PONDERING ADVENT 4:  Birth

Mary Did You Know?

Words:  Mark Lowry (20^th C.)

Music:  Buddy Greene (20^th 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 2^nd 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