More time! Or two sermons! It was a shorter sermon due to communion and Ordination/Installation of Officers. And, in retrospect, adding Jael to the sermon meant it should have been two sermons.
The two best points, I think, were the teamwork aspect Deborah brought to the leadership role (that's where I was headed when I titled the sermon originally) and Jael as the surprising heroine of the story. I particularly liked the link to God working through perceived weakness, although if I had explored Jael's role more fully I would have had some interesting thoughts on how she basically seduced Sisera. In fact, a feminist reading of the text would surely have opened the door to spousal abuse, sexual overtones in the text, etc.
I also noted, but did not address more fully, the fact that Deborah and Jael were both people called by God to those particular tasks. It would have been an interesting sermon to parallel how Deborah operated in the traditional role and with teamwork vs. Jael's deception and acting alone.
I was glad to get both these characters into the forefront of the congregation's thoughts.
Peace,
Richard
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