The following notes are some reflections on Mothering Sunday from back in 2003. Understanding and attitudes evolve over time. Much of my early Christian attitudes were influenced by a poor attitude towards women that made them subordinate to men. But reading the Bible changed that view and I found myself a little angry when I come across such attitudes today. This is not a masterly piece of writing on the subject but it might be worth sharing.
Today millions of people around the country are celebrating Mothers’ Day or Mothering Sunday. It is not a Christian festival but many churches will also be marking this occasion in various ways. Many will use it as an opportunity for outreach through family services. Some will use it as an opportunity to advocate traditional family life and the value of motherhood within that structure. Still others may take this opportunity to explore theologically the role of women within the totality of the church and the kingdom of God. We are going to endeavour to follow that last course, though we may not want to abandon any other position entirely.
Probably the worst thing that could be done by a church on Mothering Sunday is to use the occasion to be patronising to women in general and mothers in particular, and to follow the well-worn paths that lead to the subjugation of women and girls within our society. The gospel is about nothing if it is not about freedom, and we expect to find ample evidence for the absolute emancipation of women as we seek to exegete the scriptures.
The problem that we have when we seek for truth in scripture is remembering to leave off the spectacles of prejudice, which so easily distort our view. There are two kinds of prejudice that I want to warn about today. The first of these is the prejudice of a traditional view. There are neat stereotypical images of the role of women and the nature of motherhood that have more to do with societal history than biblical exegesis. However, churches and preachers have colluded to reinforce these images. In the process some scripture becomes used selectively and some scripture is ignored as we start with our received understanding of what should be and then seek to support that view from scripture.
Theological reflection is a discipline that should mark every area of our beliefs and practises. What we need to do is not start from a fixed position and look for support, but rather expose our opinions to critical examination in the light of scripture. That may be uncomfortable and unsettling for those who have never experienced the glorious liberating and illuminating that it can bring.
The second kind of prejudice is that kind of radical attitude that reacts to the conservative in an extreme way. Feminism is no longer something that is new. The reaction of women both within and without the churches to oppressive regimes is immediately understandable. Sadly the churches tend to adopt a conservative position and are therefore slow to catch up. However, very many churches and biblical scholars have had to acknowledge that sometimes truth dawns more quickly outside the walls of the churches. We should not be afraid to say so when it does. But extreme feminism that reacts to such conservatism is in some ways as great a danger in terms of prejudicing sound exegesis as the conservatism against which it reacts. On the other hand it is often only because extreme attitudes are expressed that people are nudged out of the rut.
We need at this stage to say something about the relationship between motherhood and the role of women in society and the church in general. It seems to me that they are inextricably bound together since both society and the church have tended to present the role of women as finding fulfilment in marriage and motherhood.
This idealistic view might be a consequence of the tyranny of patriarchy, whether deliberate or careless; what we can say is that it has been very oppressive of both unmarried women and childless women, as if they were somehow incomplete.
Such a view is oppressive and tyrannical and as such contrary to the gospel of Christ.
So we will endeavour to leave aside prejudice and, as best we can, seek to explore the truth. We seek for that truth through the scriptures, which we believe to be the Word of God. We are going to do this in three stages. The first of these will be to look both at the nature of God and of humankind within his created order. The second will be to note the development of the role of women throughout the Old Testament. Then thirdly to look at the role of women through the teaching and actions of Jesus and his apostles.
The Nature of God and the created order.
Scripture reveals a God who is one yet three. Each person of the trinity is complete and whole yet co-dependent and fully a part of the others so that we have three persons that are essentially one. This is a mystery that is hard for us to grasp completely. We could say that there is a single plural complementarity!
Sex and gender are a part of the created order. In every plant and creature there is both male and female versions or parts – that which is capable of bearing offspring and that which is capable of fertilising. There is complementarity and co-dependency in nature. This is true, though in a different way, for that which is androgynous or hermaphrodite where the complementary parts are found within single creature.
We get into difficulties when we try to define or describe God from that which he has created. The Bible speaks of God as having eyes, ears, hands, and arms, but these are the attempts of human beings to understand and describe the divine. They should not be taken literally. Similarly we have problems if we try to define God by gender. Usually we think of God as male. The Bible reveals him as a heavenly father. But it also attributes feminine qualities to him.
Isaiah 42:14 describes God as a woman in childbirth. Isaiah 49:15 describes God like a mother unable to forget the child she bore. Isaiah 66:13 describes God as a comforting mother. In Psalm 131 David describes his relationship with God as a young child in the arms of its mother. In Matthew 23 and Luke 13 we have the words of Jesus as he laments over Jerusalem and describes himself as a hen gathering its chicks under its wing. All of these are powerful female images. Jesus told parables to teach spiritual truths. In one of these he depicts God as a woman seeking a lost coin (Luke 15:8).
For many people one of the most difficult things to accept is the use of the Hebrew word “ruach” to define the Spirit of God. This word has feminine gender. So in the Spirit of God hovering over the waters and bringing to birth creation out of chaos God is defined by the language of the OT writer as female.
