Well, this a bit awkward isn’t it. Me getting up after that. I did say last week that Timothy was going to get uncomfortable. I bet some of you are missing the minor prophets now.
Funnily enough, the lectionary ends this reading at verse 7 and so I had a very good excuse to avoid this really controversial bit. But that did not feel truthful to the text and to who I am and so here we are.
More than ever I think I need to pray before this one. Your word living God, challenges and discomforts us. None the less we say, it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. And so we pray that you might more than ever illuminate this word for us this morning.
In my NRSV this chapter is titled “instructions concerning prayer.” This chapter has become most well-known for what it says about women but I think it is worth remembering Paul’s first instruction is to pray. Above all else pray, pray for all people, everywhere, all the time. Prayer is the most important theme of this passage and should underpin everything else.
Paul specifically mentions praying for kings and people in high positions. Combined with Romans 13, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established,” this teaching has at times being used to suggest that Christians should unconditionally bless political leaders.
Given, that the early Christian community was mostly persecuted by the Roman Empire this seems unlikely. What Paul seems to me to be saying is that we pray for leaders not to endorse them or excuse wrongdoing, but because much of the peace and well-being of our countries and of the world, in part, rests in their hands.
And as we pray for them, our own hearts are shaped toward justice, humility, and discernment.
An example of this kind of prayer happened in May this year, Shane Claibourne gathered with others to pray for the so called – “big beautiful bill.” Standing in the Capitol Rotunda they prayed,
“Reorder our moral compass, stir the conscience of our nation. Let justice rise up on these very steps, let truth trouble the chambers of the Capitol. Let there be no peace where there is no justice. Let there be no comfort for those who legislate cruelty. Let those of us gathered here rise not with fear but with fire, because as long as the details are still being worked out, You can work a miracle.”
We pray for political leaders because prayer has the power to guide and to form both them and us.
But it seems this is not what was happening in the Ephesian church, prompting Paul to write,
I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument, also that the women should dress themselves in moderate clothing with reverence and self-control, not with their hair braided or with gold, pearls, or expensive clothes, 10 but with good works, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God.
It seems some men in the community were using prayer and worship to express anger and create arguments.
Some women, meanwhile, were using prayer and worship to showcase their status through extravagant clothing.
The point isn’t condemning women for dressing nicely—it’s recognizing that what truly matters is what a person does, not what they wear. Imagine a world where media coverage of female athletes, politicians, or business leaders focused on their work rather than their wardrobe.
This passage has sometimes been used to shame women for “immodest” dress. I would suggest the opposite was Paul’s intent: to prevent anyone from feeling ashamed or excluded because they could not afford fashionable or expensive clothes.
Next Paul writes, “let a woman learn in silence with full submission.”
Often, people focus on the “silence,” but the key is that women, too, should be allowed to study and learn—without being interrupted or dismissed. “Full submission” likely refers to submission to God or the gospel, not automatically to men. And that applies to everyone — male and female.
Today, we tend to associate submission with oppression and weakness. We fear that submission may cause us to lose our identity. But submission to God is an act of worship, an act of reverence and faith. When we submit to God, we do not lose our identity, rather we find it, the true purpose for which we were created.
Then we reach the verse that sits at the centre of ongoing debate about women’s leadership in the church: “I do not allow a woman to teach or hold authority over a man, she is to keep silent.”
Before we delve in let’s remember that this one line needs to be read in light of the whole New Testament.
Luke tells us in chapter 8 that there were women among Jesus’ followers as he travelled through cities and villages proclaiming the good news. It was a woman who anointed Jesus for burial — a priestly act. And it was women who were the first to encounter and proclaim the risen Christ — they were apostles to the apostles.
Paul’s ministry also included women:
- Phoebe, a deacon of the church, who carried Paul’s letter to the Romans;
- Junia, whom Paul calls a prominent apostle;
- Lydia, the first European convert, whom the Orthodox Church calls Equal to the Apostles;
- Priscilla, who, along with her husband Aquila, taught Apollos, the gifted preacher; and
- Nympha, who hosted a church in her home.
Clearly, Paul did not believe that women must never teach or that they must always remain silent. So what does he mean here?
The key Greek word in this verse, translated as “to teach or hold authority over,” is authentein. Earlier translations (as you can see on the PP) render it quite differently:
- Coptic (3rd century): “nor to be lord of him”
- Old Latin (2nd–4th century): “neither to dominate a man”
- Vulgate (4th–5th century): “neither to domineer over a man”
- Erasmus (1519): “nor to usurp authority over a man”
- KJV (1611): “nor to usurp authority over the man”
- CEV (1995): “or to tell men what to do”
- ISV (2014): “I am not allowing a woman to instigate conflict toward a man.”
These translations suggest not a blanket ban on women teaching, but a warning against domineering or usurping authority — behaviour that goes against the spirit of Christian community.
Christian leadership is never about domination or control. It’s about humility, service, and obedience to God. In Ephesians, Paul instructs everyone – men and women – to “be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
That Paul gives this instruction particularly to women here, makes sense in the Ephesian context. Ephesus was home to the great Temple of Artemis — a female-only cult where priestesses were said to “lord it over” others.
So why, then, does Paul reference Adam, Eve, and childbirth? It’s worth noting that Adam, too, transgressed — so sin is not a gendered issue. N.T. Wright suggests that the purpose of this section is not to bar women from teaching, but to refute the idea that childbirth is a curse.
Now, I’m aware that what we’ve discussed today doesn’t totally solve all the issues. And I also know that, in many ways, I’m preaching to the converted. It’s unlikely that you’d be part of the Uniting Church if you had a problem with female leadership.
But I think it’s still important to say this clearly: I—and the Uniting Church—believe in the full equality and leadership of women in the church not in spite of the Bible, but because of it.
We believe that equality—in leadership, in families, and in every part of life—is grounded in the gospel. It is true, it is logical, it is biblical, and it is good for the flourishing of God’s people.
The Scriptures teach that women and men are equally made in God’s image and likeness; equally broken and sinful; equally redeemed through Christ; equal participants in the new covenant community; and equally called, filled, and empowered by the Holy Spirit for life and ministry.
And so, when either men or women are excluded from serving or leading, it is not just a personal loss—it is a loss to the whole Kingdom of God.
At the same time, there are sincere followers of Jesus who see these passages differently. And while that is hard for me, it calls into question what I believe is a calling, I don’t believe our response should be to cancel, label, or condemn them. Rather, we are called to engage with love, humility, and grace—the same way Christ has dealt with us.
Last week, we heard Paul tell Timothy that “the aim of Christian teaching is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.”
I said then that those words should serve as the backdrop for the whole letter—and I believe that’s true here as well.
Because for Paul, and for us, this is the heart of the gospel.
And it’s what was most important to Jesus, who when asked which commandment was greatest said:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
And so may our teaching, our worship, and our lives be grounded in that love—love of God, and love of neighbour.
Amen.
