Rev. Rebecca Schlatter Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Reno, NV Sunday, August 14, 2011 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost Text: Matthew 15:21-28 The Good Stuff Is For Everyone This sermon is in two parts. Part 1 begins with this difficult gospel text puzzling at best, disturbing at worst. Let s not beat around the bush: Jesus sounds like kind of a jerk. Here s this woman coming to him like so many others, full of pain and hope, and Jesus doesn t even answer her at first. And then finally he says, Well, actually, I wasn t sent to your people of Canaan, I was only sent to my people of Israel. When she continues, he explains well, you know, the good stuff you d feed to children, is not fed to the dogs. Which makes it sound like Jesus is comparing her people to dogs, which any way you look at it is not very nice. But then the woman catches Jesus up short, and Jesus appears to change his mind, which is also difficult, because if Jesus is all- knowing, how can he change his mind? I don t have an answer for either reason this story makes us squirm: Jesus sounding like a jerk and appearing to change his mind. But maybe this story is not really about the personality or the mind of Jesus. It s really about this question: Whom is the good stuff for? By good stuff this is important by good stuff I mean healing, relationship with God, forgiveness, salvation. The good stuff Jesus brings and that the woman asks for. Her being excluded from it at first reminds me of another story. Perhaps you have heard Dr. Seuss s story of the Sneetches. There are two kinds of Sneetches, and the good stuff is only for one of them, the kind with stars on their bellies. (Since The Sneetches is a copyrighted story, the whole text isn t included here. For a reading of the story, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmolzesn4oi ) Now, the Star- Belly Sneetches Had bellies with stars. The Plain- Belly Sneetches Had none upon thars. Those stars weren t so big. They were really so small You might think such a thing wouldn t matter at all. But, because they had stars, all the Star- Belly Sneetches Would brag, We re the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches. When the Star- Belly Sneetches had frankfurter roasts Or picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts, They never invited the Plain- Belly Sneetches. They left them out cold, in the dark of the beaches. They kept them away. Never let them come near. And that s how they treated them year after year. And, it s a bit how the people of Israel treated the Canaanite people, and vice versa. There were many reasons for that and a lot of history between them, differences more serious
than stars. But the two peoples mixed about as well as the two kinds of Sneetches. And the question the Canaanite woman presents to Jesus is not too different from the Plain- Belly Sneetches: Can the good stuff be for us too? Can we get in on it? That kind of question can be tough for the ones who are already in on it, who already feel entitled to the good stuff. The people of Israel were the ones God had chosen as God s people and the ones to whom Jesus had been sent. Of course the good stuff was for them. Except that by the end of both stories, the good stuff is for everybody. How does that happen? Let s take the Sneetches first. One day, as the Plain- Belly Sneetches are moping about being left out, a stranger appears. His name is Sylvester McMonkey McBean, and he s the Fix- it- Up Chappie. He has a machine that can put stars on their bellies so that they can get in on the good stuff too for a price, of course. So the Plain- Belly Sneetches come out of the machine with stars. Then they yelled at the ones who had stars at the start, We re exactly like you! You can t tell us apart. We re all just the same, now, you snooty old smarties! And now we can go to your frankfurter parties. Well, the original Star- Belly Sneetches aren t happy about that arrangement, because they re still entitled to the good stuff, but now who can tell? So McBean offers to take their stars off, and then the others want their stars off, and the Sneetches keep going through the machines while McBean gets rich. Through the machines they raced round and about again, Changing their stars every minute or two.. I m quite happy to say That the Sneetches got really quite smart on that day, The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches. That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars And whether they had one, or not, upon thars. Now, the good stuff can finally be for everyone. In the gospel, there is no Sylvester McMonkey McBean. But there is this woman who seems to understand something important. Jesus has told her, it s not fair to take the children s food and throw it to the dogs. But she boldly turns that around: Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master s table. Jesus says that shows great faith. How? Well, she wants healing for her daughter. She knows God can do it through Jesus, and she won t take no for an answer, no matter who her people are. But she knows God is so powerful that she doesn t even need a place at the table for a whole meal of the good stuff. Even the crumbs that fall on the floor would be enough. We can t read Jesus mind, but it s as if he also got really quite smart on that day. He made God s healing power available to one whom he might not have realized it was going to be for.
You know what this means, don t you? It means that if the good stuff is even for the Canaanite woman, even for the Plain- Belly Sneetches, it is most definitely even for you. The communion meal may not be a frankfurter roast, but it is life- giving and life- saving, and you are most assuredly invited. Now we just need to find a way to remember that when we are feeling left out, like a Canaanite or a plain- belly sneetch. And we need to find a way to let others know: Hey, this good stuff that Jesus offers? It s for you. Let s ponder that as Part 1 ends, and let s sing the first three verses of our hymn of the day, All Are Welcome. Part 2: The Canaanite woman is bold, perhaps bolder than ourselves or the people we know. These days people are not banging on the doors of churches begging to be included, looking for some kind of Fix- it- up Chappie to help them fit in. For those who did not grow up in a church, or those who have been hurt or excluded by a church, that s either too risky or just inconceivable. Who needs it, anyway? Why would it be for me? So if people are not generally as bold as this Canaanite woman or as visibly mopey as the Plain- Belly Sneetches, then how do they come to know the good stuff is for them, too? That is the church s job. It is our job. So we need always to be asking: whom is the good stuff for? Is there anything we re doing that others interpret as stars on our bellies, something that excludes others, even unintentionally? It is a real gift to know how to ask these questions, and sometimes God sends a person with that gift to a community like ours. Today we are giving God thanks for such a person who has served on the staff of this congregation for three years. In his full- time capacity of Children, Youth, and Family Ministries Coordinator, Shaun O Reilly has shared wonderful gifts with the children, teenagers, and families of this congregation. Now he s leaving his full- time position for a teaching assistantship at the university. Many of his gifts have overflowed to the whole congregation: creativity, compassion, humor, faithfulness, hospitality, and so many others. But I want to call to your attention to a gift you might not have noticed in the midst of so many others. Shaun has helped us ask, over and over in many different ways, Whom is the good stuff for? I m not sure he always did it intentionally; sometimes it was just the creative mixture of where he came from with where we were coming from. Here s one of the first questions he helped us ask, even before he was officially on staff, Is the good stuff only for Lutherans? Here he was, a young man raised in a Bible church in Texas, with this wonderful sense of God s grace and the gifts that Christian community can offer. I know I ve appreciated the way he gave me a much broader sense of the contemporary Christian landscape, everything from books and blogs to read, conferences to attend, and have you heard what commentators are saying online about this issue? (Usually my answer was, not yet!)
