Christmas Day

Something to ponder

The lead up to Christmas is always a busy time of year. There’s often projects to get finished. Parties to organise. Christmas lunch to plan. Holidays to confirm. People to see. Houses to clean before people come. Deadlines at work. Doctors appointments to get to before they go on leave.

Hopefully, in January you’ll be able to take a rest. But up to this point in time, it’s really, go, go, go.

Sometimes, in these times of busy-ness, our sole focus is the task at hand. We don’t have time to think about the bigger things of life.

Sometimes, even things as simple as gazing on the beauty of a flower pass us by when all we can think about is our busy-ness.

And so when we come to the story of Christmas, I’m sure we could all recite the story if asked, but yet I wonder if you’ve allowed yourself the time to just let the story sit with you?

This morning as I spend some time thinking about the story, the part that caught my attention was a little phrase towards the end of the passage that was read.

It said: “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19)

They are actually words that are effectively repeated again later in the same chapter once Jesus is a 12 year old boy and is found in the temple.

But what does it mean for Mary to treasure all these things up?

Well, I tend to think that it means that in the moment, everything was really chaotic for Mary - I doubt she was able to comprehend the magnitude of what was going on. But yet she was able to recognise that this was something that was going to need more time, and so she was able to somehow keep these events in the deepest recesses of her being.

Mary

Let’s just think about it.

I’m suspecting that the nine months that Mary has just been through would have been unlike any experience that any of us have had. I’m not saying you or I haven’t gone through chaotic times - but this one is different.

Some nine months or so earlier, she’d been visited by an angel telling her she was pregnant. A simple fact which would have been incomprehensible given that she knows she is a virgin.

Except that the angel says that this baby is conceived by the Holy Spirit - now how does a young lady take that sort of information?

But then there must have been the tense moments with her fiance. You see, I suspect that even though Joseph is re-assured by the angel that everything is above board, I think it would have still been hard for him to take.

Now, even in the most straight forward of pregnancies, when the baby was expected and everyone is healthy, this period of time is pretty mind blowing. The mum-to-be has all these hormones running through her body as she prepares for arguably one of the biggest changes of her life.

But add in to this, the fact that she’s carrying the son of God, well, let’s say things have stepped up a notch.

But then, we all know it gets even crazier. You’d think that perhaps God could have kept the birth of his son a bit simpler.

But no. A census is to take place and everyone has to go to their own town to register.

Now, I don’t know about you, but surely you’d think there should be some kind of dispensation for pregnant women. Surely they’re not going to make a heavily pregnant women travel a long distance, just to be registered.

Well, apparently, that’s not how things worked back then.

So off the heavily pregnant Mary goes, along with Joseph. The stories all tell us that they rode on a donkey, although interestingly, the Bible never says this.

They finally get to Bethlehem, the town that Joseph needs to register in, and then we get to the part of the story which the modern story tellers love to dramatise, that is, the fact that they had to go into the manger because there was no room for them.

Let me just quickly explain how this is best understood, because the modern story telling can be a little misleading.

It’s the King James Version of the Bible which says that uses the phrase here: “Because there was no room in the inn”. The word “inn” generally implies for us the concept of a commercial enterprise where you would go and pay for a service.

However, while the word “inn” is a legitimate translation here, when a commercial operation is in view, say like the one we see in the parable of the Good Samaritan, a different word for inn is used.

Therefore, most scholars tend to think that a better translation is guest room. It is more likely that Mary and Joseph turned up at a family members house, only for them to tell them (probably with quite some embarrassment), that they actually have to stay with the animals.

Either way, whether it’s a family member lumping you in with the animals, or a commercial inn with no beds available, I don’t think Mary would have been put at ease by any of this. Things are already turbulent - and now this - having to sleep with the animals.

And of course, it was in the midst of all of this that the baby had to come.

And I know that the way we usually depict nativity scenes these days, everything is all clean and neat - it almost looks quite sweet having a baby in such nice hay.

But if you’ve ever seen anywhere where animals are kept, it doesn’t look nice and neat. It’s dirty and stinky.

So what’s going through Mary’s thoughts at this point? Well, I don’t think it is some deep theological analysis. But yet, there is a sense in which she is beginning to recognise God’s hand in this. She starts treasuring what she has - whether she fully understands or not.

Shepherds

But of course, despite all of the chaos that has already pursued, things are about to get even more, shall I say… weird.

Mary wouldn’t have been aware of the angels appearing to the shepherds someone in the fields just out of town.

She wouldn’t have known that the angel declared to these rough and wild men that the baby just born was a Saviour, the Messiah and the Lord.

The first Mary would have known about it, was when a few rough looking men appear in the door way wanting to get a look at the baby.

You see, here’s the thing. We normally depict the shepherds as these almost cuddly men who themselves like to have cuddles with cute little lambs.

Except that, in reality, Shepherds at this time had quite a different reputation. They had learnt to live with their sheep, and it would seem that their social skills and manners weren’t exactly necessary out there.

And so just imagine when these outsiders turn up at the door. Even weirder, it’s these outsiders that become the first evangelists - they start spreading the word about what they’ve heard.

So what does Mary make of all of this?

Well, I think she could be forgiven if she started to tell these strange men to leave her alone... that she’s already gone through enough chaos and she just wants some quiet.

And again, I highly doubt there would be any processing of the events in any particularly logical fashion.

But yet, we’re told that she treasured these things and pondered them in her heart.

Things might be chaotic, but she has enough presence of mind to recognise that this is something she needs to keep close. To ponder them enough to let them stick.

Application

You see, here’s the thing. As I mentioned at the start, the lead up to Christmas can be a very hectic time for many of us.

Now, I’m not trying to pretend that our situation is comparable to Mary’s. She was in the middle of one of history’s most pivotal moments.

But yet there can be a sense in which like Mary, we might not be able to fully take it all in… but is there room in your heart to let this treasure take place? Can you allow yourself enough space to at least ponder it?

You see, it is all too easy to just let it all pass by and before you know it, you’re in January and taking things easy.

But you give yourself that little bit of space to keep it in your heart… that way, when things do slow down, the narrative of this story will start to really shape you.

You see, it’s amazing what can happen when you allow the good news into your heart.

You start to gain a supernatural peace. You start to grow a heart for the things God cares about. You start to see life with a much bigger perspective.

But it all starts with letting the treasure in.

Conclusion

There’s a good chance that many of you are already starting to think about the plans you’ve made for lunch today. And that’s understandable.

But please, like Mary, just let the good news that God sent his one and only son to earth to be one of us start to sink in. Let it be in your heart that there is a saviour, one who can transform and make each of us new.

Just ponder that now - because it will have a huge impact as time goes on.

Let me pray...