ACTS 16:11-15 | THESE AMAZING WOMEN

THESE AMAZING WOMEN

ACTS 16:11-15

MAY 1, 2016

DON’T PANIC – DESPITE OUR AFTER CHURCH “PUNCH-BRUNCH” TODAY IN HONOR OF OUR MOTHERS, AND THIS SERMON TITLE – “THESE AMAZING WOMEN” – TODAY IS NOT MOTHER’S DAY…

YOU DIDN’T MISS IT – YOU STILL HAVE ANOTHER WEEK TO BUY CARDS, MAKE PLANS, GET MOM A GIFT.

OUR MEMBER CARE COMMITTEE DECIDED TO HAVE THE PUNCH-BRUNCH TODAY SO AS NOT TO INTERFERE WITH YOUR OWN PLANS FOR MOTHER’S DAY NEXT SUNDAY;

AND MY SERMON THIS MORNING IS ABOUT ALL WOMEN, ESPECIALLY WOMEN OF FAITH, AND YES, I DO HAVE A MOTHER’S DAY SERMON PLANNED FOR NEXT WEEK AS WELL.

BUT THIS MORNING I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THESE AMAZING WOMEN.

I HAVE HAD THE GREAT GOOD FORTUNE OF BEING SURROUNDED BY SMART, TALENTED, ACCOMPLISHED WOMEN ALL MY LIFE:

MY MOTHER AND MY SISTER;

MY WIFE AND MY DAUGHTERS, AND A WONDERFUL MOTHER-IN-LAW;

TEACHERS AND PROFESSORS;

COLLEAGUES AND MENTORS;

CLASSMATES AND CO-WORKERS;

FELLOW MINISTERS AND CHURCH MEMBERS.

I HAVE BEEN THE BENEFICIARY OF THEIR WISDOM, EXPERIENCE, LOVE AND CARE.

I HAVE SEEN THEM ACCOMPLISH GREAT THINGS, MAKING GREAT STRIDES, OFTEN, DESPITE OVERWHELMING ODDS AND CIRCUMSTANCES.

I KNEW THIS QUOTE, I JUST DIDN’T KNOW WHO SAID IT.

I KNEW THIS QUOTE, AND FIGURED IT WAS PROBABLY SOME FAMOUS MOVIE CRITIC.

YOU PROBABLY KNOW THIS QUOTE TOO, BUT IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, IT’LL PROBABLY BE A COMPLETE SURPRISE AS TO WHO SAID IT.

IN SPEAKING OF FRED ASTAIRE, BACK IN 1982, BOB THAVES SAID:

“SURE HE WAS GREAT, BUT DON’T FORGET GINGER ROGERS DID EVERYTHING HE DID… BACKWARDS… AND IN HEELS.”

BOB THAVES – DON’T RECOGNIZE THE NAME?

IF YOU HAPPEN TO GET THE KEY WEST CITIZEN NEWSPAPER (AND PROBABLY IN THE NEWSPAPER WHEREVER YOU ARE FROM) YOU MAY BE FAMILIAR WITH THE COMIC STRIP FRANK AND ERNEST.

BOB THAVES, NOW DECEASED, WAS THE CREATOR OF THE FRANK AND ERNEST COMIC STRIP (NOW DRAWN BY HIS SON TIM).  IT WAS HE WHO FIRST SAID THIS ABOUT GINGER ROGERS, THOUGH IT HAS BEEN REPEATED BY OTHERS, AND THUS ATTRIBUTED TO THEM OVER THE YEARS.

THAT’S THE THING ABOUT THESE AMAZING WOMEN – THEY CAN DO ANYTHING MEN CAN DO, AND OFTEN DO SO, BACKWARDS, AND IN HEELS.

NOW I DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE HEELS PART, BUT FROM THE EARLIEST PAGES OF THE BIBLE, TO ITS VERY END, AND OF COURSE, BEYOND INTO THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH FOREVER, WOMEN OF FAITH HAVE BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART OF GOD’S WORKING IN THE WORLD.

THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE DON’T GET NEARLY THE PRESS THE MEN DO; WE DON’T TELL THEIR STORIES AS OFTEN AS WE TELL THE STORIES OF SAY, NOAH’S ARK, JONAH AND THE WHALE, DAVID AND GOLIATH, OR PETER AND PAUL.

