What a crazy morning filled with innumerable parallels I had the other day.
My mother is the pastor of my church. She was recently preaching on the beatitudes, and we had a new family in attendance. The main focus of the sermon was the meekness and how it isn't weakness, but it is strength under control.
Further into the message, she was talking about how people ought to be searching for the justice and righteousness God provides, not revenge that humans seek.
My sister, our best friend, and I, were hungry, we wanted macaroni and cheese. We asked our mom about it, she said as long as we made enough for everyone that wanted some. In order to figure out how much we needed, the other two went around asking who wanted macaroni, while I stayed in the kitchen to monitor the water. As I was standing there waiting, I saw the new family through the kitchen door, and I just got total heebie jeebies about the dad. He had on a black t-shirt with some kind of little white emblem on the sleeve(I couldn't see what it was, I didn't have my glasses on), and he just sat on his chair, arms crossed. He reminded me of some of the police officers I vaguely know, the kind that have the job so they can take out all their anger on criminals.
Upon further investigation, I have learned that the father of the family answered - on behalf of his ~3 daughters, toddler son, and wife - "No, because we ate just before". According to my friend though, it seemed like the wife would indeed have liked some, but her husband gave her a look and didn't give her a chance to answer.
Back to the moment in the sermon.
The Father of the new family stood up(I did not look at him) and- in the middle of making a point -said, "Excuse me," my mother looked at him the way she looks at the kids when they have something to add(like "I love rainbows" and "I think the donkey said HEE-HAW a lot"). The man continued, "I also believe we should hunger and thirst for righteousness-" I, not knowing he had declined the macaroni, assumed he was going to say something funny about how he was going to the kitchen to get some food and I giggled a bit, however... "But we also know what the Bible says on women in the church, and we just can't be here anymore."
We have Sunday school before service, and in my small group, we have been studying 1st and 2nd Corinthians(this year's scripture portion for Nazarene style Bible quizzing). We were at 1st Corinthians, chapter 14, and in verse 34 it says "Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says." The exact thing the man was bringing up. However, my father(the leader of our small group) knows that nothing can be taken out of context(as all humans should), especially when reading the Bible, and found commentary on this verse.
1. 1st Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul, as a letter to the Christian church in Corinth, who(we can only assume) had written their own letter to Paul, telling him of quarrels they were having within the church, that they thought he could settle(this was kinda Paul's whole thing, he was a theologian even before he believed in Jesus, and the amount of the new testament that is just Paul writing letters to help churches fix problems or praise people for fixing their problems is extreme)
2. Because Paul was writing to a very specific crowd, he was giving very specific instructions based on the problems they had already told him they were having, one of which was wives interrupting(what would have been) sermons, in order to ask questions about things they had not learned(Because it was not customary for women to be taught such things at that time)
3. Literally the next verse tells them how to avoid interrupting the sermon(so that everyone can focus on the sermon and not how annoyed they are by a bunch of interruptions), "If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church."
(4. This whole chapter is about preventing talking over a pastor or preacher or rabbi or whoever, and also says you should be quiet or go somewhere else if you start speaking in tongues.)
Back to 2ish hours later.
I am frozen in my seat, I can do nothing but stare at my mother, who is asking the man, "What does Jesus say?" The man struggles to find a counter, as he's gathering his family to leave, my mother reminds him(and everyone else) "when Jesus was raised from the dead, the first to find him were two women" the man makes a frustrated/stumped noise, she goes on, "He told them to go and tell this good thing to everyone."
This isn't the first time my mother's ministry has been hindered by such blatant sexism.
However, also included in her sermon, were some of her favorite verses, on which she said she dwells on often, especially on difficult days. That day, she needed them. And she had them before she even knew she needed them.
Fast forward about 15 minutes.
it was the very end of church and the worship team (which includes my sister and I) went up to sing the last song. I don't remember what song it was now, but there was a line that hit us both in the gut in that moment. I think it had something to do with listening to the truth or maybe standing up to people who are against you. My sister almost started sobbing, and I had to sing almost an octave higher than usual to keep from crying. By the end of the song, my sister was beet red and snotty, and my mom came back on stage to pray over everyone before they left.
When she was done I went and laid my head on her shoulder. I have never really liked physical touch with my mom. I'm autistic, and I've sort of always been a dad kid. She and I disagree on some big things, and until a few years ago, when she started seeing a therapist, she was prone to big outbursts of stress. I still don't think I can fully relax around her. But in this moment, this was exactly what we both needed. We both took a deep breath, she thanked me, and we both walked off stage in different directions.
My mom went to go talk to the crowd. One of the first people to walk up to her was our church's resident red hat wearer. He told her he was ready to go out and follow the dad and beat him to a pulp, but remembered the meekness she was talking about. Other people were also talking about how it was a perfect example of meekness and not taking revenge.
Meanwhile, I went over and talked to my friend and sister. The first couple of seconds were just us staring at each other like "immaslapabish".
After a bit, we talked to my mom, and we all vented a while. My mom said something heartbreaking. She said that some people genuinely believe that because Eve was the first to sin, all women are still cursed, and that Jesus' sacrifice was only enough to save the souls of men. There was a collective agreement of "Fuck that".
Then when we had exhausted our complaints, started to plan a day meandering and riding in shopping carts at the store. And our day essentially continued as most Sundays, as if nothing had happened. We went to the store, spent hours in the book section, then in the toy section. We found cheap snacks, checked out, and went back to my house.
I really think this was good justice. This crap face failed to ruin a day. He may have perhaps only ruined a 20 minutes.
Extra stuff in case you need more cheered up from this rollercoaster of emotion:
My bestie's little sister is 8, she wasn't there when this happened, but if she were, everyone says she would have jumped out her seat and fully cursed out this guy herself.
I am certain(about often think about) that if there were chickens or goats or something interrupting church in Corinth, there would be a verse about leaving said animals at home.
My mom's friend said that she finally got to win an argument that she has with herself in the shower. She couldn't agree more.
The guy literally interrupted a sermon based on a verse about not interrupting sermons. 🤦🏼
Paul's writings are some of the least universal parts of the Bible(which is saying something because a lot of it is still very applicable today) because he always wrote in response to specific problems. In all my Bible reading, I have only heard a few things that I'm 100% aren't true anymore(even with all context surrounding) all in a book written by Paul, one example, when he's talking about marital love and how to act towards spouses, it says "husbands, love your wives as you love your own body, after all, a man never hated his own body" 😬 yeah, sorry Paul, buddy, it just- we invented mirrors...
The new family had a really cute baby(not previously mentioned because baby wouldn't have been able to eat the macaroni).
I think this might have also been the day I watched twilight for the first time.
Also this might've been the day I got 4 rubber duckies for 3 dollars worth of claw machine plays in the little arcade at said store.
Also, I don't remember if my mom actually actually said it(I'm not the best at remembering stuff word for word) but my mom definitely would have said "fuck that". She also said she cursed in front of people she never had before that day.
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