DECEMBER, 2003
Dear Mt. Olive family and friends,
He
started out as a comedian, but in the process also became a songwriter. Back in 1984, Mark Lowry’s church asked him to write a Christmas
play, so he wrote a series of questions that he would like to ask Jesus'
mother, Mary. Those questions became
the classic Christmas song, “Mary, Did You Know,” sung by a host of
artists over the years including Kenny Rogers and Kathy Mattea:
Mary, did you know
That your Baby Boy will one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
That your Baby Boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
That your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you've delivered will soon deliver you.
Mary, did you know
That your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
That your Baby Boy will calm a storm with His hand?
Did you know
That your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little Baby
You've kissed the face of God.
The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak -
The praises of The Lamb.
Such a thought-provoking song it is! The Kenny Roger’s version, for one, is heard
on secular radio stations everywhere.
Millions of Christians and unbelievers hear, hum, and even sing along these
words of insight and truth. “Mary,
did you know…that when you’ve kissed your little Baby, you’ve kissed the face
of God?” Wow! How remarkably, incredibly, wonderfully
profound! The Child delivered from the
Virgin’s womb would one day deliver her from sin, death, and hell. The One born in a smelly stable, sleeping
where cows chewed their cud, nailed to Calvary’s crude cross, and placed in a
stone-sealed sepulcher is the very Lord of all creation!
This same newborn Son of God would be the One through whom
believers would be born again. This
same sinless Son of Man would be the One through whom scores of sinners would
seek salvation. This Baby Boy in Mary’s
arms would one day raise His arms on a rugged cross and declare to all the
world “It is finished!”.
Lowry’s provocative song concludes: “Mary, did you know…
This sleeping Child you're holding is the Great I Am.” Those familiar with the Bible understand
these words. Jesus is the eternal Lord
now dwelling in human skin. Jesus is
the very God who spoke with Moses and who left His footprints throughout Old
Testament history. Jesus could say,
“Before Abraham was, I am,” and really mean it.
Mary did know. Her
soul did rejoice in God her Savior, (Luke 1:47). You and I know it too. By God’s grace, we know it. We know what Christmas is all about – how
the Great I Am is the reason for the season.
But not everyone knows.
Just because they sing the song, don’t assume they share your sentiments
for the Savior. They must see – in my
life and yours – that the Baby in the manger radically impacts every aspect of
our lives. They must see how noticeably
different from the unbelieving world is our every thought, word, and deed.
This year, when many choose the generic “Happy Holidays”
gobbledygook, declare loudly with words and actions, “Merry Christmas” and let
the whole world know that you believe in Mary’s little Baby Boy!
Merry (Mary)
Christmas!