GOD IS BIGGER THAN GENDER
Genesis 1:27; Isaiah 49:15; Matthew 23:37
Rev. Paul Wrightman 2/19/23
ONE THING THAT WE NEED TO REMEMBER
AS WE CONSIDER JESUS USE OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
IS THAT, UNLIKE US, WHO ARE VERY MUCH A PART
OF A VISUAL CULTURE, WITH OUR BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS
AND SCREENS OF ALL SORTS,
JESUS WAS IMMERSED IN AN ORAL CULTURE,
A CULTURE THAT RELIED ON ACCURATE REMEMBERING,
AND ENCOURAGED THE PRACTICE OF MEMORIZATION.
I STILL REMEMBER HOW STARTLED I WAS
TO LEARN THAT MANY FOLLOWERS OF THE PROPHET MOHAMMED
HAVE TAKEN IT UPON THEMSELVES TO MEMORIZE
THE ENTIRETY OF THEIR HOLY BOOK, THE QURAN.
SINCE THEN I HAVE LEARNED THAT MANY WHO FOLLOW
THE ISLAMIC TRADITION LIVE IN CULTURES
THAT ARE STILL LARGELY ORAL IN NATURE,
AND WHERE PRODIGIOUS FEATS OF MEMORY
ARE HIGHLY REGARDED.
IN A SIMILAR WAY,
THE CULTURE IN WHICH JESUS LIVED WAS AN ORAL CULTURE,
AND IN OUR HISTORICAL RECORDS
WE HAVE MANY INSTANCES OF JEWISH PERSONS
WHO MEMORIZED HUGE PARTS
OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES, OR OLD TESTAMENT.
WE DON'T KNOW WHETHER OF NOT JESUS HIMSELF
WAS ONE OF THESE PEOPLE.
WE CAN ASSUME, HOWEVER, THAT NOT ONLY WAS JESUS LITERATE,
LIKE MOST OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE OF THE TIME,
BUT THAT HE WAS, AT THE MINIMUM, HIGHLY CONVERSANT
WITH THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES AS A WHOLE.
THIS MEANS THAT HE WOULD HAVE HAD
THE ENTIRETY OF HIS SCRIPTURES AT HIS FINGERTIPS, SO TO SPEAK,
AND WOULD HAVE, INDEED, BEEN ABLE TO CHOOSE CERTAIN TEXTS
AS HAVING THEOLOGICAL PRIORITY OVER OTHERS.
GIVEN JESUS' RADICALLY EGALITARIAN STANCE
TOWARD WOMEN, A STANCE THAT WOULD HAVE
SINGLED HIM OUT IN HIS DAY,
AND PROVOKED MUCH CONTROVERSY,
WE NEED TO ASK OURSELVES ABOUT THE ORIGIN
OF JESUS' BASICALLY BEING TWO THOUSAND YEARS
AHEAD OF HIS TIME WITH RESPECT TO WOMEN.
THE ANSWER, I THINK, LIES IN JESUS' PROFOUND KNOWLEDGE
OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES.
ONE OF THE TEXTS WHICH IMMEDIATELY STAND OUT
AS A THEOLOGICAL ABSOLUTE IS GENESIS 1:27,
WHICH STATES UNEQUIVOCALLY
"SO GOD CREATED HUMANKIND IN HIS IMAGE,
IN THE IMAGE OF GOD HE CREATED THEM,
MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM."
IN MANY WAYS, JESUS' OWN RADICALLY EGALITARIAN STANCE
TOWARD WOMEN CAN BE UNDERSTOOD AS HIS
THINKING THROUGH THE IMPLICATIONS
OF THIS REVOLUTIONARY TEXT.
GENESIS 1:27 SUGGESTS THAT AN APPROACH TO GOD
THAT EMBODIES BOTH MASCULINE AND FEMININE QUALITIES
WOULD ACTUALLY BE TRUER TO THE NATURE OF GOD
THAN EITHER MASCULINE OR FEMININE QUALITIES ALONE.
