Given the events of the past week it should be enough to say that racism is evil, it is not congruent with our profession of faith as Christians, it is not congruent with the promise in our baptismal covenant to respect the dignity of every human being, and finally it does not respect the fact that we are all made in God s image, all of us regardless of color, gender, ability or disability, we are all made in God s image. Moreover killing people, whether in Charlottesville or in Barcelona or in Finland, is an act of terrorism and is also evil. For those who are feeling conflicted about our rights to freedom of expression there is no question that legally people are free to express themselves, morally however, we are bound to counter-protest when these expressions cross the boundaries of human decency. I offer the words of the British philosopher Sir Karl Popper: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. Which is another way of saying that as a society we have an obligation to set limits to what is and what is not acceptable behavior and as Christians to define those limits according to God s commandments. Easier said than done I admit but that is what we are called upon to do when we leave the safety of our sanctuary and go back out into the world. And this brings me to the question of boundaries which are explored in all of our readings this week. What better place to start than with Matthew s story about Jesus and the Canaanite Woman. It is a hard story to hear and takes a bit of exploration to get at what is going on. Jesus is walking when he is Elisabeth Tunney 1
accosted by a Canaanite woman seeking healing for her daughter who is tormented by a demon. Now Jesus has been doing healing all over the place and we would expect him to comply. Instead He insults hers by saying that I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Meaning that as a gentile she was not entitled to receive the benefit of his gifts. Even more directly he says It is not fair to take the children s food and throw it to the dogs. So here is Jesus calling someone who comes to him for help a dog. Jesus is setting a very clear boundary, one that will only be changed after his resurrection when he sends the disciples out to baptize all the nations. But right now, he has drawn a painful line between Jews and Gentiles. Scholars have explored many ways to interpret this seemingly discordant note in Jesus ministry, some by saying that Jesus was using sarcasm to show his disciples how insular was their thinking. They base this on the context for the whole passage in which in the preceding verses Jesus has been rejecting the rigid boundaries of the Pharisees, who traditions were even stricter than the Law in terms of how they wanted people to live apart - whether it was in the washing of hands before meals or in dedicating fund to the temple rather than in support of their parents. Since we don t know the tone in which Jesus spoke we cannot say for sure. Others have said that this was a learning moment for Jesus, that the Canaanite Woman genuinely argued Jesus into changing his mind. We do know that neither God nor Jesus was averse to a good debate: remember Abraham arguing with God in order to save the souls of the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah? Or how about in the Wedding at Cana when Jesus mother had to nudge him into changing the water into wine? In both cases God and the Son of God relented but then they didn t often lose. So perhaps Jesus really was convinced by the Canaanite Woman s response that even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master s table. Elisabeth Tunney 2
Today I propose that we might look to our reading from Isaiah to make sense of Jesus decision to cure the Canaanite woman s daughter. This part of Isaiah was probably written after the Jews had returned to Israel from exile in Babylon. Now the people carted off to Babylon had been the cream of the crop. In their absence those not important enough to be expatriated and foreigners who had moved into Israel had risen to leadership roles. This was unexpected to those who thought they would return to their original places, to what they had left behind. They were no longer the in group. Society was uneasy with how to deal with this new multicultural environment. Thus says the Lord that foreigners who join themselves to him, who keep the Sabbath and the Lord s covenant will be welcome. We don t read the passage that specifically mentions eunuchs who were considered defective and therefore not welcome in the temple but they too receive this invitation. This is radical for a people that had interpreted their relationship to the Lord through bloodlines. God is shifting boundaries to extend an open invitation to those who acknowledge God as Lord. God is always shifting our boundaries and Isaiah is depicting a vision of a community where all are welcome, a community of the Lord who gathers the outcasts of Israel and who will gather others besides those already gathered. That s the promise we believe fulfilled in the coming of Jesus and through whom we also become children of God. Now back to Jesus and our Canaanite woman. At the end of their interchange Jesus says Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish. The key word is faith. It is not the argument that has won him over, it is not just her steadfast faith that Jesus can heal her daughter that has won him over, although they are important, it is in the very words with which the Canaanite woman addresses Jesus. She names him Lord, Son of David, titles that belong to the messiah, to someone who has accepted and acknowledged Jesus as Lord; one of those whom God has promised to gather on his holy mountain. That is Elisabeth Tunney 3
what Jesus sees as her faith and that is why he healed the Canaanite woman s daughter. Now God did not say everyone who is hanging around can come to his holy mountain. God did lay down a few conditions. Likewise the Israelites had developed boundaries according to their understanding of the word of God with the caveat that their interpretation may not have been precisely what God intended. In his letter to the Romans Paul is exploring the different boundaries that emerged with the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ in whom is salvation. Paul is wrestling with what it means that God has seemingly opened the floodgates to the gentiles who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior, and the Jews, who for the most part have refused to acknowledge him as such. Paul is speaking to a congregation which originally had Jewish members but who had been exiled from Rome due to a temper tantrum by one of the emperors. When they were permitted to return they found themselves looked down upon by the gentiles who have taken over the church. Paul has been at great pains to say that gentiles are grafted onto the branch of Israel, that they owe a great debt to the Jews. Although he wonders what the Jewish rejection of Jesus Christ will mean for their ultimate salvation he is adamant when he says God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. All of which makes 2,000 years of anti- Semitism unpardonable and any support for white nationalists waving Nazi flags completely unacceptable. God is always pushing our boundaries. God is always pushing our boundaries in the direction of love, the love of God, and the love of neighbor. It is fitting then to conclude with the expansive and inclusive words of our psalm. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Let your ways be known upon earth, your saving health among all Elisabeth Tunney 4
nations. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all the nations upon the earth. May God give us his blessing, and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him. Amen Elisabeth Tunney 5