Christmas 1B2023
Lessons & Carols
Near the end of the Christmas story, after Jesus is born, after the shepherds receive the good news of great joy from the angels, after the shepherds go with haste to find Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, after the shepherds tell everyone they know about Jesus…then, Mary treasures all these words and ponders them in her heart. The words she ponders and treasures are the ones the angel shares with the shepherds. The angel declares: “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”
I love to imagine Mary, after traveling to Bethlehem, in the stress and anxiety of a first-century birth, in the loneliness of no family but Joseph and Jesus, after welcoming random shepherds who say they’ve been visited by angels, I love to imagine Mary sitting with Jesus, perhaps rocking him to sleep or Mary with Jesus in her arms walking up and down the length of the stable, bouncing him. I love to imagine her quietly turning over in her mind and heart the words of the angels, shared by the shepherds. What did she think? How did she feel? How did she understand her part in this mystery?
Today, in the hustle and bustle of our world, in the stresses and anxieties we carry, in the decidedly bad news that seems to come from every corner of the world, I am drawn to Mary—how she slows down, how she takes time to consider what God is doing, how she treasures this good news of great joy.
There is plenty of bad news to go around. There are real and serious problems—politically, economically, socially, personally. But that’s not the only news there is. Strangely, regardless of our ideological leaning, across our whole culture, we seem to be caught up in telling bad news of great misery. Whether we are interpreting an email, wondering why someone glared at us, trying to understand a strange comment from our partner, or listening to the news, the stories we treasure and ponder are quite often the ones where the person meant to hurt us, offend us, or abuse their power. We can find creative solutions and address problems. We can take responsibility when it’s ours to take and directly communicate with those who hurt us. We can also tell alternate stories about why something happened, perhaps by talking with the person involved. But we need not treasure nor ponder bad news of great misery.
Instead, with Mary, we can today treasure and ponder good news of great joy. Not in a power-of-positive-thinking way or in a let’s-avoid-what’s-difficult way. But in a I’m-open-to-seeing-what-God-is-doing-right-in-front-of-me way. I invite you to take a slip from the basket going around, to silently read that portion of the angel’s news, to ponder these words. What does this mystery mean for you? Why is this good news for all the people? I invite you now to take a minute to silently treasure and ponder God’s good news of great joy.
Silence for treasuring and pondering
As we go throughout the rest of this day and into the new year, I invite us to treasure and ponder not the bad news of great misery but God’s good news of great joy. To us is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord! Amen.