"So, Your Preacher Is A Woman?"

28 October 2007

U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris

Ord Military Chapel

Seaside CA

BIG IDEA: The Gift of the Holy Spirit was poured upon believers without differentiation of age, gender, or being rich or poor.

REFERENCES: Isaiah 55:8 (KJV) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD; James 3:8 (NIV) – Christ discourse with Nicodemus who came by night (KJV) The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit; Numbers 11:16-30 KJV (… But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp…); Galatians 3:28 NIV (There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus); Joel 2:28-29 (KJV) And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit; Acts 2:17-21 (Peter on the Day of Pentecost); 1 Timothy 2:10-15 (NIV) - but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women[a] will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety; 1 Corinthians 11: 3-16 NIV - (…the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head …); Romans 16:7 (YLT) salute Andronicus and Junias, my kindred, and my fellow-captives, who are of note among the apostles, who also have been in Christ before me; 1 Samuel 16:7 (KJV) But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart; 1 Corinthians 14:33-37 (KJV) For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. Note: Both passages (1 Cor. 11 & 1 Cor. 14) has to do with the problem of disorder and some degree of defiance in the actions of women involved. 1 Cor. 11 appears to suggest that both men and women were free to pray or prophesy in the open meeting regardless of the fact that men would be present in the congregation. Surely Paul didn’t teach one thing and practice another. Therefore, we must read the prohibition of Chapter 14 to be applying to something other than the ministry of women allowed in Chapter 11.

I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: Joel 2:28-29 & Acts 2:17-21

II. READ THE PERICOPE: Joel 2:28-29; & Acts 2:17-21

III. READ THE TEXT: Joel 2:28-29 NIV (And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days)

IV. PURPOSE: To provoke the hearers to deeper thoughts regarding their Biblical understanding of Women Preachers.

V. SERMONIC THEME: “ So, Your Preacher is a Woman?”

VI. INTRODUCTION:

It has been said that “the service of God can not be achieved without divine assistance; and God’s work cannot be accomplished without human instruments.” “So, Your Preacher is a Woman?”

Recently, I came across an internet story about (one of my childhood idols and American icon) Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers Neighborhood. Perhaps most of you are aware that Fred Rogers, was a Presbyterian Minister, and died – February 27 - in 2003 at the age of 74.

But what you might not be aware of is a story that he - shared once - about visiting different churches each Sunday (during his days as a seminarian at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary) in order to hear a variety of preachers.