JUNGIAN PSYCHOLOGIST JOHN SANFORD
WRITES THAT JESUS LIVED THE PERFECT BALANCE
BETWEEN INTOVERSION AND EXTROVERSION,
FEELING AND RATIONALITY, THE CONCRETE AND THE INTUITIVE,
THE MASCULINE AND THE FEMININE.
IF JESUS EMBODIES THE PARADOX
WHICH CHRISTIAN TRADITION CALLS THE INCARNATION –
THE MYSTERY OF ONE PERSON BEING AT THE SAME TIME
FULLY HUMAN AND FULLY DIVINE –
THEN BY LOOKING AT JESUS WE GET
THE CLEAREST AND DEEPEST REVELATION
OF WHO GOD IS,
AND OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE
A TRULY BALANCED AND WHOLE HUMAN BEING.
WHAT WE SEE IN JESUS
IS A RABBI WHO DOES NOT HESITATE
TO ACCEPT WOMEN AS DISCIPLES,
A MAN WHO DOES NOT HESITATE TO EXPRESS HIS FEELINGS,
A TEACHER WHO DOES NOT HESITATE
TO USE A WOMAN AS A METAPHOR FOR GOD
(SEE THE PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN IN LUKE 15),
AND A SON WHO DOES NOT HESITATE
TO DESCRIBE HIS FATHER AND HIS FATHER’S KINGDOM
IN THE MOST TENDER OF TERMS.
WHAT WE SEE IN JESUS
IS A PERSON WHO DOES NOT HESITATE TO SPEAK FOR GOD,
AND IN SPEAKING FOR GOD,
TO SHOW US THE DEEPEST YEARNINGS OF GOD’S OWN HEART:
“JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM, THE CITY THAT KILLS THE PROPHETS
AND STONES THOSE WHO ARE SENT TO IT!
HOW OFTEN HAVE I DESIRED TO GATHER YOUR CHILDREN TOGETHER
AS A HEN GATHERS HER BROOD UNDER HER WINGS,
AND YOU WERE NOT WILLING!
(Matthew 23:37)
THIS IMAGE IS ESPECIALLY POIGNANT
BECAUSE IT REFLECTS A NUMBER OF STORIES
FROM THE ISRAEL OF JESUS’ DAY
IN WHICH A MOTHER HEN ALLOWED HERSELF
TO BE BURNED TO DEATH
IN THE ACT OF PROTECTING HER YOUNG FROM A RAGING FIRE.
THE FACT THAT JESUS SAYS THIS JUST BEFORE
HIS ARREST AND CRUCIFIXION
DEMONSTRATES THE LENGTH TO WHICH HE IS PREPARED TO GO
TO EXPRESS GOD’S LOVE FOR US.
MANY CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGIANS CONSIDER IT A BASIC AXIOM
THAT WE BECOME LIKE THE GOD WE WORSHIP.
THEY CONSIDER IT NOTHING LESS THAN A TRAGEDY
THAT THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION SO EARLY ON
CHOSE TO REJECT THE BALANCED PICTURE
OF GOD AND THE HUMAN PERSON EMBODIED IN JESUS,
AND TO SUBSTITUTE IN JESUS’ PLACE
A HYPER-MASCULINE GOD
WHO FAVORED MEN OVER WOMEN,
WHO APPROVED OF SO-CALLED “HOLY” WARS,
AND WHO AUTHORIZED CRUSADES AND INQUISITIONS.
THERE IS STRONG EVIDENCE THAT THE EARLIEST CHURCH
LIVED OUT THE REALITY OF THE “PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS.”
WE HAVE TEXTUAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE, FOR EXAMPLE,
THAT IN THE EARLIEST CHURCH ALL WHO COMPRISED
A PARTICULAR LOCAL HOUSE-CHURCH, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN,
TOOK TURNS PRESIDING AT THE CELEBRATION OF COMMUNION.
THERE WERE AS YET NO PRIESTLY CLASS
BECAUSE EVERYONE WAS A PRIEST.
SADLY, WITHIN A GENERATION OR SO
AN OFFICIAL PRIESTHOOD WAS ESTABLISHED,
SOME BEING CONSIDERED MORE “WORTHY”
TO BLESS THE BREAD AND WINE THAN OTHERS.
