On the 16th of June in 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to go into space. She orbited the earth 48 times and was in space for almost three days. On that voyage, she spent more time in space than all the American astronauts combined up to that date. Just this week, two women were the top candidates in the election for the president of Columbia. With regard to the church, I spoke with a man in the Catholic hierarchy this week who expressed disappointment and regret that Pope Francis has made it known that the ordination of women is not on the table during his papacy. To me, the disappointment of my colleague was a welcome surprise.
In these Advent weeks, we have been thinking about the women in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Learning about these woman shows the extremely confining social circumstances that they faced. While there may have been reasons for the restrictions within the structure of the society as a whole, it still seems that these narrow roles for women were more than based on need, but also simply outright inequality and oppression.
The agency, courage, and resilience of the women in the genealogy of Jesus inspire our discipleship. We are challenged by these women to live our faith with conviction and creativity. And that includes continuing to work for the equality of women in the church and in society in the US and around the world. That job is not yet done.
In Christ there is no Jew or Greek. slave or citizen, male or female. All are one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28
Prayer: We are thankful for the wondrous potential that is imbued in the human spirit. We pray for the courage to cultivate that potential in ourselves and in the wider world. Jesus shows us all that life can be when we are free to love and serve. In this season of Advent may we honor the freedom and equality of all people as Jesus did. Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 