Wonder and Witness
17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
Luke 2:17-20
Mary was not afraid when Gabriel appeared to her, not like Zacharias and the shepherds. Instead she wondered at his strange greeting, and contemplated how she would be with child while being a virgin. When the shepherds came barging in on her peaceful postpartum rest with news of angels and singing and glory and miracles, she pondered. When Jesus would disappear some years later on a family trip to Jerusalem, they would finally find him in the Temple discussing among the teachers(2:43-51). Her anxiety was assuaged, but again she found herself ruminating over all of it, storing up the extraordinary events in a heart already overflowing with wonder and curiosity. Mary keeps things close, discreet, and contemplative. She is not a storyteller.
There is a contrast between Mary and the shepherds. They very much like to tell stories. They are all too happy to go about town, regaling all who will listen with what they witnessed and the glorious revelation on the range. Compared to Mary they are downright gregarious. Each have witnessed miraculous appearings, have touched the babe messiah, and have been afforded glimpses of the glory of the Lord. Yet, their responses are so uniquely different.
Further still, each are faithful to their role, to the stations God has appointed to them. Was God more pleased in one form of praise over the others? I think not, yet how readily we lean in, to swell the significance of our own stations, to augment the esteem of that form of praise which most befits our benefaction. That is to say, we think our part of the body most important, our gifts most beneficial to the praise of His glory. In our better moments we know better than to declare such things without proper deference, but the thought lodges in our hearts with snells. I think He is greatest praised in our creativity, while another in the study of theology, and another still with charity.
Some worship in words, others in wonder. Some speak, while others study. Some write, and some preach. Some counsel the brokenhearted while others bear them up. Some go at the Lord’s command, and another sends such a brother. If there were a danger to our church, which assuredly there is, would it not be to make it bland? Unsalty, unsavory, unsweet, and uninspired are all accomplished in a unified brand, a homogenous melding of mind and method. What passes for unity is an unsalted soda cracker shingle shaped to the form of a single sanctified scheme. I dare not stretch the analogy too far, but encourage you dear brother or sister to lean in a little further beyond what the barbs in your heart might allow. There is wonder in worship, and there are words, and there is work, and there is witness, and all of it makes Him smile.
Which forms of worship do you most readily lean in to?
Which forms of worship are most unnatural to your nature?
Does your church seem to elevate or offer prestige to certain giftings above others?
