Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
One is Not Born a Woman Sermon of Rev. Dr. Flora Wilson Bridges
March 6, 2011 First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn
Let us focus our hearts and our minds now in a word of
prayer as we go forth to break open the bread of life. Let us pray:
And now, oh God, let it be less of me and more of thee. May now
the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all of our hearts, be
now acceptable in your sight oh Lord, our rock and our redeemer.
Amen. This Sunday, not only is Communion Sunday,
but it is also on the Christian calendar the Sunday of the Transfiguration
of the Lord. This morning – read in our hearing so well – were two scriptures
that taught us about what it means to become transfigured in God; to be transformed
in God. These particular passages are difficult to understand – not only because
many of us have the Charlton Heston view of the movie “The Ten Commandments”
around the Hebrew Bible scripture. . . but also because often times
we are clumsy and our tongues are unwieldy in talking of things of the Spirit.
In the first scripture God calls Moses, who wasn’t really truly yet the leader of
the children of Israel. For, Moses at this time still had much uncertainty within
himself. He had still not owned who he was. You will remember when God
first called him Moses was the first to say, “Not me! You must have the wrong
one God – whoever you are – I am not eloquent of speech. I stutter. You could
not be calling me to lead your people.” For everyone knows – just as we read in
the books on how to be effective leaders in our time–the first thing one must be
able to do is to be an amazing public speaker. Moses said, “I’m not the one!”
And, God continually tried to reassure Moses, “The difference Moses is not in
how you were born. The true difference in knowing what you have been put
on this earth to do by me, lies in what I will put in your spirit. And so Moses,
the insecure one, set out with his assistant Joshua on that day and they went up
onto the mountain of God and they are. . . As the Bible says, that what
happened in this transfiguration scene, was that a tremendous radiance
descended upon Mount Sinai. And, the cloud covered the mountain for six days.
And, on the seventh day – on the sabbath– called out to Moses. Now, the
scripture says the appearance of God was like a devouring fire on the Mountain.
Something different. Something mysterious. Something numinous– that could
not simply be explained away by human logic and intellect– happened to Moses
on that mountain. He left Joshua, and entered the cloud, and we know that
when the story continues, the Moses who descended from that mountain was no
longer the same Moses that had ascended it. He came down, no longer stuttering
and insecure but delivering tablets of, “what thus saith the Lord.” A confident
Moses, who in the Transfiguration had been assured that he was God’s child
above all else; that the externals put on him by the Society, and even the sins
that he had committed did not ultimately define him. But rather, an encounter
with the living God transfigured and transformed him into the one whom we
know as the great liberator of all scripture. In this Women’s History Month, one can see
a parallel between the life of Moses and the condition of women in our world. Too
often, in our world, women are still defined by our body parts. Someone will
say to a woman, “You certainly have nice legs.” I say, the legs are simply
what we use as appendages to get around on. We are not to be defined by the
condition of our legs. Too often as women, we are defined by whether or not we
can wear spandex without something bulging out. I say, that to be a
woman is not to be defined by how much flesh we do or do not have and in what
places it might be distributed. One is not born – unfortunately – a woman.
One becomes defined even in this 21st century by so many things that limit
women and keep us from seeing who we truly are in God.
*** Jane Crosby, the woman who wrote the great hymn that we sang, this
morning, “Blessed Assurance.” Amy did some research on this great hymn
writer for March, as women’s month. And we discover, as you will read in the
little insert that Amy placed in the bulletin that Francis Jane, (or *** as they
called her) was born in the 1800s and at the age (I believe six months old) she lost
her sight. And yet, she did not define herself simply with what we would call a
physical disability or a disabled condition. Rather, something happened to her
along the way. I contend in reading further in her autobiographical words that –
like Moses–*** Jane had an encounter one day with the Living God. And in
One is Not Born a Woman that encounter, God told her early on, “you are not to be defined
in the world as a person who is less than sighted people.
You are not to be defined simply by this accident that happened and took away
your sight at the age of six months old. Rather God said, I will take all of you,
just as you are. Just as God took Moses with his speech impediment and a stutter;
God took *** Jane Crosby without the ability to see. And, she became
one of the greatest, –still one of the greatest hymn writers– of all Christian
hymnity. All over the world “Blessed Assurance” is being sung in churches, even
this very morning. And in our Blue Hymnal, now you even see it written in Korean.
