Christmas Greeting Card Sermon V: Ponder! Series

CHRISTMAS GREETING CARD SERMON V: PONDER!

“But Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)

Once the angels had announced to the shepherds the good news of great JOY which shall be to all people, the Bible says they left and went back to heaven.

Once the shepherds had found the baby lying in a manger and bowed before the manger in adoration, praising God and spreading the good news, the Bible says they returned to the fields to watch their sheep.

Once the Wise Men, who had followed the star for miles and miles until it stopped over the place where the child was, and, had presented unto him their gifts, the Bible says they went back to their own country.

Once Mary the mother of Jesus had given birth to her son, cradled him in her arms and laid him in a manger, she witnessed all the commotion along with the excitement of those who came to worship her son, and, the Bible says, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Nine months before his birth, Mary had wondered how it could be that she a virgin became pregnant; and, during that period of time, she went to the hill country to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who revealed to her that she had been divinely chosen to give miraculous birth to the Son of God.

Now that Jesus had been born, Joseph her husband fulfilled his role as protector and provider of the mother and child. He did so by shielding her from public ridicule, and by making sure that Jesus was spared the rod of vengeance threatened by Herod the king.

In Joseph’s carpenter’s shop, Jesus was to learn the trade that made a living for their family during the years of this child’s growing in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.

Yes, it was Joseph his earthly father who instilled in Jesus discipline. Yes, it was Mary his mother who nurtured him. Yes, Jesus himself, until he reached the age of thirty – at which time he was to begin his ministry – most likely helped support his family by working in the carpenter’s shop.

During all of these years, though, it was Mary who pondered all these things in her heart.

She had been there when he was born . . . he was dedicated in the temple shortly after his birth . . . he went through school . . . he was found at the age of twelve talking with the priests in the temple . . . he said to her that he must be about his father’s business . . . he grew into manhood.

She had been there when he left home to begin his ministry - and three years later she would be there when he was crucified on a cross.

Mary had always been there – from the moment she received word that she would give birth to the Son of God, until the moment the Son of God, hanging on a cross, looked at his best friend John and said to him, “Behold your mother”- and then turned his eyes toward Mary and said to her “Behold your son” – meaning that his friend John was to become his mother Mary’s caregiver

All these things pondered in her heart must have staggered her mind!

Yet, please do not miss the wording John used when he wrote she pondered these things in her heart. In her heart!

When the Bible speaks of one’s “heart,” the reference has to do, not with the muscle that beats within our chest in order to pump life-sustaining blood throughout the body; it has to do with that invisible part of our spirit that enables us to “keep on keeping on” in spite of the setbacks and the disappointments in life. As a figure of speech, the heart is that spirit within us that sustains spiritual life.

Do you suppose Mary the mother of Jesus held within her heart the comforting words of the psalmist?

“Be of good courage, and the Lord shall strengthen your heart.”

“A broken heart, O Lord, You will not despise.”

“Search me, O God, and know my heart.”

“I cried with my whole heart, and the Lord heard me.”

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.”

Had this mother pondered these things in her mind, it was burdensome enough to drive her out of her mind. There is no way that anyone is strong enough mentally to cope with all Mary had to endure without suffering severe anxiety due to worry and fear.

Mary could remain at peace in her mind and, although very troubled by the human aspects of her son’s treatment by a cruel world, she was able to remain at peace in her heart – for one reason and one reason only: She knew before his birth that her son had been conceived in her by the Spirit of God, and that his mission for being born into this world was to be the Savior of the world.