On International Women's Day | Presbytery of Niagara

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by Ann McKibbon, The Gathering Place, Port Colborne, ON, Canada

Scripture: Judges 4: 1-9a, 14-21

1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.

4 Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading[a] Israel at that time. 5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. 6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”

8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”

9 “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.

14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. 15 At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.

16 Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left. 17 Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite.

18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

19 “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.

20 “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’”

21 But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

Sermon:

Today we celebrate international women’s day in the Presbyterian church calendar. I’m delighted (and challenged) to be assigned this celebration for the service today.

First, I have a confession to make. I’m a Christian feminist and probably have always been so. This stance has brought me joy and satisfaction, although not all the time. Today is my second worship service celebrating women. To start the service off, I want to tell you the story of my first worship celebration of women in the church.

About 25 years ago George I and were part of a thriving and dynamic Presbyterian church in Hamilton. We had 2 first class ministers, one of whom was a woman. Our programs, especially the church school were vibrant and growing. The congregation was rich and diverse. We had deans, business professionals, physicians (one of whom was a woman), a man who was a nurse, PhD theologians, academics, administrators, professional musicians, stay at home mothers, and stay at home fathers. Lots of young families. One of our major missions was to be a haven for single mothers and their children. We also sponsored refugees: Vietnamese Boat People and political refugees from El Salvador, and helped with some Croatian families’ resettlement. We were growing and moving forward.

It was just natural for the women of the congregation to want to celebrate International Women’s Day. We felt very strongly and happily to be putting on a truly celebratory event for all of the men, women, and children of our congregation—we felt that we wanted to give the congregation a genuine offering of joy and thankfulness for what we had built together. A group of us planned the worship service over 6 weeks, sought input from the clergy, studied and rehearsed, and were very excited as the day drew near. We thought that the service we going well until…..

Even before the service ended, the man with the PhD in theology strode to the front of the church, told the congregation that he felt strongly that he could not support anything that gone on during the service and then sat down. Silence first and then the condemnation happened. What was fascinating at the time was that no one criticized our biblical content—it was the cultural stance that had upset many members of the congregation. One man’s reaction was particularly upsetting.

So, later that afternoon, at home and after lunch, our phone rang and the caller asked to speak to George. The man was the CEO of one of Hamilton’s largest hospital and a ruling elder—a powerful man. He was angry about the service content and asked George why he could not “control his wife”. Bless his heart, George did the right thing. He said “Just a minute Ken” and gave the phone to me. I don’t remember what I said but the conversation was short and cool. I will never forget the hurt and disappointment that came from doing that service.

I’m hoping today that my second International Women’s Day service is received with a bit more of God’s grace and blessings than the first.

My goal for today is first to celebrate women and their roles in God’s world. I want to look at scripture and then highlight an important Port Colborne woman who was a long-time member of this congregation: Helen Kinnear. Second, and just as important, although a minor part of the service today, is to also celebrate men and their roles. God’s world needs both women and men and God loves and uses us all.

I want to start out talking about two words appearing in the broader faith communities around us, especially because this Sunday is our celebration of International Women’s Day: The words are complementarianism and egalitarianism. Complementarianism was coined in the 1980s in the US in some of the more conservative denominations and seems to have a strong relationship with paternalism. Both groups argue their views are biblically sound—and I can see how each got there.

Their main differences centre on conflicting and opposing theological views especially around gender roles within marriage and the church.

Complementarians restrict pastor/elder/teaching roles to men. Egalitarians believe both genders can hold any leadership position based on calling, not gender.

Complementarians view marriage as a partnership with male headship (husband leads, wife submits). Egalitarians emphasize mutual submission and partnership without hierarchy.

To put these two terms in simple language, complementarianism says that women are to bear and raise children, support husbands and families, and keep house all the while submitting to husbands, fathers, and male leaders in our churches and secular lives. Men can, and should, do everything else including expressing their views and choices over the women in their lives.

I am in the egalitarian camp.

Let’s look at how scripture supports my view:

I am made in God’s image just as each one of you are. All men and all women. Genesis 1. To continue this passage on, Eve was created as an ezer kenegdo (or a suitable helper) to Adam not as a subordinate, but as an equal, powerful, and essential partner. The Hebrew term ezer signifies strength, rescue, and protection, often used to describe God’s own role toward Israel. Ezer indicates Eve was designed to be a strong, valiant partner, not a servant. The word ezer is used over 20 times in the bible, with 16 of those referring to God as the "helper" of humans, denoting power, strength, and protection. As for example, in another of my favourite scripture passages: I will lift up my eyes until the hills from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalms 121

Paul embraces this equality or sameness of sexes in Galatians 3:26-28. I’m going to read it to you.

