In this podcast episode, our host, Anthony Mullins, speaks with Mandy Smith. Mandy is the pastor of St. Lucia Uniting Church in Australia.
The following excerpt is from their discussion of Matthew 28:1-10, and it’s a fitting subject for International Women’s Day.
Listen to the full episode and read the full transcript here.
Anthony: I sometimes hear people say, Mandy, that the disciples abandoned Jesus at his death. And there was abandonment, of course, but I also see the women going to him and being the evangelists, if you will, sharing this great message. Tell us about it.
Mandy: I know a lot of women who feel called to proclaim the good news are very encouraged by this passage, especially if they’re in contexts that don’t affirm them in their calling.
I’m really hesitant to say because I always want to be welcoming to my brothers. … and I don’t want to perpetuate all of the brokenness between men and women.
And at the same time, I think it is really good to share [that] it is really painful to feel that calling and to not always be given an opportunity to share it.
… But every single time somebody has not received me or has not treated me in the way that Christ would treat me or has not recognized what God is doing in me—and I’ve had some really painful experiences—every single time, it has been an invitation for me to talk to the Lord again and to say, who are you again? What are we doing here again? Who do you say I am again?
And for anyone who’s marginalized—which is not just along gender lines, but the many different ways people are marginalized—it can be a really empowering experience if it becomes an opportunity for us to say once more, who are you [God] again? Who am I again?
… it’s often those who have been on the margins, for whom the system has not been functioning anyway, who actually have real leadership to offer in [a crisis]. And that’s how I see this passage. These women were not given much of anything really in the system. And so, when the status quo falls apart, they have something that enables them to press through.
So how do we listen to the voices who are saying, you know what? Before you were aware that the system was falling apart, it wasn’t serving me anyway, and I’ve had to function within the system according to the kingdom. How can we invite those people to be leading, as these women had the opportunity to, when Jesus was dying and coming back to life?
