Transcribed from the sermon preached Sept 24, 2006

The Reverend Max Lynn, Pastor

St. John’s Presbyterian Church

2727 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705

Telephone 510-845-6830    Fax 510-845-6837

office@stjohns.presbychurch.net    http://www.stjohns.presbychurch.net

Scripture Readings:  Proverbs 31, Mark 9:30-37

Here in Proverbs 31 we have a picture of a superwoman. It is of course part of a book written by men for men. Said to be the words of King Lemuel, though "an oracle that his mother taught him." It is an instruction to young men of the ruling elite for what kind of lady to look for.

Feminists point out the orientation is toward what the woman of worth will provide for men and their family. Today we would like to acknowledge worth beyond what a woman can provide to the males around her. This proverb has also been criticized from a feminist perspective for supporting the ideal of the woman who stays home to work herself to the bone while the man keeps the glory and power.

These are legitimate criticisms, though home in ancient agrarian society had not been stripped of its place in the economy like the homes within mechanized, industrial capitalism. In fact, even for men, most of the economic production happened in or around the home. And for this woman of means, she designs, weaves, and sells clothes; she buys real estate, plants and grows wine grapes. She has both mental and physical strength, demonstrating contagious self-confidence. To paraphrase the proverb: "She knows that her work is good." There is no sign she sees herself as the weaker sex, one-sidedly dependent on a man to take care of her and her children. By the sound of the parable her confidence in the future comes from the planning and preparing she has done. We also see that she is not silent or afraid to share her ideas, but that she "opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue."

Today our economy is divided up in such a way that people typically do one thing, or a piece of one thing in a job removed from the home, and then we use the money we earn to purchase the other things, including child care. A woman may be a manager of employees, a designer, a weaver, a merchandiser, a real estate broker, a farmer, a wine maker, or a teacher, and a mom, but she is not likely to do all of them. This is of course not to say that very many women do not bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan. But she is not likely to grow the corn, feed the pig, butcher the pig, chop the wood, stoke the fire, and then fry the bacon up in the pan. That doesn't mean that she is working fewer hours. Mary Cunningham Agee notes in Mother at the Heart of the New Feminism:

By most calculations, women working both inside and outside the home are conservatively estimated at putting in an average workweek of 73 hours. Similar studies estimate that single employed mothers work at least 75 hours a week, with literally only one hour a day free for so-called "quality time" with their own children. Family men average about 63 hours.

(Motherhood at the Heart of the New Feminism: A vocation of Love and Service. Presented at the International Conference on Women: Women Between Family and Career, Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum Rome, Italy March 8, 2002 by Mary Cunningham Agee)

I think I work pretty hard for my family, but I don't pretend to match my wife. I sleep less, but I also mess around more.

I suspect that this ideal woman of worth in Proverbs 31 didn't work any more or less than the modern woman. There are some differences of note. First, since most of the work was done around the home, children got to, and were expected or forced to follow mom and dad around to help. Thus, while children didn't get much more of what we call "quality time," they received a lot more time with their parents. The flip side of this for kids was that they had to work their butts off. And of course, even if you were the ideal woman of worth, all of your productivity, particularly your children, was under the ultimate control and power of men.

With the time and labor saving technology, like the electric light, gas stove and washing machine, freedom to work outside the home in non-traditional woman's work, the freedom of birth control, the freedom to divorce the less than ideal man of little worth, even the freedom to make a home with a woman, the necessity for diligent, hard work has not decreased. Increased mobility and individualism has weakened the network and family support, leaving parents, especially mothers, with more to do.

What we see from this parable and from life experience, however, is that working hard in service to others doesn't necessarily mean your life is bad or that you cannot be happy. Quite the contrary, most happy people I have met love to work and love to serve others. One of the main ingredients is that you are not stuck with a short end of the stick you help shape. When I think of the woman I know who most closely resembles this ideal description of a woman of worth in Proverbs, or the servant leader described by Jesus, it is my friend Madaline, whom I met in the Peace Corps. Madaline practices what she preaches. She recycles, gardens, and is a vegetarian. She doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs, or even caffeine. She exercises regularly. Her sense of honesty and integrity and personal sacrifice for the greater good of the community is stronger than anyone I have ever known.

In school she double majored in physics and public policy. In the Peace Corp she taught Guatemalan women how to build fuel-efficient stoves, helped organize a women's bee farm cooperative, and started a library. After the Peace Corp she went to work writing legislation for Pat Schroeder, the Democrat from Colorado. Madaline was instrumental in both research and writing the Women's Health Equity Act of 1993 (I looked this up: Update on Women and Family Issues in Congress, Vol.13, No. 8, September 30, 1993)

The bills which she helped research, write and pass were:

To promote greater equity in the delivery of health care services to American women through expanded research on women's health issues, improved access to health care services, and the development of disease prevention activities responsive to the needs of women.

To amend the Public Health Service Act to require that, as appropriate, women and members of minority groups be included as subjects in clinical research under the Act.

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that any carrier offering obstetrical benefits under the health benefits program for Federal employees must also provide benefits relating to certain "family-building procedures".

It is interesting that Mark notes in his Gospel that the location of Jesus teaching is "in the house." And remember that it was standard political procedure of god/kings to eliminate any opposition or contrary opinion, even, or especially when it came from within the family. Potential heirs to the throne were routinely murdered, and children of the poor, especially girls, were frequently abandoned in the street, sold as slaves or treated as servants of the patriarch. Here the male disciples are arguing who is the greatest. Jesus overhears and says, "Whoever wants to be first must be last and servant of all." Then, taking a child in his arms, said, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."

Like my friend Madaline, Jesus didn't have kids of his own, but that doesn't mean he wasn't pro-family. And just because he was a man doesn't mean we shouldn't see the spirit God in a little girl. One last note on ideal role models: They are ideal. We need ideals, ideals of motherhood and fatherhood, of womanhood and manhood, of kings, queens and God. But they are ideals. I am not sure substituting my friend Madaline for the woman of worth in Proverbs 31 is less daunting or more inspiring for women today. Both are women who have had privileged lives with ample resources. Neither is the complete picture of womanhood for every context. And though Jesus is my number one male role model, I don't plan on giving up my wife and kids any time soon. And Jesus didn't surf. Then again, maybe that is how he made it out to that boat in the storm?

We are finally, both women and men, saved by grace. The gift of grace is the most indispensable contribution of Jesus Christ. We are called to love our spouse, kids and all children, especially the poor and marginalized, to be their servants. We strive to work hard, to be diligent, kind and wise. But we all fall short of the glory of God. Not even our image of Jesus represents all the possibilities for how we can glorify God as a human being. God has created us and placed us here to do our best, to ask forgiveness when we make mistakes, to accept forgiveness, to feel good about ourselves, and use our strengths and self esteem to serve the God of love, justice and equality. And don't forget the Sabbath, your day for worship and rest.