Sermon for the twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity
"Sexist!
You don't let women be priests!
You're all misogynist!"
Our poor church
keeps hearing these accusations
and we keep trying to address them
but still they arise.
Are we sexist?
Are we misogynist?
[PAUSE]
With the high profile case
against Russell Brand
hitting social media,
what has been most
disconcerting
is the number of male voices
who don't think
Russell Brand did anything wrong.
Apparently
women don't need to be
asked for consent
in every situation.
Indeed,
it is always the women
who have to put up
with all kinds of indignities.
They aren't allowed
to have their own sports
without men taking part.
They aren't even allowed
to have their own safe spaces
without men using them.
There is misogyny in our society.
There is sexism.
The trouble is
that it is dressed up
in the language of inclusivity
and correctness
so as to make it acceprable.
And the Church is just aa bad!
No women priests?
Sexist!
[PAUSE]
We see Our Lord
hurrying ti heal a little girl.
On the way
a woman bleeding heavily,
who always bleeds heavily,
touches His garment.
She thinks that this
is an act that is beyond the pale
to touch a Holy Man
when she is unclean.
And yet her faith
spurs her on.
She wants to be healed
and she believes the reports
that this man can heal her,
but she knows her place
in this society.
She touches His garment
She commits an act
that would bring down the weight
of disdain
and hatred
and condemnation
Of society upon her.
To her horror,
the Holy Man notices.
An act that was supposed to be secret
is proclaimed upon the rooftops.
And as she prepares
for shame and rebuke
that a woman
with her issue of blood
should dare touch a man,
all she sees
is a smile.
"Be of good comfort.
Thy faith hath made thee whole."
God Who makes male and female,
God Who determines
the complex physiology of women
understands,
affirms,
and reassures,
setting the example that Society
must follow:
Women are people too.
[PAUSE]
He has always said as much
by His action
as well as His words.
His respect for His mother
even when.she cannot
understand what He's up to
but holds her faith
in her heart.
The Samaritan woman
at the well,
thirsty for love
and thirsty for life
and in faith receives the Christ.
The Syro-Phoenician woman
who answers the Lord back
and is blessed for her faith.
Mary Magdalene
whose faith keeps her
by the door of the tomb
and is blessed by seeing
the Risen Lord first.
Martha whom the Lord
gently chides
for doing housework
rather than being taught by Him.
Is the Lord sexist?
Is He misogynist?
Yet He still does not
call women to be apostles.
Yet still,
in the upper room
no woman is told
to "do this in remembrance
of me."
[PAUSE]
The priesthood
is not about politics
or about dignity
or about being over others.
If the priesthood
were a job
or an office
then Our Lord would make it clear
because He clearly believes
in the value and dignity
of being a woman
in His radical treatment of them.
The Lord preserves
the separation of men and women
not to raise one above the other
but rather
to reinforce that the sexes
are not the same
and have their particular needs.
Women need their safe spaces.
They need their own sport's teams.
They need their own support
network.
Not because they are lesser
but because their biology
requires it.
A biology that brings life into the world
at a great cost.
The dignity there is immense
and it is no less for those women
who cannot have children,
like this woman
who touches Our Lord
and is touched by Him
in His respect and love.
[PAUSE]
That, in this day and age,
a convicted rapist
can be defended in his actions
is testament to
the continued existence
of misogyny and sexism
in our society.
It is not to be found
in Our Lord's plan
for the Church and her priesthood
but it is still found
in.the hearts of men.
This is why the priesthood
must follow the example
of the Lord
and show due compassion
and strength to protect,
defend and empower
all who come for the Lord's grace -
male or female.
