Recently, while looking at music, Sydney came across the song: My Love Colours Outside the Lines. We rehearsed it, recorded it for use in online worship and the tune got stuck in my head for the next few days. While it played on repeat one night, I was drawn to the profound statement this song makes about death and resurrection: “And we’ll never move the gravestones if we’re not prepared to die, and realise there are worlds outside the lines.”
Jesus was not arrested, tried, and ultimately put to death for conforming to the social norms and expectations of his time. Conformity is safe and tends not to disrupt. Instead, Jesus pushed the boundaries. He touched those who were supposed to be untouchable. He treated sinners with respect. He ate and drank with outcasts. He challenged self-righteous attitudes that pushed people to the margins. And he offered an alternative model of what it means to love.
In short, Jesus coloured outside the lines and the authorities, those who carried power and privilege, didn’t like it! As the song says: My Lord colours outside the lines, turns wounds to blessings, water into wine; and takes me into places where I’ve never been before, and opens doors to worlds outside the lines. It is this behaviour that ultimately led to the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus was prepared to die.
He understood the story behind the story. He knew that his death would be a victory for love and even that would not be the end of the story. Jesus knew the gravestone would be moved and there would be more colouring outside the lines. This is what we encounter this morning.
Notice who is the first to witness what has happened: Mary Magdalene. She goes to grave, defying the fear that grips others who are not yet prepared to die in the hope of moving gravestones. Thus, a woman is the first to discover that Jesus is no longer in the tomb and is the first to share this news with the apostles.
In hearing what Mary has to say, the apostles throw caution to the wind to go see for themselves. The gravestone is moved. They see where Jesus had once laid and return waiting to see what would happen next.
It is in this moment that Jesus colours outside the lines even more. He uses this opportunity to show himself to Mary Magdalene and offer her grace and hope that is more than she could ask or imagine. In that moment, she is given the first glimpse of worlds outside the lines. Worlds where God’s love transcends death. Worlds where new life comes into focus. Worlds where women can be apostles. “And we’ll never move the gravestones if we’re not prepared to die, and realise there are worlds outside the lines.”
The resurrection of Jesus proclaims a vast expanse of transformation. God’s love triumphed on the cross. It is the ultimate sign of how far God will go to help the world understand what is possible when we truly love each other. In the resurrection we know that sacrifice is not the end of the story. Sacrifice can open doors to something new, something transformative, something outside the lines our world keeps trying to draw!
As we proclaim ‘Alleluia, Christ is risen!’ how will we allow our proclamation and our faith to point us outside the lines? What does it look like for us to actively seek out those worlds, those possibilities? How might we embody that faith in ways that invite and include those society places outside the lines so that they too can feel the wonder and grace of what we, through faith, believe? To what extent can we honestly sing: My soul longs to colour outside the lines, tear back the curtains, sun, come in and shine! I want to walk beyond the boundaries where I’ve never been before, throw open doors to worlds outside the lines?
The words are profound. The hope is transformative. So, let us pray as we sing: (VT) # 582 My Love Colours Outside the Lines.