Alfredstreet Presents OTOG W/ Dr. Judy Fentress-Williams | S.3 Ep. 4

alfred street baptist church would like to welcome everyone who's worshiping with us online as we celebrate the season of lent as well as women's history month make sure you download our linton devotions booklet which is available on our website as well as our asbc app to help combat the covet 19 coronavirus outbreak alfred street baptist church has suspended all in-person worship services activities and events until further notice we know that these are difficult and challenging times we invite you to stay connected by participating in our online worship services and remain faithful in your giving online via our alfred street website asbc app and on our text messaging system if you have any questions about giving please feel free to email our finance department at finance alphastreet.org if you're interested in becoming a member of the historic alpha street baptist church please email deacons with an s at alfordstreet.org or complete the membership form on our website or on our asbc app we're hiring that's right alfred street baptist church is hiring visit our website and oriasbc app to check out all of our employment opportunities that we have to offer every month we try to share with you a book that is worthy of reading and i don't think i've ever been excited as i am right now to introduce our book for march of 2021. the book we're encouraging you to purchase and to begin reading as part of your growth is holy imagination written by our own beloved reverend dr judy frentress williams her new book is out and available we all know that dr judy is a phenomenal bible teacher and her skills and ability to give clues and cues into the works of god are not simply limited to the old testament but in holy imagination dr judy begins to open up all 66 books of the bible this is worthy to be on your shelf do me a favor let's go ahead and support dr judy as a matter of fact let's get her on the new york times best seller list as we not only get a copy but we share with family and friends a work that's going to better help them understand the word of god holy imagination dr judy francis williams our christian life institute also known as cli presents a zum bible basic seminar on saturday march 27 at 10 a.m eastern daylight time we invite everyone to join us online to learn about the fundamentals of biblical study and the various approaches to reading and interpreting scripture however you must register on our website and or our asbc app to participate don't miss the small business and intellectual property law clinic webinar saturday march 27th from 9 a.m to noon eastern daylight time this law clinic will teach you just about everything you need to know from a to z on how to start and maintain a successful business additionally you'll learn about protecting your intellectual property through copyrighting patenting trademarking as well as how to navigate the government contracting process all participating virginia license attorneys will receive two and a half hours of free cle credit as always you must register online and on our asbc app to attend attention all high school seniors our asbc foundation is currently accepting online scholarship applications for the upcoming 2021-2022 academic year however students must reside in specific counties within the washington dc metropolitan area be sure to check out the specific eligibility requirements on both our website and our asbc app deadline to apply is friday april 30th at 11 59 pm eastern daylight time alfred street baptist church would like to invite everyone to join us on saturday march 27 from 9 a.m to noon eastern daylight time for our drive-through palm distribution at virginia theological seminary also known as vts located at 3737 seminary road in alexandria virginia we encourage everyone to stop by and pick up palms for you and your family so that we may celebrate palm sunday together online sunday march 28th at our 8 a.m 10 a.m and or 2 p.m worship services we invite everyone to join us here online at alpha street during holy week march 29th through april 2nd as we present our noonday devotionals and meditations that's every day at 12pm noon eastern daylight time our guest speakers for holy week are as follows starting with holy monday by jerry clark jr holy tuesday by minister donna arendelle spy wednesday by ebony jones and marty thursday by reverend william spencer and on good friday april 2nd we invite everyone to tune in virtually at 12pm noon for our seven last words sisters at the cross this is going to be simply amazing as you'll hear first word by sister jessica anderson the second word by sister heather taylor the third word by reverend dr leslie copeland tune the fourth word by reverend marcia norfleet the fifth word by reverend dr roslyn brock the sixth word by reverend barbara florville and the seventh word by reverend siobhan arlein bradley on saturday april 3rd starting at 6 pm eastern daylight time we'll have a real treat for you it's our very own kid street presents their annual children's easter pageant and performance virtually this year's theme is from call to crucifixion following jesus to the cross be sure to log in on our alfred street youtube channel or our facebook live page to support our asbc youth on sunday april 4th pastor wesley and our alpha street baptist church family invite you to join us virtually for one of our easter worship services as we celebrate the resurrection he is not here he is risen this will be a one of a kind easter worship experience commencing with our 6 30 a.m sunrise service followed by our 8 am and 10 am and 2 pm worship services you don't want to miss this pastor wesley will be giving a powerful word that you will be able to watch together with your family and friends online there will be a plethora of amazing and unforgettable