We cannot conclude from scripture that God is absolutely male, no more than we can say that scripture leads us to believe that God is female. We do better to infer that we cannot define God in terms of gender. That has implications on the words we use in worship. While I am personally very comfortable with addressing God as Father, I do understand those that have difficulty and even find this a barrier, either because of bad experience of fathers, or because they feel that it contributes to their subjugation and oppression.
We have two accounts of the creation of humankind. The first of these in Genesis 1 shows both male and female created together in the image of God – both male and female. They share an equal status in the created order with neither as superior to the other. Here the word “man” (Hebrew “adam”) is used for both the male and the female as a generic term. In Genesis 2 we have Adam formed first and Eve formed out of Adam. Adam is shown is incomplete and being made whole by the provision of a suitable helper who is made out of his side. That she came out of his side, and not his head or feet, may well have significance in symbolism. The difference in order in Genesis 2 is the only difference from chapter 1. There is no sign of superiority or inferiority here. The image of God is seen in both the male and female humans.
The role of women in the Old Testament
As part of the punishment of Eve following the fall, she is to be dependent upon her husband, and he will exercise dominion over her. This is not the original plan; it is the consequence of sin entering human nature.
The law reinforces this change in status. The law is clearly given to man, and his wife is defined as part of his possessions within the Ten Commandments. A woman giving birth to a female child is considered more “unclean” than when giving birth to a male child. In many other ways the position of women as subject to men is affirmed.
There are some interesting women – occasionally in powerful positions – in the Old Testament. Deborah was appointed a national leader of Israel, something the nation was adamant about. Many women are singled out for their significance in the outworking of God’s redemptive purposes. These include the mother of Jacob whose actions were significant in establishing the line of promise. The mother of Moses ensured that the redeemer of Israel, and type of Christ, survived the annihilation. Rahab played a significant part in the entry into the Promised Land. Hannah’s deep grief brought us Samuel, and his significant ministry. Ruth, an alien woman is a significant ancestor of Jesus. Esther rises to power during the exile and saves her people.
So in the Old Testament, time and again, it is women who save the day, despite their general humiliation within a patriarchal society that excludes them in temple worship and from priestly ministry.
The teaching and actions of Jesus and his apostles
No reader of the gospels can fail to note that there is a radical shift in the way that women are treated. Society treats them as second class, but not Jesus. Luke 8:1-3 records the women helpers that travelled with Jesus. Women – even those with an unhealthy past – are honoured by Jesus. Deep spiritual truths are revealed to them (John 4 and John 11). It is a woman who evangelises the city of Sychar effectively. Despite Martha’s protestations that Mary’s place should be with her in the kitchen, Jesus affirms her right to be a disciple. Ironically it was to women that Jesus first revealed himself as risen from the dead. Those who because of their gender could not give evidence in a court of law were chosen by God as the primary witnesses of this great event.
As he hung upon the cross, where each breath cost him agony, Jesus spoke three times words of comfort or compassion. Once to the thief beside him, once for the soldiers gambling at his feet, and once for the welfare of his mother.
The coming of Jesus heralded in the beginning of the kingdom of God. One of the things that Jesus made clear by his teaching, attitude and actions is that women shared an equal part in this kingdom.
Acts 1:20 makes clear that women were included in the first church in Jerusalem. They were part of the 120 in the Upper Room. They would have shared in receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit and the fulfilling of Joel’s prophecy: “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”
Priscilla shared equally with her husband Aquilla in their ministry, recorded in Acts 18, just as Sapphira bore equal responsibility with Ananias for their act of robbery and deceit. Later she is described by Paul as a “fellow worker”, and a church meets in their home. Lydia, the first convert at Philippi clearly became a leader in the church there (Acts 16). Phoebe is highly commended by Paul in Romans 16 as a minister in the church at Cenchrea.
Phoebe is highly significant not only because of the way in which Paul describes her but because Cenchrea is a Corinthian port.
Paul’s obvious respect for women should temper our understanding of his writing on the role of women in the church. There is a strong case to be made that Paul is referring to female deacons in 1Timothy 3:11. His comments about women keeping silent in 1Corinthins 14:34 are about maintaining a sense of order in church meetings. A similar thought is expressed in 1Timothy 2:12 where he is clearly seeking to avoid a situation where a woman takes “authority” over a man. The Timothy passage speaks of the woman being silent but the Greek word hear means quiet and refers more to character. It does not imply gagging. We should also note that this is Paul’s practise that is being described not God’s word that is being prescribed.
The early church was emerging from a strongly patriarchal society, yet it shows considerable liberality towards the role of women. How they developed their theology and how they conducted themselves inevitably reflected something of the culture in which they existed. Perhaps the most significant comment is to be found in Galatians 3:26 – 29 “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
In a secular society where women are accorded equal rights with men by law, how much more should the churches express that oneness described by Paul. It is time to reaffirm that we are under a New Covenant. The old order has passed away and in the kingdom of God women recover their status of equality with men. Here we learn to submit to one another, to love one another as Christ loved the church and to honour one another in the Lord.
So this Mothering Sunday let it mean something as a result of our theological reflection. Let us affirm not only our gratitude for the role of our mothers in giving us life, and for most of us, as those who nurtured us, but let us affirm every woman in their personhood in the image of God and honour him by honouring them.
Barry Osborne – Herstmonceux - Sunday 30th March 2003
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