I was in sixth grade, and we had just begun to check out the newest Baptist church in town. At that point the church was moving from renting the little league clubhouse to renting the Seventh Day Adventist church building on Sunday. The church was Mountain View Baptist Church. It was started by a music leader and a pastor who felt led by God to come start a church in Ashland, Oregon.
Well, my sister and I each had friends that attended that little church, and we were having fun. So when the people of the church invited us to stay for the potluck, we begged mom to stay. Mom said we could go play in the park next to the church, but we were not going to stay, because we had not brought anything to the potluck. Well, all of the begging and pleading eventually wore her down. And, when she finally relented, one of the deacons of the church thanked her for being “subservient and submissive”.
We ended up staying in that church for a couple of years, and as we went we became indoctrinated into the theology of the church there at Mountain View. A theology that taught many good things, and a few things that after much prayer and study I have come to completely disagree with. One of the things that I have come to most strongly disagree with is the treatment of women evidenced by the statement to my mother that Sunday afternoon.
Couldn’t the person have said something like, “Thank you for staying and letting us serve you, we really feel honored” or “We appreciate your willingness to join us at the potluck, we will be sure to pray for the meal so you don’t get botulism from the potato salad that has been sitting in the sun for who knows how long”?
Who are they to say it is good for a woman to be submissive and subservient to every other adult male in the congregation? Who are they to treat women as “less than”?
Sadly, the truth is that there have been a lot of things said and taught by Christian people that have twisted Scripture. People have used the Bible to justify all sorts of injustice, and they have done so without God’s permission or consent. Just 150 years ago, churchmen misquoted Scripture passages in order to justify slavery. Throughout this century, church leaders pulled a couple of passages out of context to argue against interracial marriage, ignoring the fact that when Moses’ sister judged Moses for having a wife of a different nationality and darker skin tone, Moses’ sister was struck by God with leprosy for a season as judgment for her bigotry.
And the truth is that a lot of churches have demeaned and devalued women, treated them as second class citizens. They have told them that they are to be seen and not heard, and taught that men, because of their gender, are more like God than women. Many have excluded women from offering valuable input and exercising their God-given gifts for God’s glory and the benefit of the church and the world. They have told women to be submissive and subservient at all times, to fade into the background, and to dutifully obey what they are told.
I cannot do that. I cannot do that because I do not believe that this view of Scripture and the world is true to the Bible and the witness of Jesus. And to where this man spoke dishonor and judgment to my mother because of her gender, and I want to speak honor and blessing to all of my sisters this morning.
For those of you that are women and are listening this morning:
• God created you in his image.
• God did not create you as second class citizens
• God made you equal with men in the church
• God made you with gifts to offer his church and the world
• God allows and expects you to exercise your gifts for God’s glory
• Your church appreciates your wisdom, your insights, your gifts, and your
contributions to the body of Christ and seeks to honor those gifts today and
every day.
Our Scripture this morning is this:
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:28)
This passage is interesting. It is interesting because it announces that God, through Christ, is restoring things as they should be, as he created them to be. Through Christ work on the cross, our relationships with Christ are transformed. But Christ creates the church to transform not only our relationships with God, but to transform our relationships with one another through the power of his Holy Spirit.
To get the full-scope of what is going on here, especially in relation to women, we need to go back to the Genesis, and take a look at the broad scope of biblical history through the Old Testament, and then see what God is doing through the power of Jesus in the New Testament. For the sake of brevity, you are going to get the highlights of this story. However, if you want to understand this more in-depth, I would be glad to do that some time as well.
Genesis 1 begins with a big picture view of creation. Like one of those movies that begins in its introduction somewhere in outer space, and slowly gets closer and closer to earth, and then to a specific place on earth, it slowly focuses in on one place, The Garden of Eden. In Genesis 1:27 the Scripture says this, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
This says that from the beginning God created man and woman equally in God’s image. Men are not more like God than women. Women are not inferior creation. They are two halves of the whole of humanity that God has created. And it is good, the Scripture says.
Genesis 2 focuses in more in the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden is teeming with creation. And the crown of God’s creation is humanity. Adam, the first human, is the only one of his species, and he is alone. After Adam names the animals and searches creation for a suitable companion, he is still lonely. And so God puts him into a deep sleep, removes a part of him to create a woman named Eve. When he awakens he sees this woman and cries out in joy. He likes her. He likes her A LOT.
By Genesis 3 we see that Adam and Eve choose not to trust God, to disobey Him, and thus to sin. And this sin has consequences. Part of these consequences of sin quickly becomes that instead of living in loving partnership, there is tension between Adam and Eve. And men come to dominate over women (Gen 3:16).
As the Bible goes on, it does not sugar coat or hide what happened. Women were often mistreated at the hands of men as you read Scripture. Read the story of Jepthah in the book of Judges for example. Or read about David’s daughter Tamar, and how she was really neglected and forgotten. You will be horrified at the way some men treated women, especially in the Old Testament.
