When you are a pastor/theologian/whatever you wanna call it, the worse thing that anyone can say to you is that you "read something into the text that wasn't there." We call that eisigesis rather than the proper way to interpret scripture which is the difficult work of exegesis (examining the original language text, comparing word usages, context clues, literary styles etc.) When this happens we respond appropriately with shock and horror! It is a black mark on our theological integrity and it cuts to core!
At any rate, I was accused recently of eisigeting Mary Magdalene's role in the Easter message. I lifted her up as a reason for the ordination of women into Word and Sacrament ministry (I know full well that text had nothing to do with ordination of women, I may be an eisigete but I'm not an idiot!) I said that she had a very important role in proclaiming the message of the resurrected Christ as Jesus/Gardener/Angel revealed to her on that third morning that he was not dead but was in fact alive! My accuser said that she "just happened to be there." She was doing her womanly duty, which women are happy to do, and it was some kind of quirky coincidence, some divine faux-pas, that she received word from Christ himself that he was no longer dead and buried. Not only that but it just slipped out of his lips in a moment of weakness that she should go and tell.
Does God really make those kind of careless errors in revealing himself to us? "Oh I didn't mean to do it but you just happened to be there and I could no longer contain myself in that tomb and I got a little talkative when I saw you but I didn't really mean it. But since you're here would you mind going to tell the 11 GUYS (Judas was gone by this time) that I am risen and they should meet me in Galilee? But only if it's no inconvenience and if you have the time or the inclination to participate in this divine drama." Oh, there I go eisigeting again! Reading something in there that suits my needs and making the text say what I so desperately want it to say so that I can have a job. (I've had other jobs by the way, easier ones, ones with time off, ones with weekends free, ones with overtime and double time pay.)
And then there's Mary and Martha. . . ones whom Jesus loved. . . they make considerable confessions when their brother Lazarus dies. Martha, in response to Jesus' compassion towards her utters the now famous words, "If you would have only been here our brother would not have died." To which Jesus says the even more famous words: I AM the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this? "Yes!" she cries.
And Mary of Bethany, the one who washes Jesus' feet and wipes them with her hair in such an intimate act that perhaps all onlookers had to blush for her sake. She doesn't care, she is anointing his feet, caring for him in a way that at that dinner party no one else was willing to do. When Judas gets all huffy about her wasting the pure nard Jesus puts him in his place and lifts Mary up as a model of discipleship. "Let her alone. She's anticipating and honoring the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you. You don't always have me." (The Message, John 12) **This text I actually did the hard work of exegesis on for a New Testament course in seminary and I got an A.
And of course the most highly favored lady, Mary, betrothed of Joseph who responds to God's call with more faith than any of them! No, she doesn't lead worship. No she doesn't consecrate the Eucharist. What she does do is point to a deep abiding faith in Christ, she proclaims God's greatness and she serves the Lord with her entire mind, body and spirit. That should count for something I would think even if it's not a justification for the ordained ministry.
Truth is, there are examples of women in leadership in the scriptures. Deborah, the judge in Israel, Phoebe and Chloe in Paul's life who served as ambassadors to the churches, there was also Priscilla who gets mentioned with her husband Aquilla in several of Paul's letters- they were fellow tentmakers and workers in the kingdom. To get a shout out from Paul has to mean something!! But there I go again!
Some of the most gifted pastors I know are women! They are bright, articulate, loving, faithful, and passionate for the gospel. . . there's Katie, Kara, Beth, Libby, Margaret, Julie, Jennifer, Cathy, Jessica, Martha and so many more!! It is no accident that God showed up and called them to serve in this way. The fruits of their labors tell the story of what God is up to. . . or did I make that up too? Rant over. Thanks for listening!
Image credit: He Qi, "Empty Tomb"
One of the most gifted preachers I know, the Rev. Anne Hall, soon to be retired from University Lutheran Church, Seattle, has a gift for the art of midrash and I think there's a fine line between eisigesis and midrash. Bringing our faithful imaginations into the text, is not wrong, though your protagonist might suggest otherwise. Because those who actually wrote our sacred texts so often eliminated women's stories, we are called to re-imagine them. However, in your case, I think in your faithful preaching (b/c seriously, MM was the Apostle to the Apostles) you've wandered over into your protagonist's comfort zone. Way to go! :)
ReplyDeleteOne of the very few things that the four gospel writers all consider important enough to include is that the women were present at the tomb on Easter morning, that they were the first to hear the Good News, and that they - particularly MM - were the first to proclaim the Good News to the eleven even when they were only marginally believed. It helps to remember that there were LOTS of other things not in all four for instance, Jesus' birth, raising of Lazarus, parable of the prodigal son, etc, etc. If Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John think that the women's proclamation of the resurrection is important, perhaps we shouldn't be so arrogant as to ignore them!
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