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The
Homily Mary Magdalene July 22 2009
Wednesday noon service
Feast Day of Mary Magdalene
I love to champion the underdog, and so I was thrilled when I saw that I would preach on the Feast of Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene has gotten a bad rap in the church for centuries. And the bad rap is not Biblical. In the Bible, Mary Magdalene is portrayed as a faithful disciple of Jesus. She and other women were in the inner circle, just as Peter, James, John, and the other men were. When the men fled in fear at the crucifixion, Mary Magdalene and the other women stood by Jesus. It was Mary Magdalene who went to the tomb and first heard the news of Jesus’ resurrection. She then ran to tell the men. She was the first to witness the resurrection. In recent years, the church has given her her due, and has come to respect and love her. But in the past, she was seen as a prostitute, as perhaps the worst of the bad girls in the Bible.
The misrepresentation of Mary Magdalene dates back to Pope Gregory. In the year 591 AD he pronounced that Mary Magdalene, Mary the sinner, and Mary of Bethany were the same woman. Not until 1969 did the Catholic church restore to them 3 separate identities. But the damage had been done. For 14 centuries people had a very bad impression of Mary Magdalene and this was reflected in literature, in theology, and in art. Only recently has her historical importance been recognized, that she was indeed the first to preach the resurrection of Jesus, and she preached it to his own disciples. One could do worse than to follow in Mary Magdalene’s footsteps.
This week another trail blazer has died. Her name is Phyllis Edwards, who died at age 92. Phyllis was a faithful follower of Jesus, but like Mary Magdalene, her gender worked against her. Phyllis Edwards was the first female ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church. So obviously her story is important to me. But there’s more than my personal interest here. She was ordained deacon in 1965 by a forward-looking bishop (Bishop Pike). This ordination stirred a lot of controversy in the church because, in a word, it was illegal in 1965 for a woman to be ordained. Bishop Pike saw something wrong in the church, recognized a good and faithful follower of Christ, and ordained her. Less than 10 years later, the first women priests were ordained in the Episcopal church. And in 1980, Phyllis Edwards was ordained to the priesthood.
Phyllis Edwards was more than a token female. She worked hard for what was right. She worked in the inner city of San Francisco. She was in the front lines in the civil rights march in Selma, Alabama. As a woman, she related to the oppression of African-American people, and these experiences informed her whole ministry.
Given the history of discrimination, if I had lived in an earlier time, I would not have been ordained. Handicapped people were considered less than whole, and my ordination would have been out of the question because I limped. And if I had lived before Phyllis Edwards, my gender would have stood in my way.
So on a personal level, I am grateful to Phyllis Edwards and others who paved the way.
We still need trailblazers in the church, and we still have them. In 2003, our General Convention made it possible for Gene Robinson to be consecrated bishop. Gene Robinson is now well known as an openly gay man living in a committed relationship. It’s time to leave his personal life alone and recognize him as a man who follows God faithfully. His ministry is just as valid and just as important as anyone else’s. What difference does Phyllis Edwards’ gender, or Mary Magdalene’s gender, or mine, make when it comes to ministry? And for ANYONE who follows God’s first commandment to love God and to love each other, what does it matter WHOM they love, as long as they love faithfully? Who would Jesus exclude? He didn’t exclude Mary Magdalene or Matthew the tax collector. He wouldn’t exclude Phyllis Edwards or me. He wouldn’t exclude Gene Robinson. Gender and preferences are beside the point and have nothing to do with ministry and faithfulness.
And so six years later, our General Convention of 2009 is beginning to catch up with what caused such a stir in 2003. There is still a long way to go, but progress is being made. But this time it’s being done in a spirit of “ubuntu,” a Zulu word that “describes human identity as being formed through community and encompassing a sense of caring, sharing and being in harmony with all of creation.” What happens to you affects me, and what happens to me affects you. When we can love without exclusion, then we will truly be living into the love of Christ. To whom would Jesus say, “Don’t preach the Gospel. I don’t want your voice.” I believe that Jesus would say, “Preach the Gospel. My people and I need your voice.”
Amen.