Pentecost 16B
September 9, 2018
Isaiah 35:4-7a
James 2:1-17
Mark 7:24-37
INRTODUCTION
Last week,
after a few weeks this summer in the Gospel of John, we came back to Mark’s
Gospel, in a story in which Jesus talks about what is the key identity marker
for Jews. Anyone remember what it was? God’s law. Jesus turned that on its head
a bit, saying yes, the law is important, but more important than following the
letter of the law about things like hand-washing, was considering how clean
your heart is. In other words: are we
living the lives of love, grace, justice and mercy that God calls us to live?
Today, in
contrast to focusing on the distinction of Jews and Jewish laws, Jesus ventures
into Gentile territory. Gentiles are non-Jews, people outside of the Jewish
community. In Mark, Jesus is often taking great effort to venture into these
non-Jewish areas, these places populated by “outsiders,” people who are even,
in some cases, enemies of the Jewish people. So today he takes a journey to
Tyre, a place far from his home in Galilee, where he encounters a
Syrophoenician woman (so, she is Greek, and descended from people of Syria, and
Phoenicia, two historic enemies of Jews). His encounter with this woman
changes, or rather, opens up the scope of his ministry, and he continues onto
another largely Gentile (non-Jewish) region to continue his ministry with this
whole new segment of society. So, today’s story is an important turning point
in Jesus’ ministry, from focusing on Jewish people, to opening his mission up
to non-Jews.
The other
two readings set this story up for us, by reflecting on the ways God, and
believers in God, are always reaching out to undesirable or downtrodden
populations to bring them the good news of God. These readings are full of
life-giving words for those desperately in need of that news… even as they are
challenging words for those of us accustomed to feeling comfortable in our
faith and our lives. So let’s listen, and see what word God might be speaking
this day to our hearts.
[READ]
Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Is it just
me, or does Jesus seem a little… off, in today’s Gospel reading? I mean, we
usually picture him as the very embodiment of compassion, care, and
availability, right, but today, he first enters a town and doesn’t want anyone
to know it, wants to hide away for a while. And then, when someone comes to him
for help, what does he do but insult her! “Can’t help you now,” he says. “Gotta
help the children of Israel first. I’m not gonna throw their portion to the
dogs!” Did he just… did he just call this woman a dog, and refuse to help her
daughter? What?? This is not the Jesus we know and love!
It is one of
the more puzzling interactions Jesus has, for sure. Interpreters have spilled much
ink trying to figure this one out. Is this just an example of how Mark paints a
much more human picture of Jesus? Throughout the Gospel of Mark, we see Jesus
exhibit more emotions, as well as more human frailty, even lack of knowledge at
times, than we do in the other Gospels. So maybe Mark is saying that Jesus was
tired, and a little bit irritable, snarky, and dismissive? I mean, we get that,
right? We’ve all been there! But… does Jesus get snarky and dismissive? It
opens a complex theological can of worms.
Or maybe, is
Jesus testing the woman’s faith? Yeah, standing as the wise teacher who is
seeing how bold she will be in her declaration, always with the intention of
giving her what she asks, and letting her win the argument. That seems to fit
better with our understanding of Jesus – even though I don’t especially like
the idea of a God who tests our faith for sport, while our loved one lies in
pain!
As I have
grappled with this question, trying to understand where Jesus is coming from on
this, I realized that really, it doesn’t matter that much to me. What matters
more than why Jesus responded to this woman the way he did, is that the woman, who
is an ethnic, religious, social “other” from Jesus, has the opportunity to
proclaim, even to us, the truth: that Jesus is there for her, too. That her
life, and the life of her daughter, matter, and should matter even to this
Jewish teacher, even to this God. That she is worthy of God’s care, compassion,
and love. This woman boldly proclaims that truth.
We have a
complicated relationship with the truth these days, don’t we? Rudy Giuliani
made news recently when he claimed on Meet the Press that, “truth isn’t truth.”
He caught a lot of flack for that, as he should have, but I do sort of get
where he was coming from. These days, it’s hard to know what really is the
truth, and what is only some version of the truth, cherry-picked, or conveniently
twisted or edited to support one viewpoint or disprove another. I find myself
frequently coming back to Pontius Pilate’s poignant question during Jesus’s
trial: “What is truth?”
