Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

I have entitled our meditation this morning, Getting Mary for Christmas. Yes! It is a play on words. Our traditional greeting, Merry Christmas, carries with it a presumed understanding of what really should make the heart happy and joyful because of the birth of Jesus. It is this, the treasure that makes for merriment in the human heart at Christmastide, which you are invited to appreciate anew this morning, as our final Advent preparation (esp. since our Wednesday Vesper Service was canceled on account of snow).

Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, chose the good part when Jesus came to visit. And, Mary the mother of our Lord explains in the Magnificat how this is cause for great merriment as we contemplate the meaning of the Christ child. Yes, there is cause for great merriment in discovering, or rediscovering, how it is that the good part comes to each of us with the true blessing of Christmas. Let= s explore through the Marys, how we might get merry again, this Christmas. Let= s begin with the surprise visit by Jesus to the house of Mary and Martha.

For some people, there is nothing more traumatic than the prospect of being the host to invited guests. And the more important and prominent the guest - the greater the distress and fear . . . I suppose we all have a touch of panic when unexpected guests, perhaps from out of town, show up at our doorstep with that terror-causing greeting, Surprise! Yes indeed, we are surprised . . . and bewildered and anxious. Now, what are we to do? We want to be gracious hosts, but we have no time to prepare. And how will our unexpected guests view us on the sliding scale of host performance? Will our efforts be seen as good and gracious?

Martha shared our sentiments. She wanted so much to be a good and gracious host under the trying circumstances of a last minute surprise. Jesus had just unexpectedly showed up at her door. No doubt the house was a mess, there was a meal to prepare from whatever was on hand, and there was so much to do. She understood that without sister Mary= s cooperation and help . . . well, it just was not going to happen. And what of sister Mary? What is she up to? She is just cooling her heels, parked in the front room with Jesus . . . doing . . . nothing! Of course you know what was going through Martha= s mind - and, you are right! So, she complains to Jesus with a rhetorical question: Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? And she is confidently thinking, Of course you care! You= re Jesus! So, please tell her to get off her behind and get with it!

But my goodness, what a shock it must have been for poor Martha! Jesus has no sympathy for her predicament at all. How insensitive! What could be more important at a time like this than helping to be a gracious host under such trying circumstances? This is not just a question for Martha. It is the question that really needs to be seriously pondered, by any and all who would wish to understand the cause for true merriment at Christmas. The importance of the question comes down to this: to serve or be served? If push comes to shove, Which of these is the better half? The really good part? Which one offers the true merriment of Christmas? Martha thought of the occasion and the importance of her guest - the great Messiah King had come to her house. So she needed to get busy. But Mary also thought of the occasion and the importance of the guest who had arrived. Yes, the great Messiah King had come to her house. How should the coming of Jesus be understood?

Let Mary the mother of our Lord and her song to Elizabeth, the Magnificat, provide the answer. For He who has done mighty things for me. He has filled the hungry with good things and he has had mercy on those who fear Him. Mary counts herself among those who are hungry and fear His Name. And joining Mary are all who hunger and thirst after a righteousness and a deliverance from evil that they know they cannot provide for themselves. And here is the really good part. To possess such treasures, your don= t have to do a thing. They come as God= s gracious gifts to you who sin in the darkness and shadow of sin and death and the domination of evil powers. And as we know, when it comes to acquiring gifts, doing nothing gets the job done. Martha was busy doing for Jesus. She saw her obligations and she looked forward to the satisfaction of fulfilling them to the betterment of Jesus, her honored guest.

But Mary . . . Mary saw her own hunger, her own spiritual poverty, her need to be filled with the good things that can only come from Jesus out of the graciousness of a merciful of God. And by banking on this being her day with the Son of Mary, she too busies herself with all that she needed to do to acquire all these treasures, which was, of course, simply to do nothing . . . for doing nothing is exactly how you get the good part . . . how you receive the great things that come with the arrival of Jesus. Getting Mary for Christmas is to get what the merriment of this sacred day is all about. It is about the doing of God for us as he puts in a surprise visit to bless us with the very best. And the doing of God for our benefit requires us to stop trying to do for Him.

When the Lord of hosts comes for a visit, even to where we live, work, and play . . . He is always the Host, not us. And this teaches us about the essence of Christmas and its merriment. Christmas preparation is about getting ready to receiving the great gift that comes and brings a merriment from doing nothing. Nothing, but receiving and rejoicing over the richness of God= s mercy and fellowship.

Therefore, note not the mess of your home and the poverty of your refrigerator, with plans to clean and stock. Rather note the mess in your life and the poverty of your spirit. Resist the urge to engage is great busy-ness. With great busy-ness you can miss the point . . . and miss the Merry in this Christmas. The Lord of hosts is coming . . . so get ready to do nothing! Get ready to receive! He comes to claim your soiled life just as it is. He comes to be the Host by who= s power your life is made over anew. He comes not to be fed, but to feed . . . to feed you with his bread of life. He comes to give you the good part that makes for a true merriment in your heart and soul - a merry for Christmas. For this is that special time of year when the truth of the matter can be seen most clearly: tis truly more blessed to receive than to give. This is the central truth that can make you very merry this Christmas. And it is the good part, and like Mary, it shall not be taken from you. A-men!