Walkersville, MD 20 August 2017

Transcription

1 Matthew 15: th Pentecost, St. Paul s, 2017 Cathy Feil This morning, I am going to go straight to the point. Jesus does not act like we are accustomed to. A Canaanite woman cries out to Jesus that her daughter is demon-possessed, is suffering terribly and the woman asks him to help. He ignores her, does not answer her cry. The disciples urge him to send her away they are annoyed. And then Jesus puts a further barrier between himself and the woman, saying he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. His mission and ministry was only to be for those people of Israel. The woman, though, will not be sent away. She now, goes and kneels before him. Calls him Lord. And begs for his help. And then we hear Jesus, speak in a way we never thought he would, calling the Canaanite woman and her sick daughter - a dog, a slur. By this time every time I read this I become angry with Jesus. He is not speaking or acting like I expect him to with love and healing. But this woman, she persists, she will not give up for she is fighting fiercely for her daughter s health. This woman is fierce and yet so humble. She says to him even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master s table. Her faith is so strong that she believes even a crumb, from Jesus is powerful enough to defeat the demon that possessed her daughter. In response, Jesus finally answers great is your faith, your request is granted. And the daughter was healed. This is a difficult passage to swallow for Jesus treats the woman poorly and it is in Scripture?! He keeps his distance, he treats her as an outcast, as the other. The history between the Canaanite s and the Israelites was

2 that they had a difficult relationship. They were enemies at one point. And the Israelites suspected the Canaanites of worshipping false gods. She was Also a woman and Jesus was not supposed to be talking to a woman. But, the Jesus we know never let the human boundaries of prejudice, enmity or feeling greater than the other stop him from treating all who came to him - with compassion. So, you should know all the commentators sound like me saying what is the matter with Jesus?! How are we to understand his relationship with this woman?! And what in the world are we to take from this? Well, I m going to share with you the two ways that commentators approach this. First though, I must say to you, we must get used to the idea of being upset with Jesus in this passage. My guess is all throughout history persons reading this must have had conflicted feelings about this Jesus. Anyway, let s us go on and look at the two ways this has been interpreted. Some say that Jesus was just testing this woman and her faith. Testing to see if her faith was strong enough for him to respond and heal the child. Let me just say outright, I don t think Jesus would test someone so desperately seeking healing for such terrible suffering. I just don t think he would do that. The other point of view says that the Canaanite woman taught Jesus that day. She stretched his self- understanding that his mission was only to the lost sheep of Israel. Truly enlarging his vision to incorporate not only the Jews but Gentiles. In other words, this was a teachable moment for Jesus. Right in front of us, we see the woman and her persistence, and her faith opening up for Jesus an understanding that his mission was to cross all boundaries to be a Savior for all. Of course this interpretation is difficult too, because we think of Jesus as being perfect. Could Jesus truly need to

3 change and grow? That is not a part of our understanding of him as the perfect God-man. But - he was also a man. Perhaps, he did grow, learn, have his horizons widened. I have said all this to say, no one, seems to be sure of how to deal with this passage. So, if you are uncomfortable, it distresses you I believe that is how most people feel about this passage. So, what can we take away from this, what is the message? Well, the woman is another person of great faith. Her love for her child was such that she was fierce, persisted, humbled herself (even accepting the crumbs), and believed. She was not going to let Jesus go without healing her child. You know, on All Saints Sunday, we especially remember all the people of faith who have gone before us. We speak of them as being in the company of saints, the cloud of witnesses. And every once in a while, when I think of them, especially on that Sunday, I see all kinds of people of faith, in my minds eye. I see, my mother, and father, I see Mary, Gandhi, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, other people I have known, Abraham and so many more ordinary but faithful people. I m sure you have your own vision of those people in that great company watching over us. (And I do feel supported, that they are watching over us.) Maybe one thing we could take from this is we could put this Canaanite woman among those saints that have gone before us, just imagine her among them. For her faith too, was great. Another thing I believe we can take away is that one of the mission s God calls all of us to is that of crossing boundaries. By that I mean many things. It means welcoming the stranger as the Old Testament tells us to do again and again. It is also about being willing to learn from people who are

4 different from us, to catch ourselves when we prejudge (that s really what prejudice is about) to catch ourselves and put ourselves in the other s shoes, be willing to listen and consider another world view. To listen and share your worldview too. To accept that God has created us all in his image and we are to treat the other with respect as we would like to be treated. In these days in our country, to live up to any of these things would be to participate in trying to bring about a new society of respect, love, justice. My friend Ramona, came across a term neither of us had ever heard of before and that is cultural humility. Which I believe is to appreciate our culture but also to appreciate others culture. The last thing I think this passage makes clear, is that God s mercy is for everyone. What a beautiful word mercy. Pope Francis, declared 2016 as a year of mercy. And I find his leadership to truly show us how to be merciful. He has crossed many boundaries washing the feet of women who were in prison. This was taboo but he crossed that boundary and so ministered to them. He had showers built and attached to the Vatican so that homeless people could use them. He has chosen not to lift himself up or to adopt the trappings of being a pope that would lift him above everyone else. He has been intentional about his humility renting an apartment of his own, not living in the palatial splendor of the Vatican. Carrying his own bags. Once in a while, sneaking out of his apartment without bodyguards at night, to be with people who are poor. He said, The Church s primary task is to introduce everyone to the great mystery of God s mercy by contemplating the face of Christ. The Church is called to be a credible witness to mercy. He also said this and you are supposed to say

5 this over to yourself twice and try to take it in. We are able to give mercy to others, if we are able to receive mercy from God. How true that is because if we receive God s mercy we know we need God and must depend upon God to give us new life over and over again. And when we are humbled in this way we become One with all people all in need of God s mercy, so not one greater than the other just One. I hope this exploration of this story has brought thoughts to your mind as well. I would enjoy hearing them after the service. Let us thank God now, for God s mercy. Amen.