Prayed in Dagenham

21st Sunday after Trinity2 Timothy 3:14-4:5...In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable...
Luke 18:1-8The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge18Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. ²He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. ³In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” ⁴For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone,⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’ ⁶And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? ⁸I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’Whether or not you've been aware, this week has seen industrial action by the NUT and at least 3 local secondary schools were closed on Thursday, giving my kids an extra 6 hours sat in front of the TV.
A couple of years ago I went to the cinema to see Made in Dagenham, a film about the 1968 strike by the seamstresses at the Ford plant at Dagenham, staring Sally Hawkins.The 187 women employees at the Dagenham plant were initially classed as semi-skilled workers and paid accordingly.Their job was to sit at a sewing machine for long hours sewing together the pieces of the car seats which would later be assembled by the men in the main car factory.

At the beginning of the film, it is announced that Ford bosses in the USA have re-classified the women as unskilled workers and reduced their pay accordingly.Understandably the women are mortified and outraged at their demotion and arrange a one-day strike.The bosses refuse to accede to the demands of the women, who rapidly realise that the wider issue at stake is one of equal pay with men.They end up striking indefinitely which soon leads to very real tensions within the whole community in Dagenham as, without the women sewing the seats together, there are soon no cars coming off the production line at all, and none of the men can work either.

Cue scenes of domestic tension in kitchens and sitting rooms up and down the region, to the backdrop of realistic 1960s decor.
Everyone’s pay is withdrawn and things become really tough.Equal pay sounds like an admirable goal to pursue but at what cost?As this is, admittedly, a feel good film, there is never any doubt that eventually the woman will get what they desire.There’s the inevitable scene when they travel to Downing Street, no less, to present their demands to the Secretary of State, Barbara Castle, played in flaming red hair by Miranda Richardson.She is sympathetic to the women, to the horror of some of her male colleagues, and the film ends with the women seamstresses returning to work, all smiles and victory salutes, with the promise of equal pay ringing in their ears.

In a film postscript, the credits inform us that the Equal Pay Act was passed within two years of that strike.In addition there are clips of interviews with the actual 1968 seamstresses, women now in their 60s, 70s and 80s, feisty women who, whilst looking a lot less glamorous than their young film star counterparts, are women you would not want to cross!However they had one thing which was vital: they had ‘RIGHT’ on their side.

At some fundamental level, the basic human rights we enjoy in the West– the right to vote; the right to be paid for work; the right to religious freedom – are acknowledged to be worth standing up for.In our reading we heard about another doughty woman - the widow and the unjust judge.
This woman is one of Luke’s powerless ones, along with Jairus’ sick daughter and the elderly haemorrhaging woman and the poor widow who only had two small coins to live on – but the powerless ones have God on their side...Jesus, particularly in Luke, has a special place for the poor and for women.A particularly vulnerable group in first century Palestine, widows had no welfare state as a safety net.To be a widow in Jesus’ time, without wider family, was to be one small step away from destitution.A widow in this very position is the heroine of our story today.She comes to the unjust judge and pleads for justice against her adversary.Jesus doesn't give us many details but it’s possible she is owed badly needed income and is being denied it by her opponent.
The Greek plays around with the notion of righteousness in the text, so that the widow’s opponent is referred to as the anti-righteous one.In the world’s eyes the widow’s opponent is the one with the power, but the way God sees things is different.In God’s schema the widow has right on her side.And she knows it.Her daily perseverance towards the unjust judge eventually wears him down.

We are given a glimpse into his psyche in verse 4, which says that for a while he refused to grant the widow justice, but then he has a conversation with himself.Jesus shows his mastery at story-telling here, and it’s meant to be funny, though the translation in our reading masks the humour.Let’s rediscover it: the judge says: ‘though I have no fear of God, and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming’ but the Greek could also mean ‘yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not finally come and slap me in the face (give me a black eye)’!So the judge decides to grant the widow justice, not because he is righteous, but through her sheer feistiness and perseverance.The helpless widow was not quite so helpless after all!Jesus ends, ‘And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?’

I wonder what you make of this comparison of God with the unjust judge…Has Jesus in this story run the risk that we might think God is like the unjust judge in that He appears unwilling sometimes to answer prayer?
Is it that God can’t be bothered with us, but gives in when we wear him down?Why did Jesus tell this story?Luckily we’re told at the beginning: it is so that we should keep praying and not despair.Losing heart, or despair in prayer, is insidious.We may not be wringing our hands as such, but have we secretly abandoned hope that God can have the last word in human society?

