The story of Jesus’ birth has been passed on from generation to generation for over 2000 years, in more languages than ever before, by the spoken word, in books, songs, poetry, drawings, sketches, videos of people, puppets and animation retelling the story of a baby being born in a stable.
God had sent an angel to tell Mary ‘You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; his kingdom will never end”. The angel also said ‘Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God’.
It must have been very comforting to Mary to have Elizabeth also experiencing what seemed to be impossible for them both. To be able to tell each other what God had said and promised and share their belief and trust in God. How much better it is when someone else thinks and feels the same as you do.
And what a greeting Mary received from Elizabeth, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 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 what the Lord said to her will be accomplished.
How much confidence must that have given Mary, to have that confirmation from an ordinary person, not an angel, that the baby in her womb was truly special.
And after Jesus was born in the stable, the shepherds came to see him and spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
The angel had told them, ‘Today in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord’. What an affirmation! What words to treasure! This was good news indeed – filling them with hope and joy.
At that time, we all received from God the greatest Christmas present we could ever receive, forgiveness and everlasting life though our faith in Jesus. ‘For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ And Jesus never stopped giving during His earthly ministry and when he returned to His Father, He sent us the Holy Spirit. And just as the Holy Spirit brought new life to Mary, the Holy Spirit gives us new life, we are reborn as children of God through our faith in Christ the Lord.
Our faith is our true treasure, because of it we have the Holy Spirit within us, this is the gift ‘that keeps on giving’. We can support each other and grow in confidence knowing that like ourselves, others share a relationship with God that others experience God’s peace that passes all understanding. That we are not alone as we struggle against our old ways and try to walk the narrow path every day. Just as the miracle of the birth of Jesus brings hope to this dark world, we can give our own story of re-birth to bring hope to others.
So let this Christmas be a time, when like Mary, we think about, and treasure what God has given us. In return, not just at Christmas, but every day, lets forgive as God forgives, lets love others as God loves us and pass on the blessings we receive in word and deed.