SIGNIFICANTLY, SOME EARLY MOSAICS IN ROME
SHOW WOMEN BLESSING THE BREAD AND WINE.
WITHIN TWO GENERATIONS, HOWEVER,
THIS ROLE WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM WOMEN,
AND ONLY MALE PRIESTS WERE ALLOWED
TO OFFICIATE AT COMMUNION.
WE SEE A MOVEMENT HERE
AWAY FROM THE EQUALITARIAN MOVEMENT
THAT JESUS FOUNDED,
TO THE CREATION OF A SPECIAL CLASS OF PRIESTS,
BOTH MEN AND WOMEN,
AND THEN TO THE ROLE OF PRIEST
BEING RESTRICTED TO MALES ONLY.
IF WE BECOME LIKE THE GOD WE WORSHIP,
WE SEE THAT THE REAL JESUS WAS EARLY-ON ABANDONED
FOR A HYPER-MASCULINE GOD WHO WAS INTO POWER AND MIGHT
MUCH MORE THAN LOVE AND COMPASSION.
WHAT WE SEE HAPPENING IN OUR CONTEMPORARY CULTURE
OF THE PAST FIFTY YEARS OR SO
IS AN ATTEMPT, AT LEAST IN THE WESTERN WORLD
AND IN THOSE PARTS OF THE EAST INFLUENCED BY BUDDHISM,
TO RESET THE BALANCE
BETWEEN THE MASCULINE AND THE FEMININE
THAT WAS ESSENTIALLY LOST
FOR NEARLY TWO THOUSAND YEARS.
THE ATTEMPT OF MAINSTREAM
AND SOME EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS
TO USE GENDER-NEUTRAL, OR INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE FOR GOD
IS PART OF THIS WIDER MOVEMENT
TO CORRECT THE CULTURAL DISTORTION OF AN ALL-MALE GOD.
JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY HAVE ALWAYS TAUGHT
THAT GOD IS BEYOND GENDER,
BUT THEY HAVE NOT ALWAYS LIVED-OUT THIS INSIGHT
IN THEIR LITURGY AND THEOLOGY.
OF COURSE USING GENDER-NEUTRAL, OR INCLUSIVE, LANGUAGE
FOR GOD GETS AWKWARD AT TIMES,
WITH UNGAINLY PERMUTATIONS LIKE “GODSELF,”
OR “FATHER/MOTHER GOD.”
BUT, I SUGGEST, THIS AWKWARDNESS IS MUCH MORE POSITIVE
THAN THE DAYS WHEN THE MASCULINE PRONOUN “HE”
REFERED TO BOTH MEN AND WOMEN,
AND THE CAPITALIZED PRONOUN “HE”
WAS ALWAYS USED TO REFER TO GOD.
OUR TRANSLATION OF GENESIS 1:27
NICELY CAPTURES THE OUTLANDISHNESS
OF USING THE MASCULINE PRONOUN FOR GOD.
THE CRUCIAL THEOLOGICAL POINT THAT THIS VERSE IS MAKING
IS THAT MEN AND WOMEN ARE BOTH
CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD,
WHO, BY IMPLICATION, TRANSCENDS GENDER.
BUT NOTICE HOW THE LANGUAGE IS WEIGHTED IN FAVOR
OF THE MASCULINE:
WE ARE CREATED IN HIS IMAGE;
AND WE ARE TOLD TWICE THAT HE CREATED US.
PERSONALLY, I FEEL THAT THEOLOGICAL INTENT
SHOULD BE FACTORED IN WHEN TRANSLATING.
A BETTER TRANSLATION, BETTER IN THE SENSE OF
BETTER REFLECTING THE ACTUAL THEOLOGICAL INTENT
OF THIS VERSE, WOULD READ:
“SO GOD CREATED HUMANKIND IN GOD’S IMAGE,
IN THE IMAGE OF GOD GOD CREATED THEM,
MALE AND FEMALE GOD CREATED THEM.”
