Celebrating Ten Women of the Bible

Today is International Women’s Day, “a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future”, and I thought I would take the opportunity to celebrate the women of the Bible. As much as I would like to celebrate ALL the women in the Bible (there’s not that many of them and yet still quite a good number), that might take a whole book to do. So here’s my selection of 10 women to celebrate today.

1. Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene, Pietro Perugino (c. 1490s)

Possibly the most controversial woman in Christian history, Mary Magdalene (or Mary of Magdala). The most common misconception about her is that she was a prostitute (an idea brought forth by Pope Gregory I). In the gnostic writing The Gospel of Mary, Andrew and Peter seemed to completely dismiss her… and yet most gnostic writing hail her as a true disciple, one who Jesus favored much (some opinions in fact think that Jesus was in love with her — and Dan Brown in his Da Vinci Code developed this idea). While discussions about Mary Magdalene could be very intense, let us celebrate her for what the gospel of John says about her… that she was a close follower of Jesus who became “the apostle to the apostles” as she brought the news of Jesus’ ressurection to the disciples with her famous line “I have seen the Lord” (read John 20:1-18 and listen to the song “I have seen the Lord“).

2. Deborah

In the days after Joshua died and before Saul became king there were judges who lead Israel, and Deborah was one of them. Yes, that’s right, a woman was giving the people of Israel instructions on how to lead their lives. In fact, the commander of Israel’s army came to her for advice… and he did not want to go to war without her by his side. How’s that for some female power?? While we’re at it, there’s another female in this particular story, Jael… who is actually sort of cooler cause it was her who effectively won the war when she killed the enemy’s king! (read Judges 4 and 5)

3. The Proverbs 31 woman

Proverbs 31 verses 10-30 talks about The Wife of Noble Character and has always been a passage that just annoys me to the max. This woman does EVERYTHING. She keeps her household in good order, she takes care of the business, and she even finds time to look after the poor and needy… and where’s her husband? Oh, he’s just sitting there at the gates talking to the other men, bragging about his wife. Huh, WHAT? Well, despite the fact that I personally think that no woman should be doing all the work while her husband just sits back and relaxes, kudos to this woman who is able to do it all, way before the days of emancipation and feminist movements (speaking of that, how did society go from letting the women do everything to letting the women do nothing but have kids and clean the house??)

4. The Canaanite woman

In the International Women’s Day worship at the Ecumenical Centre this morning, we read and reflected on the passage about the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28), possibly the most disturbing passage in the gospels when you’re a woman because here’s Jesus… and he is comparing this woman with a dog! Well, yes, there are good explanations to it, but still… WHAT?!! And yet, this particular woman is so awesome… she replied instantly to Jesus with such a witty comment that Jesus healed her daughter after all. That, my dear readers, is what I call female power.

5. Mary, mother of Jesus

Okay, she probably deserved to be mentioned earlier than this, but anyway… this Mary was a young woman who was obviously very devoted to her faith, and without her there would be no Jesus (well, okay, I suppose if she had said no, God could’ve found another woman too, but still…). Imagine what a shocking moment it must’ve been for her, and how difficult it was. Not only does she have to deal with her husband-to-be (luckily God took care of that) but also with society and with the pregnancy itself! Not to mention the tough deal of the journey and giving birth and what about seeing your precious son dying on a cross? For being such a strong and courageous woman, Mary, we celebrate you.

6. Abigail

I think many women could relate to Abigail… were there days when your husbands (or boyfriends) act like complete idiots? Yes? Welcome to Abigail’s life. Reading 1 Samuel 25, one could imagine that Nabal was possibly a complete d-bag. And yet, Abigail doesn’t give in to despair. Instead, she takes charge… and she saves her household with a highly courageous act. Bravo, Abigail!

7. Esther

I think I’ve made it clear by now that I’m aiming to get a whole variety of women and to celebrate them for many different reasons. We’ve had courage, wit, faith, bravery, well… here’s THE woman to be celebrated for beauty. Esther won a very important beauty pageant… instead of just receiving a crown and being treated like a princess for a day, she actually became the queen. Yet, she was not just beautiful on the outside, but she was beautiful in the inside too. Read her story in the book of Esther (one of only TWO books in the Bible to be named after a woman). The whole story is actually told to tell the origins of the feast of Purim, which coincidentally is celebrated today as well! How’s that for a celebration!

8. Vashti

It wouldn’t be fair to celebrate International Women’s Day and to include Esther in the list but not Vashti. If we’re going to be true to the roots of International Women’s Day marking the day women took a stand against the mistreatment they have been subjected to, here’s the woman did exactly that: speaking out against mistreatment. Read Esther 1… there he was, the king having a party, he got really drunk, and he summoned her queen to be DISPLAYED in front of everyone. And, while I’m sure she knows what the rules are, Vashti refused to come. Ha! Way to go, Vashti, woman of integrity!

