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October 7, 2018
Genesis 2:18-24
All week long I’ve wondered what in the world I was going to say when I stood in this pulpit today, and for those who know me, I bet that comes as a surprise. You see, I’ve been told my entire life that I even though I waited awhile to talk (2 years old before I said my first word), once I started I haven’t stopped. And trust me, my inability to stop talking as a child, has come back to haunt me a million times over as a parent, which is pretty funny, but also true. If you don’t believe me, my family will tell you that just yesterday, around 6:30 PM to be exact, the five of us had to play the silent game, because if we hadn’t I believe I would have lost my mind.
In all seriousness, though, not knowing what to say is very difficult for me. I’m sure it’s an ego thing, but even knowing that doesn’t make it any easier. And why might this week and this text stump me so… Well, you see, I know what this particular text has been used to accomplish for so many years. Things like making women feel subordinate to men because of they were created after man. Things like women being inferior to men because were it not for man’s rib women wouldn’t exist. Maybe it’s because I am Toni Knight’s son, but not only am I not immune to the pain caused when men stand in the pulpit and espouse such a superior/inferior narrative on this story and use it to continue that narrative into today, I’m so disturbed by it that I don’t always know what to say.
You see, there is no doubt in my mind, that my God is an awesome God, but more than that, there is no doubt in my mind that men and women were created equal and that my God, as creator, created them in such a way. This idea of equality is of paramount importance to me. It is something I wish all people held in that same high regard, yet it seems every day I am hit upside the head by another situation telling me that it is not. So, when the world, even to this day, is teaching gender inequality, my thoughts turn to those inside my own home, because as you all know, we have both men and women. And if the stories being told by the world speak to such inequality of gender, I will forever teach more forcefully about gender equality. No matter what I want Emma Grace to know that she is second to no one. I want her to know that she is inferior to no one. I want her to know that being a woman is the strongest and most powerful thing she can be, because she was created to be just that… A strong, courageous woman. And I want Joshua and Jacob to know that just because they were created male, they are not superior. I want them to know that women are strong, independent and powerful. I want them to know that both men and women are deserving of each other’s respect, and that neither should ever make the other feel like they are less than. In my view, seeing all humans as equal is the just way to see them, not matter what the world tells you.
This is the worldview I bring with me everywhere I go. It is ingrained in me and it is who I am. Not just because it is how I was raised, but because it is how I believe God created our world. So, that is why I’m initially unsure about what to say when confronted by the words from this story. When reading the words on the page, it looks so clear that man came first. It looks so clear that woman came second. This apparent clarity helps me understand why so many before me have used the story in such a hierarchical way but preaching about gender hierarchy is not my way. So, I dig deeper and every bump I hit in the road is just that, a bump, and bumps I can overcome because I know the truth is out there. And, then as I sit at the fifty-yard line of a college football game on Saturday afternoon, where one team was playing extremely well and another, well they were on the field, I uncover something I had not previously known. You see, while the game was being played in front of me, I pulled my phone out and opened my bible research app and started parsing the words of this story again, but this time something stood out.
The word “man” is repeated eleven times between verse eighteen and verse twenty-four, which is quite striking. Even more striking than that, nine of the eleven come from the Hebrew word “adam” which doesn’t actually mean man in a gender type way. Instead, those nine, which occur between verse eighteen and verse twenty-three, are gender neutral, and mean human or humankind in Hebrew. So, from the start of these verses the story is about humankind, a gender neutral, one flesh creation. Then the operation occurs, and we hear about a new creation, but this is not just a new creation of one being, it is actually a new creation of two. This is where we learn about the gender specific man and gender specific woman being created simultaneously from humankind. It is also in these last two verses, twenty-three and twenty-four, where we find the last two instances of the word “man”. Except this time the Hebrew word is different than the previous nine times. This time, the Hebrew word “ish” translated into English as man, actually means the gender specific man and the Hebrew word “ishah” translated into English as woman, actually means the gender specific woman.
********************************
I believe the Genesis 2 creation account was designed to show the equality, compatibility and unity of man and woman. Maybe we were even meant to understand that they both had the same source, “adam”, and shared the same flesh, made from the same ground, that God’s breath personally enlivened (Gen. 2:7). Reading Genesis 2 in this way gives us further insight regarding the equality of men and women… An equality that was set forth in Genesis 1:26-28.
Genesis 1 tells us that both men and women were given the same authority and had the same status at creation. No one, man or woman, was given authority over another person. There is no hint of any gender hierarchy, or a difference in status. It was humankind that needed a helper which came in the form of man and woman.
*********************************
Pushing through to find truth… Parsing words to make sure when I stand in this pulpit to offer myself through a sermon, I am doing it in a way that honors the story being told way back then, and not telling a story that is harmful… Each and every time I do it I am reminded that there is a great benefit to doing such hard work. And as for now, well I can’t think of a better time to do it because it allowed me to stay emboldened when telling Emma Grace that no matter what you are not second. No matter what you are not inferior. No matter what your voice is one to be heard, while also telling my boys the same thing.