"Each one of you is a child of God because of your faith in Christ Jesus. All of you have been baptized into Christ and clothed yourselves with Christ. In Christ there is no Jew or Greek, slave or citizen, male or female. All are one in Christ Jesus.

Paul’s foundational verses emphasize spiritual equality and unity, meaning all believers have equal standing, worth, and access to God, regardless of race, social status, or gender.

This scripture is widely considered the theological basis for the inclusion of all people as equal partners in ministry and in the world. They are probably my second most favourite verses.

The bottom line is that men and women are equal in God’s eyes.

In addition to being equal in God’s eyes I also feel strongly that each one of us is born with a God-given blueprint of who we are and what we are meant to be. Call it a blueprint, a tool box or toolkit, talents, gifts or whatever. My favourite bible verses talking about my God-given talents or characteristics were in our call to worship this morning (Psalms 139).
“For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before they came to be.”

That knitting together in the womb really speaks to me. Eva and I are knitters—making good things from string using sticks. I’m wearing today one of my happiest, and probably the most difficult knitting project I have ever done, a sweater I knit about 25 years ago. Every time I wear it I think of God, busy knitting us together before birth and giving us our unique blueprint.

Now I want to go to some incredible women in our scriptures—women who have risen to their God-given challenges, talents, and circumstances. Over the past year we have looked at many of them. Rahab, going against her country folk to save the Israelites at the battle of Jerico. Photini, the woman at the well who was the first non-Jewish believer in Jesus and the first missionary. Abigail (Jane preached on her). When her husband’s bad behaviour caused King David to threaten her home, her wisdom provided a peace offering to David and prevented destruction.
Others we have not heard about from the pulpit include

Jochebed, Moses mother who hid him in a wicker basket in the river to protect him. She later raised him in the Pharaoh’s court.

Queen Esther who saved her Jewish people via her interactions with her husband, King Xerses’.
Shiphrah and Puah, two influential Hebrew midwives (Exodus 1:15-21) who defied Pharaoh’s order to kill newborn male Israelites. Without them we would not have Moses

Miriam, Moses’ sister (another influential woman) who was a real asset helping Moses get the Israelites across the desert and into the promised land. She is considered one of the first prophets: (a prophet in the Bible is a person chosen by God to serve as His spokesperson, delivering divine messages, warnings, and revelations to God’s people).

Deborah and Jael. You have heard their stories in our scripture reading this morning. Deborah too is considered to be a prophet in her own right.

I include Deborah as an influential woman, using her talents and going beyond what society felt was proper. She was a prophet and the first and only woman who was a judge in Israel. We at the GP have our own influential judge: Helen Kinnear. What a woman she was and a strong member of our congregation. I know some of you remember Judge Kinnear and we can talk about her at coffee.

She was born in Cayuga in 1894 and raised in Port Colborne.

Described as generous and self-effacing, Port Colborne native Helen Kinnear was the first woman to practice law in Niagara and the first federally appointed woman judge in Canada. Before attending Osgoode Hall Law School, she received a BA from the University of Toronto in English and History. She was the first women to be a lawyer in Niagara. She set up practice with her father in Port Colborne in 1920 and continued this after his death in 1924. She was nominated to run as a federal candidate but was forced to decline because she was a woman even though she was projected to win. Kinnear was the first woman to plead a case in the Supreme Court of Ontario and in the Supreme Court of Canada. She was the first woman to be appointed a King’s Counsel in the British Commonwealth (1934). She went on and became the county court judge for Haldimand—the first female Judge in Canada. She also served on the Council of the Canadian Bar Association, was the honorary president of the Women’s Law Association of Ontario, and was appointed by the Province of Ontario as a member of the Minister’s Advisory Council on the Treatment of the Offender. In 1965, she became the first woman to receive a medal from the John Howard Society of Ontario in recognition of her contributions to the profession and concern for the rights of the offender. Some of the important law around protections for offenders comes from her work. A wonderful role model for all of us. She certainly used her God-given talents/blueprints for the betterment of many.

Kinnear lived at 232 Clarence Street, Port Colborne. The house is designated as an important historical site. Her sister-in-law Mary Kinnear, also from Port Colborne, was a Canada’s senator, and some say she was the first Indigenous senator (1967).

So, in summary, I am an egalitairistic, anti-complementaristic, feminist, Christian woman and that gives me great joy and satisfaction. I don’t care what label you want for yourself. God loves me. God loves you. We are all made in God’s image. God gave each of talents and gifts for use in this life. Let us all love and respect each other as we move forward together in our church journey using our gifts to our best advantage.

It is a good day to be a woman. It is a good day to be a man. It is a good day for partnership and moving forward. So let’s celebrate together today.
Amen.