AND YET, THERE THEY ARE, AT ALMOST EVERY TURN, AND IF WE’RE HONEST, IT IS OFTEN THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE WHO ARE LEFT TO CLEAN UP THE MESSES THE MEN OF THE BIBLE HAVE MADE OF THINGS.

THERE IS SARAH, WHO, DESPITE SOME OF THE QUESTIONABLE THINGS HER HUSBAND ABRAHAM DID AT TIMES, BECOMES THE MOTHER OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL.

THERE IS RAHAB, WHO, YES, RAN A LITTLE BUSINESS IN THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT OF JERICHO, BUT WHO ENABLED JOSHUA TO DO RECONNAISSANCE WORK AHEAD OF ISRAEL’S TAKING OF THE PROMISED LAND.

RAHAB, BY THE WAY IS LISTED IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW AS THE SEVERAL TIMES OVER GREAT-GRANDMOTHER OF NONE OTHER THAN JESUS HIMSELF.

THERE’S DEBORAH THE GREAT JUDGE OF ISRAEL, WHO WITH THE HELP OF HER TOP GENERAL BARAK, DEFEATED THE CANAANITES SECURING ISRAEL’S HOMELAND AND FUTURE.

THERE’S RUTH AND NAOMI, RACHAEL AND ESTHER, AND SUSANNA, WHO YOU’LL HAVE TO LOOK UP IN THE APOCRYPHAL 13^TH CHAPTER OF DANIEL TO FIND HER STORY, BUT IT’S WELL WORTH READING.

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT THERE ARE THE STORIES OF MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS, MARY MAGDALENE, PRISCILLA, AND THE WOMEN WHO WERE THE FIRST TO ARRIVE AT JESUS’ TOMB ON EASTER MORNING.

THEY WERE THE LAST ONES AT JESUS’ CROSS AND THE FIRST ONES AT HIS TOMB; THE FIRST TO KNOW OF EASTER, AND TO KNOW IT FIRSTHAND; AND THUS, THE VERY FIRST EVANGELISTS OF THE GREAT GOOD NEWS, THAT CHRIST IS RISEN!

MANY OF THESE WOMEN BECAME QUITE ACTIVE IN THE EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, THOUGH AGAIN, THEIR STORIES ARE OFTEN OVERSHADOWED BY THEIR MALE COUNTERPARTS.

THEN THERE IS OUR STORY FOR THIS MORNING ABOUT LYDIA, A SELLER OF PURPLE GOODS, IN OTHER WORDS, A BUSINESS WOMAN OF SOME MEANS, AND THE WOMEN WHO USED TO GATHER WITH HER AT THE RIVER TO WORSHIP.

LYDIA AND HER BAND OF LADIES WERE “WORSHIPPERS OF GOD” ACCORDING TO THE PASSAGE WE READ IN ACTS, BUT WHEN SHE AND PAUL CROSSED PATHS ONE DAY IN THE CITY OF THYATIRA, PAUL WAS ABLE TO SHARE WITH HER AND OTHERS THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST…

AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE LYDIA INVITED PAUL AND THE OTHERS HOME WITH HER, AND HER ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD WAS BAPTIZED INTO THE FAITH.

LYDIA’S NAME APPEARS A TIME OR TWO MORE ELSEWHERE IN PAUL’S WRITINGS WITH THE SUGGESTION BEING THAT SHE ESTABLISHED A CHURCH IN HER HOME FOLLOWING PAUL’S VISIT.

THERE’S SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH TIME TO DO JUSTICE TO ALL OF THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE AND TO THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD, BUT SUFFICE IT TO SAY, THEY WERE EVERY BIT AS INFLUENTIAL AS MANY OF THE MEN.

SURPRISING THEN, THAT THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH HAS NOT BEEN VERY FAVORABLE TO WOMEN, OFTEN LIMITING THEIR ROLES IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH;

POINTING TO A FEW RESTRICTIVE VERSES FROM SOME OF THE LETTERS OF PAUL, WHOSE AUTHORSHIP OF THESE PARTICULAR LETTERS IS HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE;

AND THE VERSES THEMSELVES LIKELY WRITTEN TO LIMIT THE ROLE AND PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN A MALE DOMINATED CHURCH, IN A MALE DOMINATED SOCIETY.

