Luke 2.19 19 But Mary treasured all these things,
pondering them in her heart. (NASB)
In those days shepherds watched the flocks day and night.
Being a night-sky kind of guy, that might’ve been the vocation for me: the
night watch. There is something powerful and majestic about a sky full of
brilliant stars; I can lay and watch it for hours. And so these shepherds are
watching the sheep and small talking maybe and suddenly an angel appears to
them and tells them: “Do not be afraid;
for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the
people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord.” Can you imagine what they thought? Hunh, who? Us!?
And then, a whole host of angels appears and sings a
majestic chorus: “Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Wow! They were
blown away but the made their way to Bethlehem (David-ton) and visited Mary and
told her what they’d heard and seen. Luke says, “And all who heard it wondered
at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all
these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2.18-19)
Advent is the difference between wondering and
treasuring. The world wonders: Is this Jesus really real? And if He is, why is
everything so screwed up? The world wonders and the world plays the blame game.
If God is so God the why is my life so miserable? Why doesn’t God come and make
me feel better. If I was god, I’d do that for people!
And the believer treasures: I know the world is screwed
up beyond all recognition and gets worse day by day, but my Hope is in the
Savior who was born for me: Jesus Christ the Lord. Mary treasured the things
she’d heard because she’d heard them as well on another occasion. An angel
named Gabriel, visited her and told her she had been chosen to carry God’s Son:
the Savior of the world. And the angel told her: “The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that
reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” And Mary, who’d never been
with a man became pregnant as the angel said…"For nothing will be
impossible with God.” (Luke 2.37)
Angels, shepherds, a message or two and a pregnant
virgin. It’s all in the difference between wondering and treasuring. The
difference between those who wonder and those who treasure is a visitation from
God. It seems the wonderers quit wondering once they’ve encountered the Living
God. It seems the wonderers keep wondering when they’ve never encountered Him.
The wonderer keeps asking how can this be!? The treasurer says, I don’t know but I’m glad it did…"For
nothing will be impossible with God.”
This Christmas, where are you: wondering or treasuring?
It may be the difference in how you perceive and process the horror of Sandy
Hook Elementary School or the horrors of the kidnappings that happened that
same day and never made the news. Or the babies who were aborted the same day
and never made the news. Or the teen suicides that never made the news. Or the
endless human tragedy that happens that, because it isn’t a political football,
never makes the news…
The difference between the ones who wonder and the ones
who treasure is this: the treasurers don’t claim to have an answer but believe
in the God who does. It’s time to quit being a wonderer and become a treasurer.
Where will you place yourself this Christmas?
No comments:
Post a Comment