The donkey narrator is the first to speak: You have probably heard the story we are going to tell many times before – the story about how Jesus, our savior and our brother, was born in Bethlehem on the first Christmas night. But today we are here to tell you that story the way we animals saw it

My donkey friends and I lived in Nazareth, where we worked for the beautiful lady Mary. On this day, Mary was on her way to our stable to bring us some delicious hay. We greeted her with gusto: "Hee-haw! Hee-haw!"

 

Suddenly, an angel appeared. She spoke to Mary, who was surprised and fearful. "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now you will bear a son, and you will name him Jesus." Mary replied, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."

The baby grew inside Mary's body, and everyone in the barnyard looked forward to the day it would be born. But just before that time came, the emperor said all people needed to travel to the hometown of their ancestors to be registered. We had to walk all the way to Bethlehem! I walked carefully so I would give Mary the most comfortable trip I could

[Mary, Joseph, and the donkeys walked to Bethlehem as the congregation sang O Little Town of Bethlehem.]

Usually when people come to Bethlehem, they don't stay with us cows in the stable, said the cow narrator. They stay at the inn. But on that night, all the inns were full. So Mary and Joseph and the donkeys came to our barn.

"Moooooove over," I told the other cows.

I could tell something exciting was going to happen. And sure enough, that very night, the baby Jesus was born. There was no bed or crib or cradle in the stable. I showed Mary my manger, the box full of my hay. She and Joseph rocked the baby to sleep and laid him in the manger. Then they sang a beautiful song about the birth of this very special child.

It started out as an ordinary night, said the sheep narrator. I was standing in the fields with my friends, munching on some grass. The shepherds stood with us, trying to stay awake so they could watch out for wolves or thieves. Suddenly I heard their cries of fear. They were looking up to the sky. They were surprised and scared. Then I looked up and I saw it too: an angel of God. She said, "To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord." She told us how to find this baby, and then there was a whole host of angels, all of them singing and praising God!

 

[The angels departed as the congregation sang Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.]

And then what happened?

  – through you and me!