All over this earth. *** Jane Crosby did not define herself as a woman
by what the world would say she was. But the very weakness that should have
limited her – she understood in that encounter with God – that weakness
was transformed into her strength. And, she became the woman who God created
her to be. One is not necessarily born into who God has
called us to be. For too often we are defined by artificial constructs – sociological
constructs– of the society. Too often little girls were told that their role
is to be the feeling or the emotion part of the equation. Too often they are taught
you cannot really. . . You’re not really suited to know how to do math. And,
don’t even attempt to take philosophy classes on a graduate level. Too
often little girls are told, “you are designed to be an appendage to a man one day;
that ultimately the male– the husband–will tell you how to be in the world
and you are under his authority.” One is not born in our world woman. One is
defined by the power structure of the society. God’s challenge to us to meet
God; especially in in our weakness; especially where we feel the most inadequate;
especially where we are the most confused; especially when we are the most
shut down and unheard; especially in the areas that we are ashamed of within ourselves
and embarrassed about; especially where societal definitions are
attempting to coerce into being failure, and insecurity, and fear. It is at that place
that God meets us – just as God met Moses – and something mysterious happens
on a spiritual plane that opens us up to be our full and true humanity.
In the second scripture of the New Testament, out of the Gospel of Matthew, as
the matthean writer tries to set up the spiritual nature and authority of Jesus.
Jesus, like Moses, takes a few of his followers with him and goes up on to a
mountain. Peter, James, and John– the disciples– follow him and while they are
there suddenly just as in the Hebrew Scriptures a tremendous radiance comes
upon Jesus. And he is transfigured in their very sight. He no longer is the
simple teacher – or rabbi– who they had been following for a few years. They
see him standing with Moses, and the great prophet Elijah. And, Jesus in white
radiance is conversing with the two great pillars of Judaism. Peter, James, and
John see Jesus– for the first time– in a different way. They see the true nature
of Jesus in this passage.
When women stand up and meet God; and, go beyond the barriers of the
societal construct of what it means to be female and to be woman. When
woman reaches out in spirit to the great spirit that has created us all. Then like
Peter, James, and John in that time we become transfigured. And, the world
begins to see us as who we are authentically and really are. If woman is to be set
free; if she is to become who she really is; she must go by way of the spirit. She
must have an encounter with the living God. For if she does not, somebody else
will continue to define her. It does not end here. Peter always has been
the talking one in Scripture; always the overzealous, overactive disciple, whose
heart was so good. But, he rarely got it right. Peter, the one full of enthusiasm
for God, so much so that she can barely contain himself. And once again, we
hear Peter speaking before he thinks. [chuckles]
Peter says, after seeing Jesus transfigured and in his true self. Peter understands,
this is no ordinary man This is not just somebody he’s walking around with.
This is somebody who is connected authentically with God. Peter was saying,
“Whoa, this is something special!” He goes up to Jesus and says, “We have got
to build a tabernacle. We have to build the tent
right here, because you are somebody! I have stopped seeing you through
the societal lens, as just some ordinary Jewish person walking around in sandals.
Jesus, I know who you are. I have seen you transfigured. I know your identity.
Let’s stop right here. And, let’s bow down in this place and just worship
you! You’ve got it like that Jesus!! You are as high as Moses and Elijah!!!”
Jesus has to correct Peter. For the other half of being transfigured by God – once
we encounter God, the living God, in a true way, so that we know who we really are
and we stand up on the radiance of all God has created us to be. Once others see the
light that comes from us, when we own who we are and we are no longer
seen as just somebody sitting in a pew. But, the light of God is seen coming
through us and everybody can see each other in that way.
The second part is we can not stay on that mountain top. In the Transfiguration
of the Lord, Jesus had to tell brother Peter, “Yes, this is all good.” I imagine Jesus
smiled. I imagine Jesus saying, “You didn’t know I could do that did you? You
didn’t know that I could light up. You didn’t know that I could tell you what
was going to happen even before it happens.” Those virtual tricks are not the
point of Transfiguration. Some of us are more intuitive than others, that’s all.
Had lunch with a woman the other day and she told me that – I never met the
woman– and she told me that she lived in the building with one of our church
members and I called out the name of the church member. Spiritual tricks are
not the point. Even though the minister is connected into the people in a very
special spiritual way. Even though sometimes, I know what you’re going to say
before you said it. The point is, is that we are transfigured
by God for a reason; to leave the mountain top of our high spirituality and
to go out into the world and to transfigure and transform the world into community.
You and I are to take that life, the life that God gives us, when we
encounter the living God in the mountaintop spiritual experience. And, we
are to shine that radiance throughout God’s world. We are as Jesus did – to
make the meaning of community clear and to live it out in the word. *** Jean Crosby
did this in her time. Taking radiance of the Transfiguration of her life
and becoming one of the greatest hymn writers of all time. I do not know what
it is exactly that God may have called you to, let you know that God has called
you to the light. And, in that transfiguration and in that transformation,
you and I are to be about community in the world, as we come now to this communion
Sunday– on this Sunday of the Transfiguration of the Lord– we will
encounter Christ symbolically at the table. Together we will face the light and
in that light will no longer be limited. You will become. Some of you will become woman.
Some of you will become truly man. We will become at the table. Every
time that we do this in remembrance of Jesus, we become who God has
meant for
us to be. Amen.