Now, in Christ, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or free, male or female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. You belong to Christ, so you are Abraham’s descendants. You get all of God’s blessings because of the promise that God made to Abraham.

Galatians 3:28-29

If, like us, you are privileged to live in Wake Forest, then you will have appreciated the almost perfect weather conditions over this past weekend. Highs of 65-70 degrees, lows around 50. Perfect sunshine and clear blue skies. The first leaves beginning to change color.

In church, Rebekah was asked to offer “the prayers of the people.” She rocked (if that’s something you can even say about praying?)! It is always good to see her in the pulpit.

Meanwhile, pastor Mac started a month long series featuring some of the great Reformers who helped establish the identity of the emerging Protestant Church. This week he preached about the life and work of Katharina Schütz Zell of Strasbourg (1497–1562).

Women have always been at the forefront

Mac wanted to help us understand that, even 500 years ago, it wasn’t just severe-looking men who got the ball rolling for reform in the church!

I’m glad he shared the story because – historically – history has been interpreted almost exclusively by men, written by men, and taught by men. But when we open our eyes and look around, it is obvious that women have just as much impact on day to day life, and there is no reason to doubt that they did long ago and will in the future.

Our job, then, is to work hard to make sure that the stories we tell lean toward that truth. Because any authentic witness to history absolutely must include the work and the influence of women. So thanks, Mac, for helping remind us.

Katharina Zell became well known not only as the spouse of early Reformation preacher Matthew Zell, but as someone who lived into the assurance and confidence faith in Jesus gave her. She was a generous and charitable practitioner of Christian virtue, she was ecumenically minded in a time of deep conflict, and – importantly – she was a well educated woman who published scholarly pamphlets defending her role as a clergy spouse and promoting her credentials as a leader in the church.

Authentic Protestantism always leans toward inclusivity:

From its beginnings, the Protestant Reformation necessarily made a strong and practical case for inclusivity. Fact is, there is a natural affinity between the good news of the Gospel and equality across the board.

The witness of Katharina Zell, then, is a good reminder that when we see institutions and leaders turning back the clock, and rolling back progress in inclusivity and gender equality, then what we are really seeing is pushback against God, and a slamming of the door in the face of Jesus.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

Matthew 23:13

We are at our best when our posture – our attention – bends toward learning. We are compromised to the extent that we close the door on the Spirit’s ongoing work of Reformation and the invitation of Jesus to open our hearts and our minds – DEREK