From the Feast of the Nativity, Morning Service

Pastor John Wright

We see then how Mary becomes a model for our lives, to ponder these words, the news of the birth of Jesus, Mary’s son, in the deepest parts of our being... Please understand the difference with Mary’s vow: 'Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be according to your word'. This is not a fatalism, but a call to the deep engagement of life as we face it. Sometimes that means hard labor, survival not as an end in itself, but as a good that allows us to be thankful in the conditions that we live rather than forced into resentment, complaint, sin. Please understand this. Sometimes we just need to act for survival, for the task at hand. We don’t have to act to make our lives significant.

But even amidst the struggle for survival, the difficulties that are real, hear the messengers of God that come with the message, not about us, but about God’s becoming human in Jesus. Ponder, contemplate, these things in your heart.

...As the first believer in Jesus, Mary gives us a profound approach to life, pondering our lives, contemplating who we are, in light of God’s revelation to us in Jesus. Come, let us adore him. Come, in the bread and the cup, ponder these things in your heart. Come, and be thankful.