I CAN’T HELP BUT THINK THAT THE HISTORY
OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION SINCE THE ADVENT OF CHRISTIANITY
WOULD HAVE BEEN A REMARKABLY BETTER HISTORY
IF THE FULL PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN
WHICH MARKED THE EARLIEST CHURCH HAD BEEN MAINTAINED –
IN OTHER WORDS, IF THE CHURCH HAD REMAINED TRUE
TO THE TEACHING AND PRACTICE OF ITS FOUNDER, JESUS.
WITH A BALANCED REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN PRIESTS,
BISHOPS, CARDINALS, AND EVEN POPES,
I SUSPECT THAT THE CHURCH BLESSING WARS,
CRUSADES, AND INQUISITIONS WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED.
AND ON THE PROTESTANT SIDE,
IF THE REFORMERS HAD ALLOWED WOMEN
TO BE ORDAINED TO THE MINISTRY AS WELL AS MEN --
SOMETHING THAT HAS HAPPENED ONLY
WITHIN THE LAST FIFTY YEARS,
AND THAT ONLY IN THE PROTESTANT MAINSTREAM --
THE HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES
WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT LESS VIOLENT AS WELL.
OF COURSE WE CAN’T REWRITE HISTORY,
BUT WE CAN INFLUENCE THE SHAPE THAT HISTORY TAKES
IN THE PRESENT AND FUTURE.
THIS IS WHY CHRISTIAN FEMINISM
AS PART OF THE THEOLOGY OF LIBERATION
IS SO CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT.
CHRISTIAN FEMINIST LIBERATION THEOLOGY
IS NOT, AT ITS CORE, ABOUT POLITICAL CORRECTNESS,
BUT ABOUT ISSUES OF BASIC JUSTICE.
THE FIRST ORGANIZATION THAT NEEDS TO BE LIBERATED
IS THE CHURCH ITSELF.
THEN, WHEN WE HAVE OUR OWN HOUSE IN ORDER,
WHEN WE HAVE RETURNED TO THE TEACHING AND PRACTICE
OF JESUS,
THEN, AND ONLY THEN, WILL THE REST OF THE WORLD
TAKE THE CHURCH SERIOUSLY WHEN WE SPEAK ABOUT
JUSTICE AND PEACE.
LET US CELEBRATE THE WONDERFUL TEXTS
THAT WE HAVE IN THE BIBLE
THAT REVEAL THE FEMININE SIDE OF GOD.
DEUTERONOMY 32:18 CONTAINS THE CHALLENGE:
“YOU FORGOT THE GOD WHO GAVE YOU BIRTH.”
THE ROOT OF THE HEBREW WORD FOR COMPASSION,
RAHAMIM, IS REHEM, WHICH MEANS “WOMB.”
GOD EXPRESSES GOD’S WOMB-LIKE, MOTHERLY LOVE
THROUGH THE PROPHET ISAIAH:
“CAN A WOMAN FORGET HER NURSING CHILD,
OR SHOW NO COMPASSION FOR THE CHILD OF HER WOMB?
EVEN THESE MAY FORGET, YET I WILL NOT FORGET YOU.
(Isaiah 49:15)
GOD PROMISES, ALSO THROUGH ISAIAH:
“AS A MOTHER COMFORTS HER CHILD,
SO I WILL COMFORT YOU.”
(Isaiah 66:13)
I WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE THIS SERMON
WITH A QUOTATION FROM THE BOOK GOOD GOATS.
CONCERNING HIS STRUGGLE TO EMBRACE A GOD
WHO WAS LIKE A MOTHER AS WELL AS LIKE A FATHER,
DENNIS LINN WRITES:
“AT FIRST I THOUGHT THAT MY RESISTANCE
WAS TO CHANGING MY THEOLOGY.
BUT I DISCOVERED THAT MY REAL RESISTANCE
WAS TO CHANGING MY PERSONALITY…
I NEEDED TO RELY LESS ON MY ABILITY TO THINK
AND MORE ON MY UNDERDEVELOPED FEELING SIDE.
[I NEEDED TO LEARN TO] APPRECIATE HOW GOD
LOVES THE UNREPENTANT SINNER,
HOW GRACE IS NOT EARNED BUT GIVEN AS A FREE GIFT.
