Jump Start # 1547

Mark 14:8 “She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.”

  We have taken a look these past few days at the role of women in the kingdom. We have looked at Biblical principles and patterns and not given thought to the political or social climate of our day. The N.T. came into a culture of it’s own but it was written in such a way to transcend all cultures. The passages that address the citizens role to the government, was first presented in a world which witnessed the powerful Caesars. Democracy, as we know it in America, didn’t exist. Those citizen principles have remained true no matter what the form of government was in power. God’s principles about marriage were first delivered into a world in which homosexuality was common, pagan worship included fornication and where many nobles and political leaders had marriages to bear children but had mistresses or concubines on the side for pleasure. This was the norm. Yet what God said remained the stake in the ground for His people. Today, when the cry is for same-sex marriage, God’s laws do not change. Culture does not shape God’s words.

So, when we look at the subject of women in the kingdom, our look is to what the Biblical record says, not what works today, nor what we think society has advanced to today. Our culture has seen expanding roles for women. Barefoot and pregnant and slaving over the sink doing dishes may have been the image of the 1950’s, but not today. Women head universities, sit on the Supreme Court and one is even running for President of this country. In sociological terms, the role of women has expanded and shifted in the last two generations. It is this thinking that has led some to assume that the role of women in the kingdom ought to be shifting as well. The problem with this is that we fail to understand that God already knew how society would shift and transform and we forget that his word transcends all cultures and times. There is no Biblical guidelines, pattern or principles for shifting roles, whether in leadership, marriage, or in the kingdom. Society can’t be what shapes our thinking. We must stay with God’s word. It has worked all these years and we must have faith that it will continue to work. Removing restrictions, whether upon the role of women in the church, legalizing drugs, accepting same-sex marriage leads us to following the will of a godless and selfish society and not the will of God. Is it fair to say that a single man cannot serve as an elder in God’s kingdom? How about a married man who never fathered any children? Today’s world would include them, to be fair. God’s word restricts them from serving in that capacity. Fairness and what seems right to us, puts us in the position of God. That’s not a safe place for us to be.

Having said all of that, our verse today, taken from the final days of Jesus’ life, records Mary anointing Jesus. The perfume was very costly, over three hundred days wages worth. This wasn’t the every day stuff. This isn’t what one splashed on before going to the market. This was the best stuff. This was saved. This was saved for a wedding night or this was saved for a funeral. Mary used it on Jesus. As she poured it on the Lord, the fragrance filled the room. The disciples, particularly, Judas, chewed her out. Sell it and give the money to the poor, was their thought. Judas was a thief. He kept the money bag. I’m not sure why he had it. It seems logical that Matthew, the money guy, ought to be in charge of it. Logic doesn’t always fit with how God does things.

Jesus came to Mary’s defense. “Let her alone,” He says. Then He says, what she has done will be told wherever the Gospel is taken. In the midst of our Lord’s words, our verse is found. “She has done what she could.”

That’s the best thing that could be said of any of us. Interestingly, none of the apostles were anointing Jesus. They stood around and complained. She wasn’t told to do this. She just did it. She didn’t do everything, she did what she could. Jesus, honored by her, didn’t appoint her as an apostle on the spot. She did what she could, and her position remained the same. She did what she could, because it was the right thing to do.

We could list all the things that she could not do. She could not preach as the apostles did. She was not inspired with the Holy Spirit as the apostles were. She did not write any inspired books of the Bible as the apostles did. She did not raise the dead as some of the apostles did. She did not see Jesus transformed as three of the apostles did. This is what we so often do. We sit around thinking about all the things we cannot do and then we begin the pity party. Woe are we, we sing, because we aren’t allowed to do this or that. Instead, Mary did what she could do. We don’t find Mary saying, “I wish I could be one of the apostles.” We don’t fine Mary saying, “Can I do a miracle?” Rather, she did what she could do.

Do you think that spirit of Mary would help us? Instead of focusing upon what we cannot do or what we are not allowed to do, why don’t we do what we can. This is true of women. This is true of all of us. The role of women in the Kingdom is powerful. Women ought not to feel that they are under the thumbs of men. They ought not to feel second-rate in the kingdom. It could well be that many men in the kingdom need to apologize and do some serious repenting for their attitudes and words towards God’s daughters. And that’s exactly what women are in the kingdom, the daughters of God. Men ought to be careful what they say about God’s daughters. They stir the anger and the wrath of God up, they will be in trouble.

Women do not preach publically on Sunday mornings in the church house. Not God’s daughters, at least. And, yes, there is more that they can do other than dust the pews and make communion bread. The voice of encouragement, the spreading of the Gospel, the power prayers of a devoted follower, the supporter of the Gospel are many of the things that women have done for generations. It is our times that have made many feel suppressed and useless. Hospitality still works. Do it. Teaching people like Apollos still works. Do it. Being a Phoebe, who was useful to the apostles, still works. Do it. Being a Dorcus, who made things for others, still works. Do it. Being a Mary, who did what she could, still works. Do it. Instead of complaining what can’t be done, find what can and do it. Be that sparkplug for the congregation. Bring sunshine to the place. Don’t  nag because others aren’t doing anything. Don’t complain. Mary didn’t say, “Lord, why isn’t Peter doing anything.” She didn’t say that. She did what she could.

That is what we all must do. If that happened, it would bring life to a congregation and it might get some tired and lazy elders finally doing what they ought to be doing. Don’t be discouraged when the Judas’ in life complain. Make sure what you are doing is Biblical and right, then do what you can do.

Daughters of Heaven, that’s the role of women in God’s kingdom. Royalty without an attitude. Not too good to get busy doing things. Not pampered and spoiled, but rather, doing what they can, where they can. That’s God’s people everywhere.

Roger