Acting out the Love Command, 6/9/15 WB LJB

SERMON: Acting out the Love Command, 6/9/15, Woodbridge, LJB

Mark 7: 24-37, Proverbs 22: 1-9, 22-23, James 2: 1-17

The theme of inclusiveness, of loving everyone into God’s kingdom

comes through in all of today’s readings. We started with the OT wisdom

book of Proverbs. Tradition has it that Solomon wrote Proverbs (he was

called Solomon the Wise) as instruction to young people in the ways of

the world and how to live well in the world. A lot of its sayings are very

practical; this is what that book of wisdom has to say about the rich and

the poor:

 22: 2: The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord is the maker

of all.

9: those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with

the poor.

22: Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at

the gate;

23: for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil

them.

 This was rather enlightened thinking, for at this time, the poor had no

rights, no benefits payments, no social justice either. And being poor was

seen as a kind of divine punishment for sins, committed either by the

poor person or their parents. The writer is saying that rich and poor alike

are all God’s children, and are all loved and defended by God. All are

welcome in God’s kingdom, even the poorest people, so all should be

loved and respected by us as fellow children of God.

James’ letter too is also full of practical advice about how to live the

Christian life well. He picks up the same theme as Proverbs that all

people are beloved members of God’s kingdom and should be treated

with love and respect, even the poor. He says Don’t discriminate against

the poor and the disadvantaged and favour your rich friends. In fact,

James writes: (v5) Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in

faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who

love him?  James is saying that the poor may even have an advantage in

gaining access to the kingdom, over the rich. Perhaps it’s because the

poor are more ready to rely on God whereas the rich feel comfortable in

relying on their own possessions and insurance policies. It is no wonder

that the church is vibrant and growing in the poorest countries of Africa

and Asia. In the affluent west we have come to rely on the transient

things: our own health and strength, money, insurance, rule of law and

political stability. It is risky: we know these can change, some quite

rapidly. Remember Jesus said: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit –the

humble-for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’

  James repeats Jesus’ love command (v8) You do well if you really fulfill

the royal law according to the scripture ‘You should love your neighbour

as yourself’ for all are God’s beloved children.

After James’ writing about love and respect for the poor as for the rich,

for everyone, Jesus’ words in the gospel bring us back to earth with a

jolt. He’s speaking to a desperately worried woman: No! Let the children

be fed first. For it’s not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the

dogs. He seems to be speaking very harshly, to a woman in desperate

need of help. Her child is very ill, perhaps having epileptic seizures. How

do his words marry with the gospel he preaches of love and compassion

to our neighbour, even the poor, the disadvantaged? How does this fit

with the teaching about inclusiveness from the other readings-that all are

to be loved and respected as God’s children??

Let’s explore a bit further

Jesus is traveling and healing the sick. After confrontations with the

scribes and Pharisees in Jerusalem, he made the mainly Jewish town of

Capernaum his base on the west bank of the Sea of Galilee. He journeyed

across to the eastern side of the sea, to the region mainly inhabited by

Gentiles. We hear: Wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms,

they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might

touch even the fringe of his cloak, and all who touched it were

healed.(Mark 6: 56).  Before he left the town of Gennesaret, some Jews

and Pharisees, who had traveled up from Jerusalem, gathered around him

and challenged him.

We heard their criticism in last week’s reading: why are your disciples

not following the Jewish laws for washing of hands, food and vessels?

Jesus called them hypocrites, and told them that it was not unwashed

hands and food that were unclean, rather the evil intentions that came out

of the human heart were unclean. Probably he was looking straight at

them!

Jesus must have been exhausted by all the demands for healing and then

another confrontation with Pharisees, but decided to move on, choosing

to travel north west into the mainly Gentile region of Tyre. This journey

took him and his followers out the region of Galilee, and out of the

Kingdom of Herod, into the Province of Syria. The city of Tyre is on the

coast of modern day Lebanon, not far north of its border with Israel and

west of the border between modern Lebanon and Syria (where there are

many modern day refugees from the fighting in Syria). The people of this

region were descended from the Phoenicians, once a powerful trading

empire on the Mediterranean in the time of King David. That is why the

Gentile woman in our story was called Syro-Phoenician. Jesus seems to

be deliberately moving further away from Jerusalem all the time, and

deliberately, it seems into regions inhabited largely by Gentiles. Perhaps

he was really fed up after that last confrontation with the representatives

from Jerusalem!

