Untitled Sermon

Expect: Mary's Response

Josh Clink / General

First Responders / Luke 2:19

ME: Intro -

· It is amazing.

· If you go to most first-world countries this time of year,

· They will look very similar to America.

· Stores and streets and houses decorated with Christmas trees and lights and Santa Claus.

· Christmas music on the radio and in public places.

· What is so amazing about this is how many of these countries celebrate Christmas,

· Yet, they are deeply un-Christian nations.

· I think the reason it is so similar is because we are not really the Christian nation we think we are.

· Our culture delights in the gifts, the get-togethers, the time off work or school, and even the holiday traditions.

· But these are the same things un-Christian cultures delight in.

· Now, I will confess that we do see more manger scenes in our decorations,

· So, perhaps it is fair to say we are not an un-Christian culture,

· But rather a semi-Christian culture.

· However, I would say our culture is becoming increasingly less delighted in the central issue of Christmas,

· When God was born into this world as a baby.

· The very One Who made the world became a physical person in it.

· One pastor once said about Christmas:

o “Lots of people who would gladly embrace Jesus as Savior don’t want Him to be God…They don’t mind celebrating the birth of a baby, but they don’t want to hear about the Lord of Lords. They sing of His nativity but reject His authority.”

· Central to Christmas is what I would call an infinite mystery.

· And I believe that is why more and more people are struggling to accept it.

· They stumble over limited human intellect,

· That the Baby born in the manger was God Himself.

· This mystery causes the human brain to short-circuit.

· The Bible describes it this way in John 1:

o “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us…”

· We limited humans CANNOT COMPUTE that Jesus Christ,

· That Baby,

· Was fully God AND fully man.

· It cannot be comprehended.

· An old British pastor, Charles Spurgeon, once said about this mystery;

o “As Jesus Christ is a child in his human nature…He is as truly-born, as certainly a child, as any other man that ever lived upon the face of the earth. He is thus in his humanity a child born. But as Jesus Christ is God’s Son, he is not born; but given…not made, being of the same substance with the Father.”

· Spurgeon goes on to say that this truth is an undoubted fact of Christianity.

· He then continued,

o “But as to any explanation of it, no man should venture thereon, for it remains among the deep things of God—one of those solemn mysteries indeed, into which the angels dare not look, nor do they desire to pry into it—a mystery which we must not attempt to fathom, for it is utterly beyond the grasp of any finite being. As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean, as a finite creature to comprehend the Eternal God. A God whom we could understand would be no God.”

· But the Bible says that we who trust in Christ are given the mind of Christ.

· And the best possible use of the mind of Christ is to ponder the mysteries of Christ,

· Responding with expectant hope.

· This evening we are going to explore this expectant hope from three angles:

o Foundation of Hope

o Facts of Hope

o Ponder on Hope

o Respond to His mysterious birth with expectant hope.

WE: Foundation of Hope

· Our foundation of hope is this mystery we have been speaking of.

· The Bible teaches in 1 Tim. 3:16 that God appeared in a human body.

· In the same verse, the author whose name was Paul,

· Said, “Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great.”

· This man, Paul, was not one who used exaggeration.

· So, when he says a mystery is great, the mystery is great.

· He was revealing these incredibly deep things that He had received from God.

· And Paul was no slouch.

· He was an intelligent guy,

· The Bible often records him reasoning with others with astonishing clarity.

· One of Jesus’ other followers is a man named Peter.

· He wrote in 2 Peter 3:16 about how complex some of Paul’s letters could be,

· Because Paul was such an intelligent guy.

· Despite all this intellect,

· God showed Paul some things that he could not even put into words.

· In 2 Cor. 12:2-4, Paul wrote;

o “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven…

· This man he is talking about is himself.

o …Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.”

· Despite this inexpressible experience,

· Paul said in 1 Tim. 3:16 that the greatest mystery of all was when the Son of God was born as a baby.