IT WOULD BE GREAT TO BE ABLE TO SAY THAT ALL OF THAT IS ANCIENT HISTORY; THAT THE SUBJUGATION OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH IS A THING OF THE PAST, AND THANKFULLY THAT’S TRUE, IN CERTAIN QUARTERS OF THE CHURCH;

BUT SADLY, IS UNTRUE OF THE CHURCH IN GENERAL, AND NOT AT ALL TRUE IN CERTAIN SEGMENTS OF THE CHURCH, OR FOR THAT MATTER, IN MANY SOCIETIES TODAY.

ON AVERAGE, WOMEN IN THIS COUNTRY ARE STILL PAID 22% LESS THAN THEIR MALE COUNTERPARTS IN THE EXACT SAME POSITIONS.

ONE IN FOUR WOMEN WILL BE SEXUALLY ASSAULTED OR RAPED AT SOME POINT IN THEIR LIFE; COUNT UP FOUR WOMEN THE NEXT TIME YOU ARE IN A GROUP SETTING, AND WHO WILL IT BE?

THE MORE IMPORTANT QUESTION BEING – WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO OUR DAUGHTERS, OUR WIVES, OUR SISTERS, OUR FEMALE FRIENDS, THESE AMAZING WOMEN?

ONE IN SIX WOMEN WILL EXPERIENCE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AND IT IS WAY BEYOND TIME TO TEACH OUR SONS, OUR BROTHERS, OUR MALE FRIENDS THAT SUCH BEHAVIOR IS NOT ONLY UNACCEPTABLE; IT IS A CRIME AGAINST WOMEN, AGAINST SOCIETY, AND AGAINST GOD!

IN JUST THE LAST WEEK, ERIN ANDREWS SETTLED HER CASE AGAINST HER PERPETRATOR AND THE OWNERS OF THE HOTEL THAT ENABLED HIS VIDEO VOYEURISM AGAINST HER.

FORMER NFL QUARTERBACK JOHNNIE MANZEL WAS INDICTED IN TEXAS ON CHARGES OF ASSAULT ON HIS FORMER GIRLFRIEND COLLEEN CROWLEY.

AND IN VIRGINIA, FEMALE FIREFIGHTER NICOLE MITTENDORF, 32, LIKELY TOOK HER OWN LIFE BECAUSE SHE WAS THE VICTIM OF VICIOUS, SEXIST CYBER-BULLYING FROM NONE OTHER THAN HER FELLOW FIREFIGHTERS –

A PROBLEM OF NEAR EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS IN SUCH TRADITIONALLY MALE DOMINATED PROFESSIONS LIKE THE FIRE SERVICE, POLICE DEPARTMENTS, AND THE MILITARY.

IT IS SIMPLY TOO CONVENIENT TO SAY, “WELL THEN PERHAPS WOMEN SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM SUCH PROFESSIONS;” BUT ONCE AGAIN, I WOULD REMIND US OF WHO THESE WOMEN ARE – OUR WIVES, DAUGHTERS, SISTERS, FRIENDS, ETC.

THE POINT OF THIS SERMON IS NOT TO MALE BASH IN DEFERENCE TO THESE AMAZING WOMEN;

IT IS TO SAY TO ALL OF US, THAT THESE AMAZING WOMEN DESERVE AMAZING MEN, AND VICE VERSA.

MY AIM IS NOT SO MUCH TO BE THEIR PROTECTOR – THEY DON’T NEED MY PROTECTION – AS MUCH AS IT IS TO CALL US TO A GREATER SENSE OF CIVILITY AMONG ALL PEOPLE, WHATEVER OUR GENDER.

IT IS, AS JESUS DID, TO INCLUDE BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS, IN THE FAMILY OF FAITH; AND BEYOND CHURCH, INTO A SOCIETY THAT RESPECTS ALL PEOPLE.

OR AS GALATIANS 3:28 PUTS IT:

“THERE IS NO LONGER JEW OR GREEK, THERE IS NO LONGER SLAVE OR FREE, THERE IS NO LONGER MALE OR FEMALE; FOR ALL OF YOU ARE ONE IN CHRIST JESUS.”

JAMES BILLINGTON, THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS AND A STUDENT OF RUSSIAN HISTORY, SPENT A FEW REMARKABLE DAYS IN MOSCOW IN 1991.