musical and dance performances by our worship arts and dance ministries we look forward to seeing you all virtually as we celebrate easter together we invite everyone to visit our website and or our asbc app so you and your family can prepare to participate in everything we have planned for you virtually from palm sunday to holy week to good friday to our children's easter pageant to easter sunday our office of christian caring counseling would like to remind everyone that march is self-harm self-injury awareness month if you would like additional information about self-harm self-injury and the warning signs to look for please visit our website or download our asbc app kid street crossover and higher ground are back in session at 11 30 a.m eastern standard time on the first third fourth and fifth sundays parents grandparents aunts and uncles and all guardians please make sure that you've registered your child or children for the 2021 year to receive the most up-to-date information on all children and youth programmatic offerings we invite everyone to continue to join us at 7am eastern time for our daily prayer call which takes place monday through friday this will allow you to stay connected to your asbc family through prayer you can dial 1-530-881-1212 and enter the id number 788-999-203 pound sign also we invite you to tune in to our faith forward weekly radio broadcast featuring pastor howard john wesley every sunday morning at 7 30 a.m eastern daylight time on magic 102.3 fm and 92.7 fm for a powerful sermon that will move you forward in your faith we invite you to join us and alfred street baptist church on sunday evenings from 7 p.m to 7 30 p.m for our faith forward show on praise 104.1 fm dc's inspiration station be sure to visit our website or your asbc app for the latest asbc updates regarding covet 19 and to find out what to do if you think that you've been exposed to the coronavirus for more information on these and all the exciting events taking place here at alfred street please log on to alfredstreet.org [Music] alfred street baptist church would like to welcome everyone who's worshiping with us online as we celebrate the season of lent as well as women's history month make sure you download our linton devotions booklet which is available on our website as well as our asbc app to help combat the covet 19 coronavirus outbreak alfred street baptist church has suspended all in-person worship services activities and events until further notice we know that these are difficult and challenging times we invite you to stay connected by participating in our online worship services and remain faithful in your getting online via our alfred street website asbc app and on our text messaging system if you have any questions about giving please feel free to email our finance department at finance alphastreet.org if you're interested in becoming a member of the historic alpha street baptist church please email deacons with an s at alphastreet.org or complete the membership form on our website or on our asbc app we're hiring that's right albert street baptist church is hiring visit our website and oriasbc app to check out all of our employment opportunities that we have to offer every month we try to share with you a book that is worthy of reading and i don't think i've ever been excited as i am right now to introduce our book from march of 2021 the book we're encouraging you to purchase and to begin reading as part of your growth is holy imagination written by our own beloved reverend dr judy frentress williams her new book is out and available we all know that dr judy is a phenomenal bible teacher and her skills and ability to give clues and cues into the works of god are not simply limited to the old testament but in holy imagination dr judy begins to open up all 66 books of the bible this is worthy to be on your shelf do me a favor let's go ahead and support dr judy as a matter of fact let's get her on the new york times bestseller list as we not only get a copy but we share with family and friends a work that's going to better help them understand the word of god holy imagination dr judy francis williams our christian life institute also known as cli presents a zoom bible basic seminar on saturday march 27th at 10 a.m eastern daylight time we invite everyone to join us online to learn about the fundamentals of biblical study and the various approaches to reading and interpreting scripture however you must register on our website and or our asbc app to participate don't miss the small business and intellectual property law clinic webinar saturday march 27 from nine a.m to noon eastern daylight time this law clinic will teach you just about everything you need to know from a to z on how to start and maintain a successful business additionally you'll learn about protecting your intellectual property through copywriting patenting trademarking as well as how to navigate the government contracting process all participating virginia license attorneys will receive two and a half hours of free cle credit as always you must register online and on our asbc app to attend attention all high school seniors our asbc foundation is currently accepting online scholarship applications for the upcoming 2021-2022 academic year however students must reside in specific counties within the washington dc metropolitan area be sure to check out the specific eligibility requirements on both our website and our asbc app deadline to apply is friday april 30th at 11 59 pm eastern daylight time albert street baptist church would like to invite everyone to join us on saturday march 27th from 9am to noon eastern daylight time for our drive-through palm distribution at virginia theological seminary also known as vts located at 3737 seminary road in alexandria virginia we encourage everyone to stop by and pick up palms for