The Monday Memo from John Stanko

829: She Was There

Greetings from Benin City, Nigeria. I arrived a week ago Friday, and had hoped to send you a Monday Memo last week. My schedule and connectivity issues would not permit it, so I am going to try again today. I had a busy week last week and am facing another one this week, but I am not complaining. I have a lot of chances to talk about purpose here, and that's just what I intend to do.

Speaking of purpose, I want to continue the women of purpose in the Bible series that I began in September. We have already looked at Lydia and Deborah. This week I want to look at Mary, the mother of Jesus, and start out by making the statement that her purpose was not to give birth to Jesus. In fact, no woman's purpose is to give birth to any child. That statement may surprise you, so before you write off what I just wrote, you had better read on.

MORE THAN A MOTHER

I maintain that childbirth is not a life purpose, but a role that a women has in her life for quite a few years. She gives birth, nurtures, and cares for the child, but eventually that child is going to go. Problems arise when the child wants to go, but the mother derives so much of her identify and fulfillment from the child that she cannot let him or her go, and there can be problems. I have always taught that a women has purpose before she marries and after her children are gone and her husband precedes her to glory. Of course, there are many women who do not have children, so does that mean they are purposeless or less than mothers? Absolutely not! Therefore, if Mary's purpose was not to give birth to Jesus, what was it?

We find Mary's purpose statement uttered by Elizabeth in Luke 1:45: "Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Mary''s purpose was to preserve, oversee, and participate by faith in the promises that were uttered where Jesus was concerned. In order to fulfill that purpose, Mary had to be present at all the important occasions in Jesus' life and ministry, and exercise faith that God would do through Jesus what He promised He would do. Consider these situations where Mary was  present:

1. ". . . and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:18b-19). Mary was listening carefully to what was said about Jesus and kept those things in her heart, perhaps to share with Jesus, and certainly to share with the gospel writers.
   
2. "Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: 'This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too'" (Luke 2:34-35). Mary's proximity to the events in Jesus life would cause her much pain and some confusion.
3. "His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you'" (John 2:5). Mary instigated the start of Jesus' public ministry at the wedding feast in Cana.
4. "When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, 'He is out of his mind'" (Mark 3:21). Like John the Baptist, Mary was not clear on how Jesus would do what she had heard God promise, and came to take Him home because she thought he was going off course.
5. "Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene" (John 19:25). Mary got it straight and was there to watch her son die on the cross as a witness to God's plan.
6. "When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son" (John 19:26. When Mary "sided" with Jesus, the rest of her children wanted nothing to do with her, so Jesus assigned John His disciple to care for His mother.
7. "They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers" (Acts 1:14). After the resurrection, some of Jesus' family "saw the light" and were present in the upper room when the Spirit was poured out. In a sense, it was Jesus sending His mother a message saying, "I arrived and the trip was good. I'm home." Is it then safe to assume that Mary spoke in tongues as the others did on the day of Pentecost?

SHE WAS THERE.

In a sense, Mary's purpose was to be there to support, protect, and clarity the plan of God for the world through Jesus. She had great faith, was present from start to finish, and had a role in the explanation of what had taken place before and during Jesus' infancy. There is no way Matthew or Luke could have written their accounts of the Nativity without Mary's testimony.

Mary played an important purpose role that God had chosen for her. While it involved her son, Jesus, it was not simply to give birth and raise Him to be a good Jewish boy. Mary played a role in the plan of salvation, and is a good example of purpose.

Ladies, I have given you a lot to think about this week. I would appreciate your comments with your thoughts, for this perspective is not often heard or shared. Feel free to write them on the site where this entry is posted. Do you agree? Is this helpful, or am I confusing you? Write when you can, and in the meantime, have a blessed week!

828: Women Wrote Parts of the Bible!

I'm sure I have your undivided attention based on the title of this Memo in the ongoing series focusing on women of purpose in the Bible. It has been taught that the Bible was written by men, but I want to dispute that widely-held belief. While men may have penned the Bible, not all the words originated from their minds or mouths, and I am not talking about dialogue that included quotes from a woman's mouth. Rather than try to explain what I may be trying to say, let's get into what I truly mean.

THE INSPIRED WORD

The Bible is the inspired word of God, isn't it? Of course it is! We maintain that the Holy Spirit moved on the hearts of the writers to wrote what the Spirit wanted written. Evangelicals believe that the very words used were inspired by God. Therefore, if a man was recording what the Spirit inspired a woman to say, then in essence, that woman was the source of the inspiration, and the writer was also inspired, but only to record for posterity what that woman had to say.

Having said that, consider the women who contributed to the inspired words in the inspired Word. What about Mary's words that Luke recorded after her encounter with her cousin: "And Mary said: 'My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name'" (Luke 1:46-49). So who really "wrote" that prayer? Did Luke write it or did Mary compose it and Luke reported it? The correct answer is the latter: Mary "wrote" it, Luke passed it on.

