Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission.

And 1 Timothy 2:12 instructs:

...do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.

But let's take a closer look at what was really going on when Paul wrote those words. 

The church in its infancy was troubled and had its growing pains. Jesus had given a voice to those who had long been silenced by society's ruling classes (women, slaves, the poor and dispossessed) and this onset of power went straight to their heads! Slaves began demanding social freedom to go with their newfound spiritual freedom and women threw away their veils and began speaking their minds in church. The church was in danger of disintegrating into chaos and Paul was called in to make peace. He, being an elder, was forced to make some concessions to save it and he basically told people to accept their previous stations in life so that the fabric of the church would not be ripped apart. For instance, he told women to resume wearing their veils according to custom when they prophesied BUT nowhere did he ever tell women to stop prophesying in public.

As to women being silent in church, allow me to draw you a quick mental picture of what a Corinthian church meeting was like before order was restored. First, everyone talked at once. Those talking in tongues and those prophesying talked over one another. The sexes were segregated and sat on opposing sides of the room from one another so whenever a wife, again following custom, asked her husband what was going on she had to shout the question to be heard. Pandemonium was the rule. When Paul silenced the women, he was fighting to keep the church from disorderly conduct. He never meant for his words to be taken out of this context and made into a universal principle to keep women out of public ministry.

Despite the misuse of scripture, women have long ministered in a variety of roles from the very beginning of Christianity and I submit that performing God's work as a pastor has been a natural progression in the history of women in the church.

Jesus was what we would now call a radical because He did not subscribe to the traditions of the day. He considered women to be persons of value, not just chattel. In Matthew 19:4 He gives women equal billing with men before God when He says:

"Haven't you read...that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female?"

From the beginning He accepted and even sought out women to heal and to spread His teachings. This was unheard of in His day! In that time, women were considered less than men. They were property without rights or any real value, except what they brought to a marriage. But Jesus valued women just as He valued men and He proved this by healing and ministering to them.

Let's look at a partial list of His healings. There was the woman with the bleeding disorder, a woman so desperate she dared to touch Jesus before a large crowd thereby rendering Him unclean as well. He even called her "daughter." There was the daughter of Jairus, who He raised from the dead. And of course there was Mary Magdalene.

When you hear the word "disciple," what do you think of? Most likely you think only of the men who followed Jesus. But a disciple is anyone who learns and follows the teachings of another. In this respect, there were women disciples as well. What was Mary Magdalene if not a disciple? And let us not forget that Jesus chose to appear to her first after His resurrection, another sign of His esteem.

Following the ascension, women continued to carry Jesus' teachings down through the centuries.

Paul, himself, mentions several women who were of help to him in his ministry. In our scripture reading earlier, we learned of Euodia and Syntyche, two squabbling women who nonetheless "had contended at his side in the cause of the gospel" and "whose names are in the book of life." In Romans he lists Phoebe, Priscilla (who risked her life for him), one of the many Mary's we read of in the New Testament, the twins Tryphena and Tryphosa, and Paul's "dear friend, Persis." All were women who he said "worked hard" for the church in Rome.

Women have always ministered quietly "behind the scenes." They have taken care of children, the elderly, and the sick. They've prepared meals, made clothes, and extended hospitality. These were traditional roles which women filled and performed as extensions of what society believed women were at heart, which is to say they were caretakers. In time, when the Catholic church grew powerful, women began to achieve positions of power within the church as abbesses and Mother Superiors. In these roles, women became church administrators. After the reformation, however, when Protestantism introduced its many individual faiths, women finally began to be heard as ministers in a true sense in some of its churches.

The Society of Friends, or Quakers, were perhaps the first to recognize the equality of women and to give women a voice in its services. Today, the Episcopalians and Methodists, along with others, routinely select women for leadership roles as rectors and pastors, carryig forth the teachings of Jesus that women are human beings of intrinsic value. Women like our district supervisor, Reverend Carol Wilson, and Reverend Brenda Carroll of First United Methodist Church, Maryville, are now able to fill all roles alongside men, making for a stronger, more diversified church that speaks to all people. I believe this is what Jesus wanted.

As we close, there are two thoughts I want to leave you with: two challenges I want to issue. The first is particularly to the women, but it is really for anyone.

Jesus cares about you this morning. Many of you who are mothers know more than anyone here what it means to be underappreciated, unthanked, and undervalued. You know what it means to be overlooked and taken for granted, and while women in America aren't typically treated as property or even as second-class citizens any longer, I know that too often you are just not seen as a real person with real individual needs. I want you to know today that Jesus not only knows you have needs, He knows what your needs are. Even better yet, Jesus can and will meet your needs.

In the eyes of a loving Savior you have real worth. God sees you as a real person and He wants to have a personal relationship with you. But you have a free will and are personally responsible to respond to Jesus' invitation to accept Him as your Savior. No one will ever love and accept you the way He will, and no relationship on this earth will fulfill you the way one with Jesus can and will, but you must make the choice.

The second challenge I want to give is for our men. The Bible teaches that as disciples we are to be like Jesus: we are to be His followers. I'm going to ask you to make a special commitment today, but not just for today. Jesus placed a high value on women. He did it by treating them as real people. He treated them as real people who were equal before God with men. He spoke to them tenderly and with loving concern. Jesus gave them high value by ministering to their physical and spiritual needs, by recognizing their need to be taught and by encouraging them to fulfill their respective places of ministry.

Men, you need to do the same today. Are you treating the women in your life like real people with individual needs? Or are you treating them as women who are only there to meet your needs? Your wife isn't just your wife and the mother of your children. She is a real person apart from you and them. Do you treat her that way? Do you speak to the women in your life with care and concern? Do you minister to them? Or do you expect them to minister to you? Jesus didn't come to be served by those women, He came to serve them. Are you allowing them the time they need to get involved in ministry? Are you encouraging it?

I am asking everyone here to love the women in your life like Jesus does. Would you make that commitment today?

Because God's house is a house where women and men are called to work together and learn to honor each other as God's good creation.

Amen.

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Works borrowed from:

Higgins, Kevin. Women in the Life and Teachings of Jesus. www.SermonCentral.com. October 3, 2008

Laird, Rebecca. A Brief Theology of Women in Ministry: Four Reasons Women Should Teach, Preach, and Minister. Wesleyan/Holiness Women Clergy. http://www.whwomenclergy.org/articles/article32.php. October 13, 2008

A Woman's Contribution to the Local Congregation (Cite unavailable)