The Old Testament also gives witness to God working to protect and honor women. It shows God working through Mariam and Sarah, Rachel and Leah, the judge Deborah and the prophetess Hilda. Queen Esther saved the Hebrew people through her courage and wisdom. Ruth gives us a model of faithfulness in the face of extraordinary circumstances. The law continues to tell about God’s special care for women, especially the most vulnerable women in society. It makes sure to mention the widow and orphan are to be provided for. It seeks to make divorce rare.
In Proverbs 31 we read about the virtuous woman. We see a woman who cares for her family. We also see a working woman who owns her own business. The Bible always gives us smart, strong, bold women as role models.
By the time we get to the prophets we read Joel longing for the kingdom of love that the Messiah would bring. God says that after Jesus comes, the church will be a place where, “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.” (2:28).
Did you hear it? Sons and daughters will prophecy! What does that mean? It means that men and women will proclaim God’s word to God’s people.
By this point, women are not allowed into many places to worship. To worship! But God points his people toward a future when women will not only be a part of worship, but helping to guide and lead it. Wow!
We look at the life of Jesus, and we see how he honored women. He allowed Mary to sit at his feet and learn with the other disciples. He spoke to the woman at the well and changed her life. He offered grace to the woman caught in adultery. He scolded powerful religious men when they began to divorce their older wives and leave them penniless while they chased after newer younger wives.
He used forgotten women as examples of what it means to be a holy person. People like a widow who gave everything she had. Women like the persistent widow who modeled endurance in prayer.
And when Jesus died and rose again, the first witnesses of the resurrection were the women. The first people to proclaim the empty tomb were women. Jesus did not allow this to happen by accident.
And by the time we get to the early church in the New Testament we see, on the day of Pentecost, that Peter proclaims that the prophecy of Joel is coming true right in front of them. The women are again proclaiming the good news of Jesus alongside the men.
And then we get to the apostle Paul and the book of Galatians. A book where Paul teaches the Galatian believers that way of Jesus is not a way of legalism. Specifically the Galatian people were trying to make people go back to Hebrew tradition and ritual practices, namely circumcision.
And by chapter 3, Paul takes on the mix of tradition and bigotry that is trying to make every convert culturally Jewish before they could become Christian. And he says,
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:28)
Now what Paul says here is not just something Paul says, it was a slogan of the early church. And it was written in response to a Hebrew prayer that Jewish men had begun to pray a few hundred years before. On a daily basis. What was that prayer?
I thank you God that I am not a Gentile, I am not a slave, and I am not a woman.
You see, what God is doing through Christ is reversing the curse from that first sin. He is creating a community, a church, where men and women are co-laborers in Christ. The result of sin was that women were treated poorly by men. Across societies. The result of the resurrection is that women are honored for their uniqueness, and treated as equals and partners in Christ.
So in the book of Acts you see Priscilla preaching and teaching alongside her husband Acquilla. You see Junia honored alongside the other men at the end of Romans as “working hard in the Lord”. You see Paul giving instructions on women prophesying in the church. And you even see the women leaders in the church in Phillipians arguing with one another, and each of them having significant people under their influence.
You also see women serving in the background in the early church. Women like the much beloved Dorcas in the book of Acts, who is using her gifts in sewing and creating articles of clothing to clothe the poor and the forgotten.
And so, today, we want to honor our women. All of you. There are some of you who have dedicated your life to being at home as stay at home moms, and caring for children and grandchildren, raising them up with strong character and to be strong in the faith. Doing millions of little things we took and take for granted a lot of the time. We thank God for your dedication, you commitment, your years of unappreciated labor. We thank God for you.
There are others of you mothers who have paying jobs and help or helped financially support your family. You found a way to juggle it all. You made a way to be great parents, hard workers, and leaders in our community. You were mom and teacher, mom and postal worker, mom and nurse, mom and factory worker, mom and secretary, mom and truck driver, and so many other things. We thank God for you as well.
We thank God for the gifted, beautiful, strong women you are. Just as you are. Others may not appreciate a strong and courageous woman. We do. We are thankful that we had mothers as strong and courageous like you, because it takes a courageous and tough woman to raise men and women like us. It was your words that have guided us through life, we are glad you were not silent.
As husbands we have you to beside us. And we are glad you have the discernment to know when to support us even when you have your doubts, and know when to speak your mind and challenge us when we need that too. Your wisdom and strength makes us wiser and smarter. Thank you.
As a church we are thankful for the many of you who have given your lives to this church. We appreciate your days and hours of unnoticed labor. We also appreciate your courage to lead us in Sunday School, to keep track of our finances, and to lead us in worship with your gifts.
Women, today, we want to say you are a blessing to us. You are blessing because you have given your time, effort, skills, and love to your family and this church. Yes. But more that, you are a blessing just by being the wonderful person God-created you to be.
God bless.
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