CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
December 4, 2005
KEEP IN YOUR PRAYERS:
Our congregation Our nation, military and leaders
Various relatives, friends and co-workers David and James in the military
Our students Keith traveling in Europe
Mel will be in Dallas during the week Anita is having test run
The Stehlik’s have been sick
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Dec. 21 - we will meet at the Oller's for Wednesday night fellowship
Dec. 25 - we will meet this Christmas to celebrate - TBA
Jan. 1 - New Year's Day
DECEMBER BIRTHDAY’S: Susan Oller (15th), David Stehlik (19th), Mel Oller (29th)
THOUGHTS TO PONDER
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
A popular Christmas song of several years ago was “Mary, Did You Know?”
“Mary, did you know That your baby boy will one day walk on water?
…That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
…That your baby boy is Lord of all creation?”
What was she thinking about as she held Jesus for the first time? How did the visits of the shepherds and wise men affect her thoughts? What about the words of the angel, “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 forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:32-33). Mary had much to ponder over the years as she raised Jesus. We catch a brief glimpse of this when the “lost” twelve year old Jesus was found in the Temple asking questions and making comments (Luke 2:41-52). Once Mary and her other children came looking for Jesus. Some might have told her that He was crazy (Mark 3:31-35).
What would we ponder about a special child like this? What would we think about while raising Him? Max Lucado has and asks a serious of questions of Mary (see “It Began In A Manger,” www.maxlucado.com).
“What was it like watching him pray?
How did he respond when he saw other kids giggling during the service at the
synagogue?
When he saw a rainbow, did he ever mention a flood?
Did you ever feel awkward teaching him how he created the world?
When he saw a lamb being led to the slaughter, did he act differently?
Did you ever see him with a distant look on his face as if he were listening to
someone you couldn’t hear?
How did he act at funerals?
Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying was
asleep under your own roof?
Did you ever try to count the stars with him…and succeed?
Did he ever come home with a black eye?
How did he act when he got his first haircut?
Did he have any friends by the name of Judas?
Did he do well in school?
Did you ever scold him?
Did he ever have to ask a question about Scripture?
What do you think he thought when he saw a prostitute offering to the highest
bidder the body he made?
Did he ever get angry when someone was dishonest with him?
Did you ever catch him pensively looking at the flesh on his own arm while holding
a clod of dirt?
Did he ever wake up afraid?
Who was his best friend?
When someone referred to Satan, how did he act?
Did you ever accidentally call him Father?
What did he and his cousin John talk about as kids?
Did his other brothers and sisters understand what was happening?
Did you ever think, That’s God eating my soup?
Now I know we have enough questions about what is written in scripture to ponder the silent years of Jesus, yet it is interesting to ask such questions, even though we will not get any answers. We ask questions today that we do not get any answers as well. Where was God when…? Why didn’t God answer my prayer? But think about a child running around the house who is called the Son of God. How would you discipline Him? What type of carpenter was He? Did He learn from Joseph this trade? What type of relationships did He develop between twelve and thirty?
There is an interesting flashback in Mel Gipson’s The Passion of the Christ. As we know, when people ate, they reclined on their sides at a table. In the flashback, Jesus had made a chair out of wood. Mary comes and asked what it’s for. Jesus responds that it is to sit on and eat. Mary said that it would never catch on. Rather humorous and yet? What type of humor did Jesus have? Jesus is often portrayed in movies and pictures as serious, with a halo over His head. In truth, He was a real human being. He used humor in some of His parables to make a point (see the camel passing through the eye of a needle or straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel).
At this time of the year we sing the songs and remember that some two thousand years ago Jesus was born. The songs should cause us to ponder the meaning of this special birth, a birth that is celebrated in many places of the world. While we complain about the materialism of the season and at those who would take the holiday away from the public square, it is still a historical event that has affected history and continues to do so much to the chagrin of opponents of the Judeo-Christian ethic. Just reading the story in Matthew one and two and Luke one and two causes us to ponder. What was that star? Who were those wise men? Why shepherds? How did Joseph deal with Jesus and his other children?
If you haven’t listened to “Mary, Did You Know?” give it a hearing. You might be moved by the thoughts of the song. And read those questions Max Lucado asked again. Since Christmas is on Sunday this year, what does that mean for us as followers of the Messiah? How could this be a special moment for us? There is much to ponder and think about as we study Jesus, His birth, life, death and resurrection.
George B. Mearns