I read Luke 1 today. It's the typical background story of the birth of John the Baptist, and how an angel informed his parents about him and Mary and Joseph about Jesus. (Read the full chapter here.) This story has been told many times, but it is much more meaningful to read the text, in God's words.
I came to this chapter to learn more about Mary. I don't believe her to be a saint, but she was obviously chosen by God and favored in his eyes. Mary was young and poor, but she was engaged to be married to Joseph, who was a good man. Her life was really just beginning when she received a message from an angel: "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!" (v. 28)
(Ladies, imagine hearing that... It gives me chills... favored woman...the Lord is with you. Isn't that something we all wish to hear? That we are acceptable in His sight; and to be comforted and encouraged on the path of righteousness?)
Mary was "confused and disturbed" by this message, and wondered how it could be possible. (v. 34) But the angel Gabriel answers confidently: "Nothing is impossible with God" (v. 37).
Mary's response, I think, reveals why God chose her. It would determine her attitude about the pregnancy, and revealed her submission to God and her discipline for and confidence in her Lord. Would it have made a difference if she said no? I have no idea. But Mary, a young, poor girl, an engaged woman, chose to answer this way instead: "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true."
Mary chose to be a servant. She chose to accept God's will for her in a grateful way. The Bible really doesn't say much about her pregnancy between this account and her travels to Bethlehem before Jesus was born, when Mary was "obviously pregnant".
But it couldn't have been easy. Mary was promised to a good man. She was not married. She was young and probably ended up being alone, aside from her fiance, Joseph. (By the way, props to the guy who stood beside her throughout all this.) Mary probably had a good reputation within her town before she became pregnant. After people started finding out about the pregnancy.... well, the people's opinions probably changed. I can imagine the words that she must have heard whispered behind her back, especially if people knew the story of the angel. What did they think of her? Crazy, harlot, home-wrecker... Okay, maybe not those terms! - but it couldn't have been easy! Despite that, Mary rejoiced! She knew that God had verified her, and that was all that mattered. She sang a song of praise to Him (vv. 46-55), and remembered that she was found favorable in His eyes - no one else's views mattered. She was God's devoted servant.
I originally came to Mary's story in hopes of learning more about waiting. I heard a pastor say last week: "Biblical waiting is not passive." That really struck a chord with me. The Bible doesn't say anything much about Mary's 9-month wait for her child, but she surely was stressed during her pregnancy, with all of the extra emotional stress brought on by her culture. (I wonder if Mary ever said "JUST GET THIS THING OUTTA ME!" ;) ) How did Mary pass the time? I have no idea. But I am sure that she did not use it to sit there and twiddle her thumbs and hum mindlessly. No; she prepared. She probably spent a lot of time talking to God, especially during those later months.
Biblical waiting is not passive. It is a time of preparation; a time of focus and renewed dedication. It teaches us to be patient and wait on the Lord with expectation that God's will shall be done.
Mary waited nine months for her baby boy to be born, all the while being ridiculed; the object of town gossip and the subject of hushed conversations. And what was her reward? She was the mother of the Son of God. But she devoted herself to God and to her son as she waited.
Biblical waiting is not passive. Waiting should involve intense prayer and listening to God; it means service and working and loving and learning and praising God. Biblical waiting does not involve sitting in a dull room twiddling your thumbs and flipping through a magazine. No! Biblical waiting is intense and active.
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint."
Isaiah 40:31, King James
I really have no idea how Mary spent her time waiting, but I do know that she was a devoted servant of God.
Many people wish for a heart like David's (not an ungodly wish), but I wish for the determination of Mary, and for the devotion and patience she held onto as she waited to deliver the best gift this world has ever known.
Mary Christmas, everyone.
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