Sermon - Luke 10:38-42 - Women in Ministry

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon - Luke 10:38-42 - Women in Ministry

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

July 17, 2016

            This summer two different Presbyterian denominations met separately to set a course for their futures.  Our denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), elected two young women, one black and one white, but both pastors to serve us as co-moderators for the next two years.   This year we celebrate 60 years of women serving as pastors.  Another denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, also met.  Their meeting consisted exclusively of men.  In their denomination women cannot be ordained as pastors, elders and deacons.  But to chart their future they appointed a committee to look at scripture to see what it says about women in ministry.  We both share the same Bible.  We are both Presbyterians. But we have radically different views about whether or not women should be able to serve in leadership in the church.  Today we will examine for ourselves what the Bible says about all this.  But first, let’s pray.

            “Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification.  Amen.”   (John Calvin)

            Today we offer public education for all boys and girls.  We want everyone to receive a quality education.  But this has not always been the case.  In the first century little Jewish boys received an education.  They would be sent to local rabbi and would begin with them the process of memorizing the Law, the first five books of our Old Testament.  Some of the little boys did not do so well.  Eventually they would be sent home to learn from their fathers to be fishermen, or carpenters, or shepherds, or something like that.  The good students would advance in their studies and could, through hard work, become rabbis themselves.   But little girls had no opportunity for education.  They stayed home with their mothers and learned how to care for the family.

            There can be many problems in a culture where only the men receive an education.  One problem is that an uneducated wife might say something stupid in public which could embarrass her husband.  To deal with this problem a social norm was established:  Women should be silent in public and hold their questions until they got home and could ask their husbands in private.  By remaining silent in public a uneducated woman could avoid embarrassing her husband. 

            We see this happening in the Corinthian church to whom Paul writes this:

1 Corinthians 14:³⁴ Women^[f] should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. ³⁵ If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.^[g]

            So the church is to deal with the problem of uneducated women asking embarrassing questions the same way the general culture did.  Women were to remain silent and hold their questions until they got home and could privately ask their husbands.  This was an accommodation to a culture that refused to educate little girls.

            But today our little girls go to school.  They are educated.  They don’t ask stupid questions that embarrass their husbands.  And so today educated little girls grow up to be church leaders, elders and pastors.  There is no longer a cultural need for women to be silent in church. 

            Another problem with not educating girls is that they get into trouble especially if they have not yet found of maybe lost a husband.  Here are some of the problems according to the apostle Paul in his letter to his co-worker Timothy: 

1 Timothy 5:¹¹ As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry.¹² Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. ¹³ Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to.¹⁴ So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. ¹⁵ Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.

            So young uneducated unmarried women were having promiscuous sex, and engaging in gossip.  According to Paul, it is better for young women to get married than to follow Satan down wrong pathways.  But something worse is happening.  Young women have been coming to church and saying that sex outside of marriage is ok.  Paul’s response to this is to say that young women should learn in ‘quietness and full submission”.  Listen as Paul is tells them to stop leading other women astray.

1 Timothy 2:¹¹ A woman^[a] should learn in quietness and full submission. ¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man;^[b] she must be quiet.  

           

            At no point does Paul say that women should not lead a church.  What he is saying is that they must first be educated and behave in the proper way.  Women may be preachers and teachers if they proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and not some false teaching.  If women do this then they could become leaders in ministry.

            So let’s turn now to see what Jesus thinks about educating women.  His views, as you might expect are quite radical.  And what he does is so shocking that his friend Martha is agitated and begins to yell at him.  Here is what happened. 

Luke 10:³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[f]Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

            Martha is doing what women were supposed to be doing in the first century.  She is in the kitchen preparing the meal.  She asks Jesus to send Mary, her sister, into the kitchen where she can also do what women are supposed to do.  But Mary is doing something so shocking that it has worried and upset Martha.  Mary is doing something young women are not permitted to do. What was it that Mary did to upset her dear sister so much?  What Mary did was to sit at the feet of a rabbi.  Mary was receiving an education.  And this was not to be.  Only boys were to be educated in their culture.  And here was Mary receiving an education, something girls should not receive.  But Jesus would have none of that.  Jesus welcomed boys and girls to study the scripture at his feet.  Jesus wanted both boys and girls to be educated.

