Ever had one of those moments you are least expecting? Perhaps it’s bumping into a friend you haven’t seen since school whilst on holiday or being surprised by the generosity of a stranger giving you a spare parking ticket when you’ve been caught without change? Serendipitous moments happen and along with them come the sparks of gratitude, joy and encounter that often stay with us for the long haul.
I’ve had moments like this with the Lord and as we gathered as church recently I’d say I had another one of these encounters during the worship; a passing encounter with the Spirit when two thoughts aligned and made sense in an instant, leading me to a deeper place of joy and gratitude for the goodness of the Lord and his ongoing spoken word into the midst of the ‘now’.
At the beginning of 2023 our passage which we are focussing on at Freedom Church is Luke 10 v 38 - 42; the well known story of Martha and Mary welcoming Jesus into their home. These two characters by contrast approach Jesus differently, we have Martha who busily works to prepare a delicious feast to bless and nourish the guest while Mary comes and sits at the feet of Jesus, hanging on his every word as he speaks out wisdom, receiving as much from him as she possibly can. In this season at Freedom we believe God is calling us to embalm the character of Mary in the depths of our being, protecting from decay the desire to lean in and truly hear the teachings of Jesus which lead us forward in our journey of faith and understanding. In The Passion translation, verse 39 puts it this way “Mary sat down attentively before the Master, absorbing every revelation he shared.” What a challenge to each one of us in our busy lives!
This aside, as I familiarise myself once again with this passage it has meant the person of Mary has become my friend, I’ve carried her with me in my thoughts and my day intentionally, asking myself the question - where would Mary position herself in this situation today? In our service, as I worshipped, Mary was with me in my heart.
Now, with that in mind, let’s backtrack to that serendipitous moment I mentioned earlier. Perhaps to my shame as a church pastor (or perhaps I am merely honest enough to let you in) I had a moment on Sunday as we sung the song Without Caution by Jonathan and Melissa Helser that paired up and collided two of the common ‘Mary stories’ we are often familiar with in church. I had this moment with the Holy Spirit, switching on the lights and connecting the dots. It’s so easy for the things we read in scripture to stand alone and stay alone, without letting the golden thread weave them together to bring greater revelation than we’ve previously had. This is the beauty of scripture and the beauty of serving a living, breathing God. As we sung the line “I break the bottle of my praise” it was as though my friend Mary whispered in my ear and said “did you realise that’s me? I’m that Mary.”
Let me explain. Later in the story of Jesus, in John chapter 12 we find the story of Mary breaking a large alabaster jar of costly perfume over Jesus’ feet and wiping them dry with her hair. I’ve always loved this story and in worship a fresh wave of understanding came over me as I no longer separated the two Marys but allowed the Holy Spirit to surprise me with insight which I previously overlooked. We have this woman, my newly found friend Mary who is teaching me daily how to sit at the feet of Jesus whose life is clearly shaped by her devotion to creating space, listening and leaning in to Jesus. She is the same Mary
as the one we find in John chapter 12. She is the one who outworks her love for him by 'breaking her bottle, giving her all without restraint and wasting her life in worship upon Jesus.’ As we sung the song in worship I learnt more about my friend, I got excited about the journey God is taking us on as a church and what he is wanting to reveal to us afresh as we learn from this beautiful friend of Jesus called Mary.
That moment in worship will stay with me. It was one of those ‘chance’ encounters, set up by my heavenly father to bring me to a deeper place of gratitude, joy and understanding which I am thankful for as Mike and I lead Freedom Church forward into discovering the depths of what we believe Holy Spirit wants to do in and through us this year. Creating space, growing in presence, and discovering vulnerability is most certainly what Mary demonstrated and I’m keen to follow in her footsteps and see where it leads us with Jesus.
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