September 9, 2012
Proper 18
"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strong rock, and our Redeemer." Amen.
The Gospel of
Mark is a gospel written with urgency. It’s almost as if the author is
attempting to write down the words as fast as possible, trying to inform
people of the Gospel message before Jesus’ imminent return. It is
concise, yet action-packed.
At this point in
the Gospel, Jesus has performed exorcisms and healed many sick people.
Crowds continue to follow him wherever he goes, their desperation and
persistence portrayed with almost violent imagery: While he is visiting
his hometown, the house where he is teaching is overflowing with people.
In order to get Jesus’ attention, some people dig a hole through the
roof (2:1-12). On several occasions Jesus climbs into a boat so that the
crowd does not “crush” him (3:9; 4:1). His family tries “to restrain
him” because they think “he has gone out of his mind” (3:21). The crowd
“rushe[s]” to bring their sick to him (6:55) and people are constantly
trying to grab at the fringe of his cloak to capture some of his healing
power (6:56).
Jesus can’t get a
break. Every time he tries to go somewhere to pray and rest, the crowd
follows closely behind, even when he travels by boat. Finally, Jesus
decides to take his disciples on a retreat far enough away where people
won’t have heard of him. I imagine that as he closes the door and sits
down after the long journey, he breathes a sigh of relief: finally, some
peace and quiet! But it doesn’t take long for the newfound tranquility
to be shattered. News of his arrival spreads quickly and a desperate
woman, an outsider--a Gentile--comes to the house, begging Jesus to heal her daughter.
This is the last straw.
What follows is
not Jesus’ finest moment. His response to the woman comes off as rude,
even unfeeling. He makes it clear
that the woman is not his priority, even going so far as to call her a
dog. This is not the Jesus we are used to! Have the old prejudices between Jews and Gentiles been so ingrained
into him that he cannot see beyond them? Or is he simply tired and
frustrated that his work is never-ending? I’m not sure, but it appears
we are witnessing a very human moment for Jesus.
The
Syrophoenician woman lets his slur slide right off her shoulders and
counters, “Look, I may not share your customs or be part of God’s chosen
people, but I am still a person, created by God, and should be treated
as such.”
Woah. That takes
some guts. But she has a point, and Jesus recognizes the truth in her
response: there is no limit to God’s love. God is not going to run out
of love; there is enough love to go around. God’s love has no borders;
it spreads beyond the chosen people to include all of the children of
God. In response to the woman’s courageous words, Jesus heals her
daughter.
The fact that a
Gentile woman demonstrates courage and faith is not atypical for Mark’s
Gospel. Throughout the Gospel, there is a stark contrast between
insiders and outsiders. The disciples, the people closest to Jesus,
repeatedly get confused. They don’t understand his parables, and they
don’t fully comprehend who Jesus is. Ironically, it’s the people on the
margins, the outsiders rejected by society, who most often recognize
Jesus as the Son of God. In this case, a Gentile woman’s words lead
Jesus to rethink his mission on earth.
When it is time
for Jesus to return from his retreat, he does not go straight back to
Galilee, but travels out of his way through more Gentile territory. On
his journey he heals a deaf man with a speech impediment. There are some
interesting parallels between the two healing stories. What I find to
be most compelling is that the people being healed are not the ones
asking for help. The people in need of healing are unable to speak for
themselves, and rely on others to champion their cause.
Each time Jesus
heals someone, the result is not merely physical; the person is
reintegrated with their community, making the community whole again.
This is what Communion is all about.
In this highly
charged political climate, it’s easy to get sucked into an us vs. them
mentality, which can potentially fracture our life together. We tend to
draw circles around ourselves to shut out the people we disagree with,
placing them on the margins. Each group sees the other as dogs, as
unworthy of attention. But in the kingdom of God, none of these
distinctions are made; God brings all of us in by drawing a larger
circle around the circles we make. We draw circles of exclusion, but God
draws circles of inclusion.
For those
familiar with Rite I in the Book of Common Prayer, the story of the Syrophoenician woman might call
to mind the Prayer of Humble Access. The prayer’s words reminds us that,
“[w]e are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs underneath thy
Table” (BCP 337). None of us are worthy of God’s love. Yet all of us are
desperately in need of God’s grace. The Good News is that God’s love is
big enough to hold all of us within God’s saving embrace.
If you want to hear an audio clip of my sermon, you can do so here.
This is what I listened to while I was writing.
This is what I listened to while I was writing.
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