Christmas Eve: Praying, COME, LORD JESUS to Him Who Has Come to Create Faith

“And Mary kept all of these things and pondered them in her heart.” Let’s begin today by pondering this line from Luke’s Christmas narrative. We’ve heard it read often. What does it mean that Mary kept all of these things, that she pondered them in her heart?

It describes Mary right after she heard the amazing report regarding her newborn child. Shepherds had come to tell what they had seen and heard. They said that an angel had appeared to them and announced, “Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” The angel said where to find him and after that the sky was filled with angels singing praises to God at this glorious occasion.

So, the shepherds went to look. When they found him and gave their report to Mary, Luke writes, “[She] kept all of these things and pondered them in her heart.”

Mary was thinking deeply about the words announced by the angels.

This wasn’t the first time Mary had something amazing to ponder regarding her special child. When his birth was announced, also by an angel, he told her some amazing things, like, “You [Virgin Mary] will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.” The angel continued, “He will be great and be the Son of the Most High!” When Mary raised questions about how this could be, especially since she hadn’t been with a man, the angel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God!” And then the angel concludes, “Nothing is impossible with God.”

Whoa! That is something to ponder! That last line was a clincher to this woman of faith. Since it is true that nothing is impossible with God, she believed this announcement and said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” We can hear in these words that the Holy Spirit was working in Mary’s life.

In the other places in the Gospels where Mary is described, you get a similar sense that she is pondering to understand and believe in the word. In the temple at Jesus’s circumcision and naming, when more amazing things were said by Simeon, we read, “The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.” Then when he was twelve and she found him in the temple sitting among the teachers of God’s word, and he called that place his Father’s house, and said he must be about his Father’s business, Luke writes she once again treasured these things in her heart. Years later, in the account of his first miracle recorded by John, at the wedding in Cana, Mary again demonstrates her faith. When they run out of wine, she approaches Jesus trusting he can fix the problem. She says to those present, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Mary’s pondering on God’s word shows in a life of faith.

PARABLE OF THE SOWER – THE GOOD SOIL

In our sermon series this Advent, we have been pondering how Jesus overcomes the enemies of his word—the devil, our sinful hearts, the sinful world. We’ve considered how he came and continues to come to save us. We have been looking at the parable of the Sower which illustrates these opponents defeated by Jesus. There are the birds symbolizing the devil as they gobble up the seed that stands for the word of God. There is the rocky ground that symbolize the shallow, sinful hearts of mankind that don’t let God’s word penetrate, so their spiritual life withers and dies. And there are the weeds that represent the cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches that choke out the life of faith in God’s word.

But thankfully, there is a fourth soil described in the parable of the Sower. The text reads, “Other seed fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” And then Jesus says, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Later he explained it this way to his disciples, “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and it yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

MARY AS THE GOOD SOIL

From our perspective today, Mary is the good soil. As Mary pondered what was said, she received the word of God. It was planted in her heart through faith in that word. Like Jesus explained, hers is like the heart that is hearing and seeking to understand the word of the Lord spoken to her.

But how did Mary come to have a heart of faith, a heart that received, pondered, and believed the saving word of the Lord? How is she an example of the fourth soil that produced abundant fruit?

Let’s first say what is not the case. It is not because Mary was holy in herself. Nowhere is she described as sinless, as perfect, or as a saint who earned salvation by her good deeds. There is no evidence of that in the biblical description of Mary.

What is the case, Luke writes, is that the Lord is with her, that she has been given his favor. Earlier, in the announcement of Jesus’s conception, we read that the Holy Spirit came on Mary. In the life of Mary, we see how good soil is made, it is through the work of the Lord, work that led her to ponder and treasure God’s word. This is the realm of the Holy Spirit for us, as well. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will come to us through his word and create faith in our hearts.

We confess this in the catechism explanation to the third article about the Holy Spirit: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe . . . But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”

WE ARE THE GOOD SOIL

We are that good soil, as well, as we respond in faith to the promises of God’s word. God has given us his favor. We see that in what Jesus came to do. In John 3:16 we hear, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” You and I are those whom he loves. And, now with his word he sends his Holy Spirit to teach us to trust in his promise to save and deliver us.

How might this happen in daily life? What is needed is a situation like that described in the parable of the Sower where the farmer generously sows his seed wherever he can. Such abundant spreading of God’s word can be seen in what happens when we read and devote time to God’s word daily. In the course of daily life, we experience real life struggles. As we do, the Holy Spirit is also working on our hearts to convict us so that we realize the need for God’s mercy. Then as we hear God’s word, the Holy Spirit helps us understand why the word of Christ’s death and resurrection is so important for us. He builds us up in faith in God’s care, just as he did Mary.

During this sermon series, I’ve be stressing daily devotions as important to receive and remain faithful to God’s word. I’ve been describing a scenario where a family sits down to spend time in God’s word and prayer. Imagine how this plays out over time when it is a daily practice. For example, the family learns before Christmas that the dad has lost his job. This could be devastating by itself. But learning this when things are supposed to be so happy, can be especially hard. But because the family has the holy habit of daily reading God’s word and taking their anxious cares and needs to God in prayer, the Holy Spirit will use the word of Christ to give comfort and hope in a deep and special way.

The troubles of this life break up the hard hearts of mankind and create fertile ground of faith in which to plant the word of God. Without the generous sowing of God’s word in daily prayer, the hope of the Christ child would not be realized in this deep and enduring way. When the family then goes to Christmas services, the comfort of Christ’s real presence in the Lord’s Supper gives true Christmas joy that sustains amidst the fleeting hopes of the world. In this way, the devil, too, is prevented from using life’s disappointments to snatch away the word of Christ.

CONCLUSION

So this Christmas, let’s follow Mary’s lead as we hear the announcement of the good news of great joy that will be to all people, as we rejoice with the angels at the birth of our Savior, that we ponder this daily in our hearts, seeking to understand God’s word and how it addresses all of life and promises a hope that surpasses all understanding.