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| Women Arriving At The Tomb by He Qi © 2013 |
This was my testimony for the Presbytery of the New Covenant meeting in Orange, Texas, July 16, 2016, at which the ordination of women was being celebrated.
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Luke 24:1-9 But on the
first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices
that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but
when they went in, they did not find the body. 4 While they were perplexed
about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 The women were terrified and bowed their
faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living
among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.
6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the
Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third
day rise again.” 8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the
tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.
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I grew up in Southern California. Until about 10 years ago,
that’s the only place and the only culture I knew. Southern California is not like the south,
even though it has the word “south” in it.
It’s definitely not part of the Bible belt. So when we moved to South Carolina in 2005,
it was quite a culture shock. Life moved
a little slower. Different things were
important. In California, some people
care about football. In South Carolina,
much like Texas, EVERYBODY cares about football. Even if I hadn’t finished my bachelors at
Clemson University, I would have had to be rooting for the Tigers because
that’s just what you do there. When I
got to Erskine Seminary in the little tiny town of Due West, which is due west
of nothing but not too far north of Presbyterian College, I got another bit of
culture shock.
Erskine Seminary is run by the Associate Reformed
Presbyterians, and is multi-denominational.
My classmates were Methodist, Baptist, Anglican, AME, EPC, PCA and
PCUSA. I knew about Methodists and
Baptists and Anglicans before I went there, but I had to Google ARP, AME, EPC
and PCA. Before I went to seminary, I
had no idea there were Presbyterians who weren’t PCUSA. And I had no idea that some people thought
woman couldn’t be a pastor. I hadn’t run into that idea in California.
I had read what Paul says in 1st Timothy about
women, but I didn’t think what Paul said was relevant to our time. I have a high regard for scripture, though,
and I respected my new friends, so I had to take a step back and consider. Had I heard God wrong about this idea of
becoming a pastor? Had I taken Paul’s
words too lightly? I wanted to be sure
that I was following God’s will, and not my own. I wanted to make sure I was ready to stand by
this call.
At my first annual meeting with the Committee on Preparation
of Foothills Presbytery in South Carolina, the committee asked me if I was
running into any challenges with seminary.
“Well, actually, yes,” I said.
And I told them about my concern.
CPMs can be so wonderful. They
didn’t tell me I was right or wrong.
They encouraged me to make my own decision. “But in your considering,” one of them said, “be
sure to remember what happened that Easter morning at the tomb. It was a woman who first heard that amazing
news, and who first spread the gospel.”
That took awhile to sink in, but it did eventually sink in
rather deeply. And so here I am today,
standing before you as an ordained teaching elder. I would love to tell you that it’s been
smooth sailing ever since. I haven’t
stopped wishing that things worked that way, but I know that’s not how it
works. Jesus said “In this world you
will have trouble.” He was maybe
understating that one just a bit. But he
didn’t stop there. He added, “But take
heart for I have overcome the world.”
Thanks be to God.
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