Of course it’s likely that many of the people Jesus had already been

healing around the eastern side of Galilee weren’t Jews, but Jesus never

asked, his love and healing were always unconditional; he included

everyone. But today’s reading tells us of Jesus’ deliberate decision (after

some persuasion!) to extend his love and healing beyond the children of

Israel to the Gentiles. Beyond the geographic and ethnic boundaries of

Israel, to Gentiles. In doing this he was saying, yes, you too, Syrians,

Phoenicians, Australians...are God’s beloved children and members of

his kingdom here on earth.

The story is unique too, in that it’s the only occasion we know of, where

Jesus changed his mind. Or had his mind changed. And it took a woman,

a mother desperate to save her child to do it. I love it!

He was tired after his journey, resting in a private house, seeking peace

and solitude. As soon as he sat down, this woman, obviously a local, a

Syro-Phoenician Gentile by appearance and dress, invaded this private

house, shattered his peace and rest and begged him to heal her daughter.

This woman was out alone without male escort. She entered, uninvited, a

private home to confront a Jewish rabbi. She was breaking a lot of

cultural rules –her behavior was out of place, shocking, unexpected!

Up till now, it seems that Jesus has started off his ministry by focusing on

the people of Israel, God’s own people, the inheritors of the traditions of

Abraham and Moses. They needed him, because their leaders were not

teaching them well or caring for them. He spent a lot of time in the

synagogues, teaching. His time was short, he knew the opposition was

growing, he had to stay with his priorities.

So he told her so, quite roughly: Let the children be fed first. For it’s not

fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs. How insulting!

He called her and her people dogs, unworthy of his care and love. In fact

the word he used translates as puppies-little ones. So he used a softer

word perhaps, than dogs. But she would have none of it. She said  Even

the dogs/mutts under the table eat the children’s crumbs.  She accepted

the insult, named it even stronger, dogs, and humbly but persistently

asked again for what she wanted. And she changed his mind. Humility

and love at all costs won the day. He healed her daughter.

It’s a very important turning point in Jesus’ ministry-he’s crossed the

geographic border out of Israel and has now crossed the ethnic and

religious border, offering healing to a Gentile woman who he openly

identified as a pagan and Gentile. Symbolically, he’s extending God’s

kingdom beyond the boundaries of Israel, including other nations in

God’s kingdom, as God’s people.

Perhaps he remembered that God had acted this way in the past history of

his people. His own ancestor Ruth was a Moabite, not a Jewish woman.

Whatever Jesus’ thinking, it marked the extension of his ministry to

include all peoples. We are told Jesus continued his journey in the region

of Syria, going by way of Sidon, even further north along the coast.

There he healed a deaf mute man, another Gentile and outcast of society,

confirming that the kingdom of God is extended to the peoples around

but outside Israel, and people of every place in society.

It’s interesting to ponder this change in his ministry. Maybe it was even

driven in part by his frustration with the Pharisees who made a long

journey from Jerusalem to see what he was doing, only to criticise him

and his disciples for not washing properly, completely ignoring his

miracles of healing. Perhaps he was so fed up with them he wanted to get

away across the border and have a rest. And so the stage was set for his

encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman.

I think this story gives an insight into a very human Jesus, who was

learning his Father’s will while on the job. And who was prepared to

change his mind and minister to anyone who needed it.

There’s our model of ministry: inclusive, flexible, whoever needs help,

wherever, whenever, even when it messes up our plans and what we

thought was our mission. God has ways of redirecting us, interrupting us

with God’s own agenda. That’s what happened to Jesus and it will

happen to us too. Let us be open to God’s interruptions!

God bless you all and your ministry, Amen.