themes to shape our lives?

Shepherds, on the edge of society, witness the birth of Christ. They find Jesus, wrapped in strips of cloth. Shepherds were outsiders – unlikely witnesses. At the resurrection, women go very early on Sunday morning to anoint Jesus’ body. They do not find the body of Jesus, yet see folded linen clothes. In the society of Jesus’ day, women were ‘outsiders’; unlikely witnesses to the resurrection.

Easter is good news for outsiders. How might it shape our lives? In 1753 John Wesley said, it is a ‘common objection’ to say ‘they are poor, only because they are idle’: it is ‘wickedly false’. This Easter, the Methodist Church has challenged the same modern ‘objection’: ‘church-goers and the general public alike are willing to believe that the key factors driving poverty are the personal failings of the poor – especially ‘idleness.’’ It points out, benefit fraud accounts for only 0.9% of total benefit payments. In comparison, tax avoidance by much richer people accounts for an estimated 6% of total tax revenue due! Can the story of Jesus’ life, with the unlikely narrative of God lifting up the ‘outsider’, challenge our false assumptions?

Mary – Jesus’ mother is told by God, she will be blessed; ‘You will bear a son and name him Jesus.’ Once the shepherds depart, Mary ‘remembers all these things and thinks about them deeply.’ The women at the tomb also remember – what Jesus had told them. ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, be crucified. And three days later, rise to life.’

Hearing the story, can you remember the promise of Jesus’ birth, his sacrificial love and new life? And will that message of Jesus, challenge and shape your life?