I HAD TO BECOME MORE AT HOME WITH RECEIVING FROM OTHERS
RATHER THAN ALWAYS COMPULSIVELY DOING THINGS FOR THEM.
IN SUMMARY, I NEEDED TO INTEGRATE FEMININE VALUES
INTO MY DEEPLY SKEWED MALE VALUE SYSTEM.
I GREW UP WITH A MALE SKEW.
I WAS GOOD AT EFFICIENCY,
BUILDING THINGS IN THE OUTER WORLD,
COMPETING, AND DOMINATING MY ENVIRONMENT.
I BELIEVED THAT EXTERNAL AUTHOTITIES HAD ALL THE ANSWERS.
HEAVEN AND HELL WERE PLACES “OUT THERE.”
LIKE MANY MEN, I WAS ORIENTED TOWARD OUTER SPACE.
I WAS NOT SO GOOD AT THE FEMININE VALUES
OF CARING FOR THINGS AS THEY ARE, MUTUALITY
OR EXPERIENCING MY OWN FEELINGS AND BODY WISDOM.
I DIDN’T KNOW THAT TRUTH IS ALSO FOUND WITHIN,
AND THAT HEAVEN AND HELL HAVE AN INNER MEANING,
AS MEASURES OF MY OWN CONNECTEDNESS OR DISCONNECTEDNESS
TO GOD, MYSELF, OTHERS AND THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE.
I WAS OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE FEMININE DIMENSION
OF INNER SPACE.
IN ORDER TO BECOME A MORE BALANCED PERSON,
I NEEDED TO DEVELOP MY FEMININE SIDE,
AND IN ORDER TO DEVELOP MY FEMININE SIDE
I NEEDED TO KNOW GOD THE MOTHER.
ALL LANGUAGE FOR GOD IS METAPHORICAL;
GOD IS NOT LITERALLY A FATHER.
BUT IF GOD IS LIKE A FATHER, THEN GOD IS ALSO LIKE A MOTHER.
MALE AND FEMALE, LOVING MOTHERS AND FATHERS
REFLECT FOR US EQUALLY THE IMAGE OF GOD (Gen.1:27).
WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?
JUST AS WE BECOME LIKE OUR HUMAN PARENTS,
WE ALSO BECOME LIKE THE GOD WE ADORE…
AS LONG AS WE HAVE AN ALL-MALE GOD,
WHAT HAPPENED TO ME
WILL ALSO HAPPEN TO OUR CULTURE AND OUR CHURCH.
THEIR VALUES TOO WILL BE
THOSE OF DOMINATION AND COMPETITION,
IN WHICH WE DEVALUE WOMEN,
DO NOT DEVELOP OUR FEMININE SIDE,
AND DO NOT TRUST OR CHERISH THE INNER LIFE
OF OURSELVES OR OTHERS.
AND SO LONG AS WE BELIEVE OUR CULTURE WHEN IT TELLS US
THAT IT IS GOOD TO DOMINATE AND BE IN CONTROL,
WE WILL REINFORCE OUR EXCLUSIVELY MALE IMAGE OF GOD.”
(Good Goats, pp.39-41)
(END OF QUOTE)
ONE WAY FOR US TO BREAK THE STRANGLEHOLD
OF AN IMAGE OF GOD THAT TENDS TO REFLECT THE WORST
ASPECTS OF MASCULINITY
IS TO GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH SOME OF THE GREAT MYSTICS
OF THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION.
IT WOULD DO US GOOD
TO MEDITATE ON MEISTER ECKHART’S WORDS:
“ALL LANGUAGE HAS TAKEN AN OATH TO FAIL TO DESCRIBE GOD;
ANY ATTEMPT TO DO SO IS THE HEIGHT OF ARROGANCE
AND WILL ALWAYS DECLARE SOME KIND OF WAR:
THE INNER WARS THAT UNDERMINE OUR STRENGTH,
AND THE OUTER WARS THAT MAIM RED.”
IT WOULD DO US GOOD
TO MEDITATE ON TERESA OF AVILA’S TERSE STATEMENT:
“ALL CONCEPTS OF GOD ARE LIKE A JAR WE BREAK.”
AMEN.