The Newsletter of Gabriel and Catherine Hingley, June 2011

It was a joyous moment of celebration. About forty adults and children were gathered under a large tree in a park, throwing streamers, cracking coloured eggs, laughing and singing. But it wasn’t someone’s birthday – we were celebrating the fact that Jesus had risen!  Afterwards we shared in some delicious food, jumped in sack races and searched for chocolate eggs under the trees. The joy was tangible everyone could feel it.

This year Easter Sunday seemed all the more meaningful for our Rainbow Church community. I believe this was partly because the Noble Park and Dandenong Teams chose to offer people the opportunity to really live the Easter story out in a tangible way. So on Maundy Thursday we shared a meal together and re-enacted the Last Supper, learning about the significance of the Passover meal for the Jewish people. On Good Friday we walked through Noble Park carrying a large wooden cross and reflected on the story of Christ’s Passion, entering into the suffering of Jesus as he carried the cross as well as the grief and despair of his disciples. In the local railway tunnel we watched as some of our neighbours acted out the story of Peter’s denial. Finally we entered the darkness of the tomb as we all gathered in our friends garage in the dark.

The power of living out the gospel narratives through drama and symbolism is that it helps people access these stories without needing any prior theological, historical or biblical knowledge. In our gathering there were some who had never heard the stories before, a number of whom came from different faiths. There were others who could not read, and others who do not have the intellectual capacity to grasp the stories with their minds. But the beauty of the Easter story is that we can all be drawn into the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection through symbols and creative story-telling, no matter what background we come from.

I believe it was because we as a community explored the hard moments of Jesus’ pain and crucifixion and the disciples’ grief, that we could celebrate His Resurrection all the more joyfully. It’s as though we felt the risen Lord together. Catherine and I praise God that He regularly gives us opportunities to share in the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection with people on the margins of society.