you and your family so that we may celebrate palm sunday together online sunday march 28th at our 8 a.m 10 am and or 2 pm worship services we invite everyone to join us here online at alfred street during holy week march 29th through april 2nd as we present our noonday devotionals and meditations that's every day at 12pm noon eastern daylight time our guest speakers for holy week are as follows starting with holy monday by jerry clark jr holy tuesday by minister donna arendelle spy wednesday by ebony jones and marty thursday by reverend william spencer and on good friday april 2nd we invite everyone to tune in virtually at 12 p.m noon for our seven last words sisters at the cross this is going to be simply amazing as you'll hear first word by sister jessica anderson the second word by sister heather taylor the third word by webbing dr leslie copeland tune the fourth word by reverend marcia norfleet the fifth word by reverend dr roslyn brock the sixth word by reverend barbara florville and the seventh word by reverend siobhan arline bradley on saturday april 3rd starting at 6pm eastern daylight time we'll have a real treat for you it's our very own kid street presents their annual children's easter pageant and performance virtually this year's theme is from call to crucifixion following jesus to the cross be sure to log in on our alfred street youtube channel or our facebook live page to support our asbc youth on sunday april 4th pastor wesley and our alfred street baptist church family invite you to join us virtually for one of our easter worship services as we celebrate the resurrection he is not here he is risen this will be a one of a kind easter worship experience commencing with our 6 30 a.m sunrise service followed by our 8 a.m and 10 a.m and 2 p.m worship services you don't want to miss this pastor wesley will be giving a powerful word that you will be able to watch together with your family and friends online there'll be a plethora of amazing and unforgettable musical and dance performances by our worship arts and dance ministries we look forward to seeing you all virtually as we celebrate easter together we invite everyone to visit our website and or our asbc app so you and your family can prepare to participate in everything we have planned for you virtually from palm sunday to holy week to good friday to our children's easter pageant to easter sunday our office of christian caring counseling would like to remind everyone that march is self-harm self-injury awareness month if you would like additional information about self-harm self-injury and the warning signs to look for please visit our website or download our asbc app kid street crossover and higher ground are back in session at 11 30 a.m eastern standard time on the first third fourth and fifth sundays parents grandparents aunts and uncles and all guardians please make sure that you've registered your child or children for the 2021 year to receive the most up-to-date information on all children and youth programmatic offerings we invite everyone to continue to join us at 7am eastern time for our daily prayer call which takes place monday through friday this will allow you to stay connected to your asbc family through prayer you can dial 1-530-881-1212 and enter the id number 788-999-203-pound sign also we invite you to tune in to our faith forward weekly radio broadcast featuring pastor howard john wesley every sunday morning at 7 30 a.m eastern daylight time on magic 102.3 fm and 92.7 fm for a powerful sermon that will move you forward in your faith we invite you to join us and alpha street baptist church on sunday evenings from 7 p.m to 7 30 p.m for our faith forward show on praise 104.1 fm dc's inspiration station be sure to visit our website or your asbc app for the latest asbc updates regarding covet 19 and to find out what to do if you think that you've been exposed to the coronavirus for more information on these and all the exciting events taking place here at alfred street please log on to alfredstreet.org alfred street baptist church would like to welcome everyone who's worshiping with us online as we celebrate the season of lent as well as women's history month make sure you download our linton devotions booklet which is available on our website as well as our asbc app to help combat the covet 19 coronavirus outbreak alfred street baptist church has suspended all in-person worship services activities and events until further notice we know that these are difficult and challenging times we invite you to stay connected by participating in our online worship services and remain faithful in your giving online via our alfred street website asbc app and on our text messaging system if you have any questions about giving please feel free to email our finance department at finance alphastreet.org if you're interested in becoming a member of the historic alpha street baptist church please email deacons with an s at alfordstreet.org or complete the membership form on our website or on our asbc app we're hiring that's right alfred street baptist church is hiring visit our website and oriasbc app to check out all of our employment opportunities that we have to offer every month we try to share with you a book that is worthy of reading and i don't think i've ever been excited as i am right now to introduce our book from march of 2021. the book we're encouraging you to purchase and to begin reading as part of your growth is holy imagination written by our own beloved reverend dr judy frenches williams her new book is out and available we all know that dr judy is a phenomenal bible teacher and her skills and ability to give clues and cues into the works of god are not simply limited to the old testament but in holy imagination dr judy begins to open up all 66 books of the bible this is worthy to be on your shelf do me a favor let's