Goat:                           Bah!

Angels:                        Hush and you’ll learn something!

Lead Angel:                 Think bigger, shepherds.

Angels:                        Much bigger!

Shepherd 2:                I need a bigger goat?

Goat:                           Bah!

Lead Angel:                 No. Down the hill in the City of David…

Shepherd 1:                The what?

Lead Angel:                 Bethlehem. It’s where King David came from.

Angels:                        Now stop interrupting!

Lead Angel:                 Down in the City of David a child has been born to save all people. He is the Messiah, the Lord.

Shepherd 1:                Wow.

Lead Angel:                 Go to the city and look for a newborn who is wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

Shepherd 2:                Excuse me. I don’t mean to interrupt, but… what are swaddling cloths?

Lead Angel:                 You don’t have children, do you?

Shepherd 2:                No. I have the best goat, though.

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Lead Angel:                 Swaddling cloths are light blankets you wrap around a baby to keep him warm.

Shepherd 2:                Oh. OK. Good. And… One other thing?

Lead Angel:                 Really? All right. What else do you want to know?

Shepherd 2:                A manger? Like, a feeding trough? We should be looking for the Messiah in a stable?

Lead Angel:                 Where else would you look?

Shepherd 1:                Don’t argue with the angel.

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Shepherd 2:                Right. We’ll look in the stables.

Shepherd 1:                Thanks for the good news!

Angels:                        Hallelujah! Glory to God!

[ANGELS and LEAD ANGEL exit]

Shepherd 2:                What do we do now?

Shepherd 1:                You might want to argue with angels, but not me. We’re going to Bethlehem.

Goat:                           Bah!

Shepherd 1:                Don’t forget your goat.

[SHEPHERD 1, SHEPHERD 2, GOAT, and SHEEP exit]

SCENE 2: A Stable

[MARY and JOSEPH enter with baby]

Mary:                          Did I just have a baby in a stable?

[JOSEPH looks at the bundle Mary is carrying]

Joseph:                        That’s a baby you’ve got. I’d say yes. Yes, you just had a baby in a stable.

Mary:                          No wonder I’m so tired. Can you hold him for a bit?

Joseph:                        Sure. Wait. There’s a manger here. It’s got straw in it. That should be soft for a baby, right?

Mary:                          Put him in it and see if he cries.

[JOSEPH puts the baby in the manger. No crying]

Joseph:                        No crying.

Mary:                          Not from him, maybe. I’m about ready to cry. What a night!

Joseph:                        It’s all right, Mary. It’ll all be quiet from here.

[SHEPHERD 1, SHEPHERD 2, GOAT, and SHEEP enter]

Shepherd 1:                Hi. Sorry to bother you, but is there a baby here in a manger?

Shepherd 2:                This is our sixth stable tonight and boy are my feet tired.

[GOAT looks in the manger]

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Shepherd 2:                Would you look at that?

Shepherd 1:                It’s a baby in a manger!

Shepherd 2:                And my goat found it. He really is the best, you know.

Joseph:                        Excuse me, but who are you?

Mary:                          And why are you looking for a baby in a manger? Why would you even think to look for a baby in a manger?

Shepherd 1:                Oh, we didn’t think of it.

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Shepherd 2:                We don’t think very much, really.

Shepherd 1:                Some angels came and told us to look for a baby in a manger.

Shepherd 2:                It was pretty scary, actually.

Shepherd 1:                It was scarier after you started arguing with the angels. Who does that?

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Shepherd 2:                I don’t do it often.

Joseph:                        Slow down. You say angels told you to come here?

Shepherd 1:                They told us to look here.

Shepherd 2:                And six stables later, here you are!

Mary:                          Why? Why did the angels tell you to look for a baby in a stable?

Shepherd 2:                Oh. Didn’t we mention that?

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Shepherd 1:                I guess we didn’t. You see, the angel told us that this baby is…

Goat:                           Bah!

