BY GOD'S DESIGN
There is a story told of Sojourner Truth, a former slave known
for her fearless attacks on the institution of slavery and her support
of human rights in the middle of the19th century.
Sojourner walked, uninvited, into a women’s rights convention
in Akron, Ohio in 1851. Her presence was noted with dismay; the
women fighting for equality didn’t want their issue confused with this
abolitionist’s agenda.
After a long procession of speakers for women’s rights as well
as a number of them against, including a clergyman who quoted
Scripture to make his point, Sojourner made her way to the podium.
Fearing a public confrontation the convention’s leaders allowed her
to speak.
“Dat man over thar, says dat woman needs to be helped into
carriages and lifted over ditches, and to have the best places
everywhere. Nobody ever helped ME into carriages or over mud
puddles or give ME any best place! And ain’t I a woman!”
An anxious murmur went through the crowd…. She continued:
“I have borne five children and seen mos of dem sold off into
slavery and when I cried with a mother’s grief, none but Jesus
heard – and ain’t I a woman!”
The hall rocked with applause, when a few minutes before it
had applauded opposite sentiments. “And that little man back dar,
he say woman can’t have such rights ‘cause Christ warn’t a woman.
Whar did your Christ come from?” she challenged, her arms
outstretched, her eyes shooting fire.
Silence filled the hall. She asked again, “Whar did your
Christ come from?” Poised like a bird hovering over its prey for
a final swoop, she thundered the answer to her own question:
“From God and a woman. Man had nothing to do with him!”
Pandemonium broke loose. The audience was overwhelmed.
It could not endure so much logic and oratory at one time.
This feast of the Mary the Mother of God is very much a celebration of human equality. In a strict patriarchal culture God chose a woman to issue the Reign of God into human history. Mary was a simple peasant girl, but she had to understand at least some of the cultural ramifications of her call. She was the primary instrument of the Divine becoming human and “man had nothing to do with him.” Our baptismal call has won for us the same distinction in being called sons and daughters of God--heirs by God’s design--brothers and sisters in Christ. We willingly embrace the idea of such a filial relationship with God and a fraternal relationship with Christ. They are the basis of our spirituality as Christians. What becomes problematic is the logical conclusion of these relationships. If all are sons and daughters of God by God’s design and therefore brothers and sisters in Christ, then all are equal. This feast should not only draw us to honoring Mary, it should also reinforce our human connectedness. Sojourner Truth dramatically showed that convention for women’s rights that it could not seek its own rights without seeking the rights of others. When the Son of God was vested in our humanity and accepted a human name, we all became heirs of God, equal and precious in God’s sight beyond our imagining.The beautiful Eucharistic Preface of Christmas echoes this profound article of our faith: Christ came to lift all things to himself,
to restore unity to creation,
and to lead all people from exile
into God’s loving presence.
The inclusivity of that prayer should make it clear that the Christ born into our world is a call to unity, to a oneness rooted in God’s unconditional love for all people. God’s plan for us is that we also love one another without conditions. Sex, race, creed, life style, political persuasion, education, economic status, nation of origin--these are all differences not criteria! Our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection which we celebrate in the Eucharist challenges us again and again to bear Christ to the world through lives of unconditional love. This should be the only New Year’s resolution any of should have: to make Christ’s presence felt in our world by what we do and say out of love. Mary’s willingness to accept this very radical invitation flew in the face of all the religious and cultural mores of her day. No less is demanded of us: to stand up and challenge our church and our country with the words of St. Paul: You are no longer slaves, but sons and daughters.
and the fact that you are sons and daughters
makes you heirs by God’s design.
What more could we hope for in the New Year?
On this day in 1863 President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation .
