Luke 8:1-3
Yesterday I used a line that some might have taken offense at. In relation to what became of the faithful in the early church, I noted that some of his followers bastardized, contained, codified and 'intrpreted' his ( Jesus' ) teachings. Straying from the original message and moving towards yet another form of religion like Judaism based on myriad laws, rules and rubrics. There have been repeated calls these last 2000 years to return to the roots of our faith. So doing would run the risk of diminishing the influence of the power elite and the euro-centric power base and tradition. Francis seems to be walking a fine line in running that risk. But what are he roots of Christianity?
First of all one needs to look not at the rules and rubrics but at the fundamental message I wrote about yesterday that Jesus preached 2000 years ago and lived so well. Love is at the heart of it all of course.
But the early church was not a top heavy bureaucratic Roman church. Far from it. Today we get a hint of what that church looked like. Today we honor Lydia, Dorcas and Phoebe as well as Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna. There certainly was no shortage of woman in the early church. Their roles may be somewhat in doubt but it is clear that some were Deacons, even Priests and certainly very active and supportive one and all. This vision of the church has disappeared into that male dominated euro-centric church I mentioned earlier. It would be a just honor to return the church to those routes. While many churches have done so, amazingly the mere idea causes consternation in others. So today we honor another vision of the original church. Besides a foundation on love there was a strong female presence. This was true in spite of the commonly held idea at the time that women were chattel, possessions if you will. Woman were a versatile part of society insofar as they could be used as a tool to be married off for the betterment of kingdoms, families and businesses. Jesus did not treat women this way and his fledgling church gave evidence of it.
There is no shortage of faithful, loving and brilliant women who could lead any church today. The fact that so many are stifled by a suffocating church is in itself blasphemous to the Spirit of God and the life Jesus showed us.
Besides love, let women step forward and demand their rights to serve and love God equally alongside men. It is a paradigm evidenced by Christ's life and a recognition of the equality of all of God's creations.
First of all one needs to look not at the rules and rubrics but at the fundamental message I wrote about yesterday that Jesus preached 2000 years ago and lived so well. Love is at the heart of it all of course.
But the early church was not a top heavy bureaucratic Roman church. Far from it. Today we get a hint of what that church looked like. Today we honor Lydia, Dorcas and Phoebe as well as Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna. There certainly was no shortage of woman in the early church. Their roles may be somewhat in doubt but it is clear that some were Deacons, even Priests and certainly very active and supportive one and all. This vision of the church has disappeared into that male dominated euro-centric church I mentioned earlier. It would be a just honor to return the church to those routes. While many churches have done so, amazingly the mere idea causes consternation in others. So today we honor another vision of the original church. Besides a foundation on love there was a strong female presence. This was true in spite of the commonly held idea at the time that women were chattel, possessions if you will. Woman were a versatile part of society insofar as they could be used as a tool to be married off for the betterment of kingdoms, families and businesses. Jesus did not treat women this way and his fledgling church gave evidence of it.
There is no shortage of faithful, loving and brilliant women who could lead any church today. The fact that so many are stifled by a suffocating church is in itself blasphemous to the Spirit of God and the life Jesus showed us.
Besides love, let women step forward and demand their rights to serve and love God equally alongside men. It is a paradigm evidenced by Christ's life and a recognition of the equality of all of God's creations.
Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.
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