Back to the blog!

Back at long last after an extensive layoff for work, travel and research.   Looking forward to a summer of blogging!

So far, 2010 is shaping up as quite a dispiriting year for feminine spirituality.  The RCC continues its strong stance against female ordination or any kind of female leadership (no surprise there), the Anglican communion is experiencing a significant worldwide push-back against female ordination (although women have been ordained in the U.S. church since the 1970s, England only permitted women to be ordained about 15 years ago and has been permitting protesting dioceses to opt out, which more and more are choosing to do), and even some Protestant denominations in the U.S. have started to "de-fellowship" congregations with female pastors in order to pressure women out of leadership roles.   Polls show increasing numbers of Christians (including women) agree that women should not be permitted to lead in the church.  

A letter-writer to the New Yorker recently opined that based upon all of the above, one can only conclude that Christianity is for men only, and all women should leave the church.  An interesting point:  Christianity is technically not a religion, it is a faith based upon the Resurrection, so one could argue that if women are excluded from ordination, they are excluded from the pews as well.

The purpose of this blog is to examine the many ways that Jesus has ordained women in the spiritual sense, and how this is not recognized by the male-imposed bureaucracies that have been created over the centuries.  Is there any chance that women will overcome these barriers in our lifetimes?  Probably not, especially given the above-referenced backlash against what little progress was made in the late 20th century.   I think it is interesting (and more than a bit discouraging!) that in the 1970s, many people predicted that by the year 2000, women would have full parity with men in every area - education, business, religion - but we now see that a decade into the new century, not only are we far from parity, we seem to be losing ground from 20-30 years ago.   What are the reasons for this?  

     

Mary and Peter

It's interesting that Jesus is so confident of Mary's love that He proclaims it to others (see John 12:7, Matthew 26:10-13, Mark 14:6-9).   Peter, on the other hand - not so much (see John 21:15-17).  What do you think the difference is?

About those apostles...

The fact that Jesus chose 12 men and no women to be His apostles is frequently cited as the reason for excluding women from formal ordination and full participation in the church (the fact that Jesus is male is actually the primary reason, but we'll get to that later).  But consider:  Jesus tells us again and again that those who are first will be last and those who are last will be first, and that we should not take the place of honor.  And we know that the men Jesus chose were not exactly the cream of the crop (it's generally understood that Jesus deliberately picked those who were weak in faith to demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit in their transformation).  So why do we presume that Jesus excluded women because they weren't good enough, and that that's a bad thing?  He apparently chose men because they weren't good enough - as they proved again and again - and neither that fact nor the sorry history of the church's male leadership over the centuries has been enough to exclude men from leadership! 

More Re: The Better Portion

"The Lord looks out from heaven on all the human race, to see if any act wisely, if any seek God.  But all are unfaithful, altogether corrupt; no one does good, no, not even one."  Psalm 14:2-3

I think it was Rick Warren who noted that we're not called "human doings" - we're human beings!  Authentic spirituality is about being, not doing.  There's nothing wrong with being a "Martha" and finding a calling in service.  It's natural to want to see tangible "fruit," to feel that we are "productive" and that our efforts are "paying off."  But the important thing is to keep our hearts and souls centered on God.   This is why Jesus says we must be "born again" - we must become new beings, born of spirit, centered on Him, not ourselves.

(Recently I saw a car displaying several anti-Christian bumper stickers (very common in the part of urban Los Angeles I live in), one of which defiantly proclaimed: "Born OK the First Time!"   Of all of the misguided atheism I've seen recently, that may be the best example of truly not getting it!    Being "born again" is not a "do-over" because there was something wrong with our first one (LOL!);  it's the spiritual process by which we receive God's Spirit and align with God's purpose for our souls.)

Mary of Bethany is the only person in the Gospels who really "gets it" prior to the Resurrection and Pentecost (am I wrong - can you think of anyone else? Let me know...).   She is all about being, not doing.   She doesn't "do" things, she just "is."   This seems deeply mystical to me (remember that in Jewish tradition, Wisdom is often personified as a woman).   Mary represents not subservience to men, as some feminist commentators have unfortunately alleged, but the embodiment of Wisdom - God-centered love.   

What Mary Has Chosen

As we begin to examine "the better portion," first let's consider this awesome observation from Oswald Chambers:

"The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, "I am my own god."  This nature may exhibit itself in proper morality or in improper immorality, but it always has a common basis - my claim to my right to myself.  When Our Lord faced people, He paid no attention to the moral degradation of one nor any attention to the moral attainment of another.  He looked at something we do not see, namely, the nature of man."

(My Utmost For His Highest, 2008 edition)

It is unfortunate that we often equate Christianity not with devotion to Jesus, but with outward manifestations of conventional morality.  This is especially true when it comes to women, as religion has been used to control women's behavior for as long as there has been religion.  

Isn't it amazing that while we may be swayed by what we think is moral or immoral, Jesus never is?  Jesus never scorns the depraved, nor is He impressed by the scrupulously religious.   His love and praise for Mary is based not upon her conduct or social status, but upon her total devotion to Him.  And her devotion to Him is based upon her grasp of the truth - that He is her Savior, the One who will deliver humanity from original sin.

What Has Mary Found?

What Mary knows - prior to the Resurrection, prior to Pentecost - is that Jesus is the Son of God, the Incarnate Word.   She reflects this in her worship of Him in Luke - to the exclusion of worldly concerns - and her demonstrated understanding of His radical teaching in John 11 by washing His feet (prior to His express instruction to His male disciples in John 13) and (perhaps) her deliberate association with the "immoral woman" of Luke 7:37:  just as Jesus will cast Himself as a common criminal in His final Passion, she casts herself as among the lowest of the low, a woman scorned by polite society and "religious" people.  And of course, by anointing Jesus she shows that she knows He is the Messiah and she anticipates His death, a prophetic act that wins His praise.

Note that whenever Jesus refers to His impending death to His male disciples, they either don't understand or insist it won't happen.  Mary shows that she understands and accepts what Jesus must do.  And, as Warren Wiersbe puts it, "Mary's adoration not only revealed her love, but it brought joy to His heart, exposed Judas's sin, and gave the church an example to follow" (Bible Commentary - New Testament (Thomas Nelson, 1991).

Mary is the example for the church - all followers of Jesus - to follow!  Not because of what she does, but what she manifests - her all-consuming love for Jesus, the centering of her life on Him as the source of life and spirit, her complete emptying of her self in favor of Him and His will.

Proof, in case you need it, of the existence of God!

In looking over the last post, it struck me as extraordinary that Jesus expressed such a view of women!  The view of women as "radically equal" is not accepted even today, where women are denied even the most basic legal rights (such as the right to control their own bodies, the right to own or inherit property, etc.) and routinely subjected to all manner of physical and sexual abuse.  (it's sad to have to consider true equality with men as "radical," but we all know that's true - even in the church, women are barred from priesthood by some denominations and are denied certain missionary and evangelical work by some Protestant denominations.)  No other first-century religious figure would ever say or think such a thing.   It could only come from a divine source - from God.  And maybe that is why Jesus expressed it through His relationship with Mary (and Martha too), rather than in express words.