REMEMBERING

 

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19

Our staff was challenged this past week with what anxieties and stresses Mary might have faced in her unique situation—pregnant, young, unmarried and living in an orthodox Jewish society—and how she handled them. Responses ranged from the frivolous, “Finding catering and wedding flowers in a strange place and the possibility of a shotgun wedding,” to real concerns such as having a baby without a mother or family members to help. After all, this was a young teenager who’d never been a mother, much less, the mother of Emmanuel, God with us.

The text in Luke (2:19, 51) provides insight to the strength that would carry Mary to Bethlehem, home to Nazareth, Jerusalem, various parts of Galilee, and finally to Golgotha: Mary treasured…these things and pondered them in her heart. What things might Mary have treasured? First, there was the visit from the angel Gabriel who announced that she would bear God’s Son and then the joyous affirmation by her cousin Elisabeth at her impromptu visit, “As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:44)

In wonder, Mary would gather the memories that would flood her young heart and carry her through a lifetime of awe and suffering with her child, Messiah. She would be amazed at the coming of the shepherds and their tale of angels announcing the birth of their Savior and later as the distinguished visitors from the East recounted their miraculous tale of following a star to find the new King.

Mary would marvel when the Baby Jesus was presented at the temple for two elderly people there would give thanks to God for allowing them to see the promised child.  Old Simeon even said,

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)

When he became an adolescent, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem … and discovered on their return trip that Jesus wasn’t with the group. When they located him back at the temple, how baffled she was at the rapport her Son had with the scribes and teachers. Another wonder to treasure in her heart.

We don’t know all the signs and miracles Mary witnessed during Jesus’ short life, but we know she saw him turn water into wine and must have seen healings and transformations that came from Jesus’ ministry. After all, John said (21:25) that “if every one of [Jesus’ works] were written down…even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” So all these things Mary treasured in her heart. And she pondered them. What did they mean and how would it all turn out?

At the cross Mary lived out a mother’s most severe pain, the unjust suffering and death of her precious Son. This would be the time for Mary to look inside her heart at all those treasures she had been storing—the miracles, the wonders, the promises. And these would be the things that would sustain her through that Black Friday night and those incredibly long days that followed.

But on the third day, “…blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises…” Mary would again see an angel, this time sitting on a stone inside her Son’s tomb with another message of Good News, “He is not here; he is risen.” And she would see her Son again, alive and glorified and ascending to his Father. Those promises she had remembered and trusted would carry her to Pentecost and on to see her Son, her Emmanuel, throughout eternity.

“…blessed is she who…believed.”

 

Father, give us just a modicum of the faith of Mary that we may follow you always until we, too, see you in eternity. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.

PEACE ON EARTH

 

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

 

 

It’s that time of the year.  Our family has had a Christmas play for almost fifty years, and this year will be no exception.  With great imagination that only comes from the minds of little ones, we typically retell the story of Jesus’ birth or some Christmas miracle story connected with his birth.  This year we are indulging my youngest grandson’s obsession with history.

 

 

In December 1944 during the brutal Battle of the Bulge three young American soldiers strayed from their unit and were lost several days in the Ardennes Forest.  Snow was thick on the ground, and there were no markings to guide them on that Christmas Eve.  One of the boys was wounded, and they desperately needed shelter.  As they trudged through the woods, they came upon a small, isolated cabin.  Two of the soldiers marched up to the door and knocked.

Elisabeth Vincken and her son Fritz had been forced away from their bombed-out home in the city and hidden in the little cabin by Elisabeth’s husband who would visit from time to time.  Elisabeth and Fritz were expecting him to return in time for Christmas Eve and eagerly went to the door.  To their surprise and awe, three American soldiers greeted them.  Elisabeth knew the penalty for harboring the enemy was execution, but the boys had kindly knocked on the door and looked so young.  She ushered them into the cabin, and she and Fritz helped the wounded soldier into bed, covering him with blankets.  Elisabeth went back to her preparation for the Christmas Eve meal and was again interrupted with a knock at the door.  Fritz ran to open the door thinking it could be other Americans.

As the door opened, Elisabeth saw, to her horror, that it was German soldiers, four of them, and they were armed.  They were cold and wanted to come in.  With great boldness, Elisabeth said they were welcome as long as they accepted her other guests.  Furthermore, they had to put their weapons in the shed first.  At first the Germans were hesitant, but the warmth and light drew them.  They deposited their weapons while Elisabeth also took the weapons of the Americans.

Fear and tension were strong in the little cabin for a while, but the smell of the meal baking in the oven, the relative comfort, and Elisabeth and Fritz’s hospitality ushered in a sense of peace.  One of the German soldiers, a medical student, inquired about the wounded GI and bandaged his injuries.  By the time everyone sat down to eat, a miracle had occurred.  Elisabeth said grace asking God to bring his peace and to end all wars.  When she finished, everyone was in tears.

After eating, the soldiers lay down to sleep together and arose early in the morning to return to their own units.  The Germans fashioned a stretcher for the wounded American, and one pointed on the Americans’ map to indicate the direction back to their troops.  He even provided them with a compass.  The Americans and the Germans shook hands—these men who had been shooting at each other only days before—and they left on different routes after having experienced the wonder of a holy, silent, peaceful night.

 

Prince of Peace, in you we find peace no matter what our circumstance.  Move in all our hearts around the world that we may truly experience that peace of which we all dream.  AMEN.

 

 

(This story was retold in 1995 on the television program “Unsolved Mysteries.”  Grown- up Fritz was able to contact two of the Americans he had met that Christmas Eve who told him that his mother had saved their lives.)