            We know that Jesus had 12 male disciples.  We have the names of 17 men who filled important roles in his ministry.  But Jesus also had female disciples:  Mary the mother[1], Mary Magdalene[2], the “other” Mary[3], Mary of Bethany[4], Joanna[5], Susanna[6], and Salome[7]. These women partnered with the men to lead the church of Jesus Christ.

            In the Book of Acts we see a church with significant female leadership.  In Acts 2 we hear of the coming of the Holy Spirit with these words quoting the Prophet Joel. 

Acts 2:17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men and women,  I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  

            The Holy Spirit came to women and men and provided gifts to both.  At least three women went out and started new churches, Chloe[8], Nympha[9], and Apphia[10], and Lydia[11] led a church started by Paul.  Paul commended four women for their hard work for the Lord, Mary,  Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis[12].  There were also couples who led churches, the most famous of these was Priscilla and Aquila[13].  Paul referred to them as “fellow workers in Christ.”  The church in Philippi had two women leaders, Eudia and Syntyche[14].  Phoebe[15] was a leader in the church of Cenchrea.  And the women in the church who achieved the highest position were two apostles, Junia and Andronicus[16].

            Before Jesus women were uneducated.  They had to remain silent in public so not to embarrass their husbands.  But with Jesus the church women began to be educated.  Capable women with the proper education then served the church as leaders, preachers and teachers at all levels.  There is no biblical reason to exclude women from leadership in churches.

            This church is looking for a new pastor.  And I know that women pastors are being considered for this position.  If a woman pastor is educated, leads a moral life, then the Bible says that they may pastor a church.  If the Holy Spirit gives them the gifts of preaching and teaching and leadership then the Bible says that they are equipped to lead the church.  And if a qualified woman pastor is called by God to serve this church, then you should welcome her as your pastor. 

            The Presbyterian Church has had women deacons for 110 years and women elders for 85 years.  On October 24, 1956, almost 60 years ago, the Rev. Margaret Towner was ordained as the first woman pastor of a Presbyterian church.  Although she became famous and her picture was on the cover of Life magazine, Rev. Towner remained a humble pastor shepherding a congregation.  Today Rev. Towner is 91, honorably retired, but still serving her presbytery.  In 1974 Katie Geneva became the first African American woman to be ordained as a pastor.  In 1979 Rebecca Reyes became the first Hispanic woman and Elizabeth Kwon became the first Korean woman ordained as pastors.  And in 1987 Holly Haile Smith Davis became the first Native American woman ordained as a pastor.  And last month the Presbyterian Church (USA) selected Denise Anderson and Jan Edmiston to serve as co-moderators for the 222nd General Assembly. 

            Today we educate little girls so they can grow up to be leaders, following the lead of Jesus who was the first to educate a young woman named Mary.  The early church had many outstanding women leaders.  There is no reason why women today should be denied leadership positions in churches.  Let’s pray.

            God of prophets and apostles, you have chosen leaders to train your people in the way of Jesus Christ.  We thank you that in our day you are still claiming men and women for special work within the church. We pray that men and women in ministry will be surrounded by affection and hope, grow in wisdom, mature in love, and become faithful workers approved by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (adapted from Book of Common Worship p.813) 

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[1] Matthew 27:56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph,^[a] and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

[2] Matthew 27:56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

[3] Matthew 27:61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

[4] John 11:1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

[5] Luke 24:10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.

[6] Luke 8:3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

[7] Mark 16:1 [ Jesus Has Risen ] When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.

[8] 1 Corinthians 1:11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.

[9] Colossians 4:15 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.

[10] Philemon 1:2 also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home:

[11] Acts 16:40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.

[12] Romans 16:12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.

[13] Romans 16:3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus.

[14] Philippians 4:2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.

[15] Romans 16:1 [ Personal Greetings ] I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae.

[16] Romans 16:7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

Adapted from:  http://fuller.edu/women-in-ministry-download/?icn=Women-In-Ministry&ici=CTA_Women-In-Ministry-Pages-Related-Content

http://www.pcusa.org/news/2016/5/24/pcusa-celebrates-60-years-womens-ordination/