Shepherd 2:                The Messiah!

[Everyone looks at the baby]

Shepherd 1:                So… that’s what a Messiah looks like?

Mary:                          When he’s just been born.

Shepherd 2:                Oh. So you knew already?

Mary:                          Let’s just say I’ve had my own conversation with an angel.

Shepherd 1:                I’m sure she didn’t argue the way you did.

Mary:                          I just asked questions.

[LEAD ANGEL and other ANGELS enter]

Lead Angel:                 You didn’t argue at all.

Mary:                          It was weird, though.

Lead Angel:                 Of course it was unusual. You don’t think we send Messiah every day, do you?

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Lead Angel:                 Well said.

Angels:                        Hallelujah!

Shepherd 2:                Of course it’s well said. He’s the best goat.

[MAGI 1 and MAGI 2 enter. MAGI 1 is really tired.]

Magi 1:                        Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.

Lead Angel:                 Hey, that’s my line!

Mary:                          Yes, I’ve heard that one before.

Magi 2:                        I’m sorry. You’ll have to forgive him. He’s been carrying the heavy stuff.

Joseph:                        If you don’t mind, who are you, and why are you barging into our baby’s bedroom – er, stable – at this hour?

Magi 1:                        Barging? We haven’t got a barge. Not a sign of a boat at all. No, we’ve had camels.

Magi 2:                        Our other friend is parking the camels.

Magi 1:                        Why didn’t he bring them in here? It’s a stable, after all.

Magi 2:                        Because of the newborn baby? Really. Put the gold down. It’s not helping you think.

[The MAGI put their bundles down]

Shepherd 1:                Did he say, “Gold”?

Shepherd 2:                I think he said “Gold”.

Mary:                          Gold?

Joseph:                        Gold?

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Lead Angel:                 Yes, he said gold.

Mary:                          Why are you carrying gold?

Magi 1:                        I’m not carrying it any more. I put it down.

Magi 2:                        What my exhausted friend means is that we’re here to celebrate the birth of the newborn Messiah. That’s him, isn’t it? In… Why is he in a feeding trough?

Joseph:                        There wasn’t any room in the inn.

Magi 1:                        I guess the inn was an “out.”

Magi 2:                        That’s not going to be funny if you wait for two thousand years.

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Magi 1:                        Is that a goat criticizing my sense of humor?

Shepherd 2:                Yes, sir, but rest assured, he’s the best goat. The best goat ever.

Magi 1:                        Oh. Well, that’s different. The best goat ever.

Joseph:                        Could we go back to why you’re here?

Magi 2:                        We’re here to welcome the newborn king, and to make sure he’s greeted with proper respect.

Magi 1:                        And presents.

Magi 2:                        Right. Presents for a king.

Mary:                          Kings get presents?

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Magi 1:                        Oh, yes. Kings definitely get presents. And given that this one is sleeping in a manger, it seems like a good thing.

Joseph:                        He’s got a point.

Lead Angel:                 Oh, while we’re talking about it, you’ll probably want to sell the presents and go to Egypt for a while. And, wise men? Don’t go back to tell Herod where this baby is. OK?

Goat:                           Bah!

Sheep:                         Bah!

Angels:                        Amen!

Magi 2:                        Well. All right. We’ll go home another way.

Lead Angel:                 Good plan.

Mary:                          Could you tell me one more time why you’re all here in this stable with my baby in the middle of the night?

Shepherd 2:                Well, you see, we’ve got the best goat…

Shepherd 1:                I can’t believe you brought up the goat.

Shepherd 2:                No, really. We’ve got the best goat. But when I listen to the wise men here, and when I listen to the angels…

Lead Angel:                 When you’re not interrupting the angels…

Shepherd 2:                I realize that while I might have the best goat, here in this manger you’ve got, I mean, we’ve got, I mean, the whole world has got:

The GREATEST OF ALL TIME.

Goat:                           Amen!

