Christ Episcopal Church
September 6, 2015
Proper 18 B
What are we to make of an incredibly rude Jesus this morning? We know that Jesus got angry and chased the money changers from the temple. We know that Jesus was sad when he wept at Lazarus' grave. But rude? Really? In the reading from Proverbs, we hear "Do not rob the poor because they are poor. Do not crush the afflicted at the gate." In the reading from James, we hear the words "Has God not chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom he has promised to those who love them?" Jesus seems quite unaware of these teachings this morning when he is so rude to the Syrophonecian woman who wants nothing other than healing for her little daughter. Jesus actually says "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." Jesus is not taking about household pets here. Jesus is talking about mangy, scraggly dogs that roam the streets in search of food. Jesus is placing the woman beyond the margins of human society which hardly sounds like Jesus at all.
At the end of the story, in which Jesus does actually heal the Syrophonecian woman's daughter and the deaf man with a speech impediment, I am left with two basic questions. For the first question, the matter of Jesus' rudeness, there appears to be no satisfactory answer. The commentaries suggest things like Jesus was testing the woman, or that Jesus suddenly realized in the midst of the encounter that he was sent to both the Jews and the Gentiles. I find neither of those explanations to be adequate or helpful, and quite frankly, I think we just have to let that question go. Jesus was rude, as we all are on occasion, but in the end, he did heal the young girl.
The second question is the more pressing and pertinent question. What are we to take from this story in which Jesus does heal both the daughter and the deaf man with a speech impediment? Because in the end, despite his rudeness, Jesus' actions do demonstrate what the reading from James calls "the royal law according to Scripture" which is to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Through out the gospels, along with the prophet Isaiah, the sign that the reign of God has come near is that the deaf hear, the lame walk, the sick are healed and the oppressed go free. Those who previously had to eat whatever crumbs were thrown under the table for them are now given seats at the table. Jesus began his ministry by saying "The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the Good News." Jesus' actions this morning are the very actions that tell us that the Kingdom of God is near. Jesus made the Kingdom come near by healing the sick, making the deaf hear, feeding the hungry, and giving the marginalized a place at the table.
The real question we are left with this morning is not "Why was Jesus so rude?" The real question is "What can we do to further Jesus' work to make the Kingdom of God come near?" The news this week has been filled with haunting photos and stories of people fleeing from Syria, refugees who are not just seeking a better life. They are seeking to live, period. We can easily think there is nothing we can do to help in an almost unimaginable situation occurring far away from here involving literally millions of people. But the world is small, and there are things we can do. First, we can allow ourselves to be moved by the stories and images coming out of Syria, and Hungary, Austria, Germany and other places as people try to get to safety. We can support the work being done by Doctors without Borders, or UNICEF, or the Mennonite Central Committee. And there are ways to sponsor refugees either here or in Europe.
Closer to home, this week, our Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies sent out a letter commending today as a day for Confession, Repentance, and a Commitment to end Racism. While the information came out too late for us to incorporate the suggested prayers into our service today, we are all called to work for justice and peace among all people, both in the way that we treat people in our every day lives, day in and day out, and in the ways that, together, we work to end systemic racism in our community and our country. The Kingdom of God is no where close when people are victimized for the color of their skin, or their ethnicity. Our call as Christians is to make the Kingdom of God draw near.
On this Labor Day Sunday, we ask God's blessing upon all of our labor, on all that we do with our lives. In a few minutes, we will pray a litany for our labor and you will be invited forward for the anointing of your hands. All of our labor, whatever we do and where ever we do it, can be work that makes the Kingdom of God come near, whether here at home, in our country as we work to end racism and other forms of injustice and oppression, or around the world as we open our hearts to make the Kingdom come near for those who flee violence and oppression. Jesus' work was to make the Kingdom of God come near. Jesus calls us to do the likewise.
Amen.
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