I always find that the summers where the sermon series is on scripture from the Old Testament, that I begin to look forward to returning to the New Testament and the ethics and teachings of Jesus in mid-August. And even though I dearly loved and learned so much in our series on the Minor Prophets and women of our Hebrew scriptures as we celebrated those superheroes from long ago, this year was no exception. And, as it is post Labor Day, and we begin a new program year today we return to our Lectionary and will focus through Thanksgiving Sunday on 5 of the chapters (7-12) from the Book of Mark.
Mark is the shortest of our Gospels. Where the author might be brief in words, it creates an immediacy in the message. Not concerned with the lovely Christmas story or childhood experiences, Mark begins with Jesus’ baptism and ministry. It is known that historians are not without agendas and prejudices so it is naive to think that the writers trying to interpret the Jesus event in our Gospels did not have an angle they were presenting. Each Gospel was written for a purpose … to get a specific message across and the purpose of the Gospel of Mark is to bear witness to Jesus as proclaimer and embodiment of the Realm or Kingdom of God. The writer challenges us to faithful discipleship as a way to prepare for God’s realm on earth.
Mark isn’t too concerned with putting Jesus into a historical setting. There is no mention of his lineage and ancestors. What this Gospel writer is concerned with is miracles and faith healing. More than any other Gospel, Mark, this writer of few words, emphasizes the miracles, healing, and exorcisms (which in themselves are a form of healing). We modern readers might ask if those healing and miracles really happened and was there really a supernatural intervention, but that was not a concern for the readers of Mark’s day so the author does not address our concerns. Modern theologians suggest that the appropriate question when dealing with the miracle stories is not so much if they happened but what did the happening really mean. We will see in the weeks ahead that our faith has a lot to deal with healing and within the healing stories we learn that compassion towards others has a great deal to do with healing as well.
This morning’s Gospel lesson probably wouldn’t be the miracle story I would want to start out with on Rally Day Sunday! After reading it to begin preparing for this Sunday a few weeks ago, I actually looked back to see if I chose to preach on this text last time it came around in the preaching cycle and saw that I used another text assigned to the week before. There are a few really awkward parts within it, but, I have found that sometimes the message itself can be found in the parts that we wish were not in the text.
Listen to the Gospel message found in Mark 7:24-37 where Jesus heals the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter. (Read Mark 7:24-37)
From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 28But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” 30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
This is a story of when Jesus traveled outside of the Jewish territories to a region called Tyre. This is outside where he traveled and preaches and was gentile territory. He must have needed a little R&R as he was not there to preach and it says he was hoping to escape actually being noticed at all. But, already a bit of a rock star, that was hard to do. People heard of him and he could not escape recognition. So, while he was having his much hoped for private time, a woman, who is said to be of Syrophoenician origin, barged in on him. One commentary I read suggested that for her to do that was about as irregular and implausible as a homeless man somehow making it into a State Dinner at the White House and commanding the president’s attention. I love that comparison to this uppity woman.
This Gentile woman approaches Jesus, not for herself, but for her daughter who is ill. She runs in and bows down at his feet and begs Jesus to heal her. And Jesus responds in a rude and un-Jesus like way. AS we read it, we really want to try and forgive Jesus for his response. We want to make excuses for him and say that he was rude because it was improper for a rabbi to talk or be touched by a gentile woman. We want to say surely it was his exhaustion that make him respond in such an unloving and insulting way to her, but…. if that were the case, why didn’t the Gospel writer just leave out the story? Painting Jesus as a mean person, does not match with the goals and purpose of the Gospel writer. So, we have to assume the writer left it in for a purpose.
And, there is no way of getting around it…. Jesus’ response is insulting. He calls her a dog and says that her kind is not God’s kind. Her daughter will not get his care as she is not one of God’s chosen. I read one paper on this that said Jesus’ harsh words were not to be taken as an insult. His purpose for saying them was to teach that charity begins at home… begins with yourself, your family, and your people. But it’s hard to take his response that mildly. Jesus actually compares the woman to a dog. That is just not Jesus-like.
But the more I read this miracle story over, the more I realize the reason it is in the Gospel is because of what happens next. IT IS ASTOUNDING!!! You see, that Syrophoenician woman doesn’t take Jesus’ astounding response as the final word. She actually argues with him in a quick witted response. And what is even more ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDING is that Jesus listens to her. She questions his insult, and instead of digging in and sticking by his response, or instead of being defensive and telling her that he is the Son of Man and she can go pound salt…. he really thinks about what she says and changes his response. What an adult way to handle a difference of opinion. That is what is utterly shocking here. In this patriarchal society where women have no rights and a gentile woman was a subclass to a Jew, Jesus wrestles with her statement and changes his mind. Jesus could have held fast to his views that God’s care was only for one group of people…. But he hears her statement and changes. He says that her response to him is why he healed her daughter.
This story becomes a tale of two healings. First is the woman’s daughter. But that is not the only transformation that has taken place. Jesus has a transformation as well. He experiences a change of heart and a shift in direction as he begins to minister not just to the Jews but to the Gentiles as well. The woman’s response calls Jesus to a ministry of infinite compassion and mercy. Walls that had separated others from the love of God are now taken down. All are able to receive God’s healing and love.
This, of course is good news for us Gentiles that God’s love and mercy extends to all humanity, to all they creation, not just a few. But, in that message we find our call to ministry as well, since we are called to share that love with the world. And we here at Riviera have answered that call to a ministry by working for a world where there are no walls… no exterior barriers between God and any human being. Consequently, we know it becomes the work of God’s people to take down any barriers that divide people and allow one class or group of people to have a feeling of superiority over another.
And we know this isn’t easy. What we fall back on is a way of living out our faith where we state that all are of equal worth and loved by God, but we secretly don’t want it to mean we would have to give up some of our status or preferential treatments. But our goal is to be a ministry where all God’s children can experience a barrier free love. In God’s realm race, class, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, age, physical condition, or sexual orientation do not matter. And in all we do, we strive to show that same love in how we live out our faith. So…. Riviera folk… its Kick Off Sunday where we come together to begin another program year! New activities are planned and we will continue to live out our mission to accept and embrace all God’s children. It is our opportunity to commit again to sharing the love that we have found here, that ethic of love for all that Jesus modeled to us. We are not called to the status quo of our society. We are not called to accept institutional norms that separate people and make one group feel superior to another. Our ethic is astounding! Our message is that all are loved. We are called to a faith that astounds the world.
And, I am very excited to be starting a new program year here at Riviera. I continually thank God for calling me to serve as your pastor. At the picnic, there will be tables with all sorts of opportunities for you to get involved in the ministries of love at our church. Some are short term…. Some offerings to put you on a blog about mission issues such as immigration… some are one shot activities and others are more long term. Check them all out. It is my hope that all members find ways to make their membership at Riviera meaningful through your participation in the life of the church. As in all things in life, you will get out of the church what you put into it. Amen.