go ahead and support dr judy as matter of fact let's get her on the new york times bestseller list as we not only get a copy but we share with family and friends a work that's going to better help them understand the word of god holy imagination dr judy francis williams our christian life institute also known as cli presents a zoom bible basic seminar on saturday march 27 at 10 a.m eastern daylight time we invite everyone to join us online to learn about the fundamentals of biblical study and the various approaches to reading and interpreting scripture however you must register on our website and or our asbc app to participate don't miss the small business intellectual property law clinic webinar saturday march 27th from 9 a.m to noon eastern daylight time this law clinic will teach you just about everything you need to know from a to z on how to start and maintain a successful business additionally you'll learn about protecting your intellectual property through copyrighting patenting trademarking as well as how to navigate the government contracting process all participating virginia license attorneys will receive two and a half hours of free cle credit as always you must register online and on our asbc app to attend attention all high school seniors our asbc foundation is currently accepting online scholarship applications for the upcoming 2021-2022 academic year however students must reside in specific counties within the washington dc metropolitan area be sure to check out the specific eligibility requirements on both our website and our asbc app deadline to apply is friday april 30th at 11 59 pm eastern daylight time alfred street baptist church would like to invite everyone to join us on saturday march 27 from 9 a.m to noon eastern daylight time for our drive through palm distribution at virginia theological seminary also known as vts located at 3737 seminary road in alexandria virginia we encourage everyone to stop by and pick up palms for you and your family so that we may celebrate palm sunday together online sunday march 28th at our 8 am 10 a.m and or 2 p.m worship services we invite everyone to join us here online at alfred street during holy week march 29th through april 2nd as we present our noonday devotionals and meditations that's every day at 12pm noon eastern daylight time our guest speakers for holy week are as follows starting with holy monday by jerry clark jr holy tuesday by minister donna arendelle spy wednesday by ebony jones and marty thursday by reverend william spencer and on good friday april 2nd we invite everyone to tune in virtually at 12 p.m noon for our seven last words sisters at the cross this is going to be simply amazing as you'll hear first word by sister jessica anderson the second word by sister heather taylor the third word by reverend dr leslie copeland tune the fourth word by reverend marcia norfleet the fifth word by reverend dr roslyn brock the sixth word by reverend barbara florville and the seventh word by reverend siobhan arlein bradley on saturday april 3rd starting at 6 pm eastern daylight time we'll have a real treat for you it's our very own kid street presents their annual children's easter pageant and performance virtually this year's theme is from call to crucifixion following jesus to the cross be sure to log in on our alfred street youtube channel or our facebook live page to support our asbc youth on sunday april 4th pastor wesley and our alfred street baptist church family invite you to join us virtually for one of our easter worship services as we celebrate the resurrection he is not here he is risen this will be a one of a kind easter worship experience commencing with our 6 30 a.m sunrise service followed by our 8 a.m and 10 a.m and 2 p.m worship services you don't want to miss this pastor wesley will be giving a powerful word that you will be able to watch together with your family and friends online there'll be a plethora of amazing and unforgettable musical and dance performances by our worship arts and dance ministries we look forward to seeing you all virtually as we celebrate easter together we invite everyone to visit our website and or our asbc app so you and your family can prepare to participate in everything we have planned for you virtually from palm sunday to holy week to good friday to our children's easter pageant to easter sunday our office of christian caring counseling would like to remind everyone that march is self-harm self-injury awareness month if you would like additional information about self-harm self-injury and the warning signs to look for please visit our website or download our asbc app kid street crossover and higher ground are back in session at 11 30 a.m eastern standard time on the first third fourth and fifth sundays parents grandparents aunts and uncles and all guardians please make sure that you've registered your child or children for the 2021 year to receive the most up-to-date information on all children and youth programmatic offerings we invite everyone to continue to join us at 7am eastern time for our daily prayer call which takes place monday through friday this will allow you to stay connected to your asbc family through prayer you can dial one 1-530-881-1212 and enter the id number 788 999 203 pound sign also we invite you to tune in to our faith forward weekly radio broadcast featuring pastor howard john wesley every sunday morning at 7 30 a.m eastern daylight time on magic 102.3 fm and 92.7 fm for a powerful sermon that will move you forward in your faith we invite you to join us and alfred street baptist church on sunday evenings from 7 p.m to 7 30 p.m for our faith forward show on praise 104.1 fm dc's inspiration station be sure to visit our website or your asbc app for the latest asbc updates regarding covet 19 and to find out what to do if you think that you've been exposed