Have we unconsciously adopted the mindset that sees a reduced church, trudging along as best it can, in the face of widespread secularism, as rather a sad picture, with God somehow a bit helpless on the outside?We may be tempted to unfaith in the face of unanswered prayer.And then there’s the great, as yet unanswered prayer: ‘Maranatha’ – Lord, come again.For those of us living 2000 years after this story, it can seem like Jesus has forgotten to come back.For us who live reasonably comfortable lives this may not be a big issue.But for the poor, those denied equality, those who live in fear of the powerful and violent, the coming in of the full kingdom of God can seem like a long way off.
Justice will be done when Christ returns.
And we can start being concerned with justice in the here and now.

 So to sum up: Jesus tells this parable so we persevere: if the unjust judge can finally grant the widow justice, HOW MUCH MORE will God grant justice to those who cry to him day and night?
We must not despair. And we must not be apathetic.

In our other reading Paul also urges Timothy to consider the eternal framework for justice: ‘in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires’.

Is there something you are constantly bringing to God, which yet appears unanswered?
Keep persevering.
We are not called to look for miracles, or dictate timings to God. We’re called to persevere to the end.
And finally, a plaintive end to Jesus’ story...
An ‘And yet’...
‘And yet’: always a little moment of anxiety, of reflection, of questioning.
And as Jesus leaves it open, so will we:
‘When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’
Will he find real disciples, real faith amongst us?
AMEN.

Images of maleness

The other day I found myself reflecting on three images of maleness which presented themselves on a day trip to London.

In the first I listened to a well known Christian speaker tell of his journey from a restrictive to an 'open' position on women in church leadership. He pleaded a background in single sex boarding schools and conservative evangelical Christianity, The latter had at least given him a love of the bible and a desire to share his faith with others. But it had brought with it a default position of believing that the New Testament prohibited women from teaching or leading in the church ('I permit not a woman to teach or usurp authority').

A spell of attending to his own experience (of women guiding and teaching him things personally) and a long hard re-look at the context of the New Testament had led him to embrace women's ministry at all levels. He thought male single sex education coupled with a stiff upper lip approach to English life may have contributed to his initial inability to relate to women and imagine collaborative ministry alongside them. How many other men were still dressing up the psychological in the guise of the theological, he wondered. The image from Romans 16, of Paul working alongside his female colleagues in equal ministry, was normative for him now. Ultimately it was a vision of God and of God's Church that lifted us above predominately male images to something truly liberating and empowering for all people. And, lo and behold, it turns out that its first champion was Jesus Christ.

Buoyed up by this vision I headed back to catch my train home and found myself sitting on a crowded commuter train with three business men of a certain age, suits and smart macs, who were reminiscing about their school days at Marlborough; the 'beaks', the Masters, the cricket and the rugby.They recalled a hapless House-master sacked for 'playing' with boys. Such a waste of a career, poor chap. I had my dog collar on. They eyed me suspiciously. 

Sitting quietly behind the garrulous sixty-somethings was a young Franciscan in full brown habit, wearing open toed sandals on a cold January day. He looked steadily out of the window for the length of the journey and I took comfort from his stillness.

Three images of maleness: the egalitarian; the Old School and the man married to Christ. Perhaps it was a good reminder that despite our non-contextual hermeneutics, gendered language and Church's vexed history regarding women, God 'himself' is not a man.

(Thanks to Chris Alcock for the title of this post).

We need to talk about women

I don't normally get back ache.

When I think back to the day it started, I remember it was Tuesday 20 November, the day the Synod of the Church of England voted against the Measure to ordain women to the Episcopate.

I have tried to rationalise this back ache in other ways - it's been quite a busy week, tiredness can creep in, I raked up a lot of leaves in the garden last weekend. But none of this is the real explanation. As it creeps up my spine and along my shoulders into my neck and head I know in my bones it's nothing short of a huge spiritual sadness over a missed opportunity and a deep sense of injustice.

I've never thought of myself as radical but I can feel my patience to listen to those who take issue with women bishops running out somewhat. Before Tuesday, if you had asked me, I would have said that proper provision needs to be made for those whose reading of Scripture is different from mine. 

There are two distinct theological sets of objections to women bishops. There are those, like members of Reform http://reform.org.uk/ who take St Paul's injunctions to the NT churches about women leading and teaching men as a trans-cultural mandate for what they call 'headship', concluding that women cannot ever be priests in charge, Incumbents, Bishops or..............'dignitaries' (this is the list from the Reform website. Sorry...dignitaries? what? what?) 

Under this prohibition I'm assuming that women may be ordained priest but must always serve under an ordained man in some way. I can't quite imagine how this theology is worked out in praxis, but I don't expect there are hundreds of Reform women queuing up to be ordained so maybe it doesn't feel like a problem to them.

