Women's devotion: The Ministry of Women - Acts 9:36

Acts 9:36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 

            I’ve always liked the story of Tabitha, or Dorcas, as she is sometimes known. I can remember as a child seeing a beautiful stained glass window in a Scottish church, which was dedicated to the ministries of church women everywhere. Tabitha was seated at her table, making clothes for the poor people around her. She was enjoying her work and seemed to be blessed by God for her acts of kindness. I felt that a feeling of peace emanated from the stained glass depiction. Years later, when I read the story of her healing (Acts 9:36-43), I fully appreciated what the glass artist had perfectly portrayed.

            The ministry of women in our churches, especially their acts of compassion and charity, have expressed the Gospel of Jesus in effective and lasting ways. Countless numbers of lives have been changed by the godly work of our women all over the world. Their devotion to their congregations and dedication to the causes they champion, have changed the world entirely. Preachers may preach wonderfully crafted sermons, but it is usually the women in our churches who create, support, and maintain ministries and missions that advance the loving kingdom of God in our communities.

            So today, let’s be thankful for the benevolent spirit of Tabitha that can still be experienced in our churches, as well as our communities.

Questions for personal reflection

How important are the ministries of women in my church? What can I do to support and pray for them?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, we thank You for disciples like Tabitha, who can be found in all of our congregations. We praise You for the continuing and effective ministries that women initiate and sustain among us, especially from those who are preachers, pastors, and program leaders. Bless their gifts and grant them the respect, parity, and honor they so richly and rightly deserve. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions about today’s message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest communion drawings called Epiklesis. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on this link: Epiklesis.

Justice devotion: Gender Genocide - 1 Peter 1:6

1 Peter 1:6      In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

There is no rejoicing among Northern Nigerians whose daughters were brutally kidnapped recently by the Talibanic terrorist group, Boko Haram. While we are excited about final exams and proms, a whole community across the world is totally devastated. Almost three hundred girls, who were taking their final exams, were inhumanely abducted at gunpoint and are now suffering under the wickedness of this hostile group. Their families are anguished and, until the world rallies to their defense, their hearts will remain broken and their losses will be difficult to endure.

This kind of callous kidnapping has been going on for centuries. All over the world millions of women and young girls are abducted, sold into slavery, and trafficked as sexual chattels each year. Corrupt governments and greedy leaders turn a blind eye to what’s going on in Africa, Asia, Europe, and even here in North America. It’s a scandalous situation, a shameful issue, and a sinful blight upon the whole of humanity. Until women are properly treated as equals across the entire planet, these inhumane practices, which really should be called ‘gender genocide,’ will tragically continue and never be resolved.

As Christians, we need to advocate on behalf of women everywhere, not solely in a feminist way but in an entire human way, where women and men stand together and truly fight for these inalienable rights. Those who hide behind religious doctrine or masculine supremacy need to be totally confronted and made to change their ways or pay for their crimes. We cannot wait for another century or even another millennium for this to occur. We need to act now; we need to pressurize our politicians and write to our representatives, boldly demanding these changes and continually calling upon them to actively advocate for women in this land and everywhere else.

This may not seem to be much of a devotion to you, today; but sometimes in our devotion to God we need to actively practice our faith by being advocates for freedom and equality, faith and love. If not, then all that we have is a heavenly faith that is no earthly use at all.

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You treated women as equals and honored them for their gifts, their love, and their faith. Help us to do the same in our churches, communities, nations, and continents. Keep us mindful of the inhumane trafficking of people, especially women and girls across the world. Grant us the courage to stand together against these sinful, ungodly, and wicked practices. In Your Holy Name, we fervently pray. Amen.

Short devotions: Bad Girls in the Bible - Matthew 1:1

Matthew 1:1   A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Every now and then I see an advert on the internet and sometimes on the television about tracing our ancestors. With all of the birth, marriage, death, and census records available on the web, it’s now easier than ever to retrace our family roots and get connected with the people of the past. I signed up for one of the ancestry programs on a free trial basis, but it became far too complicated for me to pursue. I guess some people with a lot of time on their hands can get the best out of those programs, but as for me, dealing with the present is about as much as I can handle.

In the Gospel of Matthew, we get to read about Jesus’ ancestry and family pedigree (although we’re really reading about his earthly father Joseph’s ancestry, a blood line that Jesus didn’t really have, because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit). All the major biblical male characters are there, but it’s the women who are mentioned that make the genealogy more interesting to me.

Tamar  - a widow who was accused of adultery, who tricked her father-in-law into lying with her in order to conceive a son.

Rahab – a prostitute who saved her family from being annihilated by Joshua at Jericho

Ruth – a foreigner who came from an idolatrous nation

Uriah’s wife (Bathsheba) who committed adultery with King David

Wow! Talk about some bad girls of the Bible! And that’s only from the first six verses of the Gospel. So why are they listed and not some of the holy women of the Old Testament? Because Christ came to redeem sinners of the past, present, and future. The women mentioned were once blamed as sinners, but through God’s grace, they were redeemed of their past and raised up to a better life. Joseph’s bloodline was tarnished by both his male and female ancestors; Christ cleansed them all.

As Christians, we need not ask “where have we come from?” because the more important question is this: “where are we going to end up?” Our focus is not on the past, but on the glorious future that awaits Christ’s followers and faithful servants. The only bloodline that is crucial to us is that of Jesus, the Holy Son of God, who washed away our sins by His blood on the Cross.

Prayer:                       Lord Jesus, sometimes we try to reclaim the past in order to gain a perspective of who we are. Teach us the more important lesson of focusing on who we will become through Your grace and presence in our lives. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask a question about today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s holy week drawings. It’s called “Washed with Tears” and it depicts the forsaken woman who washed Christ’s feet with her tears. If you would like to see a larger version of this drawing, please click the following link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4446465179_9742859bc5_b.jpg

Daily devotions - The Gifts of Women - 1 Timothy 2:12

1 Timothy 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.

Usually I agree with what Paul has to write, but this is one area where we both part company. And before anyone says that I’m re-interpreting what Paul has been inspired to write, let me make it clear: Paul is stating his opinion here which is why he prefixes his statement with ‘this is what I want’. He is making a clear distinction between what God wants for the church and what Paul demands. 

I disagree with Paul because women have played important roles in the history of our faith and in the establishment of the Church itself. If we take time to read the Book of Acts and some more of Paul’s letters, we’ll come across the fact that the first churches met in houses and that the host was usually a woman of faith. I also remember every Easter that the women remained faithful to Christ as He died upon the Cross and they were the first to receive the Good News of His Resurrection. Since those women were the first recipients of the fullness of the Gospel, then they were blessed as being the first preachers and teachers of the New Testament. Paul may have preferred women to be silent and be given no authority, but it seems as though Christ didn’t make this distinction.

So how do we treat this part of Paul’s teaching from everything else that he writes? I think we do it candidly and receive it as his opinion, but not as dogma. Without women in the church, the Church would never have survived across the centuries. Without their leadership and authority today, we would not be open to the works and ways of the Holy Spirit. Therefore today, let’s give thanks to God for the spiritual women leaders in our churches.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, thank You for the women who lead our churches, who preach the Word, teach the Gospel, and continue Your mission. Thank You for the gifts of the Spirit which are not exclusive to one gender and for the authority of leadership that is not the sole dominion of one group. Continue to bless us with the gifts and the grace that women bring to Your Church throughout the world. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is currently the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions of today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s Holy Week images called “Washed with Tears.” It depicts the woman who washed Christ’s feet with her hair and tears. If you would like to view a larger version of this drawing, please click on the following link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4446465179_9742859bc5_b.jpg