Yet here,
this woman of Syrophoenician origin, boldly proclaims a very important truth,
and one that can absolutely be trusted: that she matters, and that her daughter
matters, and that they are worthy of God’s attention and care.
But even
that indisputable truth is not always an easy message to hear. Jesus seems to
receive it readily enough, but for us? We sometimes have a hard time receiving
the truth, especially when it rubs up in a bad way against something we believe
and hold dear, when it challenges our viewpoint. Once we have decided what is
the truth, I think a lot of us tend to close our minds and our hearts to
anything that doesn’t fit with what we believe.
Perhaps that
is why I am particularly drawn to what Jesus says in his next interaction with
a Gentile, the man who is deaf and mute. Jesus doesn’t just lay hands on this
man to heal him. He says to him, “Be opened.”
“Be opened.”
This is message I know I need to hear, and one I think we could all stand to
hear and take to heart. Be opened. Be
opened to the movement of the Spirit. Be opened to learning something, even
something that at first makes you uncomfortable. Be opened to the gifts of
others, even others whom you don’t like. Be opened.
I remember
once sitting in the office of my college band director. He was leaning back in
his chair, with his arms crossed tightly across his chest, when he started to
reflect, as he often did. He said, “You know, I’ve been told you should never
sit this way, arms crossed, when talking to someone. My teacher used to say,
‘Closed body, closed mind.’ But I don’t know – I think I have an open mind, but
I just think it is comfy to sit this way!” Well yeah, it is also comfy to sit
in our opinions and never let them be challenged. It is also comfortable to
stay right where we feel safe, and know how things work. It is comfortable not
to rock the boat, not to speak up when we know something is wrong. But I
wouldn’t say any of those things are necessarily open, nor faithful! (That
said, I do think my band director had a pretty open mind, despite his crossed
arms!)
Be opened.
Be opened to the truth, even uncomfortable truth. Be opened to ideas, even
ideas you think would never work. Be opened to the possibility that you might
be wrong, and someone else is right. Be opened to change, even if you love
where and how you are. Be opened.
I think this
is a valuable word for us today, on Rally Day, as we begin a new program year.
We have some exciting things on the horizon.
BLC: We’re raising money for a new handicap lift, to make our space
accessible to people with mobility issues, and to make that happen, we are
about to start a capital campaign, which will depend upon your generosity.
We’re trying out a new way of structuring our leadership, a change which may
have some growing pains as we work out the kinks. And we are continually
thinking about how we can respond to the needs of the community around us.
SMLC: We are trying a new way of doing Sunday School that will teach the kids
Bible stories as well as help them grow into a community and teach them to pray
aloud for one another. We hope the model we are using, based on FAITH5
practice, will find its way also into the homes of families, increasing and
deepening the faith and prayer practices of all ages. We are exploring some
stewardship and mission goals that we hope will excite and compel people to be more
generous in their giving. We have several new members who are eager to share
their unique gifts and passions with this community.
Some of these things are objectively
exciting, and will be easily received. Some might require some risk. Some might
require some patience, as we work through the inevitable tough spots. All of
them require for us to “be opened” – to listen to one another, to be kind and
responsive, to entertain the possibility of sitting in a position that might
not be as comfortable at first, but one which will absolutely make us grow
stronger in mission and in faith.
All of them, I hope, will equip and
empower us to boldly proclaim the truth: That ours is a God who loves, who
cares, who heals, who brings life, both to those on the inside, and those who
are “other,” who are different from us. That ours is a God who never promised
that we would be comfortable, but rather, who always invites us to move, to
change, and to grow. I hope we will be empowered to proclaim that ours is a God
who listens to our needs, who equips us to boldly share our stories, and who
bids that we “be opened” to the possibilities of new life that God places
before us.
And so let us “be opened,” my friends.
As we enter into this new, exciting year of ministry, let us be opened and
responsive to the ways that God will move within, among, and around us.
Let us pray. Moving God, you make the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of
the dead unstopped. With you, the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of
the speechless sing for joy. Make it so also with us, dear Lord. Make us bold
to listen, be opened, and boldly proclaim your truth. In the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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