So no, the good stuff is emphatically NOT only for Lutherans. Shaun also helped us ask, Is the good stuff only for adults? Good stuff like a growing relationship with God through Jesus With kids and teens, Shaun has challenged them at all ages to become followers of Jesus, through service, spiritual disciplines, worship, and everything. The life of discipleship doesn t begin when you re old enough. It offers challenges and opportunities at every age. (We saw that this past week with the middle and high- schoolers serving all around the city as part of the CityServe project that Shaun organized.) With that in mind and with his leadership we ve reworked the ways we do confirmation, family events, Bible presentations, communion retreats, and high school ministry. At the same time, Shaun has helped us ask, Is the good stuff only for kids? No! It s for adults of all ages too, and not just parents or older people. Shaun helped us see what committed Christian leadership looks like as a young adult, and he worked hard to draw older adults in too. Through story- telling and other creative means, he introduced us to new ways of considering faith. If you ever saw him do The Whole Bible in 45 Minutes or Less, you know what I mean. If you didn t, ask me how you can see a copy of the video. When we talked about Christian education, Shaun helped us ask, Is the good stuff only for our brains? Are we supposed to learn faith like we often learn in school, just using our minds? Do we just learn about God here? No, the good stuff is for hearts, too. In helping us define our core values for Faith Formation, Shaun renamed what kids do at 10:00 on Sundays, Kids Community. Because that s what it is: kids experience of God in community. Believe me, I know it s a lot more convenient to call it Sunday School because you ve always done it that way. But that name just doesn t describe very well what happens there. It s not what we believe kids need from a faith community. Sunday School sounds like a place where you learn about God, but Kids Community is a place you get to know God. So we think the struggle to change the habit of the name is worth it. Shaun has also helped us ask, Is the good stuff only for people who communicate in traditional ways, like listening to sermons and reading stuff in print? What about people for whom those traditional ways aren t working? Isn t the good stuff for them too? What about younger generations and others who need to see something to take it in? What about those who are looking for ways to connect with community online? In the past few years we ve made real progress in those areas, with various visuals in worship and a new website that Shaun guided us through. Here s one last one. Is the good stuff only for people who already know why we do things this way? You know, the ones who know how to do church, and either understand why we do what we do, or have been doing it so long they don t question it anymore? And while we re at it, is the good stuff only for people who dress up for church? (Perhaps you ve noticed that Shaun doesn t. Someone asked me, But who s going to fill Shaun s shoes, I mean, his flipflops?) No, the good stuff is also for anyone who s brand new, anyone who doesn t know or follow the conventions, anyone who s open to liturgy and tradition but needs some invitation and explanation. Shaun helped us start the Breathe worship service a few years ago and the Good News Team last spring. I hope that team continues to help us ask, is the good stuff only for people who are already here?
Today as Shaun s full- time position on staff comes to an end, we say thank you to Shaun for all the gifts he has shared. And we also say thanks to God. God s good stuff is for all, but throughout history the body of Christ has needed to be reminded of that. So God keeps sending people who help the church ask, Isn t the good stuff for some other folks, too? We give thanks that God sent Shaun to us. So now what are we going to do? You notice that we are saying thank you today, not farewell. So we re going to do this now rather than the conclusion of the service, which is where we usually say goodbye to people and send them off. We re not sending Shaun off today; it s more like a re- commissioning. To illustrate that, we re going to ask Shaun to come up. Shaun has worn many different hats as part of his ministry, so we re going to pile them all on here. (It might remind you of another Dr. Seuss story about 500 hats, but don t worry, we only have six.) The first hat is the coordination of children and family ministries. Communicating, event planning, keeping track of people that hat now goes to Kristin Lessard, who is beginning part- time as Children & Family Ministries Administrator. She won t cover all that Shaun did with families of kids 6 th grade and younger, but we re grateful and excited that she is stepping up and hope you ll encourage her in her new ministry. We ll install her officially in a few weeks. Next hat: High school ministry coordination. I ll be wearing that hat this year. The Interns in Faith Formation that Shaun helped mentor last year? Well, no interns this year, so this hat is on standby. Confirmation on Wednesday nights: Shaun is keeping that one, and we are really excited about that. Same with coordinating the faith formation across generations conference in October: Shaun s keeping that one too. That is how passionate he is about this conference. One more related to that: Shaun has worn the hat of intentionally seeking ways for the good stuff to get to all people of all ages. This is a hat that s really too big and too important for one person to wear. So this one goes to all of us. Thank you, Shaun, for all that you have given through your ministry, and thanks to God for the gifts God has given to you, and to us through you. Amen. (Sing verses 4 and 5 of All Are Welcome. ) This copy is intended for personal use only. If you d like to make copies for any reason, please contact Pastor Rebecca at PrRebecca@goodshepherdreno.org.