HE HAPPENED TO BE IN MOSCOW IN AUGUST OF THAT YEAR, DURING THE TIME WHEN THE OLD SOVIET REGIME WAS GIVING WAY TO A NEW SOCIAL ORDER.

THESE WERE TENSE AND DANGEROUS DAYS, AND POWER WAS BALANCED ON A RAZOR’S EDGE.

BORIS YELTSIN AND A SMALL GROUP OF DEFENDERS OCCUPIED THE RUSSIAN WHITE HOUSE AND SUCCESSFULLY MANAGED TO FACE OFF AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF TANKS AND TROOPS POISED TO ATTACK, TO PUT DOWN THE REBELLION, AND TO RESTORE THE OLD GUARD IN THE SOVIET UNION.

SURPRISINGLY, A KEY ROLE IN THE SUCCESSFUL RESISTANCE WAS PLAYED, SAID BILLINGTON, BY THE BABUSHKAS, THE “OLD WOMEN IN THE CHURCH,” AND THEIR COURAGEOUS PUBLIC WITNESS.

THESE KERCHIEFED OLD WOMEN, WHO HAD KEPT THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH ALIVE DURING THE COMMUNIST PERIOD, WERE THE BUTTS OF MANY JOKES TOLD OVER THE YEARS BY RUSSIANS AND WESTERNERS ALIKE.

NOTHING COULD HAVE SEEMED MORE PATHETIC OR IRRELEVANT THAN THEY, AND THEY WERE WIDELY REGARDED AS EVIDENCE THAT RELIGION WAS CLOSE TO DEATH IN THE SOVIET UNION.

AND YET ON THE CRITICAL NIGHT OF AUGUST 20, 1991, WHEN MARTIAL LAW WAS PROCLAIMED AND PEOPLE WERE TOLD TO GO TO THEIR HOMES, MANY OF THESE WOMEN DISOBEYED AND WENT IMMEDIATELY TO THE PLACE OF CONFRONTATION.

SOME OF THEM FED THE RESISTERS IN A PUBLIC DISPLAY OF SUPPORT.

OTHERS STAFFED MEDICAL STATIONS, OTHERS PRAYED FOR A MIRACLE;

WHILE STILL OTHERS, ASTOUNDINGLY, CLIMBED UP ONTO THE TANKS, PEERED THROUGH THE SLITS AT THE CREW-CUT MEN INSIDE, AND TOLD THEM THAT THERE WERE NEW ORDERS, THESE FROM GOD: “THOU SHALT NOT KILL.”

THE YOUNG MEN STOPPED THE TANKS.  “THE ATTACK,” BILLINGTON SAID, “NEVER CAME AND BY DAWN OF THE THIRD DAY WE REALIZED THE TIDE HAD TURNED.”

IN SKIRMISHES LEADING UP TO THESE CRITICAL DAYS, THREE YOUNG DEFENDERS OF THE RUSSIAN WHITE HOUSE HAD BEEN KILLED.

AS THEIR FUNERAL PROCESSION WOUND THROUGH THE STREETS OF MOSCOW AND PASSED IN FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE, BORIS YELTSIN HIMSELF EMERGED TO SPEAK TO THE PARENTS OF THE THREE YOUNG MEN.

WHAT HE SAID TO THEM WAS STRIKINGLY SIGNIFICANT.  “FORGIVE ME, YOUR PRESIDENT, THAT I WAS UNABLE TO DEFEND AND SAVE YOUR SONS,” HE SAID.

“FORGIVE ME,” BILLINGTON OBSERVED, “IS WHAT ONE RUSSIAN BELIEVER CUSTOMARILY SAYS TO THE PERSON NEXT TO THEM AT THE LORD’S TABLE BEFORE TAKING COMMUNION.

IN A TIME OF PUBLIC GRIEF, YELTSIN WAS RECITING THE FAMILIAR LANGUAGE OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX COMMUNION SERVICE.

“HE WAS,” BILLINGTON WRITES, “ASSUMING RESPONSIBILITY IN A SOCIETY WHERE NONE IN POWER HAD EVER ACCEPTED RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING.”

PERHAPS IT IS TIME FOR US AS A NATION, AS PEOPLE, AS BELIEVERS…

TO SAY TO EACH OTHER, AND IN PARTICULAR, TO THESE AMAZING WOMEN…

“FORGIVE ME.”