Pondering -12/24/22
2022.12.24. Sermon, Luke 2:1-20, "Pondering"
Only two books in the Bible contain a "Christmas story." And those books are Matthew and Luke. Matthew focuses on Joseph, and Luke focuses on Mary. For example, in Matthew, the angel comes to Joseph in a dream, but in Luke, the angel comes to Mary. Also in Luke, Mary is not the only one pregnant. Her elderly cousin Elizabeth is also pregnant and delivers a son who becomes John the Baptist. Only in Luke are Jesus and John the Baptist genetically related. Their mothers are cousins, and so they are cousins.
The first thing that Mary does after she hears the announcement from the angel is to go to her cousin Elizabeth. When Mary greets Elizabeth, the fetus in Elizabeth's womb jumps for joy. Then Mary sings a song--a hymn if you will, which is called the Magnificat, from the first word in the Latin version. "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (1:46-47). This is a powerful song that Mary is singing: "[God] has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly" (1:52). There is something revolutionary about the child that Mary is going to have!
Mary stays three months with her cousin, and then returns to Nazareth. But Mary is soon on the move again. Caesar Augustus decrees a registration for everyone in the empire. Among ancient writers, only Luke says anything about this registration; nobody else at the time says anything about it. And this is an unusual registration because everyone must go to their ancestral hometown. Joseph must go to Bethlehem, the hometown of David because he is of David’s lineage. Joseph lived close to a thousand years after David, so they had to go back aways. And his fiancé Mary goes with him. Maybe they are married by this time. When they arrive in Bethlehem, Mary gives birth to a strapping baby boy, and as is the custom, she wraps him in bands of cloth, that is, swaddling clothes and puts him in a manger. Perhaps Mary gives birth inside a house, but to have more room she places Jesus in a manger outside the house.
The next thing that Mary knows is that shepherds come to see her and tell her about an angel letting them know about the birth of a Savior, who is also a Messiah, and then the heavenly host singing, "Glory to God and peace to humanity." This is consistent with what the angel Gabriel had told her back when she was in Nazareth. Everyone who heard the shepherds' proclamation is amazed. Mary, though, is not so amazed because the angel had prepared her. She has been amazed for the last nine months. Her elderly cousin has given birth, and now she, a virgin, has given birth. Mary is treasuring all these things, pondering them in her heart.
Mary is a good example for us here. She ponders what has happened, she meditates on these events, she thinks deeply about all that has gone on. Strangely, Christmas time for us is not a time given to pondering. We've got gifts to buy and parties to attend and meals to prepare. Where is the time for pondering, pastor? Tell us quickly because we've got to get home to have dinner and unwrap presents and drink our egg nog and go to bed. Yes, yes, I know.
But first, I want you to breathe. I want you to relax and take in the true spirit of Christmas. For just a moment, settle into your space here, let go of whatever tension you might feel. Know that God loves you. And I want you to feel that love in your body. Ponder what Christmas is all about. Ponder hope. What is your hope? Imagine what God has in store for you in this next year, in the next several years. Ponder peace. Where do you feel peace? I hope that you feel peace here in this sanctuary. I hope that you feel peace right now. If so, ponder it, ponder peace. Also ponder joy, the happiness that this season brings. Perhaps you are with family, with loved ones. You have some time off from work. Maybe you'll get a good meal today or tomorrow. Where do you feel that joy in your body? Ponder joy. And ponder love. Ponder love. Ponder the love of God in Jesus Christ. Ponder it now. And ponder the love that you feel toward God and toward others. Again, where in your body do you feel that love? Maybe it's in a smile, maybe it's in the warmth that you feel all over your body. Christmas is about what happened to bodies long ago--bodies who give birth unexpectedly, bodies who travel long distances, bodies out in the field who see a heavenly body, and then they go and see a little earthly body in a manger. We ponder our bodies.
How can you be Mary-like and ponder this Christmas? I can think of two ways. First, take some time for yourself and for God. It doesn't have to be long--a few minutes in which you ponder what God is doing in your life. You can do it right when you first wake up, maybe even while you’re still in bed. Or you can do it in bed right before you go to sleep. Just sit or lie down and focus on your breathing, on your blessings, on your life. Second, you can ponder when you are amid shopping or cleaning or preparing or eating. Simply take a breath and look and hear and think about what this season means: God with us, Emmanuel, good news of great joy for all the people. And you are alive, with adequate food, shelter, clothing, and people who love you. Breathe all that in and ponder it. How does it feel in your body. Ponder. Ponder.
In a few minutes, we will light candles. Ponder the flame. It glows, it dances. So does our hope, our peace, our joy, our love. Let us be pondering people, attentive to what God is doing in our lives, thinking deeply about the movement of the Spirit among us.
And all God’s people said, “Amen.”