All of us treasure things in our hearts, don’t we?
You perhaps have a few fond memories of big occasions like a wedding or an anniversary. Or perhaps when you were a child. Do you remember having little friends round for your birthday party? Wasn’t that the most exciting thing in the world? How weird would it be if they all turned up and said “Happy birthday!” and then proceeded to give presents – not to you – but to each other? Christmas, of course, is Jesus’ birthday. I’ve already wrapped the presents for my family. What gift do I have for him?
For anyone who has been a parent, the birth of a child is an unforgettable experience and one that is cherished forever.
So it is not surprising that we read in Luke’s gospel, chapter 2, verse 19 that Mary treasured in her heart the events surrounding the birth of her firstborn child Jesus.
The enchantment of the carols, the candlelight, the lights on the tree and the homely crib scenes tend to distract us from the trauma it must have been for Mary to give birth in the circumstances she did.
Some of you have been mothers. How many of you would have chosen to have your first baby far from home, after an arduous sixty mile trek? Pictures on Christmas cards often depict her riding on a donkey as Joseph leads the way on foot but the Bible never mentions a donkey and it is possible that she had to walk the four day journey.
When she got to Bethlehem she would have found herself in a militarised zone in a foreign occupied territory, her relationship with Joseph in serious jeopardy – no hospital, no bed, and only farming apparatus at hand to place her baby down for a sleep?
It’s not exactly an expectant mother’s nesting dream is it?
Mary, this young, single mother will have arrived in Bethlehem, physically exhausted and due to go into labour at any time, only to find that there was no lodging available.
You hear about emergency deliveries in taxis, helicopters and ambulances when labour is sudden and short-lived - and you feel for the mother who would surely have wished for a less anxious delivery - but the birth of Jesus was a proper maternity drama.
These are the shabby conditions which the Lord of glory chose to frame his entrance into our world. He didn’t consider the squalor or the stress beneath his dignity. That’s because he loves you.
It’s been pointed out that the word “stable” is nowhere to be found in the Gospel narratives. It just says that there was no place to stay at the guest houses – or inns – and we surmise from that that the birth must have been in some kind of animal shelter because Luke mentions three times that Jesus had to make do with an ox’s feeding trough as an improvised cradle. It probably wouldn’t even have been clean, let alone sterile.
But remember what Mary had said to the angel when he announced the news that she would bear the Messiah; “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me according to your word.” Then, she was ready for the adventure and trusted God to know what he was doing.
But I wonder if Mary began to doubt that God was really in control of the situation when her labour pains started and it was obvious the accommodation was going to have to be makeshift and the delivery was going to have to be improvised. How did she feel then?
Do you sometimes wonder, when everything seems to be going wrong, in fact when everything is going wrong, if God can possibly know what he is doing? Some things go so far awry from the way anyone would have planned them that you begin to question whether or not you are in God’s will at all.
“If I am in God’s will for my life, people ask, “then why aren’t things going smoother? Why am I meeting such spiritual resistance? Why do the doors seem to keep closing in my face? Why am I struggling so hard? If I am in God’s will for my life why doesn’t he remove the obstacles to progress?”
There are three reasons why Mary might have thought that this was the wrong time to have a child:
Firstly, her marriage was not yet consummated and Joseph was minded to call the wedding off altogether. In the first century in the Middle East that was a very vulnerable state to be in. She must have wondered if she was going to be left a disgraced single mother with an annulled marriage, a baby to raise, a disapproving society and no support.
Secondly, the census was thoroughly inconvenient and it totally disrupted all their plans. The birth of her child was away from home, where there’s the security and support of the extended family.
Thirdly, the lodging arrangements were completely unsatisfactory. Talk about holidays from hell; this is every mother’s nightmare. Everywhere they look is closed as the contractions get more and more and more frequent – and then, suddenly, with nowhere to go, Mary’s waters break and she wonders if the baby will make it.
This must have felt like the worst day of her life. In fact, it was the very best.
This was the day she would hold in her arms the infant Christ and love him as her baby. What did she treasure in her heart when she looked into his eyes?
Did you know that there are 322 prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament, that is the part of the Bible that was written before Jesus was born?
322. They tell you things like where he would be born (Bethlehem), what he would say, how he would die, that he would be betrayed by a kiss… they even predict how much money he would be betrayed for (20 pieces of silver – not 29.99). All 322 prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. The mathematical compound probability of all 322 predictions being fulfilled in one man in one moment in time – do you know what it is? – it is 1 in 84 with 100 zeros after it.
What did Mary treasure in her heart when she looked into the eyes of the child who had already started fulfilling those 322 prophecies?
What do you treasure in your heart tonight? You cannot hold him in your arms as Mary did but do you hold him in honour and love him as your Lord?
This is the night that rustic shepherds would come and bow down before her child.
What did she treasure in her heart as they explained how an angel had told them about her baby, the one who they would find lying in a manger, a Saviour, Christ the Lord?
What do you treasure in your heart tonight as we echo the song the angels sang in these carols?
And if you could ask Mary then, as she rested after her harrowing labour and crisis birth in that scruffy barn… if you could ask her “Mary, would you go through that ordeal again?” what do you think she would reply?
I believe she would look down adoringly at him
· announced by her cousin Elizabeth as special
· celebrated by angels as a glorious Saviour
· revealed by shepherds as Christ the Lord
and she’d say “Would I do it all again? Definitely. 100%.”
No one knew Jesus better during his time on earth that his mother. May you know him through and through as she did.
No one’s openness to God, and obedience to his will, and faith in adversity is likely to come close to Mary’s.
So as you follow Christ, and especially if the road is particularly arduous at the moment, may I wish you a very Mary Christmas.
And as you open your presents tomorrow, most of which you honestly won’t really need – thank God for the one gift he gave you that you truly can’t do without.
Sermon preached at Saint Mary's Long Newton, 23rd December 2012 and All Saints' Preston on Tees, 24th December 2012.
No one knew Jesus better during his time on earth that his mother. May you know him through and through as she did.
No one’s openness to God, and obedience to his will, and faith in adversity is likely to come close to Mary’s.
So as you follow Christ, and especially if the road is particularly arduous at the moment, may I wish you a very Mary Christmas.
And as you open your presents tomorrow, most of which you honestly won’t really need – thank God for the one gift he gave you that you truly can’t do without.
Sermon preached at Saint Mary's Long Newton, 23rd December 2012 and All Saints' Preston on Tees, 24th December 2012.