ALL SING Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

© 2025 by Eric S. Anderson

Watch this Pageant Performed

The young people of Church of the Holy Cross UCC in Hilo, Hawai’i, performed “The GOAT” on December 21, 2025.

Author’s Note

I began writing Christmas pageants a few years ago when I realized that we could violate copyright if we streamed a commercially available script via live stream. It says something about me that I was more willing to write a script than I was to dig through the marketing of pageants to find one that included a streaming license.

It also means that I can adapt the script to the available actors. I once wrote a script with no Joseph because we simply didn’t have a youngster willing to do the role. In this case, the children were very impressed with a story featuring a goat that our Associate Conference Minister, the Rev. Jonathan Roach, told them some months ago. One of them announced that he wanted to be a goat in the pageant, and therefore the pageant needed to include a goat.

As is the way of some creatures, the goat took over.

One of the things I like about this pageant is the way everyone notices all the things that simply don’t make sense, such as a newborn monarch born in a stable rather than a palace. It emphasizes the truth that God does what God does, not what we expect God to do. A Messiah was born in a stable. What more might be waiting in God’s imagination?

Photo of goats by Eric Anderson.

Shoot of Jesse

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 2 Comments

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
    the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the spirit of counsel and might,
    the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Isaiah 11:1-2

I hate to break it to you, Isaiah.
But then, perhaps you know already.
You saw it, after all, in Hezekiah,
who trusted in the word of God
and watched the army of Assyria
retreat from Jerusalem’s walls,
but then succumbed to royal pride
and showed his wealth to greedy eyes.

These shoots of Jesse had their moments, true,
the worst had flashes of your wisdom. But
they let the widows cry for justice,
let the orphans cry for food, while they
enriched the wealthy, fed the full.
The best of them, like Hezekiah, fell
afoul of hubris like their ancestors before.

And then, Isaiah, came a child anointed
by the Holy Spirit, who embraced your words,
declared they’d been fulfilled, and best of all
with mercy, stories, grace, and healing brought
them to fulfillment. You would have cheered
to see this shoot of Jesse blossom and bear fruit.

You would have cheered to see the fishermen,
the shepherds and the farmers, even tax
collectors, daughters of Jerusalem,
embark on journeys up and down the land
to seek his healing and his word.

They cheered to see the lepers cleansed.
They told his stories to their neighbors with
excitement and enthusiasm. They affirmed
a humble man from Galilee as Christ.

They could not save him, though, Isaiah,
from the fear and might of powerful men.
They seized him and they beat him.

They called him rebel, and they nailed him to a tree,
and jeered to see him suffer there and die.

Isaiah, human folly is enough to break your heart.

A poem/prayer based on Isaiah 11:1-10, the Revised Common Lectionary First Reading for Year A, Second Sunday of Advent.

Photo of a fern shoot by Eric Anderson.

First Denial

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / Leave a comment

February 21, 2024

[Verses]

Don’t you like it, Simon, when I say
that your Messiah is not what you want?
Don’t you like it, Simon, when I tell you
I’ll be raised up on a cross?

Of course you don’t, dear Simon.
How could anyone be pleased to hear
Messiah is no conqueror,
except to turn the tables on Death.

I told you, but you wouldn’t hear it, Simon.
You tell me how to live my life
and die my death, and no. That’s not yours
to settle or define. It’s mine. And God’s.

Ah, Simon Peter, my dear Rock,
so hard of head, transparent of heart,
so certain of things that must be true,
and come to pass, and be:

I chide you hard for this denial now.
A night will come when your denials will
tap like a clock ticking toward dawn.
And then, I will not chide,
for you will turn aside

And weep.

© 2024 by Eric Anderson

This song is based on the #lectionprayer “Simon Peter’s First Denial.” As you’ll find there, I was asked if the poem had been set to music. It hadn’t – but now, with some lyric adjustment, it has.

The song’s premiere performance was on February 28, 2024.