Treasure and Ponder

Rebecca Sheridan
Wednesday, December 24, 2025
Luke 2:1-20

    The prophet Isaiah rejoices.  The shepherd and angels praise and glorify God.  All who hear the good news about this child are amazed.  And Mary treasures all these words and ponders them in her heart.  Amaze, praise, glorify, rejoice, treasure, ponder.  What wonderful words of Christmas to describe our feelings about Jesus’ birth, when it comes to this holiest of nights.  Have you taken time yet, in this busiest of times, to be amazed – to praise and glorify God, to rejoice, treasure, and ponder?
    The people in this story we know so well point us clearly to the point of our preparations and celebrations this and every Christmas – it’s about Jesus, the baby in the manger.  We can rest, now, from the decorating, cleaning, cooking, shopping and planning – now it’s time to incorporate some of these verbs of worship that point us back to Christ.  Now, it may not be unusual to hear of angels glorifying and praising God, that seems to be what angels do in the Bible.  But the shepherds take time out of their busy schedules tending to their sheep to go and see this thing that has taken place and to tell others what they have been told about Jesus.  They return to their work after their visit to Mary, Joseph and the baby, glorifying and praising God, Luke tells us. 
I’m particularly amazed, having birthed two children myself, at Mary as a first-time young mother having ANY time for those two specific words: treasuring and pondering.  I cannot think of a more exhausting, all-consuming time in my life, caring for a newborn.  The verbs that come to mind first are changing, feeding, sleeping, crying (myself and my baby).  I wish I could say I had time to ponder and treasure those precious first days of life, but they are mostly a blur.  The pondering and treasuring comes months and even years later as I watch my children grow.
Our culture does not allow much time for pondering.  We tend to be focused on saving time, not creating space for more thinking time.  A song comes on Spotify and I wonder, “Now is that Dean Martin or Perry Como?” and a quick look, before I figure it out myself, is the app telling me “Ah, Frank Sinatra.”  Generative AI can be an assistive tool or prevent us from our own creativity or generative thought.  We live deeply with our culture’s value of getting things done instead of pushing back and asking ourselves, who do we want to be?  Who does God want us to be?  HOW am I being?  We may not allow ourselves much time to think at all, much less ponder these questions.
So the shepherds and Mary invite us to glorify, praise, treasure and ponder what God is up to in our lives today in the gift of Jesus.  Tonight is a start – we worship together singing familiar songs, praying together, and even pausing for a collective silence in awe and wonder this holy night.  Tonight is just the beginning, though.  The word “ponder” means that you think about something carefully and deeply, usually for a long period of time, to reflect on its meaning or try to understand it better.  This means that even though I can almost recite Luke 2 from memory, I am still pondering this Christmas gospel, that the Son of God came to Earth as a baby in a manger, and died on a cross and rose again to save me as good news for all people.  This is something for all of us to ponder, along with Mary, for a lifetime!  
Scripture tells us that Mary sings a song of praise after the angel Gabriel tells her she will become pregnant with the Son of God, a song we call the Magnificat.  Eight days from now, when she dedicates her baby Jesus in the temple, Simeon will sing a song of blessing about Jesus and also for her, and she ponders Simeon’s message.  When Jesus is twelve years old and is discovered in the temple after 3 days missing, Mary will treasure once again all these things in her heart. She stands near her son at the cross, continuing to ponder and she continues to treasure all these things when she accompanies the first apostles in the book of Acts after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.  Throughout the life of Jesus, Mary is there, reminding us to ponder and treasure all these things!
Christ is born tonight, and we go home along with Mary to continue to ponder and treasure all these things in our hearts.  God gives us his greatest gift and our greatest treasure in Christ our Lord.  Be amazed, rejoice, glorify, praise, ponder, and treasure!  Merry Christmas!  Amen.