Please stand for the reading of Holy Scripture. Our Old Testament lesson comes from the book of Genesis, chapter 37, verses nine through 11. Speaking of Joseph. Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers and said, look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time the sun, the moon, and the 11 stars bowed down to me. So he told it to his father and his brothers and his father rebuked him and said, what is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you? And his brothers envied him but his father kept the matter in mind. This is the word of the Lord. Turn now in our New Testament scriptures to the gospel of Luke. Luke chapter two. Our sermon text itself will be verse 19, but for the sake of context, we'll read the entire nativity account. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria, so all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David. which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people, for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen him, They made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Amen. You may be seated. This time of year is supposed to be one marked by Christmas cheer, joy, and gladness. But if we're honest with ourselves and with the estate of sin and misery, for many people, this is not a time of Christmas cheer. It's actually a time of Christmas anxiety, financial strain, family tension, hard conversations around the table, comparisons, the painful gap between expectation and reality. It's literally colder and darker this time of year. We just marked the winter solstice. Loneliness can be intensified. People struggle with drunkenness, drug use, and even despair. And I will say that if you've come into this assembly with any of those markers corresponding to your life, then I want to show you this day a more excellent way, a way that takes us into the text of the Bible. And that brings us to Luke chapter two, the nativity story. We find as we just read the birth of Christ in verses one to seven, the proclamation by the angels to the shepherds in verses 8 to 14, the visit by the shepherds to the manger in verses 15 to 16, and then the proclamation by the shepherds to the people in verse 17. And this leads to a series of responses, a kind of domino effect. And in the midst of responses from the people who marvel and the shepherds who evangelize and worship, we find in a kind of splendid isolation the response of the Virgin Mary in verse 19. But Mary, in the midst of all these things, kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. This time of year is supposed to be one of Christmas cheer. Many of you perhaps struggle with Christmas anxiety. Well, on the basis of this text, congregation, the antidote to Christmas anxiety and fear is Christmas meditation. That's what I want to call you to this morning, to treasure and ponder the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We're gonna do that by asking three questions of our text. Three questions concerning the good news, the glad tidings of Christ's birth. First, how did Mary respond in this passage? Second, what is meditation? And then third, how should you respond this day? First, how did Mary The young peasant girl, Virgin Mary, responds to the good news of Christ's birth. Look again at verse 19. It says, but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Now this wording echoes the story of Joseph's dream, which we read in Genesis 37, 11, where it says, and his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind. There are all sorts of parallels between the story of Joseph and that of Jesus. Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery. They betrayed him. They sold him for silver, even as Judas betrayed Jesus for silver. He went all the way down into the pits, and then all the way up into the throne, even as our Lord Jesus went all the way down, descended into hell itself, and then the third day was raised, and after 40 days ascended on high. But just notice in passing this similarity of language. Jacob kept the matter in mind. Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Now, the wording, but Mary kept, but Mary pondered, suggests a contrast to the other responses, not to diminish or discount the wonderment of the people or the worship of the shepherds. Mary apparently registers a deeper response, but Mary, She kept, she treasured all these things. We could say she preserved them in her memory like flowers pressed into a book. She pondered, considering them in her heart. Wonder what she considered. Perhaps she thought, what will happen to this child that I've born? Why did angels accompany his birth? Why did he come? How did he come? Who exactly is he? Her response to what could be a disorienting set of circumstances was to meditate on the significance of the birth of Christ. But that leads us to a second question, and that is, what is meditation? What is meditation? This is a question worth asking because it's a term that gets thrown around in our modern life. And here we need to distinguish between biblical meditation and modern mindfulness, eastern mysticism, or transcendental methods. A congregation, a biblical meditation is not the passive emptying of the minds. but the focused filling of the mind with the true, the good, and the beautiful. There's nothing passive about biblical meditation. It involves an active, passionate engagement with the word of God. Perhaps the best way to understand it is to look at Psalm 1, which says, of the blessed man, But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. The Hebrew word translated meditate literally means to mutter to yourself, to muse, to murmur to yourself. It means getting the Bible into your heart, into your soul, into your mind. It means that you chew on the truths of scripture. You consume them, digest them, reflect on them, weigh them, sort them, turn them this way and that. It means you ponder or consider them in your heart. That is biblical meditation, and that was Mary's response as she not only treasured, but pondered the things that she had seen. That leads us to a third and final question. How should you respond to the birth of Christ 2,000 years after his coming? Two simple applications. First, more briefly, congregation, keep or treasure these things in your heart. Take what we just read. the account of Christ's birth and the rest of the Bible and keep them, treasure them. How do you do that? Well, one