I had the privilege of being the commencement speaker for a high school graduation. About 150 gathered to see the home schoolers in Beijing graduate and this year there was a small, but mighty group of impressive young women. The next three days I’ll share what I said. (I wanted to be sure I wasn’t parched but didn’t mean for the water bottle to feature so prominently!)
Amy giving the commencement address
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Well done, good and faithful servants!
The words we all long to hear :). You made it! Congratulations to you on being here … your high school graduation. You three are the vertex, the focal point, of this gathering as most of us fall into two categories:
1. Those younger than you who look to you and see the hope that lies before them if they keep studying … “Look at Sarah, Anne, and Isabel! Someday that will be me.”
2. And those of us who once were where you are – our own high school graduation and we are (even now as I’m speaking) remembering our graduations and all of the years that have passed. Right now I’m here before you in 2013 fashionable clothes …
but I’m also in a gold gown, sitting in Red Rocks Amphitheater wearing a dress that rocked the face off of the 80s and have flippy big bangs that also point to the 80s :) — and like others in this gathering, I wonder where the years have gone and am amazed at the ways God has used my childhood and high school to prepare me for life’s journey.
But today is your day!
We are in the unusual position of having only females graduating — and having been given this unique opportunity,
I want to look at women of the faith and focus on a few to see the ways in which an earlier part of her life prepared her the work God had for her.
If next year you are asked the foolish question, “is there a place for women in the Christian faith” you could answer them like this:
Eve
Deborah
Jael
Mary
Martha
Tamar
The woman caught in adultery
Rachel
Leah
Hannah
Vashti
Zilpah
Bilhah
Esther
Mary Magdalene
Woman with the chronic bleeding problem
Bathsheba
Ruth
Gomer
Dinah
Jephthah’s daughter
Hagar
Daughter of Jairus
Rebekah
Hagar
Sarah
Rahab
Mary mother of Jesus
Tabitha the disciple
Phoebe
Abishag
Priscilla, teacher, church planter
Huldah the prophet who helped King Josiah
Actually there were 10 female prophets – Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Noadiah, Isaiah’s wife, Anna, and the four daughters of Philip
Haggith
Abigail
Michal
Miriam
Delilah
Junia the apostle
The Samaritan woman at the well
Naomi
Ruth
And the cast of women characters in Proverbs: the virtuous woman, the foolish woman, the excellent wife, the shaming wife, Lady Wisdom, and Lady Folly.
Five women are listed in Jesus genealogy and four of them, like you, were foreigners.
In the bible we see named and unnamed women, there are wives, daughters, sisters, rivals, friends, singles, disciples, an apostle, those in leadership, those who lived in obscurity, we find foreigners, those who are loved, those who are unloved, women with ailment, those with many children, and other who were barren, we have a pregnant teen, a whole range of mothers, a shepherdess, merchants, one really good with a tent peg, prophets, those who served both inside and outside the home, those who were told to be silent, there are mistresses, prostitutes, great marital faithfulness, and those who were loved deeply by Jesus.
Sadly our gender, like Adam, was a part of bringing sin into this world, but as Tertullian wrote, “Eve had believed the serpent; Mary believed Gabriel. That which the one destroyed by believing, the other, by believing, set straight.”
Ours is a faith steeped rich with women.
And before me are three who will join their ranks. Sarah, Anne, and Isabel .
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Part 2 tomorrow!
Who did I forget in my list? What hair style or outfit did you rock at your graduation?
I can’t remember the dress but I know I had long curly/wavy PERMED hair! Job well done, Amy, and congrats to the young ladies with solid foundations and incredible futures ahead of them! PTL! ^_^
Oh yes, yes, yes! And I felt fancy, fancy, fancy because my perm was a spiral one :)
I heard Ravi Zacharias say, “The only difference between a good man and a bad man is that the good man believes the truth and a bad man believes a lie.” I’ve pondered that for a long time and every day see how right he is. Oh, Father, may I accurately understand and believe Your Truth!
Orpah, Zipporah, Asenath (not some of the most remembered women, but they are mentioned by name!) Oh yeah, Chloe and Lydia, the woman with the open heart, and the arguing ladies, Syntyche and Euodia.
I really look forward to the next installment of your blog! The Tertullian quote is great. Thank you for reminding us of the significance of women in the faith. It’s very encouraging.
I don’t remember what I wore to graduation. My hair was permed, but I wore it relatively straight. It was the “body perm”. My hair was a pretty, rich brown with red tints (naturally) while naturally straight and flat. I styled (or tried to style it) with a little wave.
LOVE this…I wish I would have had that answer ready for my freshmen year of college! And to High School graduation I wore a mid-length dress in multiple shades of teal and a pair of fabulous white shoes :) And here’s my little shout out to Isabel, you GO GIRL!!
I bet you looked GREAT :). And I’ll shout with you for Is!
Glad you mentioned Julia the Apostle…kind of shakes up Protestant thinking :D)
Indeed, but in doing some research, it wasn’t until the reformation that it was really in question :) … thus the Protestant reference, :)!
My guess is that the unnamed women had profound effect on the men of the Bible. I believe most every man has a woman in their life that has a profound effect on him; be they the woman he loves, his mother, a sister, a daughter, or his wife.
My guess is you’re right :)
Amy, thanks – am wondering if I can find and then use any of your writings in spanish? We live in Ecuador.
Hi Clayton, what a lovely question to ask! I don’t know of any specific site, but am a fan of Google Translate when in a pinch. This is unrelated to your question, but have you heard of Velvet Ashes? (www.velvetashes.com)