· When the eternal One took on flesh and was born of the virgin Mary.

· This is the foundation of our hope.

· There is this classic book called Knowing God written by J.I. Packer,

· It discusses the challenges that Christianity poses to “thoughtful” or intellectual people around the world.

· He says Christianity presents unbelievers with the challenge of accepting that the death of Jesus Christ on a Roman cross two thousand years ago actually pays for the sins of the world.

· Then there is the challenge of the resurrection,

· That Jesus physically rose from the dead.

· There has never been anything like the resurrection,

· It is so anti-scientific that it seems outrageous according to the intellectual.

· The virgin birth?

· We are supposed to simply accept something biologically and anatomically impossible?

· Or what about all the miracles recorded during Christ’s life?

· Feeding thousands of people,

· Stopping a storm with His words,

· Giving a blind mand sight by spitting in dirt,

· Or raising a man who had been dead for four days?

· These are the mysteries that challenge the enlightened mind of humankind explored in the book, Knowing God.

· But none of these things compare with the highest mystery that confronts us all.

· J.I. Packer writes in his book;

o “It lies not in the Good Friday message of [Christ’s death in our place], or the Easter message of resurrection, but in the Christmas message of [God being born in the flesh]. The really staggering Christian claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was God made man--…Here are two mysteries for the price of one—the plurality of persons within the unity of God…it is here, in the thing that happened at the first Christmas, that the profoundest and most unfathomable depths of the Christian revelation lie…God became man…the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. And there was no illusion or deception in this: the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets.”

· So, let us stagger our minds on this tonight.

· Let us ponder what is imponderable.

· Let us consider what is inconsiderable.

· Let us plumb the depths of this infinite mystery.

· Let us think, and think, and think some more.

· Let us respond to this mystery with expectant hope,

· Just as Jesus’ mother did on that first Christmas.

· Luke 2:19 says Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

· For the month of December, we partnered with a church in Bainbridge and a church in Delhi to look at some of the first responders to the birth of Christ.

· The goal has been to learn from their responses and for us to respond in the same way.

· I got to speak on the response of the Shepherds in Luke 2:8-20.

· It is right smack dab in the middle of the shepherd’s response where we find Mary’s response.

· Her response was different from the shepherd’s.

· They had a loud response,

· Exclaiming to everyone and anyone about what they had seen and heard.

· Hers was much quieter.

· Hers was more of an internal response.

GOD: Facts of Hope (Luke 1-2)

· The things she was treasuring, and pondering are the Facts of Hope related to the birth of Christ,

· Which are detailed in chapters 1-2 of Luke.

· So, let us first look at the preparation for the mystery in Luke 1,

· Beginning with the announcement to Mary.

· Luke 1:30-35 says;

o “The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’ ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered, ‘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.”

· Then, skipping ahead to vs. 42-45, we see the pronouncement by Elizabeth;

o “In a loud voice [Elizabeth] exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!’”

· Then Mary responds in vs. 46-49;

o “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.”

· As we turn to chapter two,

· We see God orchestrating history with a census.

· Luke 2:1-3 says;

o “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria) And everyone went to his own town to register.”

· God sovereignly directed the heart of Caesar in these verses.

· He shaped the entire Jewish culture so that a trip to Bethlehem was necessary for Joseph and Mary to take while she was pregnant.

· We cannot assume that Joseph and Mary would have made this trip without the sovereign orchestration of God.

· Next, in vs. 4-5, we see Joseph and Mary’s trip to Bethlehem recorded;

o “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.”

· Then, at the end of vs. 7, we see the famous line that there was no room for them in the inn.

· So, instead, vs. 6 and the beginning of vs. 7 say that Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger.

· Then we are introduced to the shepherds who were watching their flock at night in vs. 8.

· These shepherds receive an announcement from an angel in vs. 9-12;

o “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

· Suddenly, a heavenly army shows up and worships God in vs. 13-14;

o “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

· The shepherds took this message to heart,

· And they go to Jesus in vs. 15-16;

o “When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.”

