Scripture: Luke 1:26-38
I imagine that as the Thanksgiving festivities wound down this past weekend, several of us have taken the extra time and opportunity to begin decorating for Christmas. We pull the boxes of decorations from their storage places; we unpack the Christmas tree and assemble it again, paying careful attention to make sure all the branches are well-placed.
Or maybe we pile the family into the car, with saw and rope handy, and head out to the Christmas tree farm in search of the perfect Christmas tree to adorn our home. And that’s part of the joy of decorating for Christmas, isn’t it? Finding the perfect Christmas tree—well-proportioned, symmetrical, with full branches, and that wonderful pine scent. Yes, when it comes to finding a Christmas tree, we typically walk past the short ones, or the thin ones, or the ones with lots of needles lying at their base, without even a sideways glance.
But perhaps some of you remember Charlie Brown’s quest for a Christmas tree in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”:
Chuck and Linus have been charged by Lucy to find the perfect Christmas tree for the children’s Christmas pageant, a tree which reflects the “modern Christmas spirit.” As the two boys enter the Christmas tree lot, we see an array of Christmas trees in every color: pink, purple, orange. Linus knocks on one of the trees and we hear the rattle of hollow metal. But then the boys spy the tree they want. It’s a short, spindly pine, with barely a handful of needles. Linus comments, “I didn’t know they still made wooden Christmas trees.”
It isn’t much, but it is the “perfect” tree to Charlie Brown and Linus, so they carry it back to the school where their friends are rehearsing for the pageant. Only, the Peanuts gang isn’t so enthusiastic, and they are quick to make fun of the pathetic-looking tree, and Charlie Brown’s poor choice. So, shoulders sagging and feet dragging, Charlie Brown takes the tree and heads home.
I suppose we shouldn’t be terribly surprised by the reaction of Charlie Brown’s friends, I mean, it really was a pretty pathetic Christmas tree. But Charlie Brown’s choice of a Christmas tree is a good reminder of God’s choice of a mother to bear the Messiah. And that woman—Mary—is going to be the focus of our attention today as we begin our journey to Bethlehem, our journey to Christmas, our journey into deeper relationship with this Messiah whose birth we celebrate each year.
God favors the humble and lowly
So, it doesn’t take much to realize that Mary was a lot like that little Christmas tree Charlie Brown picked out for the Christmas pageant. There was nothing special about her. She was not rich, she did not have a prestigious social standing. She probably lived in a very modest home, a cave, most likely. There would have been nothing to make her stand out from the hundreds of other women of her day who went about regular chores of fetching water, cooking, cleaning, and otherwise looking after the well-being of their family. And, she was from Nazareth.
Questions:
Reflect/write down a time you felt unworthy but God gave you an opportunity to serve Him in big way.
Isaiah 55: 8 & 9 says:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
When has God humbled you to display that His thoughts are higher than yours?
