From time to time, I hear somebody claim that there aren’t any notable women in the Bible. Now, I’m not sure what Bible they’re reading; but it sure isn’t the one that I’m reading! The Bible that I read contains more notable women than there are girls at a junior high sock hop! There are all kinds of women in those texts!
The
women that we hear the most about are the ones who gave birth to famous
children: Isaac’s mother Sarah; Rachel and Leah, the mothers of the 12
Israelite patriarchs; and Jesus’ mother Mary, to name just a few. They’re
standing over there in one corner of the sock hop, dressed very modestly;
waiting for a nice boy to ask them to dance. No tattoos or spiked hair for this
bunch! They’re very traditional, you know.
Over
in another corner are some other women; but they aren’t famous for their
families. No, indeed. These women are the biblical equivalent of Rosie the Riveter.
Deborah is over there, the woman who went to war and whipped a whole enemy army
back in the time of the judges. Esther is there, too. She turned the tables on
a nogoodnik named Haman who wanted to kill all the Jews. She got Haman killed,
instead. And Judith is over there with them. Judith has a book of her own in
the apocrypha, the texts that made it into the Roman Catholic Bible, but not
the one that we Protestants use. Judith weaseled her way into the tent of an
enemy general by… well, promising him “favors.” But then she got him drunk and
lopped off his head with his own sword. The boys tend to stay away from the
girls in that corner of the sock hop. They’re a little bit afraid of them.
And,
of course, there are the girls who are on the sock hop committee itself.
They’re running back and forth filling the punch bowl and putting out more potato
chips when the dish is empty. You know who they are: women like Lazarus’ sister
Martha in the gospels; and Dorcas in the books of Acts. They’re the “doers,” the
women who serve others in a more traditional way. No sock hop would be a
success without women like them!
But
there’s another type of woman in the Bible as well. This woman isn’t a real
flesh-and-blood woman; she’s a symbol of a whole community. And of all the
women in the Bible, these women may be some of the most important. After all,
Sarah and Deborah and Dorcas are historical figures. They’re bound forever in
their own time. But the symbolic women are still around even today. Two of the
most famous ones are right here in the book of Revelation – the prostitute of
Babylon (chapter 17); and the bride of Christ (chapter 21). You can’t find women who are more different than
these two. From the way they dress to their priorities to the fellows they run
around with, they’re as different as night and day.
The
first woman that we meet in this morning’s reading is called “Babylon the
Great;” and she is a knockout. She looks like a young Elizabeth Taylor! (For
you younger folks who have never seen Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Zeta-Jones
will work just as well.) She’s gotten herself all gussied up for that special
someone; but her tastes run more to WalMart than Saks Fifth Avenue. She is dressed in bright red and purple, as
gaudy as any circus clown. She’s all decked out in gold and pearls; but if we
take a closer look, we’ll see that it’s just cheap costume jewelry. And to top
it off, she’s drunk! She is holding a cup in her hand – the ancient equivalent
of a shot glass – and it’s scribbled all over with graffiti that you might see
on the wall of an abandoned warehouse. She’s been drinking the contents of that
cup; and we’re told that it’s the blood of the saints. This woman may look
good, but she’s just trailer park trash. She’s got no taste and no morals.
She’s all gussied up for whoever will throw the most cash her way. And she has
never bothered to marry anybody; she just runs around with whoever looks the
best at the moment!
This
woman is a symbol – a symbol of the people who care about the things of this
world. The author of Revelation meant for her to symbolize the Roman Empire.
There are clues in the text that tell us that. “The woman you saw,” it says,
“is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth. The seven heads of
the beast on which she sits are the seven hills of the city.” (17:7, 9, 18) That’s Rome's nickname – the
city on seven hills. Today, that woman stands for folks who are only
interested in money and fame and power. They won't commit to anybody
but themselves; and they’ll hang out with anybody who will give them some of
the status that they want so badly.
And
there’s another woman in this text; and she couldn’t be more different than our
painted floozy. This second woman is the bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem,
the community of saints. She’s beautiful, too – but not because she wears
caked-on layers of rouge and mascara. No, she’s a classic beauty like Grace Kelly
and Audrey Hepburn. Her beauty isn’t painted on; it shines through. If we had
read just a bit farther, we would have heard a description of that beauty. She
is as beautiful as a diamond that sparkles with the light of God. She is
adorned with all kinds of precious gems – sapphires, emeralds, onyx, topaz,
amethysts, and pearls – and they’re the real thing! She’s has made herself
beautiful for her beloved husband, and she’s spared no expense in doing it.
Even the beauty of Princess Diana and Duchess Kate pales in comparison with
this bride. But then, this bride isn’t
just marrying a duke or a prince; this bride is getting ready to marry
the King of Kings!
She
is a symbol, too – a symbol of God’s people. Revelation compares her to a New
Jerusalem, ready to begin married life with the Lamb himself. God’s people have
prepared themselves just like a bride prepares herself for her wedding. What a
contrast with the prostitute Babylon! While she is all gussied up to see what
she can get, this community has made itself as beautiful as possible preparing
for its union with God. In Revelation’s day, this bride symbolized the saints
of the Church. And that’s what she stands for yet today – the great community
of saints on earth and in heaven who hold fast to Jesus Christ.
Now,
there’s good news in this text. That good news is that God loves his church
better than a husband loves his wife. And the even better news is that God
doesn’t love us for what we’ve done. God doesn’t love us because we have great
kids, or cook the greatest meal in town, or even are on the board of directors of
the local bank. God loves us because of who we are – his creations, made in his image, each one with unique gifts
and graces. Nobody much loves that other woman. They just take what they can
get from her and toss her aside like yesterday’s newspaper. How sad.
But
it does beg the question of how can we possibly prepare ourselves for the God
who loves us so much. God isn’t interested in money or power. After all, he
became poor so that we could become rich, and gave up all the power in the
universe to become human right along with us. And our beloved doesn’t care
about public opinion. God loves us anyway, no matter how we behave or what poor
choices we make! How can we make ourselves beautiful enough for someone like
that? The reality is that no matter how
hard we work to make ourselves attractive, we can never be good enough for God!
But
remember that God loves us no matter how we look! God loves us regardless of
whether we’ve wearing the right dress style or matching jewelry or the right
kind of shoes. And when everything is ready and we finally meet the Groom;
after we have walked down the aisle and are standing before the Lamb, I know what
we will hear. We will hear what every bride wants to hear on her wedding day! On
that day, God will gaze into our eyes with infinite love. He will take us by
the hand, and lean down so that no one hears him but us. And then, he will
whisper gently: “My beloved – I have waited so long for this day. I love you so
very much. You are so beautiful.”
No comments:
Post a Comment