· So, the angels tell everyone what the angel said and what had happened in vs. 17-18;

o “When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”

· And vs. 20 concludes their part by saying they returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

YOU: Ponder on Hope Luke 2:19, 51

· But Mary’s response, vs. 19 says, was to treasure up all these things and ponder them in her heart.

· Vs. 51 again says that Mary treasured all these things in her heart.

· Again, I’d like to quote what Charles Spurgeon once said about Mary here;

o “She wondered: she did more-she pondered. You will observe there was an exercise on the part of this blessed woman of the three great parts of her being; her memory-she kept all these things; her affections-she kept them in her heart; her intellect-she pondered them, considered them, weighed them, turned them over; so that memory, affection, and understanding, were all exercised about these things. We delight to see this in Mary, but we are not at all surprised when we recollect that she was in some sense the most concerned of all on earth, for it was of her that Jesus Christ had been born. Those who come nearest to Jesus and enter the most closely into fellowship with him, will be sure to be the most engrossed with him. Certain persons are best esteemed at a distance, but not the Savior; when you shall have known him to the very full, then shall you love him with the love which passeth knowledge; you shall comprehend the height, and depths, and lengths, and breadths of his love; and when you shall do so, then your own love shall swell beyond all length and breadth, all height and depth. The birth most concerned Mary, and therefore she was the most impressed with it.”

· Mary’s response was one of expectant hope,

· And it came in two parts.

· First, it said she treasured the birth of Christ in her heart.

· To treasure something means you are storing up something of immense value.

· There is a sense of protecting something valuable,

· Guarding it from destruction.

· Mary kept the memory of the birth of Jesus close.

· Then, after hearing from the angel, Elizabeth, and the shepherds,

· Combining that with the census, and the prophecies and promises,

· She had this expectant hope.

· In the days, weeks, months, and years ahead,

· When she experienced pain or doubt or difficulty,

· She could turn back to these things she treasured in her heart,

· And she found comfort,

· She found strength,

· But most of all,

· She found hope.

· She did not have a smartphone to take pictures,

· Or social media to post about the birth of Christ.

· But she stored the birth of Jesus in her memory just the same.

· Like Mary, you have a life full of experiences.

· You remember some of those experiences better than others.

· Then you have those special few that you treasure.

· The things you treasure have a huge impact on your life.

· So, the Bible, in Philippians 4:8 gives a great suggestion;

o “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

· For Mary, the thing that fits all this criterion is the birth of Jesus Christ,

· The Savior of the World.

· What is it for you?

· The Bible teaches, and experience confirms,

· That this world is cursed by what the Bible calls sin.

· So, valuable things in this life must be protected from harm.

· The Bible describes the things of this earth as susceptible to be destroyed by moth and rust,

· Or stolen by thieves who break in.

· This is the same world Mary lived in,

· So, how did she treasure these things?

· How did she protect the events surrounding the birth of Jesus,

· And the significance of His birth?

· I mean a natural birth is something that a mother treasures.

· Mothers tend to remember the details of childbirth far beyond the fathers memory.

· My sister and brother-in-law just had their first child about a month ago.

· And there are all these things that my sister treasures that she has mentioned to me;

· That baby smell,

· The feeling of his hair.

· She remembers the details told to her by the hospital staff,

· The sounds her son made when nursing him,

· And the confused reaction it caused their dog.

· The cries of her baby,

· The first skin-to-skin contact.

· The perfect little outfit she dressed in him to go pick out their first Christmas tree as a family.

· These are all normal matters,

· Nothing supernatural,

· Normal details of a newborn.

· I found a statistic online that approximately four babies are born every second in the world.

· That is about 133 million births every year.

· 133 million normal births,

· And I am willing to bet that almost every mother treasures the details of those births.

· But Mary had far more than a normal birth to treasure and protect in her mind.