How about Hannah's prayer in 2 Samuel: "Then Hannah prayed and said: 'My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God" (1 Samuel 2:1-2). Isn't that the same as Mary's words when a woman uttered them and the man, recognizing that the Spirit inspired the woman's words, wrote them down for others to read and benefit from?

THEN THERE WAS DEBORAH

Then there was Deborah, whose leadership we looked at last week. After Deborah urged King Barak to pursue and defeat God's enemies, we read this account:

On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:

“When the princes in Israel take the lead,
    when the people willingly offer themselves—
    praise the Lord!

“Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!
    I, even I, will sing to the Lord;
    I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song.

“When you, Lord, went out from Seir,
    when you marched from the land of Edom,
the earth shook, the heavens poured,
    the clouds poured down water.
The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
    before the Lord, the God of Israel.

“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
    in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned;
    travelers took to winding paths.
Villagers in Israel would not fight;
    they held back until I, Deborah, arose,
    until I arose, a mother in Israel.
God chose new leaders
    when war came to the city gates,
but not a shield or spear was seen
    among forty thousand in Israel.
My heart is with Israel’s princes,
    with the willing volunteers among the people.
    Praise the Lord! (Judges 5:1-9).

Even if Deborah co-authored this song, it is fair to say that she contributed to the collection of God's inspired words that today we know as the Bible. If God used Mary, Hannah, and Deborah, then it is safe to assume that there were many other women He inspired to do His work that the Bible does not record. Nothing has changed today, for He still wants to use the female half of his human creation to do His bidding. The question is will that female half step up and take their role, or shrink back because of bad theology that God doesn't "use" women, or only uses them to populate the earth?

So how about it, sister? Are you ready to step up and be used of God and fulfill your purpose? How about it, brother? Are you read to sing a duet with a sister in the Lord like Barak and Deborah did? The world needs all of God's children, men and women, to play their part in this wonderful realm called God's kingdom. I hope you won't play small or not at all, but will perform to the full extent of God's purpose for you. Have a blessed week!

827: A Blow to the Head

This week we continue our series on women of purpose in the Bible and look at the Old Testament prophet, Deborah. We never hear much about Deborah because she violated all the norms of Old Testament life. She was a woman who made her "name" not because of who she was married to, but because of her spiritual gift and wisdom:

Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. 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 (Judges 4:4-5).

A WOMAN WAS LEADING ISRAEL

Deborah was leading Israel! Let that statement sink into your mind - a woman was leading the people of God! She was not doing so because she was queen or had inherited the role from her husband who had the role but then died. Her leadership emerged from the experience that the people had with her, for they recognized God was with her when she judged and spoke.

Israel was oppressed in Deborah's day by the Canaanites led by a man named Sisera. Deborah summoned the head of the Naphtali tribe, named Barak, and told him to assemble an army and march against Sisera's superior forces. If he did, God would grant him the victory. When Barak hesitated and insisted that Deborah go with him, Deborah agreed, but said,  

“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 (Judges 4:9).

Just as Deborah had prophesied, Barak routed the enemies of Israel: "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" (Judges 4:17). It was then that Deborah's other prediction came true: Sisera was not slain by his rival warriors but by the woman he had fled to for protection:

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. Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead (Judges 4:21-22).

A BLOW TO THE HEAD

When Deborah assumed her God-given role, the Bible does not report it was because no man wanted the job. Deborah led because God chose her, knowing full well she was a female! What's more, when Deborah accepted her call, it made room for another woman to stand up and lead, and her name was Jael, who dealt with Sisera with one fatal blow to his head.

This story reminds me of what William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, once said when asked why he sent so many women into the slums of London to reach out to the lost: "Some of my best men are women!" This was certainly true in the case of Deborah and Jael, and it may be true for you, too. Perhaps you are a man and you have been stifling the gift of a woman or women with whom you live or are working.

If you are a woman, have you been stifling your own gift, trapped and restricted by your own erroneous philosophy that only men can lead in certain situations? If someone has a gift to lead or speak or write, who gave them that gift? Was God aware of their gender when He bestowed that gift? If God is not offended to give that gift and then see it used, then why should you, or anyone else for that matter, be offended when they express that gift? Why would God give a woman a gift, then not permit them to deploy it? That makes no sense.

The judges of Israel rose to leadership based on their gift and purpose, not based on their gender or family connections. God knows your sex when He calls you, whether male or female, and if He is comfortable with who you are to fulfill an assigned role, then you should be as well. There are some strongholds that are waiting for you to pick up a spiritual hammer and peg and deal the enemy of God's people a fatal blow to the head. If you happen to be a woman, you only need God's permission to do so. I suggest you get on with the work that God has given you to do, and follow in Deborah's - and Jael's - footsteps to play your part in setting God's people free. Have a blessed week!