PONDERING
ADVENT 4: Birth
Mary Did You Know?
Words: Mark
Lowry (20th C.)
Music: Buddy
Greene (20th C.)
Arr. Jack Schrader (1942- )
#192 in Worship and Rejoice Hymnal
1. Mary, did you know that your baby boy would
someday walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come
to make you new?
That child that you delivered, will soon
deliver you.
(Harmony)
The blind will see, the deaf will hear,
the dead will live again;
the lame will leap, the dumb will speak
the praises of the Lamb.
(Unison)
Mary did you know that your baby boy is
Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will
one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby was heaven’s
perfect Lamb?
The sleeping child you’re holding is the
great “I AM!”
2. Mary, did you know that your baby boy would
give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
would calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked
where angels trod?
When you kissed your little baby, then you
kissed the face of God.
(Harmony)
The blind will see, the deaf will hear,
the dead will live again;
the lame will leap, the dumb will speak
the praises of the Lamb.
(Unison)
Mary, did you know that your baby boy is
Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby was heaven’s
perfect Lamb?
The sleeping child you’re holding is the
great “I AM!”
No,
I didn’t know all that would happen in the life of my baby. I am not so sure I could have born the sorrow
while giving birth to my wonderful new baby boy. When we took Jesus to the Temple on his
eighth day for the rite of circumcision Simeon spoke to us. His words haunted me my whole life: “This child is destined for the falling and
rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the
inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul
too.” [Lk. 2:34-35]. I did not know the
marvelous joy I would know as his mother when he reached out to those who so
needed help and healing (salvation). I
did not know the great sorrow I would feel as the power of the Roman Empire
condemned him. I did not know the wonder
that I would experience when I realized God, through my son Jesus, had revealed
God’s Own Self to the world and conquered death in Jesus’ Resurrection. I sit here now as an older woman and ponder
these experiences over and over. And in
the remembering I am moved every day into the mystery of God’s Love for me and
for all humankind. I have been blessed
beyond measure.
We know only minimal pieces of information of Jesus’
birth from the Bible. Luke records a
journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem to satisfy a requirement for a tax
registration. Matthew does not refer to
the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
In Matthew’s story the beginning point is in Bethlehem. When the wise men come to pay their respects
of Jesus they follow the star to a house where they find Mary and Joseph and
the baby Jesus. The early
non-canonical Infancy Gospel of James includes both the journey and the donkey
we always see in nativity sets. Infancy
Gospel of James 17:5-10 gives a very recognizable description:
“And so he saddled his donkey and had her get on it. His son led it and Samuel brought up the
rear. As they neared the three mile
marker, Joseph turned around and saw that she was sulking. And he said to himself, ‘Perhaps the baby she
is carrying is causing her discomfort.’
Joseph turned around again and saw her laughing and said to her, ‘Mary, what’s
going on with you? One minute I see you
laughing and the next minute you’re sulking.’
“And she replied, ‘Joseph, it’s because I imagine two
peoples in front of me, one weeping and mourning and the other celebrating and
jumping for joy.’
“Halfway through the trip Mary said to him, ‘Joseph, help
me down from the donkey – the child inside me is about to be born.’
Our nativity sets usually have a wooden type structure
for the stable. The Infancy Gospel of
James suggests that the birth happened in a cave. The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
Palestine was traditionally located at the opening of a cave approximately 10
miles south of Jerusalem in Bethlehem.
That location (and the idea of a cave) have been part of the Christian
tradition since the 2nd Century.
The original basilica church of 339 CE was designed so that the eastern
section of the octagonal shape surrounded and provided a view of the cave. The present Church of the Nativity was
erected to include the original structure.
The primitive conditions of a cave (instead of a nice
sterile hospital room or home setting) is a reminder that God’s choice to enter
the world was fully within the birth pangs we all either caused in our own
births or experienced in giving birth.
We tell the Christmas story with beautiful hymns, verses of scripture
and candlelight. And that is good for
our remembering. However it might lead
us to almost science fiction imagining – one second Mary was sitting quietly on
the donkey looking around at her surroundings and the next second she was
rocking her baby. (“Beam Me Up”
travel) No pain – no fears – no
uncertainties – and no fatherly panic on the part of Joseph. Birthing doesn’t work that way. The Infancy Gospel of James gives the hints
of Mary’s anxiety over the future of her child.
It also hints of her probable discomfort as her time approached. It will also tell of Joseph frantically
trying to find some help in delivering the baby. According to that narrative Joseph anxiously
sought a woman to serve as a
midwife. In 2014 my Christmas poem
focused on the Mary’s journey and Jesus’ birth.
Gestation
Clara Young
November 6,
2014
Today the world turned upside down
Whirling
- Crashing
Into my day
Into my life
No longer a child
Not yet a woman
Still a daughter
Promised to be wife
Now to be called “mother”
“Favored One” the Messenger says
Unclean
- Unworthy
Are the cries I will hear
And what of Joseph and my dreams?
No one need know yet
If this is to happen
It will begin quietly
I must see Elizabeth
I must go away
“Rejoice!”
“Chosen One”
Comforting
- Reassuring
God’s promise within
Our hope before us
Tiredness overcomes me
Kin are worried
Daily sickness takes me
My constant companions
Joy, fear, worry, anxiety
The women know, men suspect
Exposed
- Redeemed
Joseph will not abandon me
Tenderness is love’s sacred chord
Rome strangles us
Rule, regulations, obligations
“Count them all”
“Tax each one”
Away again – Bethlehem awaits
The roads are people-burdened
Dusty
- Noisy
Leading to the past
While within is all our future
My legs are swollen
The baby kicks
The donkey gives a bumpy ride
My weight overwhelms me
Loneliness surrounds me
Bethlehem at last!
Cramping pain
- Fearful thoughts
Not here – not now
Yes here – please now
Joseph stay near
Birthing pain consumes me
Hay, blood, sweat, fluids and . . .
Yes, the cry – the loud exulting cry
The child is born
God within me – God with me
Birthing God
- Mothering God
Emmanuel – “God With Us” - born this day.
Let the whole earth rejoice.
Let the whole earth
rejoice indeed!
Grace and Peace
Rev. Clara