· Picture it,

· She is laying there in the stable,

· Resting after giving birth.

· Some of the pain from labor is finally starting to subside.

· Jesus is wrapped tightly, sleeping in the manger beside her.

· The shepherds just left,

· She can still hear the faint stir of them telling everyone about what they had seen and heard.

· And she begins to reflect on how nine months ago,

· The angel, Gabriel, made a shocking, life-altering appearance.

· Looking at this child Gabriel told her about,

· The Son of David.

· Reigning on David’s throne forever.

· Son of God, no human father.

· The Holy Spirit knit this child together in her womb.

· The Savior of the World.

· And the shepherds heard this not only from one angel,

· But an entire host of angels worshiped the glory of God in the presence of the shepherds.

· Mary looked again at her son sleeping peacefully.

· And she treasured these things in her heart.

· She protected those ideas, those precious memories.

· She protected them from forgetfulness, seeking to remember every detail.

· She protected them from corruption,

· She knew she was still a sinner,

· But she also knew that God determined to use her for His mysterious purposes.

· And she protected her memories from reaching wrong conclusions.

· From assuming she had the ability to solve the unsearchable mysteries of God.

· She had to protect these things in her heart,

· Because in the years to come these things would be attacked by Satan.

· As a woman pregnant out of wedlock, her virtue would be openly attacked.

· Her role in all of this would be openly attacked.

· Satan would whisper evil lies in her mind, like he does to you too.

· So, as Jesus grew,

· She would have to continue to treasure these things in her heart.

· Review them again and again to commit them to memory.

· The second part of Mary’s response was to ponder these things in her heart.

· Mary treasured these things for the purpose of preservation,

· Pondering is a thoughtful reflection that stirs her emotions and commits her will to God.

· It literally means to throw these things together.

· In other words, she was having her racing thoughts interact with one another.

· It is the idea of having a conversation in your mind.

· She thought to herself things like, “this baby of mine is also God.”

· “This humble and weak infant is the exalted Savior of the World!”

· “My son is also the promised rescuer for all of God’s people!”

· Her miracle child fascinated her.

· He drew her emotions toward God,

· He drew out her obedience to God’s will for her life.

· The birth of Christ demands more than a passing glance.

· This is a topic of deep interest, contemplative thought, and heartfelt consideration.

· The best way to deal with the mysteries of God is to Ponder them,

· Like Mary.

· Meditate on these mysteries daily.

· Let different thoughts conversate with one another.

· Compare one part of God’s Word against another part.

· I can just picture Mary, looking at her baby and holding up both hands,

· And going back in forth,

· Holding up one hand saying;

· “Son of mine,”

· Then holding up the other hand saying;

· “Son of God.”

· Friends, this little baby was fully human.

· As his mother rested beside him in that stable,

· She could see his little chest rise and fall as he breathed,

· She could hold out her hand and watch his little fingers clasp her finger,

· She could feel the same hands that made the universe,

· Barely squeeze her finger with all his strength.

· He needed to be nursed, he needed to sleep, he needed to grow.

· He was fully human.

· And yet, He is fully God.

· What could this mean?

· The Bible says the Lord our God, the Lord is One,

· You shall worship no other gods.

· So, was Mary to worship the Son of God?

· When the shepherds came and worshiped,

· Did Mary also worship her own baby boy?

· We can only imagine the quiet pondering that must have gone on in the heart of this godly woman.

· And I am sure this mystery only increased as the years went on.

· Luke 2:52 says Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

· Mary watched it happen,

· Likely pondering these things in her heart all the while.

· She likely quietly had these thoughts interacting together in her heart,

· Always trying to search the infinite depths of the wisdom of God.

· There is a brief account where Jesus got separated from Mary and Joseph at the age of 12.

· He was lost from three days.

· When they finally found him in Jerusalem,

· He was at the temple asking priests such profound questions that they, the experts, marveled at His understanding.

