December 24, 2012
Christmas Eve
Luke 2:1-20
I
have a theory that Mary, the mother of our Lord, was an introvert. Now scripture never comes out and says this, nor
much else about her personality, but we do know one thing. It is said more than once in the Gospel of
Luke that Mary “treasured these things and pondered them in her heart.” Mary was one to ponder, to process things
internally and therefore, I don’t think I’m too far off in thinking that Mary
was most likely an introvert.
And
there was quite a bit to process in this night. Mary’s birth story was anything
but the romantic scenes painted on the faces of nativity sets. It probably
wasn’t a clean stable filled with fresh hay, well behaved livestock, or even a
nicely made manger. Mary gave birth to Jesus
probably a cave or a barn, no midwife or birthing stool, and commandeered a
feeding trough to use as a bed.
And
beyond that, there had been a lot to ponder in regards to the events that had
transpired the past 40 or so weeks that Mary was pregnant. First, Mary had been betrothed to a carpenter
named Joseph. Then, she is visited by an angel who tells her that she, a
virgin, was not only just going to bear a child, but the child she would give
birth to would not be the child of her fiancé. On top of all that, Mary is also
told that the child would be the long awaited savior of the world. Despite all
of this, Mary consents to risking both her life and her marriage in order to
carry out the will of our Lord. Consent might be the wrong word for Mary, as we
knew she embraced the fact that she would bear God’s son.
We
know Mary embraced the responsibility she was given because while visiting her
cousin Elizabeth, who was also miraculously pregnant, she sang a beautiful song
of praise to God for choosing her to bear God’s son.
That
was about forty weeks ago. In the past week, Mary and Joseph had taken a
journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the Roman census. Normally, it
would be a 4 day journey on foot for 2 healthy and non-pregnant individuals, so
there was probably a few extra days tacked on there. Like all good family trips,
the trip doesn’t exactly go as planned since no one checks with unborn children
about when they would like to be born. It may have caught her off guard when
the contractions started, her water broke, and any birth plan flew out the
window.
To
make it more complicated, with literally everyone and their brother in
Bethlehem for the census, there were no vacancies in any of the inns in town,
so unlike her cousin Elizabeth who probably had a midwife, it was just Mary and
Joseph, who most likely hadn’t been present at a childbirth class since at that
time being a birthing coach was a job reserved for women, assisting Mary in her
labor and delivery of the baby.
However,
they find a way to make it work. Mary gives birth to Jesus, wraps him in bands
of cloth, and laid him in whatever makeshift bed they could muster. Soon after,
a group of random shepherds appeared to Mary and Joseph and told them that they
too, had been visited by angels and informed of the Holy nature of this child
that had been born and they had to see it for themselves.
All
of this would have been a lot to process, but there is so much more for Mary to
ponder in the years to come. The implications of giving birth to the Son of God
must have weighed heavily, embraced or not. 40 weeks passes by fast, but seems
like forever at the same time.
But,
we also must not forget about Joseph, and all he had to process as well. Here
he is, far from home, alone with Mary who is bearing a child, but not his, but
that of God. The social implications, the circumstances of where Mary is giving
birth, with probably little knowledge of what it is he had to do to help. The
stepfather to God’s son is an awfully big responsibility that Joseph did not get
much say in. However, he does what he has to do because that is the kind of
person he is.
We all know the story of how Jesus came into the world,
and how complicated things were in their time. A baby by itself is a lot to
think about in 40 weeks, but that is what makes this story special. All those
pregnancy milestones we take for granted in their time must have been truly
amazing. Seeing little kicks and punches, feeling Jesus moving around,
preparing himself for what will come. On top of all of that, Mary and Joseph
accomplish so much, despite many odds against them.
For us, we should take the time to ponder with Mary what
it all means. And it’s not some easy to
identify little nugget that we can simply pull out and wrap nicely with a
little bow on top. Because for some of
us, Christmas is not the joyous holiday that is sung about in Christmas
carols. We may have come here, we
faithful…but joyful and triumphant might not be an accurate statement if we’re
totally honest. For others of us, this
truly is a most wonderful time of the year with the kids jingle-belling and
being filled with good cheer. And others
of us could probably take it or leave it either way. It seems that Christmas now is sometimes just
as chaotic and unromantic as it was 2000 years ago, even with the poinsettias,
the lights, and the trees.
But I don’t think that God was going for orderly and
romantic when he sent Gabriel to Mary to let her know that she would be the one
to bear his son. Sure, God is the expert
at turning chaos into order, but there is the reality of what comes with
pregnancy and childbirth…birth plans fly out the window and sometimes you have
to settle for a cave because all of the birthing suites are full. No, I think that when it came to the birth of
Jesus, God was going for what is real.
And that meant the king of kings would be born in a cave instead of a
palace, that meant that he would be born to peasants instead of royalty, that
meant that unnamed and often shunned shepherds would be the first to hear the
most wonderful birth announcement, not a royal court of the select elite.
And it was all so that whether we see Christmas as a
painful time, a joyous time, or an “ehh” time, when we look into the manger
there is something there for all of us.
There is the reminder that God is always up to something new and a
promise of life and light in the midst of darkness and grief. There is joy abundant found in the face of a
newborn child. There is an invitation to
come and be a part of the mystery of God’s Word becoming flesh in the person of
Jesus. In the face of the newborn Jesus,
there is something for each of us to treasure and ponder in our hearts. That this child was born for you and for
me…and that this child would die for you and for me. The love from which this all came about is
indescribable. But it’s there for you
and for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment