If you look around you this morning, 

Or imagine an average Sunday,

how many women are in attendance?

What is the percentage of women in the congregation this morning?

Maybe 60-70 %?

A few weeks ago, 

I advertised on Facebook for our Advent Carol Service 

and used their customized algorithm for selecting an ad audience, 

and the results were quite stunning. 

At the end of the campaign, 

the audience was 85% female.

While this might be a little higher than for our average pew attendance, 

I think this reminded me how the majority of our active membership, 

or potential membership is women.

And yet…

How many Sundays a year do we hear and discuss women in our Bible texts?

51 Sundays a year or 98 % of the time, 

we hear Bible readings primarily about men.

An exception is often today, the 4th Sunday of Advent, 

Often a low attendance, snowy Sundaywhere we get to talk about Mary the mother of Jesus, and a woman is finally in the spotlight. (Even though Joseph actually takes over the spotlight this year).

Of course the Bible was written by men for men, 

but the selection of the texts to be read in worship 

amplifies this even more so, in that even though the majority of listeners on a given Sunday are female, 

we’re talking about males all the time!

Perhaps that’s not quite fair? 

Or maybe it’s such a given that we don’t think about it anymore…Christianity is inherently sexist, 

pro-female positions have been deleted or demoted to the margins from the very first decades after Christ.

The lectionary, or selection of assigned readings we normally use 

is getting a little tired.

It was compiled in 1992, but based on the Roman Catholic list from 1969. The list was written mainly by men for men, 

using translations that while more inclusive than past ones 

still are quite male-centred.

That’s why I’m so excited and inspired by a new lectionary

 that just came out last year, 

entitled a Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, by Wilda C. Gafney,

From which today’s Bible readings stem.

The lectionary (in its selection of assigned Sunday readings)strives to be more balanced (gender-wise),

As it intentionally makes women and girls more visible.

Women are there in the texts 

(there are over 111 named women in the Hebrew Scriptures for example)

But they’re obscured and hidden, 

and our normal/ traditional pattern of selecting readings does not do them justice.

This new lectionary also offers fresh translations of the texts which make women and girls and their actions more explicitly mentioned.

Which brings us to our first reading today, which perhaps surprised you a bit.

Maybe you have heard of Susanna, but maybe not.

—

As was mentioned,

“The tale of Susanna is considered an addition to the book of Daniel, contained in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, 

and in the Apocrypha of the Protestant Bibles.

”(Nicole Tilford, A Women’s commentary on the Bible)

The Apocrypha, 

a collection of books contained in some expanded Bible editions, 

are according to Martin Luther: 

“not held equal to the Scriptures but useful and good for reading.”

Susanna is “one of the most discussed female figures in the history of Biblical interpretation.” 

And throughout history has been an example of chastity and religious devotion for women.

Susanna’s story is one of the first detective stories of world literature, 

or better, one of the first “courtroom dramas” of world literature, 

written a century or two before Christ. 

It is rare for women to speak in the Bible, 

but Susanna’ two monologues are a model for a strong female voice Challenging the ethics of a majority culture.

Her strength of character and persistence in the face of false accusation are a role model for men and women alike.

—

So what’s the story here?

Susanna is a well-known elite woman in her community, 

God-fearing and wise. 

She is also very beautiful and married.

Two elders of the community who functioned as judges, 

powerful men, lust after her and attempt to seduce her.

They trap her in her garden when she’s alone, bathing,

and demand that she have sex with them 

which amounts to attempted rape.

They threaten her: either she gives in to them, 

or they will accuse her of adultery with another man. 

Given their standing of power and authority in the community, 

it is likely that she would be found guilty and put to death by stoning.

This presents a terrible situation for Susanna: 

either she gets raped or she gets killed.

What does she decide?

Susanna doesn’t give in to the threat and cries out for help, 

and when her servants come in to see what is the matter, 

the elders accuse Susanna of adultery with a man who escaped, 

they claim to have caught her in the act of sexual intercourse with a man not her husband, 

and when they tried to arrest the man, he fled.

Given that the elders are the most powerful people in the community, 

their testimony cannot be challenged, 

and Susanna is led off to be executed,

Although not before Susanna accuses the elders of bearing false witness. 

The elders, the Harvey Weinstein’s of the day,

Abuse their power over the vulnerable,

Condemning the innocent, and acquitting the guilty (v53)

And they are known to force women to have sex with them 

because the women are afraid of their power and influence. (v57)

In this case the elders have power over life and death, 

as all it takes is their testimony to invoke the established law 

that adultery meant stoning for the woman.

At the end of the reading, we are left in suspense: 

what will happen to Susanna?

Will she be executed for adultery?

The story of Susanna draws us into the story of Mary 

as we heard in the Gospel.

Like Susanna, we wonder, was Mary an adulteress? 

Did she have sex with someone who wasn’t her husband?

There are some clear similarities here:

Susanna and Mary are in difficult straits due to accusations 

that their realities don’t match society’s sexual expectations of them.

—

The consequences for Mary were severe, 

She was betrothed (engaged but not married but still promised in marriage) and now she was pregnant.

Joseph denied being the father, 

so what would he do?

How did Mary become pregnant?, he no doubt wondered.

