INTRODUCTION: Two weeks ago, a church member came to me asking, "What can a woman do at Wayside?" (Warning: if you ask Susan Wright, our WIC President, you will be given a job on the spot!) Sometimes when strangers hear about our denomination, the PCA, they say, "O yes, that's the denomination where they don't let women do anything!" It is true that in the PCA only men are allowed to be pastors, elders and deacons. The PCA is striving to do things the Bible way (I Timothy 3 says that elders and deacons should be men.) But, as we begin to study the resurrection of Jesus, we see that women were strongly involved in the 1st Century Church, and are strong examples of godliness to all of us today, both men and women. I have five major points to share with you today.

I. The Gospels record that women played a leading role during the death and resurrection of Jesus.

A. Mark 15 records that many women stayed with Jesus at His death, when most of the male disciples had fled and were in hiding.

Mark 15:37-41 "With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!" Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there."

B. John 20:1 records that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark. Mark 15-16 give more details:

Mark 15:46--16:2 "So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"

C. Matthew and Luke have similar records of what happened on Easter morning.

II. The Old Testament advanced the status of women in 1500 BC.

A.At first glance, the Old Testament seems to deny rights and status to women in general. For example: Exodus 21:1-11

B. Let me make two points about this passage:

1. First, these Old Testament civil laws are for Israel's government, in about the year 1500 BC (3500 years ago!). These Old Testament laws are not binding on Christians today (only the Moral law is still binding). God doesn't expect Christians to live by Old Testament laws.

2. Second, by today's standards, the laws about women in Exodus seem crude, barbaric and unfair. BUT, in their time they represented progress for women's rights. They put limits on what fathers and husbands could do. They encoded legal rights for women they had not previously enjoyed. They represented protection from arbitrary male domination. Under those laws Hebrew women flourished, and became like the woman of Proverbs 31:

Prov 31:10ff -- "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. She is clothed in fine linen and purple. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."

III. The New Testament finally inscripturated equal rights for women.

A. As time passed, God gave more revelation. Galatians chapter three is explicit:

Gal 3:26--29 "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

B. Note: God has given men and women different jobs to do. God lays a burden of leadership on men. But men and women are recognized as equal in spiritual value and rights before God. Men and women are both "sons of God." They are both "clothed with Christ." Male and female are "one in Christ Jesus." Men and women are both "Abraham's seed and heirs of the Abrahamic covenant."

C. At Wayside, and in all PCA churches, women have equal rights. Every man, and every woman, has an equal vote in every congregational meeting. The women at Wayside elect the pastor and our elders and deacons. The women at Wayside have power to vote to stay in or leave the PCA. Anything we vote on as a church, the women have absolutely equal rights.

IV. The New Testament says that men and women are equal in marriage.

A. In Ephesians 5 husbands and wives are told that submitting to one another is a two-way street:

Eph 5:21-25 "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her..."

Wives submit to their husbands by allowing their husbands to lead in the home. But husbands submit to their wives by putting their interests first in a sacrificial way. And note: submission to leadership depends on the wisdom and godliness of that leadership. "as the church submits to Christ." We submit to Christ because He always tells us to do what is wise and good. Wives need not submit to husbands who are obviously giving unwise and bad leadership.

B. Paul defends equality in marriage also in I Corinthians 7:

1 Cor 7:2-5 "But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control."

Clearly, the wife belongs to the husband, but the husband also belongs to the wife. They must act with "mutual consent." Neither lords it over the other.

V. The New Testament fully recognizes how important women were in the founding of Christianity.

A. As stated at the beginning of this sermon, it was women, chosen by God, to bring the first news of the resurrection of Jesus.

B. Paul recognized the great missionary work done by women: Romans 16:1-6, 12-13 and Philippians 4:3.

C. Women were the nucleus of the church at Philippi (Acts 16:13-15). There would have been no church there without them.

D. Women were essential in founding the very first church in Jerusalem, and they prophesied under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, just as the men did (Acts 1:13-14; 5:14; 8:3-4, 12).

CONCLUSION: Men and women are equal before God. We have different roles in the church and in the home, because God set things up that way. But men and women have equal rights, are equally as spiritual, equally as valuable, and both have valuable and necessary ways in which to serve God. Let's not look around the church and worry about what we can't do. Rather let's look for what we CAN do, and get busy serving the Lord. Thank God for the ministries of women! Amen