9. Ruth

The other book of the bible named after a woman is the book of Ruth. And interesting enough, she wasn’t even an Israelite. The story of Ruth is a very touching story. Instead of going home to her family after the death of her husband, she decided to stay with her mother-in-law. Highly unusual, no? I often wonder what it is that made Ruth take this bold decision of going to a foreign country with no clear future… but perhaps it was an overflow of love to someone who needed it. Imagine Naomi, who had lost everything in her life. She was bitter, she was sick of it, she probably wanted to go home to Israel to die. She sent away her daughters-in-law so she would be all alone, no more burden, and she could be done with life. But no, Ruth saw the sadness, Ruth saw the bitterness, and even though she realizes it’s going to be tough for her, she decided to stay with Naomi. And they lived happily ever after. That, is genuine sisterhood.

10. Leah

Limiting myself to only 10 women makes it a bit difficult to choose who to feature as the count is almost up… but Leah has always had a special place in my heart ever since I read this novel that retold the story of Jacob’s clan from Leah’s point of view. Leah has always been misunderstood, overshadowed by her pretty little sister, and imagine having a husband who never wanted to marry you in the first place! And yet instead of Rachel, Leah was the one buried with Jacob in the cave of Machpelah, the same place where Abraham and Sarah, as well as Isaac and Rebekah are buried (see Genesis 49:29-31). Now what does that tell you? Well, it tells me that Leah was special. And perhaps, like in the novel (whose author’s name I can’t remember), Leah was the woman Jacob went to for counsel. The one he regarded as his “suitable helper”.

So there you have it, my selection of 10 women in the Bible who are to be celebrated for various reasons. Who would you celebrate and why?

wanderingdaph

Today is celebrated as International Women’s Day in many countries. Each year, we remember the lives and struggles of women on various walks of life and we celebrate the spirit and strength of women. As much as we may agree that women deserve to be loved and celebrated every day, there is something special about Women’s Day. Research indicates that International Women’s Day has been celebrated since 1900’s as the world was waking up to radical ideologies and discourses. Women have played a crucial and meaningful role in history, politics, literature since the beginning of time yet it took several thousands of years to identify the oppression and inequality of women.

I have admired a lot of women as I grew up and continue to be awed by many. Freedom, strength, beauty, courage, respect, love, dreams, intellect and commitment are the words that strike me when I think of women that inspire me…

View original post 223 more words

Youth and Ecumenism

If I were to group my experiences recently around one theme, it would be that of “youth.”  For the current issue of Reformed World we received for review a book titled You Lost Me. Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith. In it author David Kinnaman examines extensive research carried out by the Barna Group to find out why young Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 are leaving the church. This phenomenon has been receiving more and more press in the United States lately. The arrival of this book coincided with an invitation to attend a youth conference at St. Aldate’s Church, which is located at the heart of Oxford, England. The transformation of this very old Anglican church, whose first rector was installed in 1221, into a space to accommodate expressive, contemporary worship was a sight to behold. But the services and ministries seem to be popular among Oxford students. I met several who are working in the church as “interns” for the year, and quite a few among them plan to begin theological studies to prepare for church ministry or go to work for humanitarian organizations afterward.

When I arrived back at Geneva, I almost immediately had to begin making arrangements for a trip to Taizé, France, the site of the ecumenical religious order founded by Swiss Reformed pastor Roger Schütz (Brother Roger). He first came to this rural village in Burgundy in 1940 to offer refuge to Jews fleeing Nazi persecution and to discern a call to follow Christ in community dedicated to reconciliation and peace in a world devastated by war. In the decades to follow, Taizé has become a “parable of community” and a living embodiment of the Christian unity to which the ecumenical movement has aspired. Two days before my departure, Kristine Greenaway, WCRC’s Director of Communications, instructed me and fellow intern Aiko to prepare for the reception of a delegation of fifty brothers and youth volunteers from Taizé to the Ecumenical Centre. They were coming to join the staff in the service for the World Day of Prayer. There would be a program for the group, including a break-out session for which Aiko and I were to prepare presentations on WCRC and our roles this year within it. After we shared, the moderator divided the people into small groups to discuss the question what we saw as the most pressing problem facing young people today. It was interesting for me to hear the contributions in my group from those from Switzerland, South India, and Taiwan. Globalization of course has generated a set of common problems, but there are still issues particular to these regions.

Taizé is a truly remarkable place, a successful ecumenical experiment in which Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Christians are together in unity. There is a felt aura of love, peace and joy. With a group from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Geneva, I spent two days there, during which I joined in the community’s worship, listened to a “Bible introduction” on the text in Luke’s Gospel about Jesus’ visit to the home of Mary and Martha, and enjoyed a silent retreat in the woods. But Taizé has become synonymous with youth. Young people from the four corners of the globe stream to the place by the tens of thousands each year. Most of them stay one week, although the volunteers spend one year. They participate in the daily rhythm of worship, work, and play. They meet in groups to share about their search for faith and what it means to live it out. What attracts them? No one knows. The brothers never intended their order to be about youth. But they have been diligent in helping them to find ways to continue their journey of faith, to promote reconciliation and peace in the places where they live. It has been through these efforts that the community eventually launched their “pilgrimages of trust,” involving visits to cities on every continent. And it has been in the context of these events that many have discovered the distinctive Taizé music, those melodic songs consisting in one or two lines that are repeated again and again, making a prayer that is at once meditative and yet accessible to all. Wherever I have gone, in the United States and elsewhere, Taizé music is known and cherished, even by those who have little connection to the church.

