Sermon Tone Analysis
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Change in the church is slow.
Change is often disruptive.
Today we’re going to discuss change that is coming to T&C.
It may seem abrupt, but it is not.
Background
Every year at this time, we solicit names of members to be considered for positions on the church’s board.
Elders, Deacons and Trustees.
What is not commonly known (because the nomination process is private to the individual) is that, for the past four years, women have been nominated by members of the congregation.
The first year we had this happen, it may surprise you to know that the nomination wasn’t just discarded out of hand.
There was considerable discussion among myself and the elders about it.
The decision at that time was that the circumstances were not right for us to forward that nomination to the board.
Each year after that, the same person has been nominated and, judging by the handwriting, by different people in the church.
I am persuaded that this is not one person’s agenda but a recognition by many here that this person should be recognized for her contributions to the congregation.
This past year, the elders and I have studied, prayed and talked over the role of women in the church and we are at a place where we want to share our findings with you.
We have presented her as a nominee to the role of deacon to the board and the board has voted to put her before the congregation.
Over the next few Sundays we’ll lay out our study and conclusions that lead us to this decision.
This week, I want to take our time to do a brief survey of women in the Bible.
We may not be familiar with just how much of biblical history and activity are attributed to women.
Our goal today is simply to be informed and to create a “baseline” of knowledge to help us understand the complexity of issues surrounding women’s roles in the church.
Next week, we will examine the NT specifically for information on what women did in the early church and try to put some apparently restrictive passages in their context.
Women in the Old Testament
Starting with Eve.
Notes: Adam = was “humankind.”
First telling of the story show men and women as equal.
Equal responsibilities.
2nd account.
Ezer kenegdo - “helper equal and corresponding to.”
21x in OT.
Never in a subordinate role.
Eve made from the same “stuff” that Adam was.
Much later, as God rescues his nation from slavery, He chooses a family to lead them.
Moses, Aaron and Miriam.
Miriam was listed as a prophet.
Micah, a prophet of God many centuries later says by inspiration:
Deborah was a Judge and prophetess.
(1200 B.C.)
Recall that two books of the OT are dedicated to telling the story of strong women.
Esther and Ruth.
Women in the New Testament
Women were counted among the original disciples.
The earliest church had strong women leaders.
Notice that the new covenant community was foretold by the prophet Joel and included women:
Women were teachers.
Paul describes Priscilla as his “co-worker” in Rom.
16.3-5
Around 75 A.D. a Jewish historian named Josephus referred to Priscilla as a “Teacher of teachers.”
Women hosted/lead churches in their homes
The earliest churches weren’t in public buildings but in homes.
From the NT it appears that wealthy families would host the gathered church in their homes.
Paul writes about several of these homes that were identified as belonging to women.
Our goal today in this brief survey of women in the Bible is simply to highlight that God’s Word shows women in a very different light than we may have considered them.
New week, we’ll dig into the NT and examine several passages to help us all understand the reasons for the direction we have taken.
I encourage to join us again next week as we learn this together.
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