With the accusation of adultery came the possibility that Mary could have been stoned to death.

Now this was not certain.

While the penalty in the Jewish law, the Torah, was stoning, there are actually no descriptions in the Bible of this punishment for adultery being enacted.

The closest we get is in the Gospel of John where Jesus prevents an attempted stoning of a woman caught in the act.

So it’s not for sure that Mary would have been executed, 

but it’s a possibility.

Unfortunately, stoning for adultery is not just a thing of the past.

There are places and countries todaywhere there is a 

Death penalty for adultery.

While in Afghanistan and some other Middle Eastern countries, 

adultery is “only” punished by jail time, (where often the woman is punished more harshly than the man)

Execution by stoning is an occurrence in Saudi Arabia and Northern Nigeria, for example.While we may scoff at places that hold to Sharia law.

We have our own problems with the issue here in our continent.

An insidious issue which harms women in North America is the issue of

Purity culture:

This is the idea that women’s sexuality is a “special gift meant for 1 man,”

That the worth of a woman depends on her virginity.

That if a (young) woman loses her virginity she is worthless.

That she is “ruined” and never can go back to her pure self.”

And the Church has played an important role in perpetuating virginity as the be all and end all,

Which has led to much trauma for women.

Women in this view are just a possession, 

If they’re not a virgin then they are like an object that is bought that is defective, tarnished, no longer worthwhile (Lux Alptraum)

When the value of women is derived from her sexual state,

Then the woman is merely a commodity: only the virgin is valuable and marriageable. (Emily Norris)

This twisted fixation on women’s bodies and reproductive organs,

Coupled with a poor understanding of gynaecology,

Has been harmful for generations of girls.

And what does this say about female sexual assault survivors?

That through no fault of their own, that they are rendered useless, 

or their morality or intrinsic goodness has been taken away from them?

Sigmund Freud first referred to this concept as the Madonna-Whore complex.

The pattern of thought that divided women into two neat (simplistic) categories of either virgin (Madonna) or prostitute (whore) : 

there is no middle ground, 

no possibility for alternate conceptions of female humanity, 

No room for a healthy female sexuality. 

The loss of a woman’s virginity is equated with a loss of morality,

With the idea that women become depraved, become the whore after becoming sexually active,

All the while reinforcing how the worth of women depends on their virginity.

—-

Let’s now return to our Gospel text and to Joseph’s dilemma.

The question for Joseph is; was Mary a Madonna or a whore?

Was Mary a perfect example of virtue or an immoral adulteress?

Given that there were basically only two options to choose from,

then what should he do with a societally non-normative woman 

who was under his care?

While stoning isn’t mentioned in our Gospel reading,

What is for sure is that it was a shame for Mary to be pregnant 

without a recognized father.

She would be unlikely to re-marry as she was “damaged goods”.

She would be socially and economically vulnerable - living at the margins,

Likely living with her parents until their death and then relying on the generosity of some other male relative.

Joseph to his credit (as a “just man”) ponders an alternative to stoning,

namely “putting her away”: 

He doesn’t want to publicly shame her, 

but secretly divorce her,

hiding her away to a life of shame at the perimeter of society.

It was a more polite, kinder way to get rid of the inconvenient fact that she was pregnant/ no longer a virgin (and to limit the negative outcomes.)

But the unexpected happens, and his plans are turned upside down.

God intervenes.

God saves God’s daughter.

The angel calls Joseph to accept Mary as she is,

And to take her as his wife,

Given the blessed assurance that the conception is divine. 

The angel breaks open the limited categories of virgin and whore, and says “Mary is special: accept her for who she is.”

—

So where does that leave us as hearers of these tales of two women caught in the sexual-power dynamic of a man’s world?

Perhaps a few thoughts:

I think we need to affirm that:

No one’s worth should be determined by one’s sexuality. (martlet.ca)

We should condemn

Old-fashioned notions of virginity: 

esp. that a woman’s sexual history is tied to her value as a human.

We should avoid victim-blaming 

and slut-shaming.

Rather we should educate girls with sex-positive messages:

Such as that “the right guy is someone who will love you, good or bad, 

not despite, but for all your experiences,”

And not that guys will want you because you are pure.

The #metoo movement has reminded us to listen to female victims of sexual harassment and assault, to recognize the inherent power dynamics often in play, and to educate ourselves on the topic of sexual consent.

We need to condemn violence against women and girls.

One way of doing this is participating in 

Thursdays in Black,

A global movement for a world without rape and violence,

Promoted by the World Council of Churches, 

and for which our National Bishop Susan Johnson is an ambassador.

Thursdays in Black reminds us:

“In every country gender-based violence is a tragic reality. 

This violence is frequently hidden, and victims are often silent, fearing stigma and further violence. 

We all have a responsibility to speak out against violence, 

to ensure that women and men, boys and girls are safe from rape and violence in homes, schools, work, streets and in all places in our societies.”

—

However we respond to these difficult issues,

We know that it is into this flawed and messy world that Jesus was born, Jesus, the Holy one who saves,

With the help of Mary, pregnant but not by her husband,

And Joseph, confused but yet obedient,

Showing us that God chooses the least likely, 

and the ones society has deemed unfit, 

to carry out God’s plan of redeeming God’s beautiful and broken creation.