Lent & Women’s History Month (Reflection by Julie Tipton)

One of the things that has surprised me most in meeting so many different people in our church through Bible study, worship, UMW, and other groups is how many of us, myself included, did not grow up as United Methodists. The tradition in which I grew up did not observe Lent, so my points of reference for it were the friends I had who were expected to "give something up" for Lent, and the awareness that the school cafeteria served fish every Friday during this time of year. That was pretty much it.

The longer I have been a United Methodist, the more I have come to appreciate the routine of the liturgical calendar we observe, and the opportunities it provides us to focus on different aspects of our faith. This year, I have had the great joy of being able to participate in the Lenten Study that Josh Taylor has been leading, based on the book Lent in Plain Sight by Jill J. Duffield. While the book is an excellent view of Lent through ten different items in the life and death of Jesus, what I have enjoyed even more are the discussions the group has been able to have about the book, and sometimes even tangent to it. 

This week's study focused on coins, and in our look at the parable of the lost coin, we discussed how often women were the central figures of the parables, and, as in this case, the representation of God in the story. We discussed how so many of the parables that focus on money have been interpreted for a long time as discussions of tithing, when if we look deeper, we find that they're often much more likely to be a lesson in how we are to interact in community with one another. Once again, a faith that was for centuries interpreted almost exclusively by men of privilege from a Western European perspective gains so much more richness and depth when we take a step back and look at the radical behavior of Jesus in the context of his environment. Not only did he speak to women in public and eat meals with those who were outcasts, but his parables specifically featured the marginalized acting in the way God would have us act, or even as the representation of God.

So as we ponder the history of women this month, I hope we can remind ourselves that scripture has often been used out of its context or intention as a weapon to try to subjugate individuals who are not male, powerful, successful, or "normal" in the eyes of the world. But from the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7 to the United Methodist Women of today, we can continue to amplify the radical inclusivity of the gospel and the responsibility for members of our faith to love, accept, and care for all of God's children. If what others observe of our Lenten practice is a renewed commitment to that goal, then we know we are on the right track. 

—Julie Tipton, President of UMW (United Methodist Women)