A Sermon by Dr. Green on the occasion of the 90th Anniversary of the Women’s Fellowship at New Philadelphia Moravian Church.
38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; 42 one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may receive her in the Lord as befits the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a helper of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I but also all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks; 5 greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert in Asia for Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard among you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners; they are men of note among the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, eminent in the Lord, also his mother and mine. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brethren who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. Romans 16:1-16
This morning we are celebrating the 90th Anniversary of our Women’s Fellowship. It was founded on August 27th, 1919. Times have changed since 1919.
In 1919 the population of the U.S. was less than 93,000,000. In 2009 it is more than 300,000,000.
In 1919 the telephone had been around almost 50 years, the automobile slightly more than 20 years, and the airplane slightly less. We had just concluded the 1stWorld War, the war to end all wars. In the last 90 years we have seen the rise of commercial radio, commercial air travel, television, the interstate highway system, birth-control, the computer, a moon landing, the personal computer, the internet, the cell phone, text messaging, Face Book and Twitter. We also fought a 2nd World War, Korea, Viet Nam, and the War on Terror is still going on.
On June 4th 1919 Congress approved the 19th Amendment, Women’s Suffrage, guaranteeing women the right to vote. In 2009, women not only vote, they have already run for presidency and vice-presidency of the United States. Today, women do almost anything else they want to do. Women have not only entered to workforce they have changed it forever. Women serve in unprecedented numbers as professors, doctors, lawyers, company presidents, plumbers, soldiers, welders, school principals, and pastors. Sister Beth Torkington, a Bishop of the Unity, gave the keynote address of the 2009 Unity Synod. Just as importantly, wives have become primary breadwinners in many of our families. Today, families are almost as likely to move in consideration of the wife’s career as in consideration of the husband’s career. This is especially so in light of the current recession. The old Legg’s jingle from the 80’s is more relevant than ever before.
Bring home the bacon, Fry it up in the pan, and
Never, ever let him forget he’s a man.
Unless of course, one of you ladies dolls up your husband in an extra large prom dress from Goodwill, and sends him off to entertain our Women’s Fellowship at one of those infamous “Lady’s Nights Out.”
Remember ladies, what you do in secret, will be shouted from the housetops.
Despite the changes in the world, Women’s Fellowship is as vital and as necessary as ever. The Women’s Fellowship is all about education and service. Consider the magnitude of that service. If one of our families suffers the loss of a loved one, the Women’s Fellowship prepares the meal, and hosts the reception. The Women’s Fellowship also dresses our Christmas candles, and makes our chicken pies. They are the backbone of the Prayer Chain. The Women’s Fellowship provides countless other services without which our church could not function. They do all this while also serving as Elders, and Trustees, as Committee Chairs, and as Sunday School teachers. You name a task that needs doing around here, and chances are a member of our Women’s Fellowship is helping to get it done
In honor of our Women’s Fellowship and the service they render, I would like to talk about service, using two passages from the New Testament that highlight the service of women in the Early Church. I would like to make several key points.
I
First, from our gospel lesson we learn that as important as it is, service is not the most important thing. Jesus and his disciples have made a visit to the home of Martha and Mary, two sisters. Mary sits at the feet and listens to his teaching. In contrast, according to the text, Martha was distracted with much serving. So she goes to Jesus and she says, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” And Jesus responds, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; 42 one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Service is important, but it is not the most important thing. The most important thing is a connection with Jesus Christ. According to our church the one essential is “a heart relationship with the Triune God who reveals himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” That handily sums up the New Testament the way that Jesus summed up the Hebrew Bible in two commandments, “Love God with heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves.” Jesus told Martha that there was one thing needful, and Mary had chosen it. She sat at his feet Before we serve Jesus, we must know him whom we serve. We must know him as a living Lord who wants to command us.
And what does he command us? That we love and serve one another. He said the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. He encouraged his disciples to serve one another even as he had served.
Service is a wonderful thing, but before we serve we must first learn the needs of those we serve. I once watched helplessly as a cab driver scooped up my luggage and put it into his cab. He was trying to be helpful. Unfortunately, I had just stepped out of another cab, and I was checking into the hotel, not out of it.
We must not make that mistake.
II
Second, I would point out that though service, is not the most important thing, it is important. If Martha had not served Jesus and his disciples would have gone hungry.
According to the Book of Acts, waiting on tables may have been the very first service that Christians offered to one another. In Act’s chapter 6, the apostles ask that the church in Jerusalem appoint seven “deacons” to wait tables so that they will not have to leave off prayer and the preaching of the word to do that task.
The female dieners we use at our lovefeasts play the roll the book of Acts assigned to deacons. The diener is a German word for one who waits at table.
Of course, the office of deacon evolved even within the New Testament. In Romans chapter 16, St. Paul commends Phoebe a deaconess of the church in Cenchreae. He says to greet her in the Lord as befits the saints, and to help her in whatever she may require, for she has been a helper of many including Paul himself. A deacon is one who helps. Likewise, in Romans 16, St. Paul greets Prisca and Aquila, calling them his fellow workers in Christ Jesus who risked their necks for his life, and for whom not only he, “but also all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks.” Paul also extends greetings to “the church which meets in their house.”