to the coronavirus for more information on these and all the exciting events taking place here at alfred street please log on to alfred sheep.org alfred street baptist church would like to welcome everyone who's worshiping with us online as we celebrate the season of lent as well as women's history month make sure you download our linton devotions booklet which is available on our website as well as our asbc app to help combat the covet 19 coronavirus outbreak alfred street baptist church has suspended all in-person worship services activities and events until further notice we know that these are difficult and challenging times we invite you to stay connected by participating in our online worship services and remain faithful in your getting online via our alfred street website asbc app and on our text messaging system if you have any questions about giving please feel free to email our finance department at finance alphastreet.org if you're interested in becoming a member of the historic alfred street baptist church please email deacons with an s at alphastreet.org or complete the membership form on our website or on our asbc app [Music] you [Music] uh [Music] oh [Music] hi everyone and welcome to another episode of otog your opportunity to study the ot with me and o.g my name is the reverend dr judy fentress williams and it is always my pleasure and my privilege to spend time with you rightly dividing the word of truth one of the things i love about alfred street is that our pastor tells us over and over again that he's not trying to tell us what to think but that he does want us to think and in our bible studies we want to spend time critically examining what is in the text and all of the traditions around the text and certainly that comes to bear as we focus on women during this women's history month in the bible the theme for this month is say her name and the idea here is to remember the women in the bible and when i say remember the women in the bible i mean re-member put them back together again we want to be mindful of the fact that some of these stories that we hear about women in the bible are sometimes removed from what's actually in the text what we want to do in our time together is carefully understand what the text does and doesn't say about some of these women and then critically examine the traditions that have developed around them and recognize that some of this has more to do with our culture and less to do with scripture during this time we also want to think about all of the layers that are in the bible and ask ourselves what story does the what purpose does the story serve in other words why is the story there and then ask ourselves what can we take away from that and when we ask that question we want to get as much as we can what i'm talking about here is a methodology or a hermeneutic in other words we engage the text differently at different times and we want to think about how we engage the text now i know there's some of you out there who were saying well i just read the bible except that's not quite true whether you're aware of it or not we come to this text with expectations and most of us are looking for things some of us are reading the text for liberation some of us are reading the text trying to find jesus some of us are trying to find a lesson or some guidance and some of us are trying to figure out why our neighbors are wrong all of these are assumptions or expectations that we bring to the text so let me share a few of my assumptions about the bible first and foremost i believe the bible is god's word and as such it is inspired i believe that god's word comes to us in a variety of genres poetry and prose different kinds of narratives apocalyptic literature wisdom literature and a good reader wants to engage the text being mindful of what it is they're reading another thing that's really important to me is that i believe the bible is dialogic in other words i believe that the bible is talking to itself that the story of abraham is in conversation with the story of moses which is in conversation with the story of ruth which is in conversation with the story of david and tamar and so we want to look for ways in which reading one text leads us to another i believe god's word wants us to engage in that conversation and that when we do that that something transformative can happen in us so for tonight as we look at text i want to invite you to consider a couple of things number one when you're reading if you can figure it out what is the genre of the text i'm reading is it a story or some kind of narrative is it a poem um is it a story that seems like a peculiar or certain kind of story could it be an allegory is it a parable those are the questions we can ask and then we want to ask who's telling the story to whom and why now stay with me here because if we ask the question who's telling the story we have to then um be open to the fact that the biblical world for the most part had um men telling the stories that were recorded so that most of the stories that come to us in the bible are related by men inspired men but nonetheless men men in a culture where women occupied a specific and limited space and so that raises the question for us around how do we read women's stories in the bible when they didn't get to speak for themselves think about that for a moment think about what it means to be a person of color and read a book where someone tells your story but never consulted you we want to read that text with an ear towards the words that are not spoken and look for the characters who didn't have an opportunity to contribute so when it comes to women in the bible we want to think about the role that women play in the bible when do they appear and how do the women interact with god or with jesus and what do their stories tell us about god and what do they tell us