Texts:
Psalm 88
Leviticus 21:1-15
2 Corinthians 8:16-24
The text from Leviticus for today bothers me deeply. The separation of that which is holy and that which is profane causes everything inside of me to rebel. The suggestion that a woman is responsible to remain chaste yet mentioning nothing about the man bothers me. I cannot help but hear Luther and his tirade regarding the children of priests in the Catholic tradition during his time... with Luther ranting and raving that, under the auspices of purity, these children are raised without fathers (and, paradoxically, not able to become priests as a result of their fathers' actions).
Then, however, I thought about our texts from yesterday. Jesus - God incarnate - was touched by an woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. He touched a young woman who had died who was of no relation to him. Transgressing the boundaries of purity and shunning the divisions that would prevent relationship, Jesus touches these women. Then I think about all of the other women - most of them unnamed yet not anonymous - whom Jesus encountered. It seems that purity and cleanliness takes on a whole new shape when God becomes involved.
Jesus - the High Priest according to Melchizedek - touches dead women. He is touched by women who are sinners and women who are unclean. He engages women who are living with men to whom they are not married along with women who live on the margins in debate. These women are not chastised, they are not stoned; they are loved with a transcendent love. Purity, it seems, changes its shape when Christ comes into the picture. Christ does not seem to see these women as a threat to his sanctity, but as his sisters, women for whom he has the respect and to whom he gives the dignity to utilize their voices: to confess, to debate, and to love.
...so maybe it's not so much about purity after all.
Psalm 88
Leviticus 21:1-15
2 Corinthians 8:16-24
The text from Leviticus for today bothers me deeply. The separation of that which is holy and that which is profane causes everything inside of me to rebel. The suggestion that a woman is responsible to remain chaste yet mentioning nothing about the man bothers me. I cannot help but hear Luther and his tirade regarding the children of priests in the Catholic tradition during his time... with Luther ranting and raving that, under the auspices of purity, these children are raised without fathers (and, paradoxically, not able to become priests as a result of their fathers' actions).
Then, however, I thought about our texts from yesterday. Jesus - God incarnate - was touched by an woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. He touched a young woman who had died who was of no relation to him. Transgressing the boundaries of purity and shunning the divisions that would prevent relationship, Jesus touches these women. Then I think about all of the other women - most of them unnamed yet not anonymous - whom Jesus encountered. It seems that purity and cleanliness takes on a whole new shape when God becomes involved.
Jesus - the High Priest according to Melchizedek - touches dead women. He is touched by women who are sinners and women who are unclean. He engages women who are living with men to whom they are not married along with women who live on the margins in debate. These women are not chastised, they are not stoned; they are loved with a transcendent love. Purity, it seems, changes its shape when Christ comes into the picture. Christ does not seem to see these women as a threat to his sanctity, but as his sisters, women for whom he has the respect and to whom he gives the dignity to utilize their voices: to confess, to debate, and to love.
...so maybe it's not so much about purity after all.
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