Amen!
Genesis 2:18-24
All week long I’ve wondered what in the world I was going to say when I stood in this pulpit today, and for those who know me, I bet that comes as a surprise. You see, I’ve been told my entire life that I even though I waited awhile to talk (2 years old before I said my first word), once I started I haven’t stopped. And trust me, my inability to stop talking as a child, has come back to haunt me a million times over as a parent, which is pretty funny, but also true. If you don’t believe me, my family will tell you that just yesterday, around 6:30 PM to be exact, the five of us had to play the silent game, because if we hadn’t I believe I would have lost my mind.
In all seriousness, though, not knowing what to say is very difficult for me. I’m sure it’s an ego thing, but even knowing that doesn’t make it any easier. And why might this week and this text stump me so… Well, you see, I know what this particular text has been used to accomplish for so many years. Things like making women feel subordinate to men because of they were created after man. Things like women being inferior to men because were it not for man’s rib women wouldn’t exist. Maybe it’s because I am Toni Knight’s son, but not only am I not immune to the pain caused when men stand in the pulpit and espouse such a superior/inferior narrative on this story and use it to continue that narrative into today, I’m so disturbed by it that I don’t always know what to say.
You see, there is no doubt in my mind, that my God is an awesome God, but more than that, there is no doubt in my mind that men and women were created equal and that my God, as creator, created them in such a way. This idea of equality is of paramount importance to me. It is something I wish all people held in that same high regard, yet it seems every day I am hit upside the head by another situation telling me that it is not. So, when the world, even to this day, is teaching gender inequality, my thoughts turn to those inside my own home, because as you all know, we have both men and women. And if the stories being told by the world speak to such inequality of gender, I will forever teach more forcefully about gender equality. No matter what I want Emma Grace to know that she is second to no one. I want her to know that she is inferior to no one. I want her to know that being a woman is the strongest and most powerful thing she can be, because she was created to be just that… A strong, courageous woman. And I want Joshua and Jacob to know that just because they were created male, they are not superior. I want them to know that women are strong, independent and powerful. I want them to know that both men and women are deserving of each other’s respect, and that neither should ever make the other feel like they are less than. In my view, seeing all humans as equal is the just way to see them, not matter what the world tells you.
This is the worldview I bring with me everywhere I go. It is ingrained in me and it is who I am. Not just because it is how I was raised, but because it is how I believe God created our world. So, that is why I’m initially unsure about what to say when confronted by the words from this story. When reading the words on the page, it looks so clear that man came first. It looks so clear that woman came second. This apparent clarity helps me understand why so many before me have used the story in such a hierarchical way but preaching about gender hierarchy is not my way. So, I dig deeper and every bump I hit in the road is just that, a bump, and bumps I can overcome because I know the truth is out there. And, then as I sit at the fifty-yard line of a college football game on Saturday afternoon, where one team was playing extremely well and another, well they were on the field, I uncover something I had not previously known. You see, while the game was being played in front of me, I pulled my phone out and opened my bible research app and started parsing the words of this story again, but this time something stood out.
The word “man” is repeated eleven times between verse eighteen and verse twenty-four, which is quite striking. Even more striking than that, nine of the eleven come from the Hebrew word “adam” which doesn’t actually mean man in a gender type way. Instead, those nine, which occur between verse eighteen and verse twenty-three, are gender neutral, and mean human or humankind in Hebrew. So, from the start of these verses the story is about humankind, a gender neutral, one flesh creation. Then the operation occurs, and we hear about a new creation, but this is not just a new creation of one being, it is actually a new creation of two. This is where we learn about the gender specific man and gender specific woman being created simultaneously from humankind. It is also in these last two verses, twenty-three and twenty-four, where we find the last two instances of the word “man”. Except this time the Hebrew word is different than the previous nine times. This time, the Hebrew word “ish” translated into English as man, actually means the gender specific man and the Hebrew word “ishah” translated into English as woman, actually means the gender specific woman.
********************************
I believe the Genesis 2 creation account was designed to show the equality, compatibility and unity of man and woman. Maybe we were even meant to understand that they both had the same source, “adam”, and shared the same flesh, made from the same ground, that God’s breath personally enlivened (Gen. 2:7). Reading Genesis 2 in this way gives us further insight regarding the equality of men and women… An equality that was set forth in Genesis 1:26-28.
Genesis 1 tells us that both men and women were given the same authority and had the same status at creation. No one, man or woman, was given authority over another person. There is no hint of any gender hierarchy, or a difference in status. It was humankind that needed a helper which came in the form of man and woman.
*********************************
Pushing through to find truth… Parsing words to make sure when I stand in this pulpit to offer myself through a sermon, I am doing it in a way that honors the story being told way back then, and not telling a story that is harmful… Each and every time I do it I am reminded that there is a great benefit to doing such hard work. And as for now, well I can’t think of a better time to do it because it allowed me to stay emboldened when telling Emma Grace that no matter what you are not second. No matter what you are not inferior. No matter what your voice is one to be heard, while also telling my boys the same thing.
Amen!
