Merry Christmas, Friends!

My hope for you during this season of our Saviour’s birth, is that it will be a time of sweetness and stillness. Our lives are filled with busyness all year long and, while there are many celebratory activities around this time, we need to allow space to just be still.

We recently held our annual Women’s Christmas Craft-Together at our little church on the east coast of Canada. Given our proximity to the sea, we decided to make some beachy Christmas decor with the sea glass and driftwood that is so readily available to us.

With this in mind as I prepared the short devotional for the evening, I considered the importance of stillness.

If you’ve been around here for a while, you know how much I enjoy seaside living. There is something soul-soothing as I spend time relaxing with a book, lulled by the sounds of the ocean or watching littles splash about the waves. Walking the beach, praying or enjoying good company refreshes the spirit and reminds us that it’s good to slow down.  Strolling along, I often find myself with a pocket full of sea glass or smooth stones, though I remind myself I really do have all the sea glass I “need.”  Sooo many tiny treasures.

The beach seems to require that we decelerate from the busyness and appreciate all that God has given us.

I believe there’s an Advent devotional called “Have Yourself a Mary Little Christmas,”  a gentle reminder with word play- M A R Y versus M E R R Y. (My apologies to whoever wrote this, as I can’t remember the author.)

Sometimes, we’re so busy making Christmas “merry” that we lose focus on what Christmas is all about.  (Is it just me, or did you just add “Charlie Brown’ and have Linus’ voice proclaiming this?)

Let’s go back to that very first Christmas and consider Mary and how she responded to that wondrous news.

“In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.’  But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. Then the angel told her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.’”
Luke 1:26-33,38 CSB

Remember, times were quite different then. Mary was just a teenager when Gabriel appeared.  She was no one of any notoriety or special gifting; she was simply a sweet girl who had found favour with God.  She was engaged to Joseph, but still pure.  On a side note, he, too, must have been quite a man, one that God could trust to deal well with the situation. ‘Cause it was gonna get sticky!

Mary was initially troubled.  An angel appearing out of nowhere proclaiming the Lord was with her? Then telling her not to be afraid!? I can only imagine that she was trembling in her sandals! Next, more astonishing news: God selected her for a very special assignment. She would be bringing a King into the world! Israel’s Rescuer, no less! She, a ‘nobody’ who had never even been with a man!

Her response?

“See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.”
Luke 1:38a CSB

Though it must have seemed quite preposterous, she was a willing vessel for God’s plan. It would not be an easy road to take.  Scandal would be her mantle. Whispers would reverberate in her ears. Yet she counted the cost as nothing if it meant serving her Father. In my advent reading each year, this is the verse that often captures my attention and causes me to consider my own response to the Lord. However, this is not our focus today.

Later, as she visited her cousin, who had her own amazing story, Elizabeth exclaimed,

“How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!”
Luke 1:43-45 CSB

Mary’s joy was uncontainable! She poured out her heart in praise:

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name is holy…”
Luke 1:46-49 CSB

Fast forward, Joseph does not turn his back on Mary, though he planned to. He received his own angelic message in a dream, telling him to proceed with the marriage (Matthew 1:20). They traveled to Bethlehem with a multitude of others from the house of David and Mary gave birth to that very special baby.  This time a whole host of angels showed up with a message for some shepherds, announcing the King’s arrival (wow…a lot of angelic messages!).  After these shepherds met Jesus, they went out and spread the good news far and wide! Everyone was amazed! 

“But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.”  Luke 2:19 CSB

And here is the verse that we will focus on.

Mary–in the midst of all the chaos, with strange shepherds intruding on her delicate situation, bursting into the dirty barn to see her Son–stops.  Perhaps she marvelled as she gazed at the tiny miracle in her arms. Perhaps she whispered sweetly to Him, stroked His perfect cheek and kissed His smooth forehead. As she swaddled him lovingly, she was likely equally amazed as those who heard the shepherds’ stories. Yet she seemed to want to cherish the moment privately, to pause, to take it all in with awe and wonder.

Take your own moment to be still here and contemplate the import of our Saviour’s incarnation, crucifixion and, of course, resurrection. Offer up your own gift of gratitude and worship with awe and wonder.

We read, too, of another Mary later in Jesus’ life. Sister of Martha and Lazurus. That Mary also took time away from the busyness of life–much to her sister’s chagrin. (Poor Martha, she was doing a good thing, but she was missing the best thing–Jesus, Himself!) Mary chose that ‘one thing needed’ and the ‘good part’: lingering at His feet, allowing His presence and words to fill her heart and soul. (Luke 10:38-42 NKJV)

This Christmas, in the midst of our chaos, may we be like both Marys, and ponder all that He is and all that He’s done and treasure those thoughts as we ought to–treasure Him. May we choose the ‘good part’ and pause to sit at His feet, in worship and adoration, letting Him fill our hearts to overflowing. 

Mary Christmas, Friends.