I am currently in placement on Garigal and Gayamaygal land with The Forest Kirk Uniting Church. I have two young daughters, the eldest of whom is in primary school, and I am completing a PhD with Charles Sturt University which is exploring the task of Christian Doctrine in conversation with theatre and adaptation
What Mary did was challenging for both Martha and Judas.
For Mary, devotion was exemplary to service and at this particular time she was performing an act of welcoming no matter the cost.
There are times when we need to celebrate the quiet and beautiful, abundant and meditative, superfluous and the pretty as followers of Jesus.
Mary goes to the tomb, the tomb is empty, a man appears, she hears her name, her heart explodes with joy!
She asks the smallest of mercies, but receives the greatest of gifts, an encounter with her friend, Messiah, Rabbi-nah!
She remembers the Good Shepherd. No other voice can define or limit who she is. She had to go and tell.
The Cross was not the end.
The Tomb could not hold Jesus.
He gives up His spirit before death and then gives it up again when after the resurrection, He gathers with those who were lost and breathes on them. In Easter we celebrate “Christ is Risen”.
Through the story of Hagar – a foreigner and slave who flees with the child born of Abraham, we find the great truth of God. He is the one who sees and hears the cries of the afflicted but does not scorn, but acts with justice and steadfast love.
The Holy Spirit reminds us that God has revealed what God is like in His movement towards the world in LOVE.
Following Jesus is not an easy choice. It may require us to make Jesus our ‘Top Priority’ and be willing to give up anything for God.
However it may not be an ‘either’ /’or’ choice but finding a balance in our commitment and making Jesus the foundation of all we are trying to do so we can say “Amen”.