In the early days of the church in the New Testament Era, women had standing that appears to equal that of men. Unfortunately, as the first generation of Christians gave way to a second generation, and a third, the women seemed to loose that standing. By the time the Pastoral Epistle’s are written
(See: Foot Note 1), it is assumed that deacons will be “the husband of one wife,” (1 Timothy 3:12) implying that all were men. The same passage seems to make room for women who serve saying, “The women likewise must be serious, not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things.” (1 Timothy 3:11). Clearly, though women are doing equal work they are not receiving equal recognition.
It is interesting to me that we followed a similar pattern in the early days of the Renewed Moravian Church. In the beginning women had great place. Anna Nitschmann, head of the Single Sisters, was referred to as “the Chief Eldress,” and her opinion was often second only to that of Zinzendorf, whom she ultimately married. Unfortunately, after the death of Zinzendorf, the roll of women in our church began to ebb. It was only in the 20th Century that we saw numerous women ordained, and a generous percentage of those elected to the office of bishop.
At Unity Synod I discovered that women play key rolls thorough-out the unity. For example, I enjoyed meeting Sr. Angelene Swart, a laywoman from South Africa, who as a former president of Unity Board, was at one time head of our church. I also enjoyed meeting Sr. Winelle Kirton-Roberts who is Senior Pastor of Memorial Church on St. Thomas, which has c. 1,000 members and averages 350 people in public worship each week. She is just 39 years old.
Only one province in the Unity refuses to ordain women. It is located in Africa. They are still engaged in the dubious act of proof-texting, and they forget to weigh one text of scripture against every other. They take Paul’s injunction of 1 Corinthians 14 that women should keep silent in the churches very seriously. Yet they forget that it needs to be placed in the context of Galatians 3:28 in which St. Paul says that, In Christ “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for all are one in Christ.” This province was thoroughly challenged by the synod.
I know that there are churches in this city that do not permit women to teach men, and refuse to elect them to boards of Elders or Trustees. This church is not one of them.
III
I would have you to note that those who serve are sometimes irritated by those who do not serve. Martha goes to Jesus and complains that her sister Mary has left her to serve alone.
I have heard it said that the church survives only because 10% of the members give 90% of the budget, and less that 20% of the people do c. 80% of the work.
I don’t think those figures are accurate here at New Philadelphia, but I think they are fearfully close to accurate in many churches.
If this situation existed in our workplace, those of us doing the work would complain, and perhaps quit. In the church we sometimes complain, but most of the time, we just work harder.
I am quite sure that, from time to time, every members of our Women’s Fellowship wishes that every other woman in our congregation was a member. They would like to share the load. At the same time, all members of our Women’s Fellowship are members because they choose to be. And they recognize it is a hard choice, harder for some than for others. They know that when our Women’s Fellowship was founded most of the women did not work outside the home. They worked hard taking care of their families, but they still had the time to put much time and effort into the church. Now, they say, many families have two careers, one for him, and one for her. Many still serve the church, but in other capacities.
Still, they would like to have the occasional participation of every woman in our church. Therefore, I would join our Women’s Fellowship in urging all our women to Membership. Historically, the Women’s Fellowship has been one of the most important organizations in the church, and I believe that will continue to be so into the foreseeable future.
I would point out that no one has the power to make another serve. You can only create opportunities for that service. At New Philadelphia, we have many opportunities:
Women’s Fellowship
Men’s Fellowship
Youth Fellowship
Choirs
Band
Elders
Trustees
Mission Teams
Crisis Control
Sunnyside Ministry
Home Repair
Youth Mission Teams
Bethesda Center
Just this week one of our Elders put a new twist on service to the homeless at Bethesda Center. He took his entire family to help him. His son may be the youngest person ever to serve there.
Some years ago we lost a family to another church on the complaint that we did not have enough opportunities for service. At the time I found it hard to believe. Today, I would find it impossible to believe.
IV
Finally, I would urge each of you to find some method of service. Our Stewardship Committee has popularized the phrase “Worship Plus 2. “ That means that they invite all of us to engage in worship—that is the one things we can’t neglect, plus some form of fellowship and learning, such as a circle or a Sunday school class, and some form of service.
Some people are waiting to render some great service. It is like they have a check for $1,000 dollars worth of service and they want to spend it all at once. Please don’t wait. We need a nickel’s worth of service here, and a dime’s worth of service there, and a dollar’s worth of service somewhere else. It is that by all the small, faithful acts of service, that God’s work is done in the world.
I am thankful that our Women’s Fellowship has been doing this work for 90 years!
Finis
Foot Note 1: I believe that the Pastorals contain much material from Paul, but undoubtedly had a latter editor, for their content certainly reflects a later period in the development of the church. The gifts have given way to increased structure, and apostles and prophets have been replaced by bishops and deacons.