These experiences have sustained continued reflection on youth. I wonder how our churches can better serve them in their search for direction and meaning during those years when most will be making important life choices. As for the ecumenical movement, I am becoming increasingly persuaded that the limited resources at its disposal ought to be channeled into promoting what has been called an “ecumenism of fellowship.” It is important to create spaces for Christians when they are young so that later when they become officeholders in their churches or otherwise assume positions of leadership in their communities, they will be less likely to distrust the other, since they are bonded to him or her in friendship. It is from the place of friendship that Christians can work out what it is that still prevents them from full eucharistic fellowship and common witness.

What’s in a Name?

Shakespeare’s famous question posed in Romeo and Juliette was the theme of an address by WCRC’s General Secretary, Setri Nyomi, earlier this week. Nyomi was participating in a panel discussion during the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday, 28 February.

In his remarks, Nyomi focussed on the significance to members of the former World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) in the change from being called an alliance to being called a communion. When WARC merged with the Reformed Ecumenical Council to form the World Communion of Reformed Churches, they found themselves in a communion rather than an alliance. What does this mean? Nyomi explored some answers in his address.

From Alliance to Communion – a contribution to Christian unity
“I ask … that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17: 21

The high priestly prayer references that the modern ecumenical movement has constantly used to undergird our commitment continue to inspire us in the quest for Christian unity. The Reformed family continues to do its bit to live this commitment out. The 1986 Belhar Confession, which comes from the South African context not only fosters justice in exposing the evil of apartheid; it in fact is a major statement of faith on Christian unity. It states:

We believe that unity is, therefore, both a gift and an obligation for the church of Jesus Christ; that through the working of God’s Spirit it is a binding force, yet simultaneously a reality which must be earnestly pursued and sought: one
which the people of God must continually be built up to attain.

This is just one of the pointers to our commitment to Christian unity. We recognise that healing and reconciliation within one church family can be a contribution to Christian unity. We are aware that the Reformed family has a tendency to divide – a reputation we are not proud of. Somebody has said if you are trying to put two Presbyterian churches together – the result is often three. So we do have a responsibility to reverse this and to contribute positively to Christian unity. It is for this reason that we are grateful to God for the process that led to the unity of two Reformed global bodies in June 2010 which also resulted in our intentionally taking on the identity of a communion.

The June 2010 event brought the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, an organisation which had its beginnings in 1875, and the Reformed Ecumenical Council, with beginnings in 1946, together to form the World Communion of Reformed Churches. This marked healing within the Reformed churches. In the twentieth century, new signs of division in the Church of Christ were introduced – Christian right-Christian left, Conservative-liberal, etc. This also had an impact within the Reformed family with WARC: where those who were described as liberal gravitated towards WARC and those who felt more comfortable with the conservative label moved towards the REC. In June 2010, we said “No” to such division and came together in one body – the World Communion of Reformed Churches. I see this as something larger than ourselves – not just an intra communion phenomenon. That healing and reconciliation within the Reformed family is a contribution to Christian unity as a whole.

The identity we chose in this unity – a communion is significant. Even before the merger was decided upon, the old World Alliance of Reformed Churches began a process to question our identity as an Alliance. An alliance is a kind of military term in which parties who normally would not agree together enter into an agreement to do something together usually to confront or fight an enemy together. That is the label we had for more than a century – an Alliance of churches holding on to the Presbyterian system. So around 2003, we began a theological reflection process to question how we could move beyond being an alliance into a quality of relationship within the family that honours God more and enables us to contribute in a stronger way to the quest for Christian unity. Our then Theology Secretary, Dr. Odair Pedroso Mateus produced a good discussion paper which helped in this process of reflection.

It was providential (providence – a good reformed word) that in 2006 we started a process of uniting WARC and REC. And we placed the quality of our relationships in this process. Our consultations with our member churches confirmed this desire to raise the quality of our relationships and to define ourselves more faithfully in terms of koinonia – rather than simply as an Alliance or an association. We enshrined in the first article of our constitution as a communion the following words:

The churches in the World Communion of Reformed Churches are called together in the name of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Under the sovereign God, with Christ’s followers across the globe, sharing one baptism, the members of the communion belong to the one holy catholic and apostolic church.

With these words we celebrate our oneness as the Reformed family and a higher quality of relationship in altar and pulpit fellowship. But we did not do so as an exclusive club. We were intentional about belonging to the one holy catholic and apostolic church. This is a part of Reformed heritage. John Calvin in a lecture to a former Archbishop of Canterbury – Thomas Cranmer – in 1553 stated that he was ready to cross ten seas for the sake of Christian unity. Our DNA tells us, “To be Reformed is to be ecumenical”. Being a communion therefore unites us to continue working for Christian unity. It is an ecumenical call. This in the words of the Belhar Confession is both a gift and obligation.