simple way is to memorize individual verses and passages of scripture. Often you'll find it's easiest when you sing settings of scripture, especially the Psalms. After the preaching of the word, we will respond with a paraphrase of Psalm 98 by Isaac Watts, joy to the world. That's a good way to get Psalm 98 into your heart and into your mind. I call you, especially the young people in our midst whose brains are still somewhat elastic, to hide God's word in your heart. that you might not sin against God. This is the best way to inoculate yourself to the poisons of the world, to insulate yourself against the errors of the wicked one, to arm yourself against the forces of wickedness in high places. Hide God's word in your heart. Preserve it. preserve its truth in your memory like flowers pressed in the pages of a book. Take it to heart, lay it up in your hearts. But also this idea of keeping or treasuring God's word more deeply brings to mind the biblical command to remember. which is a rich verb. To remember is not simply to call to mind or to recall. It's actually a covenantal duty to remember in a deep way the name of the Lord, to not only call it to mind, but to practice it in your life. Our Lord Jesus said, take ye, this is my body, this do in remembrance of me. Although the Lord's Supper, which we celebrated last week, is more than a memorial, it is not less than a memorial. Remember Christ. Do not overlook Christ. And here I do not merely speak of intellectual knowledge, but heart knowledge. Remember Jesus, his person, his character, his work, his benefits, his promises, his claims. Keep. or treasure Jesus in your heart. That's one application of our text. Second, and I wanna spend more time on this, ponder or consider these things in your heart. In other words, congregation, I wanna call you to Christmas meditation as opposed to Christmas anxiety. Indeed, Christmas meditation is the antidote to Christmas anxiety. Well, whatever time of year it is, if you struggle with anxiety, I wanna encourage you with this thought. Meditation is really the opposite of anxiety. It's the photographic negative of anxiety. With anxiety, what's going on? If you're struggling with anxiety this morning, what's going on? You are fixating your thoughts on things you cannot control. As one preacher put it, when you struggle with anxiety, you're like the person in the backseat of the minivan who grabs the headrest in front of you and tries to steer the vehicle, realizing this has absolutely no effect on where the car is going to go. But when you fixate on things that are absolutely outside of your control and you worry about them, you're just like that child trying to drive the van from the backseat. When you struggle with anxiety, you fixate on your problems. You fixate on things that wear you down and you run them like a sorted loop on your brain over and over again. That's not what meditation is. Meditation's the opposite. With meditation, you don't fixate on your problems, you fixate, rather, you focus on God's truth, which is the solution to your problems. You see, this book is sufficient for life and godliness, and if you have problems in your life, part of God's solution in addition to the light of nature, is to bring you into this word, and in this truth, there are all sorts of solutions to your problems. With meditation, you're not fixating on things that are outside of your control. What are you doing? You're focusing on the God who controls all things. You see the difference? You're entrusting yourself to the captain of the ship. You are entrusting your life into his all-competent hands and saying, God, I cannot control these things. I've done my due diligence, I've taken responsibility for what is under my control, what is my duty, what is my responsibility, but Lord, these things are outside of my control. And so rather than fixating upon them, I'm going to let go of them and instead focus my thoughts, my affections on the God who has the world in his hands, who has all time in his hands. Our times are in his hands, whose wisdom is the stability of our times. I'm going to channel my anxious energy in an opposite direction. I'm gonna turn a 180, and instead of reverting to anxiety as the default setting, I am going to look heavenward to the God who is my helper. I will look unto the hills from whence cometh my help. Meditation. That's why Paul said, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Some people are naturally more prone to anxiety. Some of you are in circumstances that provoke anxiety more than others. And yes, there are elements of the light of nature that we would do well to consider, but also consider this command of the apostle, to be anxious for nothing. But instead of just saying, stop being anxious, he directs you in the opposite direction, to do a 180 from anxiety to meditation, from anxiety to prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. With Thanksgiving presupposes a kind of enumeration of God's blessings. If you're gonna be thankful for what God's done for you, you have to count his blessings, name them one by one. You need to meditate upon God's gifts. And as you do so, by God's grace, you'll be able to channel your anxious energy in the opposite direction. As Paul says elsewhere, finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are noble, Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. And if we bring those verses together, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. If you're here this morning and you are just wallowing in frustration, discouragement, despair, anxious thoughts, then my desire for you as Christ's minister is that you would know the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, that you would find in Him a refuge, a rock that is not like their rock, that you would, in the secret place of prayer and supplication, find a God who is eager and ready to help you. And what better things? As we look at that list of descriptions Paul gives us, true, noble, just, pure, lovely, what better things meet this criteria than to meditate on the person, the character, the work, the benefits of Christ? And as we close, I just wanna lead us in a meditation on those very things. Let us meditate on Christ's incarnation. This, providentially, is a wonderful season in which to do so. It's on people's minds, even through the radio. But this is something we should meditate on throughout the year, that Christ, the Son of God, became man by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary and born of her, yet without sin. Meditate on the mystery of godliness. God manifest in the flesh. The word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Just think about this. Although locally present, in the manger according to his humanity. Christ was also everywhere present according to his deity. Wonder of wonders. Miracle of miracles. Although dependent on Mary according to his humanity, nursed upon her breast, he was also simultaneously upholding Mary according to his deity. Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles. Let's meditate on the mystery of the incarnation. Let's meditate on the circumstances of Christ's birth. Born in Bethlehem. What does Bethlehem mean? It means house of bread. A reminder that this child would give his flesh for the life of the world. He is the bread of life, the bread from heaven, born in Bethlehem, the city of David. He was of the house and lineage of David, born a child and yet a king. Born in this city because of an imperial decree by a petty ruler in the Roman Empire, but all of this was under God's sovereign sway and providence. There was a greater decree at work than the decrees of men, the eternal decree of God. This child was wrapped in swaddling clothes as a sign that confirmed the message of the angels, like the rainbow to the Noahic covenant or baptism in the Lord's Supper to the new covenant, this sign authenticated the angelic message. Wrapped in swaddling clothes as a symbol of Christ's presence in the scriptures. Martin Luther speaks of the Old Testament this way. He says, here you will find the swaddling clothes in the manger in which Christ lies. Simple and lowly are these swaddling clothes, but dear is the treasure Christ who lies in them. A commentator picking up where Martin Luther left off says, just as Jesus was wrapped in humble swaddling clothes in the manger, so too is he wrapped in the swaddling clothes of the law, the prophets, and the writings. He is the treasure who lies metaphorically wrapped in the folds of the Old Testament. Laid in a manger. What might that communicate to us? As we meditate, as we chew on these things, as we mutter them back to ourselves, what does it mean that he was laid in a manger? We're so used to the Christmas story, we need to take time and read it again and again and from different angles. Laid in a manger, this speaks to his humble circumstances. Laid in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. Perhaps no room in the guest chamber of the house in which they were staying, we're not exactly sure, but regardless, humble circumstances. This is not a king's bed, this is a peasant's crib. Laid in a manger. Laid in a manger might also bring our attention to Isaiah chapter one, verse three. where the Bible says the ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib. We're not sure, but it's possible that an ox and a donkey were present at the nativity scene. The Septuagint version of Habakkuk 3.2 says, between two animals, you are made manifest. And regardless, there is something about this imagery. The ox knows its owner. The donkey, its master's crib, laid in a manger. Like an ox under the law, this Jesus serves as a priest. Like Solomon riding on a donkey, he entered the city as a king, laid in a manger. Together with the wrappings, what might that picture suggest? A little baby, wrapped in clothing, lying in a box. What prefigures something much more significant about this child? This child was born to die. Later, he would be wrapped in clothing, in grave clothes, and laid in a tomb. Let us learn to meditate. on the circumstances of Christ's birth. Let us meditate on the proclamation of that birth. Let's consider, let's ponder the messengers. Not simply human messengers, but glorious angels of God. As our shorter catechism says, spirits, immortal, holy, excelling in knowledge, mighty in power to execute His commandments and to praise His name. Fearsome creatures who guard God's throne. The cherubim with the faces of ox, lion, eagle and man, the seraphim, the burning ones, in his courts, in his presence, with two wings they cover his face, with two wings they cover their feet, with two wings they fly, chanting holy, holy, holy. The ophanim, the wheels within wheels that bring God's sky chariot through the firmament. These angels, these messengers, these holy ones are the ones who bring the message. And here we find one angel, like a single star in the sky, and then suddenly there was with that angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God. Thousands of lights in the sky. Praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Consider the recipients of this message, lowly shepherds. And again, this is a clue to the identity and the vocation of this child. He will be the good. the great shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, for his people. Consider the message, do not be afraid. I've said this a million times, but the most oft-repeated command in the Bible, from what I can tell, is fear not. Apparently we need to be reminded of that. Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. which will be to all the people, for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. A Savior, not just a good moral example, not just an outstanding human teacher, but a divine human Savior. And this gives us a clue to why this child came. Why did he come? Well, congregation, let us meditate on the reasons for his birth. He came to save His people from their sins. He was born to die and to rise again. And I tell you, this is good news for sinners everywhere. This is good news for those who are anxious in hearts that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures and that He was seen in one day. He will come again on the clouds of heaven to make all things new, far as the curse is found. The antidote to Christmas anxiety is Christmas meditation. And so I charge you, congregation, keep and ponder these things in your mind all year round. A treasure. and meditate upon these things in your heart. For those who may not know the Lord, I charge you, repent and believe these things in your soul. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners, and you will be saved, you and your household. Believe this gospel. and rejoice, rejoice with the angels. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Let us pray.