about our relationship with god and quiet as it's kept these questions will work with men in the bible as well so if you ask these questions of any character you will generate some good material so when i tell you that women weren't for the most part to our knowledge writing or recording the stories that we have in the bible add on to that that for the most part early scholarship would have been produced by men so that means that we are getting a male perspective in text and in interpretation now the fact that the male voice dominates doesn't mean that men were the only people who had something to say but that men of um are those are the voices that we hear it also um we also want to be mindful of the fact that just because um men are telling the stories and then the early stages of criticism came from men that does not mean that god cares only about those people who got to speak we know the bible bears witness to the fact that god is always interested in the people on the margins and the people who are excluded and so again we want to read the text with an ear or a question around the people who didn't have a seat at the table when i talk about the gender of the people who told the stories or the world values of the people who tell the stories part of what i want you to have as a takeaway is that the bible is both inspired and embodied in other words it is god breathed but it is god breathes in flesh and that flesh exists in a context and a culture with values and so so what we get of the inspired word of god comes to us in a particular package and it's good for us to do some of the work of figuring out what that is now this month we've looked at the stories of women in the bible first we looked at the women of the exodus and looked at pharaoh's daughter and miriam and talked about how telling the stories of those women changes the way we tell the story of liberation and then in the second week we looked at daughters in the crosshairs the stories of dina and jephthah's daughter and other daughters who find themselves at the intersection between different institutions interests and agendas and in that episode we talked about the importance of protecting our daughters last week we looked at jezebel a woman who um has multiple traditions around her and we just tried to sort through what the text actually says and separate that out from all of the other traditions that have developed around jezebel particularly because that jezebel tradition has been used in so many ways to damage women and particularly women of color and tonight we want to spend some time looking at mary magdalene or mary magdalene now the name mary is a pretty common name in the biblical world and it's a variant of the old testament word miriam or the hebrew word so miriam in the old testament would be mary in the new testament and in the new testament if you go through the gospels you will discover there are a lot of mary's all right so there's mary the mother of jesus we always want to start with her and then we have mary of bethany she's the one who was the sister to lazarus and to martha she's the one who sat at jesus's feet when martha was working in the kitchen then there is mary the mother of james her story comes up in matthew 27 56 and in mark 1540 to name a few places there's mary the wife of clopas mary the mother of john mark and there's a mary mentioned in the letter to the church at rome and then there's our girl mary magdalene so mary has this title that comes after her mary of magdalen perhaps and there's some discussion around what that might mean well the the most easy or the the most obvious solution is that it refers to a region that would have been right around galilee not far off from the sea of galilee and that mary magdalene may just be an indicator of her place of origin it should be noted that that name magdalene has a root um gadal which means great or strength so it is possible that maybe her name can also mean that this is a woman of tremendous strength mary magdalene is most likely from the area of galilee let me tell you what mary magdalene is not she is not a prostitute i want to get that out right now because for some reason there's this long tradition in history about mary magdalene being a prostitute and i'm going to talk to you a little bit about where that comes from but i need to say right now for all the things she is she is not based on the biblical tradition based on what we have in scripture she is not now or has she ever been named as a prostitute i think i got that off my chest now another thing that we want to say about mary magdalene is that her story is attested to in all four of the gospels this is kind of a big deal because if you remember we have the three synoptic gospels matthew mark matthew mark and luke and then we have the gospel of john which is a special or unique gospel all to itself we know that the book the gospel of mark is the first gospel followed by matthew and luke and they have some shared sources and some separate sources so you can go through each of the gospels and make a list of things that are unique to each of the gospels there are things in the gospel of john that don't appear in all of the other three there are things in these three that don't appear in the gospel of john and so we want to take a moment to recognize it's fairly significant that mary magdalene appears by name in all four of the gospels she's in all four of the gospels so what does the bible say about her one of the things that the bible tells us about mary magdalene comes to us in luke chapter 8 verses 2 to 3. so let's just take a look at that for a moment luke 8 to 2-3 okay actually i'm gonna start in verse one luke 8 1 soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of god the 12 were with him as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities let me read that again the