On a car ride home from school last week, our high school senior son explained that one of his friends made the case that most important issue that needed attention in the world today is sexism or the devalued status of women. The friend claimed that if that problem were addressed, many other social and economic problems would be resolved. Yes! That idea is not new but I was heartened to hear that a high schooler had come to that conclusion “on her own” and I was delighted to hear my son say that he thought this view had validity. (I also reminded him that I have preached a sermon on that very topic.)
In an interview I listened to this week with an author who has written a book about the passage of the Civil Rights legislation in the 60’S, there was mention of how someone on a committee in the legislative process tacked on an equal pay for women clause thinking it would kill the bill which he did not want to see passed. In the end, to his dismay, this legislator ended up helping to give women equal rights.
I thought about this. Would adding a provision ensuring equal rights for women prevent the passage of legislation today? It’s hard to say which is an unfortunate state of affairs.
I also heard an interview with someone from Africa where women have equal rights and are amply represented in government. When asked about this the African explained that their country faced so many problems, they needed everyone working together helping to resolve them.
While most of us would absolutely agree that men and women are entitled to equal rights are we aware of how much still needs to be done? I hear from women regularly who feel they are treated as “less than” in the work place because they are women and not men. It’s hard to imagine. How do things stand in the church? Well, there’s the Catholic church and the male priesthood. But that is not the end of the story. I got a flyer in the mail recently about a church conference in Orlando. The flyer shows a picture of a huge sanctuary filled with thousands of people. And at the podium? A man. Then there are pictures of the 9 presenters with their bios. All men. And all white but one. They may be wonderful people gifted for ministry. But I can’t believe that the church is intended to function with limited leadership from just one of the two genders. The BaHai religion teaches that male and female are like the two wings of a bird. Both are needed to fly. Maybe if we eliminated gender bias in the church, fully and completely, we would resolve many of the problems that the church is facing.
This morning, thousands of church goers, men and women, heard the story of the raising of Lazarus from the Gospel of John. After Lazarus comes out of the grave, Jesus instructs, “Unbind him, and let him go.” [John 11:44] Imagine what the church would be like unbound from all prejudice and bias, released, and freed to serve the needs of the world.
This Lenten season invites us, women and men alike, to consider how we explicitly or implicitly contribute to the perpetuation of gender bias. It is impossible to live in this culture and not absorb something of gender bias. But we can examine ourselves and look for it so that we can then honestly address ourselves to pursing equality. The church and the world need for us to be unbound from sexism so that we can be agents of equality in the wider world.
Prayer: We all harbor prejudices and biases. We pray to be unbound from these attitudes which diminish the value of others. We regret the ways that gender bias deprives the church and the world of benefitting fully from the gifts and graces that God has given women to offer to the world. We pray to be unbound and freed. Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 