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First Presbyterian Church of Inglewood
100 North Hillcrest Ave
Inglewood, California 90301
Telephone numbers: (310) 677-5133 (323) 678-0268
Fax (310) 330-8342
Electronic mail: presbyts@aol.com
Mother’s Day - - Sunday, May 8, 2005
Rev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri Robins
“The Daughters of Eve”
I
am a daughter of Eve. When I look
across the congregation
I
see Eve’s daughters.
Strong,
courageous, beautiful, sensual, creative and righteous.
We
are the ones who gathered the manna in the desert.
We
are the one who carried the children
on
our hips as we walked.
We
are the ones who made the fires and waited
while
the men talked with God and planned for war
We
are the ones who wept for children who died to early
and
men who died too often
We
are the ones who shared our homes, our children and
our
marriage beds with our sisters
We
have been forced to use cunning, trickery and courage
in
the face of tremendous odds
because
of laws that did not acknowledge our value
Or
men who did not acknowledge our laws
We
are mothers and sisters and daughters.
We
love our sisters as friends; we love our friends as family
We
have been talked about, lied about and denied
We
have been loved onto pedestals that became prisons
We
are the daughters of Eve
Let
us remember the stories of the first Eves
Eve
in the Garden of Eden:
She
didn’t eat an apple—she ate from the tree of knowledge
And
because of her,
we
bear the burden of knowing a little too much
And
doing much too little with all that we know
Hagar
was the first surrogate mother
For
her pains she was banished. Left to die
in the desert
Although
chosen by her mistress
to
sleep with Abraham
When
she produced what every father wanted,
what
gave status to every woman – a son.
Sarah
could not stand the pressure
Because
of Hagar, we have the third line of Abraham’s children,
the
children of Ishmael
Our
Muslim brothers and sisters.
Miriam
danced and sang in the desert
when
the newly freed people escaped from Egypt.
She
and Aaron chafed under the favoritism
Yahweh
gave to their brother, Moses.
Miriam
spoke up and God punished her with leprosy.
To
his credit, Aaron pled for mercy.
But
Miriam no longer sang.
And
we heard little from her after that.
Miriam’s
song and dance reminds me of two poets from two cultures who speak of the women
they know:
She
walks in beauty, like the night
Of
cloudless climes and starry skies;
And
all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet
in her aspect and her eyes:
Her beauty,
She thinks her brown skin
Has no glory.
If she could dance
Naked,
Under palm trees
And see her image in the
river
She would know.
But there are no palm
trees
On the street,
And dishwater gives back
no images.
Deborah
was a judge, a prophet, and a warrior.
We
find her story in the book of Judges,
where
she won a number of significant battles.
From
her – and others like Heber’s wife Jael –
we
find the courage to face adversity
despite
great odds and no support.
Numbers
27:1-11
The daughters of
Zelophehad approached 2 the
entrance to the Tent of Meeting and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the
leaders and the whole assembly, and said,
3 "Our father died in the desert. He was not among
Korah's followers, who banded together against the LORD, but he died for his
own sin and left no sons. 4 Why
should our father's name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us
property among our father's relatives."
5 So Moses brought their case before the LORD 6 and the LORD said to him, 7 "What Zelophehad's
daughters are saying is right.”
From
these five women we learn to speak for ourselves and to remind those, who might
forget, We are here and we make a difference.
We count too.
We
remember Job’s wife,
who
reminded him of his responsibility to his family.
Integrity
is not feeding your children
Curse God and die!" she said. Job
2:9
In
proverbs we read of the righteous woman:
10 Who can find a woman of noble character? She is worth far more
than rubies. 25 She is
clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. 26 She speaks with wisdom, and
faithful instruction is on her tongue. 28
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises
her: saying,29 "Many
women do noble things, but you surpass them all." 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty
is fleeting; but a woman who loves the LORD is to be praised. 31 Give her the reward she has
earned, and let her works bring her praise. Proverbs 31:10-31
Mary
and Martha, like many women who work for Jesus, struggled with the dilemma of
what to do—
clean
the house, prepare the food—
or
sit at the feet of Jesus, studying and learning?
They
argued with each other,
and
the Master Teacher invited them to do both.
They
remind us, who are multi-gifted,
to
find ways to both use our gifts and nurture our souls.
There
are many unnamed women in our scriptures.
The
woman who hemorrhaged for years took a chance.
Women
were not supposed to touch men outside of their family. Menstrual blood was considered ritually
unclean and
women
were isolated from the entire community
during
their cycles.
But
this woman who had been bleeding for 12 years—
pressed
into the crowd and touched the hem of Christ’s robe. (Matthew 9:20) And she was healed.
The
widow in Luke (18:3) was relentless
in
pleading her case before a judge found justice.
These
women remind us that we are responsible
for
the nameless and faceless and voiceless women in our world.
Mary
of Magdala got a bad rap – as many women have.
There
is nothing in scripture that says she was a prostitute.
But
there is much in unofficial Christian mythology
that
supports that view. Why?
Because
she had the audacity to approach Jesus?
Because
she had the freedom to be with him in public—
at
every significant moment in his ministry?
There
are as many myths that give the reason for her proximity to Christ as there are
stories about her relationship with him.
Her
story reminds me of a poem by Maya Angelou
It
is a poem about women
who
are a little too much for men to handle. . .
Did you want to see me
broken?
Bowed head and lowered
eyes?
Shoulders falling down
like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful
cries?
Does my haughtiness offend
you?
Don't you take it awful
hard
'Cause I laugh like I've
got gold mines
Diggin' in my own
backyard.
Just like moons and like
suns,
With the certainty of
tides,
Just like hopes springing
high,
Still I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset
you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got
diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
You may shoot me with your
words,
You may cut me with your
eyes,
You may kill me with your
hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll
rise.
Leaving behind nights of
terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's
wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my
ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the
hope of the slave.
I rise, I rise, I rise.
From
Mary Magdalene and her stories
we
learn that Jesus loved women.
Jesus
included women among his closest friends and advisers. Jesus called women to learn from him and to
serve God’s people. We are grateful for
the examples we find in scripture.
May the God of Eve teach
you to dance,
May the God of Hagar bring
you comfort in the desert,
May the God of Miriam
bring companions to you
when you struggle,
May the God of Deborah
teach you courage for your battles,
May the Christ who knew
Martha and Mary
show you the way of
balance,
May the Christ who healed
the bent over woman heal your pain,
May the Christ of Mary
Magdala
send you out to proclaim
your story,
In the Name of Christ
who is the Memory, Hope
and Author of the future.
Today
is Mother’s Day
In
Great Britain it is called Mothering Sunday
I
think this is a more inclusive term
Because
it reminds us that all of us –- men and women --
Are
responsible for mothering our children our selves and one another.
So
whether you are a mother by birth or a mother by choice
Happy
Mother’s Day
And
if you are one of the many women who have been called
to
serve God’s people and been ordained by the Presbyterian Church USA –
congratulations. We are pioneers.
We
are the daughters of Eve.
Strong,
courageous, beautiful, sensual, creative and righteous.
We
are the ones who gathered the manna in the desert.
We
are the one who carried the children on our hips as we walked.
We
are the ones who made the fires and waited . . .
We
are mothers and sisters and daughters and friends.
We
are the daughters of Eve
Be watchful; stand firm in
your faith; be people of courage;
be strong; let
everything you do, be done in love.
1
Corinthians 16:13-14
Return to 2005 Sermon Archives