· Luke 2:48-51 record what happened;

o “When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’ ‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.”

· Mary’s whole life was given to the pondering and the treasuring, or protecting, of the events of Jesus’ life.

· How much more do you think she pondered the events of His death?

· She watched her perfect Son die for the sins of the world.

· The blood that began flowing through his body in her womb,

· Flowed out of Him for her sins.

· The soft head that she stroked in the manger,

· Was pierced with a crown of thorns.

· The hands that could not even wrap fully around her finger,

· Were nailed to the cross.

· I am certain Mary pondered these mysteries till the day she died.

· But she did not only have to ponder His death.

· She was an eyewitness of His resurrection.

· She was there in Acts 1 waiting for the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised.

· In fact, she had a more up-close and personal view of Christ’s physical life than any other person in that room.

· And I guarantee you that she treasured and pondered all those things until she left this earth,

· And rejoined her Savior-Son in heaven.

· Mary’s life was a life of pondering and treasuring the mysteries of the birth of Jesus.

· Her response to His birth was one of expectant hope.

WE: Application

· What about you?

· What is your response to the birth of Christ?

· First, ponder and treasure Christ just like Mary.

· The best way to deal with the infinite mystery of Christmas,

· The infinite mystery of God being born as a baby,

· Is to treasure and ponder these things.

· When you treasure it, you protect it.

· Protect it from modern threats.

· From things like materialism.

· Christmas is not ultimately about the things you get,

· Nor is it even ultimately about the things you give.

· It is about the infinite mystery of God being born as a baby,

· And the expectant hope His birth brings with it.

· Protect it also from things like busyness.

· I must confess this is the one I find myself often falling susceptible to.

· Christmas season tends to be one of the busiest seasons.

· We get out of our normal routines, we are travelling, we are wanting to shop and decorate, and wrap presents and bake cookies.

· We want to participate in all the activities, whether it is a party, a parade, a volunteer opportunity, or something else.

· With all these things filling our schedule,

· Before you know it, January is here and it is time to go back to work or school,

· And we never once took the time in all of December to ponder and treasure the birth of Christ.

· A similar threat to busyness is apathy.

· If you care enough about treasuring the birth of Christ in your heart, you will make time for it.

· But if you find yourself feeling this sense of “meh” toward the birth of Christ,

· Then of course you won’t take the time treasure the mystery of His birth.

· This Christmas, ponder the depths of the message of Christmas.

· Take the time to have differing thoughts about Jesus interact in your mind.

· Hold up one hand and think about Jesus being fully man.

· That He experienced everything you experience.

· He knows what it is like to go hungry, to be betrayed by your closest friends, to feel physical pain.

· He was a real human that had to grow and learn and rest and go to the bathroom.

· He experienced the weakness of being human.

· But then hold up your other hand and think about Jesus being fully God.

· He had the ability to heal the sick, the blind, and the deaf.

· He fed thousands with a boy’s lunch.

· He made creation and demons bend to His words.

· But He never used His Godness to His advantage.

· Be amazed at the fact that God was born as a baby.

· And never lose that amazement!

· His birth is the central mystery to the Christian faith.

· Allow your pondering of these things to give way to worship of Christ.

· This is the proper heart response to His birth.

· Being amazed, being filled with awe, and wonder at His birth, being moved deeply by pondering these things.

· Then fall on your knees and worship Him.

· It requires you to protect against apathy and busyness and materialism.

· You must consciously choose to ponder Christ,

· To set your mind on the things that are above and begin to forget about lesser things.

· Seriously consider Christ,

· Consider the claims about Him,

· Consider His character.

· That He is fair and just, gentle, and lowly in heart, gracious and merciful, loving and slow to become angry.

· Consider these things.

· Then take comfort in who Christ is.

· He is fully man and fully God.

· He can sympathize with you in your weakness,

· And He can save you from your sin.

· Respond to His mysterious birth with expectant hope.

· Pray.