twelve were with him as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities there's a list of them mary called magdalene from whom seven demons had gone out and joanna the wife of herod steward chuza and susanna and many others who provided for them out of their resources hear now what the scripture says mary magdalene was a follower of jesus along with some other women along with the twelve disciples and what we know about them at this point are two things jesus healed these women casting out demons and healing them of infirmities and it also tells us that these women provided for them out of their resources this introduction comes to us in the gospel of luke now remember luke's gospel is one where he recognizes and upholds women in their roles and so here we see in the gospel of luke that jesus had 12 disciples and women who followed him and provided now can we just pause for a moment and say that the more things change the more things stay the same this is a story of the history of communities of faith women who out of their resources out of pennies and nickels and dimes that they squired away have continued to support the church and here we have centuries ago these women who are doing that work the other thing i want to say is when we see mary magdalene mentioned with a group of women she's almost always not always but almost always mentioned first which leads scholars to think she was probably the leader of these women or had some prominent role amongst the followers of jesus beyond this reference in luke in all four of the gospels we find mary magdalene at jesus's crucifixion and a witness to his resurrection so what i'd like to do is invite you to look at john chapter 20 which has one of the most beautiful stories of the resurrection that features jesus and mary magdalene so look in the gospel of john chapter 20 beginning with verse 1. early on the first day of the week while it was still dark mary magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb so she ran and went to simon peter and the other disciple the one whom jesus loved and said to them they have taken the lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him then peter and the other disciples set out and went toward the tomb the two were running together but the other disciple the other disciple is john outran peter and reached the tomb first he bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there but he did not go in then simon peter came following him and went into the tomb he saw the linen wrapping wrappings lying there and the cloth that had been on jesus's head not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself then the other disciple who reached the tomb first also went in and he saw and believed for as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead then the disciples returned to their homes all right scene one mary magdalene goes to the tomb early in the morning she sees that the stone had been removed and as soon as she saw that she ran to get these two other disciples john and peter they run to the tomb john gets there first but stops in the entryway peter is not going to stop for anything peter goes right in and sees the linens there and sees the the face cloth folded up in another place then john comes in all right so they see this they believe and then it says they went home let's continue reading but mary stood weeping outside the tomb as she wept she bent over to look into the tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of jesus had been lying one at the head and the other at the feet she said they said to her woman why are you weeping she said to them they have taken away my lord and i do not know where they have laid him when she had said this she turned around and saw jesus standing there but she did not know that it was jesus jesus said to her woman why are you weeping who are you looking for supposing him to be the gardener she said to him sir if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him and i will take him away jesus said to her mary she turned and said to him in hebrew rabuni which means teacher jesus said to her do not hold on to me because i have not yet ascended to the father but go to my brothers and say to them i am ascending to my father and your father to my god and your god mary magdalene went and announced to the disciples i have seen the lord and she told them that he had said these things to her i love this passage mary comes to the tomb early in the morning we presume either to sit or to um perhaps um wait for someone to allow her in to attend to the body what we know is that she wanted to go to the place to be close to her lord when she sees that the stone is rolled away she gets help the disciples come in they see something they bear witness they go home but mary stays in this place she is fixed in this location and it is because she stays and waits that she has this encounter with god i love the fact that she doesn't recognize jesus at first but when jesus calls her name she knows exactly who he is there's this moment of being known that happens in a way that only happens with god god knows things about us that no one else knows jesus can speak to us in a way that no one else can and there's not just this moment of recognition but here's the moment where she realizes who jesus really is stay with me for a moment and think about the times when jesus comes to you and in a moment you have a a new understanding of who this jesus is what it means to be redeemed what it means to be saved because god meets us sometimes in our moments of greatest need mary has this amazing encounter with jesus and jesus tells her go and tell the disciples he tells her go and tell the disciples so the first great commission happens in john chapter 20 which is why people call mary magdalene the apostle to the apostles she's the one who told them now