Mary's Waiting is Our Waiting

"But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19

We cannot talk about Advent, or wonder what the sacred act of waiting means, without talking about Mary. Mary is someone whose whole life was shaped by waiting--first for Jesus' birth, and then for his death on the cross.   Mary had no choice but to wait. Waiting sometimes brings with it deep emotion and struggle. How do you suppose she waited?   In Luke we find the angel Gabriel visiting Mary:               "The angel appeared to her and said, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.' But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be." Luke 1:28-29 Most of our modern translations don't give the word "pondered" much weight, but the Greek word dietarachthe means "deeply agitated." It can carry with it the idea of struggling or being "troubled." It seems to me Mary didn't just wonder about the angel's visit; she may have been unnerved, anxious, agitated. Furthermore, the form of the word used, dielogizeto, takes on the tense of on-going action, which seems to say that she didn't just think about it for a second or two, but that "troubled" feeling stayed with her for a while. After all, she was engaged to be married to Joseph. Pregnancy outside of marriage in first-century Jewish society would surely make her an outcast. Still, just a few verses later in Luke1:38 we catch a glimpse into this young girl's character, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." As Mary waited for the birth of Jesus we see that she did not sit and twiddle her thumbs. She went to visit her relative, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist. Can you imagine the conversations, the wonder, the questions in the hearts of these two women--sisters by divine appointment? Yet, they actively waited, rejoicing and praising the Lord, Scripture tells us, while preparing in anticipation for the birth of their children.   Later on in the Christmas story we find the word "pondered" again. It was after the birth of Jesus and after the shepherds' visit and after the word was out that a Savior was born, we read, "But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19  I have always wondered about that verse.   While everybody around her was rejoicing, Mary was.....pondering? While angels were glorifying God in the highest heavens, Mary was pondering. What was going on? Maybe she saw the road ahead and knew it would not be easy for this little boy--her tiny baby--Savior of the World.   We were born for the purposes of God. Mary was a Jewish girl and as such she would have known the prophecies of Isaiah. It is likely, then, for Mary, that "pondered" was a deeply sacred awareness that God the Father had just acted in a profound, almighty way to fulfill his promises. When Mary pondered there was a movement in her spirit the likes of an earthquake of the soul: "My soul magnifies the Lord,and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."  Luke 1:46-47  God had moved in history and God had moved in her.  And so, my friends, we wait. We wait as Mary did--sometimes in anticipation and sometimes in agitation; but however we wait, let the sacred act of waiting move in you.   The longed-for Savior is born into this rag-tag world and we are never the same. His touch redeems our life.   Merry Christmas!  Greg