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I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
1 Kings 18:21:7

Not long ago I saw an actor being interviewed on TV.  He was asked why, after having played so many successful roles as “the good guy,” he had agreed to take on the role of a villain.  He replied, “Because villains are interesting.”
            In today’s Old Testament lesson we encounter one of the most notorious villains in world literature, Queen Jezebel of Samaria.  Today, sadly, her abuse of power to destroy the innocent no longer has the shock value it once had—there are too many modern parallels.  Naboth’s refusal to part with the land he had inherited from his fathers also has a contemporary ring.  The unending strife between Palestinians and Israelis is all about land, and who has the right to it. 
            The struggle over land has just recently given way to a struggle over power, between Fatah and Hamas, and power is at the centre of today’s first reading.  Is Jezebel an object of loathing simply because of her despicable actions, or does the fact that she is a powerful woman have something to do with it?  Although Jezebel and Ahab are equally condemned for their crime by the prophet Elijah (vv. 20-24), her cunning and determination contrast sharply with her cry-baby husband, who takes to his bed with ineffectual self pity, when he can’t get his way (v. 4).  Incidentally, why do we experience revulsion over one judicial murder but not over Elijah’s slaughter of the prophets of Baal three chapters earlier (1 Kings 18:40)? 
            Even in the 21st century powerful women make men feel uncomfortable.  That may be why Hillary Clinton, for all her competence and experience, is thought by some to be unelectable to the highest office in the land. 
            In the New Testament reading two of the women have a black mark against them: in one case, prostitution (Luke 7:37); in the other, demonic possession (Luke 8:2).  But they are without power, and we can therefore sympathize with them, rather than fear them.  In both cases it is a man, Jesus, who exercizes the power: he forgives the sinful woman (Luke 7:48) and expels seven demons from Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2).  The women mentioned at the end of the reading fill a role which men have always depended upon: they provide for the disciples out of their means (Luke 8:3). 
            At General Synod in Winnipeg one of the candidates for primate is a woman.  If I had a vote, I would cast it for Victoria Matthews.  Years ago I served with her on a committee which brought together supporters of the two service books (the BCP and the BAS).  Nothing came out of our meetings, but that was not Victoria’s fault.  Then, as later, on the issue of alternative episcopal oversight for congregations at odds with their bishop, she strove for reconciliation. 
            If there ever was a time in the history of our church when a reconciler was needed, it is today.  However this election turns out, I pray that we may accept and embrace the power which women seem to have (more than men): to reconcile the irreconcilable. 

June 17, 2007

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