again let's sit back and think about this and think about a pattern we've seen where women have been used to convey the truth of who god is god sent jesus through mary mary in her body carried the reality of who jesus was jesus has encounters with women throughout who bear witness to who he is and in this story mary magdalene is called to bear witness to the good news she is the apostle to the apostles so who pray tell made mary magdalene a prostitute i'm so glad you asked because this great apostle to the apostles has a lot of different traditions around her so let me just say that christianity as it develops over time um after the roman er around the time of the roman empire divides and we have what we call the western church and the eastern church the western church think of as the the roman catholic church um where there is the reformation and many of us fall under this tradition the eastern church would be the eastern orthodox church both christian the eastern church has many many many traditions around mary magdalene in many of them she is held up as someone of great significance and honored in the western church however in the 6th century pope gregory vi pope gregory the great i'm sorry not the sixth in the sixth century pope gregory the great took the story of mary magdalene and combined her story with the sinful woman who anointed jesus's feet in luke 7. now why does he combine them i don't know maybe all women are the same to him i can't quite figure this out but he decides that the woman who anoints jesus's feet is mary magdalene and that she is a repentant prostitute where does that come from it comes from somewhere in pope gregory the great imagination and we have to ask ourselves why in the world of all the sins that someone could be accused of he would go there we have to ask ourselves how gender plays a role so jesus cast out demons from other people when jesus casts out a demon from a woman why is that demon the demon of prostitution what is it jesus is casting out when he casts out demons out of men when they're men they're just demons when they're women it has to be something else this is the point where we ask ourselves whether or not the tradition we're following is based on the inspired word of god or the embodied culture of someone who interprets it the bible does not call the woman a prostitute so our job as good interpreters of the text is to stop that train whenever we encounter it we need to start giving mary magdalene her due as a follower of christ who was an apostle to the apostles stay with me here because the danger in following bad teaching is what we limit the ways in which we limit what god can do in our lives stay with me think about all the things we missed when we called someone out of their names think about all the little girls and boys who grew up in the wrong place in the wrong time and we're told you can't you won't you're not smart enough you're not good enough and never lived into their full potential we have no idea of what we missed out on think of all of the ways in which we limited god by calling the first apostle the i'm sorry by calling the apostle to the apostles a prostitute we kept the door shut for women who were called to proclaim the good news of jesus christ because they didn't know that they had a biblical warrant for what they did they were told the bible says women should sit down and be quiet and the counter to that this woman who jesus tells to spread the bad the good news is called a prostitute think of all we have missed out on think of how we were distracted by a potential prostitute and missed out on the power that could have been used for more and more and more and more people to spread the good news think about a history where we called homes for um ex-prostitutes magdalen houses now there's nothing wrong with that if we consider the fact that anyone who was a sinner who is saved by grace is a magdalen if we want to call anyone who is saved by christ and wants to be a committed follower to christ a magdalen then that's a good name and if we want to say we'll call anyone a magdalen who is saved by christ who's a follower of christ who uses their resources to support the work of the gospel and proclaims the good news that person right there now that's a mary magdalene we started this series for the month of march by saying that names are important a name can convey hope and it can convey purpose it tells you who you are and where you're from and we're sensitive to this as people of color people who have been signified named over instead of being able to name ourselves and so it is my hope that we will be a community that is committed to giving people back their names restoring their history and honoring what they did well it is my hope that we will do this with mary magdalene and encourage children male and female to acknowledge the good news that they were saved by jesus christ and that they want to follow him serve him and proclaim the good news thank you mary of magdalen let's pray god we thank you for the way in which your word continues to open up truths to us day by day by day we thank you for the witnesses of women and men in the bible give us the wisdom and the courage god to study your word closely to find all that is good to find so that we can be changed and transformed and lord now i ask that only that which i have said that is pleasing to you will stand and in anything that is not of you like the chaff will blow away i thank you god for all who are listening and we thank you for your savior your the saving work of jesus christ in our lives amen all right saints thank you for the opportunity to be with you during the month of march until we meet again god bless you [Music] you

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Length: 60min 40sec (3640 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 23 2021