Giving Word to the Unnamed Women
The Word Became Flesh
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
Sue Monk Kidd’s The Book of Longings, explores the what if Jesus Christ had a feminist wife.
Ana’s educated and has been taught by her father, a Scribe for Herod, to write. She falls in love with Words and sees how Words connect her to God and then, falls in love with Jesus ben Joseph.
But Ana knows that as a woman, words can be dangerous. She watches as words of accusation leave a woman tongueless, how words lead to stoning of women, and how the desire to learn words from the temples rabbi leads to poisoining of the intellectually curious and more dangerously.. The women who have the curse of ambition.
Yet, Ana prays-
“Lord our God, hear my prayer, the prayer of my heart. Bless the largeness inside me, no matter how I fear it. Bless the words I write. May they be beautiful in your sight.
Women have a sacred relationship with the Word.
Women have risked their lives to learn the Word-
To read of it.
To wrestle with it.
To preach it-
To live its mystery-
The first few verses of the Gospel of John point to a mystery beyond words. Four important themes are brought to life in this prologue :
Word.
Life.
Darkness.
Light.
Through the Word- John wants us to see the God who we first met in Genesis- is a God of enduring creation. Word and Life serve as synonyms here- Because in Jewish culture the act of giving name to something is to breathe life into it-
Through Word: John wants us to see that our life comes from the Messiah- Who
Came in the darkness to bring Light to hurting people. John sets us up almost in a sense of duality here- playing opposites against one another - contrasting that there is an above and a below, and the above- the light, the life and the truth- all these good things come from the heavenly realm-
And the below- darkness, a void- an absence of all these things that give us soul and purpose. The darkness is there- in the beginning, the Gospels, relentlessly throughout the history of the world- and this darkness is so thick and blinding at times- that even it cannot even comprehend the concept of light. Darkness doesn’t know that it loses every battle against light.
It’s incapable of overcoming even the tiniest spark.
Christ, our Messiah is that spark, who enlightens Serving as a lamp that illuminates pathways of love so that we can grow and evolve as humans- and so that our souls may heal and be at peace. There’s this elegant line from John later where Jesus says this very thing saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” But light itself is not something seen. It is something by which one sees. Perhaps we focus too much on the source of light, than the gift that light gives us-
As children we are taught to be fearful of the darkness.
We covered our heads with blankets and pillows, as if dulling our senses might hide whatever lurked in the shadows.
Children know the danger that lurks in darkness.
They can sense it growing as the light fades. But darkness is what I am most afraid of, not what lurks inside of its black cloak- but of my own ignorance of what I should have already been aware of!
As women, it is incredibly important that we remain engaged with our faith even despite darkness. When we fall in love with the wrestle of belief and disbelief, and when we ignite our curiosity around God, and the Church and the Bible- we grow.
We are lucky enough to be in a faith tradition that raises women up, encourages them to know the Bible and to lead.
We have to know the Word to know Christ.
Because Christianity is a religion that washed away the names of women.
The words in our holy stories that have been edited and removed thousands of years ago because they came from of a woman instead of a man. Words not deemed valuable enough to remember.
Of 3000 names, 188 belong to women. 600 are marked by the titles: woman, wife, widow.
It is our responsibility to know each one.
To find them in the Word and the part they played in the story of Christ.
To reclaim the unfounded and unresearched narratives that have been forced on them.
In doing so, we light the way forward for others who are still in darkness.
Biblical education matters. Nurturing safe environments where we can acknowledge the lack of light and illumination in our faith is paramount.
Our relationship with Christ is authentic when we are able to do that.
Because it’s Christ who serves as the spark of light that illuminates us through our seasons of unknowing. Through seasons of divorces, marriages, deaths and births. Faith renews. It is in the spirit of Christ- that the voice of women is heard and loved.
Where darkness lingers, women are always first to bring forth the spark of light to illuminate the path forward for their sisters. It must be so.
In today’s reading, John uses a peculiar phrase about in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Because in Hebrew tradition-m Naming makes something come into being.
Throughout scripture, we see this pattern of power attributed to naming.
This is why I hammer on the importance of knowing those few named in our Scripture, and to explore the stories of the 600 unnamed.
The Angel Gabriel named Jesus, saying to Mary that her son would be great and he would be the Son of the Most High.
God gives Mary the Word through the incarnation through the Holy Spirit- creating new life and salvation.
When we name something- we give it power. In the beginning, there was power, and the power was with God and the Power was God.
When we give something the Word- we give it a spark of light. When we name goodness in our lives- we conquer the darkness.
So let me give Word to the Work of PW:
I have watched you all in Presbyterian Women working tirelessly to illuminate pathways forward for one another these past eighteen months.
You take turns habitually rotating through who needs to be given sparks of light, and who needs the job of lighting the path for another.
You name pains and hurts and by doing so, promote healing.
You raise money for missions, generously giving and building and operating with mystifying efficiency.
You lead bible studies, you text one another to check in, you go on retreats, you carpool, you cry together- you carry each other's whispered prayers and burdens on your own hearts.
You usher each other through seasons of light and darkness.
Warmth and Cold. You visit one another during bouts of hospitalizations, isolations, heart breaks…
God’s first act in the story of Creation -Genesis chapter 1 was to create light.
God’s last act in the same story in Genesis was to create women.
He knew he had finally nailed it- this whole creating thing- he created woman- who could carry on the story of creation- and finally God could rest.
Remember, you each matter. Your stories need to be told. Your names remembered and cherished. The Messiah is coming- The light shines in the darkness, and darkness shall not overcome it.
Darkness shall not overcome.
Amen.