30th Birthday Live Show

At Whit's End, the Little Theatre is buzzing as Whit and his friends prepare to put on a holiday arts festival, a live stage show that will also be broadcast on Kids Radio. Connie is doing her best to keep order as stage manager, but the problems keep piling up. Eugene wants to add fireworks to the scene where angels announce the birth of Jesus, an idea Whit gently vetoes as not quite appropriate for the nativity. Worse, the show has lost its kid performer, because Matthew Parker's family has gone off on a holiday cruise. Meanwhile Dale Jacobs of the Odyssey Times arrives to live stream a behind-the-scenes report, bringing along his nephew Grayson, who is interning at the newspaper. Dale volunteers Grayson to fill the empty role, and Grayson is delighted to learn that all he has to do is read, with no elaborate televised talent competition required. To show him what voice acting is like, Connie has Jason repeat a tongue twister about Larry Lonergan and a plate of linguine in ever sillier ways, as an announcer, holding a hot plate, and climbing a steep rocky hill, until Whit mercifully calls it off. Eugene and Mr. Diehl ready the sound effects, including an ill-advised bad joke alarm, Wooton delivers packages while warming up for his scenes with dramatic grunting, and Jules and the Westcott girls test the new hydraulic stage lift by rising into view singing a cheerful tune. Out in the crowd, Dale interviews a suspicious stranger hiding behind an enormous false mustache who insists, far too specifically, that he is definitely not a disgraced former city councilman who has returned to town to promote a new book series. Later Jason storms through looking for the culprit, declaring, "That's my mustache, and I want it back!"

Then the show begins. The first sketch tells of Jay Lafitte, a young member of the Band of Dutiful Youth, or the Body for short, a club devoted to helping people. At every meeting, leader Brian Headley hands out jobs that match each member's gifts: I.C. Clearly watches for people in need, R.U. Listening listens to them, Doris Lipman does the talking, and Hans Armstrong handles the hard work. Jay, whose job is always transportation, feels overlooked and quits to start her own group. But even after weeks of searching the streets, her new group never manages to help anyone. Too late, Jay realizes that the well-dressed man she kept passing on a park bench, Christopher Walking It Off, had lost his home in a fire and needed help all along; she failed to see, hear, or say the things her old teammates were gifted to do. When a waitress named Marge asks her to carry food across town to a sick sister's hungry children, Jay discovers how good it feels to do the very job she was made for. She humbly returns to the Body, where she is welcomed back with open arms, and the whole group gets back to serving others, each using the gifts God gave them.

Next comes a musical Western set at the South Spoon Rancho, where kindly owner Matt Cartwood decides to move his family to California and leases his ranch to three shady tenants: Headlock Harry, Trigger Finger Troy, and Silver Saddle Slapper Stephanie. When the tenants refuse to pay what they owe, Matt sends a messenger, who is beaten; then the fearsome Stinky John McBear, who comes back empty-handed; then his sidekick Wes Chester, who fares no better. At last Matt's beloved son Jeremy rides out to reason with them, but Headlock Harry schemes to get rid of the heir and claim the ranch for good. At high noon Jeremy pleads for peace and refuses to draw his gun, and the sketch ends with a gunshot and an anguished cry. Dale finds the ending depressing, but Whit explains that it is their version of Jesus' parable of the wicked tenants, and that thankfully there is more to the story.

The final sketch is a Bible Action News report from ancient Israel, with Grayson as roving correspondent. He meets the grumbling Roman census taker Flavius Maximus, then watches Joseph and Mary get turned away by the overwhelmed innkeeper Martha, who can offer them only a stable. Out in the fields, bored shepherds complain about watching sheep sleep until the sky blazes with light and a somewhat exasperated angel demands, "What part of fear not are you not understanding?" before announcing the Savior's birth. Grayson follows the running shepherds to the stable, where three wise men bearing gold, myrrh, and frankincense have arrived to worship the newborn King. When Grayson hangs back, not wanting to interrupt, he is told that Jesus is not just for wise men; he is for everyone.

Afterward, Whit reminds everyone that the story really happened, and that God gave the very first Christmas present by giving his own Son, who would one day go to the cross so that we could receive the greatest gift of all, eternal life. When the cast tries to guess the theme tying the sketches together, offering obedience, helping others, forgiveness, faithfulness, and even socks, Whit reveals that it is sacrifice: God's sacrifice for us, and the everyday sacrifices people make for one another. He also thanks the faithful audience whose prayers and support have made Whit's End possible all these years. Then, since fireworks may not suit a nativity but are perfect for a celebration, Whit finally gives Eugene the go-ahead, and the festival ends with pyrotechnics, cheers, and everyone singing "O Come, All Ye Faithful" together.