March 4th,
2018 “Can Love
Lead?” Rev. Heather Jepsen
1 Corinthians
1:18-25 and Ephesians 4:1-6
Every year the Presbyterian Church sets
aside the first Sunday in March to honor and celebrate the gifts of women in
the church. This is a church day that I
have had a tendency to avoid. I
celebrated “Gifts of Women” Sunday only once in worship and it was while
serving a small church in San Francisco, before I was even ordained. Since my ordination, I have often faced
backlash because of my gender, so spending a whole Sunday talking about the
gifts of women just wasn’t another hurdle I was willing to jump. Thankfully this year Cathi Truesdale asked me
if we could do a “Gifts of Women” Sunday and have a special women’s choir. I agreed, and so if you have a problem with
this sermon or this service, you can take it up with Cathi!
It can be hard to talk about the gifts
that women in leadership bring to the church.
Many of you have gotten used to seeing a woman in church leadership but
it is still far from the norm. In our
town of Warrensburg, there is one woman who serves part time in a small church
outside of town, but there are no other full time women pastors. When we have clergy events or meetings, I am
often alone in my gender. While some other
pastors treat me with respect, many treat me as less than. Because of my gender, I am often talked over,
ignored, or simply put down. When
ministers great each other with handshakes, my hand is often not shaken. I am simply given a pat on the back as if to
say, “Good for you for trying.” No
matter how successful my ministry career may be, for many folks it will just never
measure up.
Of course, a lot of this controversy
centers on issues of Biblical interpretation.
Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthians that women should keep
quiet in the churches. For many this is
seen as an outright ban on women in leadership.
Never mind that we are able to interpret other biblical commands such as
how to deal with the sick, what kinds of clothes to wear, and how to cut our
hair within their unique historical context.
Despite a long history of interpreting the Biblical texts, many see this
line of Paul’s to stand for all churches for all of eternity.
Only a minor amount of Biblical study
reveals that Paul himself supports women as leaders in the church. Paul speaks of churches within women’s
houses, women functioning as teachers and deacons, and women ministering to
others. We find women as the primary financial
backers of Jesus’ ministry, women as the most successful Judges in the Old
Testament, and women as early evangelists in the church movement. The first people to share the good news of
the resurrection of Jesus Christ were women.
The gifts of women have often been lifted up within the Biblical lexicon,
even if some church traditions might choose to ignore it.
In our Scripture reading from the 1st
chapter of 1st Corinthians Paul himself reminds us that the ways of
God are not always the ways of the world.
The message of the cross is foolishness to the world around us. It has always been and always will be. Who wants to worship a suffering
Messiah? But yet, the power of God’s
deep love for humanity is revealed within that cross.
The world around us worships strength
and power. It worships those who push
and force their way. It worships those
who would trample on others, before they are willing to budge in their own
lives. The wisdom of God is something
entirely different. It is a strength
revealed in self-sacrificial love. Here
we find that “God’s foolishness is wiser that human wisdom, and God’s weakness
is stronger than human strength.”
I see parallels to women’s leadership
in this text. Certainly the idea of women
in positions of leadership still appears to be foolish in our world. This is especially the case if women are going
to use their God given gifts of love and hospitality in that leadership
role. When we see women leaders in the political
sphere or the business world we often see women who have modeled themselves
after men. They have decided that if
they are going to lead in a man’s position, then they must therefore act like
men, and for many this is necessary for success. Our society values the motherly traits of
women as long as the women keep those gifts in the home. Women, who lead outside the home, should lead
like men.
I too was trained to do my job like a
man; to preach forcefully and with conviction, to lead with a strong will and
vision, and to keep my heart out of my job.
These were all basic lessons I was given in training to be a
pastor. And yet, the more I do this job,
the more I have abandoned these lessons.
I see another way to lead, a way that is biblically based and effective,
and that is to lead with love. Rather
than leading the church like a business man in a board room, I lead my church
like a mother with her family. I work to
share the love of God through my very heart with you, as if you were my own
children; for you are all children of God, and I am your pastor. In the Catholic Church a person in my
position would be called Father; cannot I not therefore lead my flock with the
love of a mother? This is how I lead
with love.
Around the table and in the session
meeting, I try to work for consensus. I
don’t have an agenda to push; rather I look for the members of this family to
make decisions together. Like a mother
with her home, I work to make this church a place of hospitality. I want this to be a place of welcome and
safety for all people. This is how I
lead with love.
The biggest lie I was told in
seminary was to guard my heart from the people I serve. The biggest thing I have learned in ministry
is to open my heart and embrace the love I have for all of you, for the church,
and for the world. This is foolishness
for many, but it is wisdom in God, for this is the way that Jesus leads his
people. To open my heart makes me
vulnerable, but if I am not open to suffering with you than I cannot be your
Pastor. Jesus comes among us to suffer
with us. Jesus doesn’t guard or hide his
heart. If I am to model my ministry
after Christ, then I must be willing to open my heart to all the joys and pains
in your life as well as my own. This is
how I lead with love.
Paul discusses this kind of leadership
in his letter to the Ephesians. He
encourages his followers to lead a life worthy of their calling and then he
clearly states what that life should look like.
We should be humble and gentle, we should be patient, we should bear
with one another in love, and we should always work towards unity. When I read this text I hear Paul telling us
to lead the church with love. And I
think these are gifts for leadership that women uniquely possess.
I don’t want to discount the gifts and
efforts of men today. We all know that
men are the ones who first built the church, men are the ones who have been
leaders in the faith, and men are the fathers of our tradition. The Bible and our history books are full of
the stories of the contributions of men.
And many good men have followed the example of Jesus Christ and learned
to lead with love, including such greats as Martin Luther King Jr, President
Jimmy Carter, and the late Rev. Billy Graham.
But behind the scenes it has always
been women who have given life to the church.
It was women who supported Jesus’ early ministry, women who ran the
house churches in Paul’s time, and women who have worked behind the scenes in
many American churches throughout the ages.
Women are the ones who attend the committee meetings, sing in the choir,
teach the Sunday school classes, run the small groups, serve at the potluck,
and do the dishes afterwards. Women are
the ones who create an environment of hospitality, and I believe it is women
who are able to lead naturally with love.
This sermon asks, “Can Love Lead?” and
I believe through the example of Jesus Christ that it can. Jesus shows us another way, Jesus shows us
leadership with vulnerability, and Jesus shows us leadership with true heart. When we gather around the communion table we
remember that Jesus leads us with sacrificial love. Jesus shows us that love can lead.
I think women are uniquely qualified
to lead with the love of Jesus Christ.
And while I may continue to face criticism and bias working as a woman
in what many think of as a man’s job, I know that God has called me to this
work, God has ordained me to this ministry, and I am a mighty fine pastor. The best thing I ever did was open my heart
to truly love God’s church.
Today we celebrate the “Gifts of
Women” in the church and in the world, and we celebrate all of those that God
has called to lead with love. May God’s
blessing be upon all who serve the church, and may God’s blessing be upon women
and their unique gifts for ministry.
Amen.
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