Then there are also those on the Catholic wing http://www.forwardinfaith.com/ who cannot accept women's ordained leadership because it involves (as I understand it) receiving the sacrament from someone whose gender debars them from embodying the true priesthood of Christ, rendering the sacrament 'ineffective'. They also argue that the church universal has stood by this traditional interpretation for 2000 years (a little more than the time we stood by slavery): departing from it puts our relations with the Roman Catholic church on a parlous footing and flies in the face of unity.

I am a reasonable person and I take seriously Paul's teaching that those 'with a weaker conscience' should be respected (1 Corinthians 8:7-13). I may have a 'weaker conscience' on some issue one day and I would like my views to be respected then. But I like to think that during that time I would be searching the Scriptures and reflecting on culture and tradition to see if perhaps I was wrong on that issue and needed to embrace something that other Christians have already come to accept as God's will.

But the question I'm asking myself now is when does respecting someone's conscience turn into a growing feeling that they're just plain wrong about Scripture and tradition? Did St Paul not also imply that theologically some people have been on baby milk too long and need to move onto solids now (1 Corinthians 3:1-4)? As one blogger said this week, perhaps Conservative Evangelicals 'need to get out more'.

But therein lies the problem. When we operate in churches and groups where everyone subscribes to the same view, and that view is reinforced every time the church gathers and no one sees a women in charge, or a woman with teaching responsibility or a woman standing behind the altar, then of course the very thought of it is going to seem peculiar and 'wrong'. Many who were unsure about women priests at first, after actually seeing them in operation couldn't really remember what all the fuss was about. Take The Vicar of Dibley's David Horton, Church Warden from Hell, 'converted' to the reverend's biggest fan by the end of series three. 

The further worrying thing about enclaves of like minded objectors is that other aspects of 'theology' group themselves around their primary theological objection One such is the idea that women in the Episcopate will adversely affect mission as 'young men' in the conservative traditions are deterred from offering themselves for ordination.   Well, I could speak of the young women who are, even now, reconsidering whether the church whose founder treated women with radical equality is really a welcome place for them now. 

I am not sure that after nearly two decades of women's ordination those with 'consciences' are going to change their minds about any of this. Reform-types are always going to take some bible texts and build 'headship' out of them, whilst ignoring the NT injunction 'slaves obey your masters'  for cultural reasons. Forward in Faith are always going to elevate and particularise priesthood so that only certain men can preside whilst ignoring the anointing given Jesus by a woman in Matthew 26: 6-13, which Jesus described as 'a beautiful thing.'

It is in theory possible to change your mind though. The cross fertilization of the charismatic movement with evangelicalism has brought with it a welcome theology of female inclusion - after all, the Spirit gives as he wills (1 Corinthians 12:11) and if that means he gives leadership and teaching gifts regardless of gender, we'd better not ring fence those gifts. And there are also those faithful women within Roman Catholicism who believe the Holy Spirit is calling them to the priesthood. I have listened to both Evangelicals and Anglo Catholics who, after being exposed to such influences and having an informed mind towards Scripture and tradition, have concluded that the hermeneutical direction of Scripture is towards equality of role as well as of being. 

But at the end of this week, back ache and all, if I were Paul, surveying the fall out from a Synod which voted NO and did so for theological reasons, and I looked around and saw the negative impact of this on the standing of the Christian gospel in the nation, I would be absolutely exasperated.

If I were Paul (or Peter for that matter) I think I'd just be very tempted to say: 'It's time to grow up'.

Tea Break

A slight break between the Old Testament females and the New Testaments ones today, just to take stock. 

It's been a blast - from the archetypal temptress Eve, who turned out to have faith despite her monumental slip up; through Sarah and other nonagenarians who thought they'd never have children, till God intervened. 

We've seen prostitutes, outsiders and King's mistresses become part of the family line of the Messiah; a feisty turn with a tent peg; a female military leader; women in love; women in war; women in poverty; women in royal palaces. 

Sadly there have been some who were unable to make an appearance due to lack of information, or lack of actual belief in God...

Before we launch into the fabulous females of the New Testament, of which there are number, a moment to consider some other possible unsung heroines:

Mrs Noah: You're building a WHAT???
Mrs Methuselah: Yes, we're celebrating our 900th wedding anniversary today!
Mrs Pharaoh: Those frogs are RUINING the paintwork. Get Moses back here NOW!
Mrs Moses: He's always too busy to spend time with the family...
Mrs Job: Will you please stop picking those scabs before we all catch something?
Delilah: I'm in love with this guy who has religion in, like, HIS HAIR!!!
Mrs Jonah: I can't get the smell of fish out of those trousers whatever I do.

With these wonderful womanly voices echoing down the pages of the OT, we turn to the NT tomorrow...