Skip the Whitewashing - Let's Paint With Color

Mark 7:24-37

How often we strive to soften the edges of what we find uncomfortable.

I wonder: Have you ever found yourself trying to fix a story that casts someone you care about in a somewhat unflattering light? You describe the person in favorable terms, you paint them in glowing colors, you emphasize or even exaggerate their positive attributes, while minimizing their faults or ignoring them altogether.

Have you ever rearranged the details of a story to make the main actor – whether it is you or someone you know – a bit more sympathetic, a bit more palatable?

In Martin Luther’s explanation to the 8th commandment, the one about bearing false witness, Luther goes on to explain the spirit of the commandment this way: “we are to come to (our neighbor’s) defense, speak well of our neighbor, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.”

The Woman of Canaan by Michael Angelo Immenraet,
 17th century

Well, if Martin Luther said it, then we must be on the right track when we whitewash certain – let us say – aspects of a person’s behavior – especially when that person is Jesus.

That is what we often do when we read gospel texts like the one we read this morning. We interpret Jesus’ shocking words and reaction to the Syrophoenician mother’s request in the best light possible.

By “dogs” surely Jesus was referring to cute little puppies, not to the fact that the woman was a Gentile nor suggesting that she was a morally inferior person.

Or, we make excuses for Jesus. He’s been traveling a lot. Surely, he’s hot and tired. After all Mark makes sure we know that Jesus was wanting to have some quiet time. Some down time, perhaps. He didn’t want anyone to know he was there in that house. So, the woman caught him at a bad time, in a bad place. Surely, cranky Jesus just needs a nap. He is human after all.

Better yet, we translate Jesus’ brush off as a test. It’s intentional. It is a teaching stratagem. Jesus was simply testing the woman and doing so in such a way as to pass along to his disciples something about the importance of faith, maybe even persistence in faith.

Jesus is the great teacher, after all. And that’s what teachers do. They teach; on the clock, and off the clock. As for the woman, it seems she passes the test.

Maybe all of these things do play a role in the emotional state of Jesus and in his response to the woman’s request. But I wonder if we don’t actually miss something important when we sweep this story and cranky Jesus under the rug.

Because frankly, while all of those explanations may serve to help us feel better about the words Jesus uses, no matter how you slice it, this story is still hard to understand and uncomfortable to read. It’s like a hunk of bread stuck in the throat, - a hunk that just doesn’t seem to want to go down.

Why is it that in that house in Tyre that day, Jesus seems so unkind, so dismissive, so discriminatory?

We are living in an age where we are particularly sensitive to the kind of name-calling we see here, - as well we should be. So a red flag goes up. We disparage this kind of derogatory labeling, we condemn it as just not acceptable. And we know about such labeling.

Truth be told we’ve probably engaged in it ourselves, whether in thought, word, or deed.

But lately, derogatory names, images and ideologies have become flash points for angry protest in our politically correct world. Think about all the signs of protest that have surrounded us lately:  #Blacklivesmatter; #alllivesmatter; #equalopportunityforall; and this one that I saw yesterday, “treating refugees as the problem is the problem.”

So, trying to make sense of Jesus referring to a desperate mother who comes to him pleading for relief from suffering for her young daughter as a dog is confusing and disconcerting.

Is it possible that Jesus himself really just had a lesson to learn, and that this woman helped him learn it?

My friends, context matters.

The gospel of Mark has been illustrating the tension building as background is laid for Jesus’ ministry, revealing, bit by bit, “God’s kingdom has been inaugurated, but is not yet fully realized…” Perhaps even Jesus himself does not yet fully understand the extent and radical nature of the kingdom he proclaims, which is nothing less than God’s far-reaching plan for history.

Jesus lives in a land that is deeply divided, where fellowship between Jews and Gentiles historically has been forbidden; where historically, the Jews of Gallilee have been oppressed and subjugated by foreign powers, even powers from the region of Tyre. Wheat from the Galilean fields, produced from the hard labor of Galilean farmers makes the bread that fills the baskets that sit on the tables of prosperous Tyreans, while many Jewish peasants go hungry.

As he tries to rest in the house in Tyre, a house which sits in Gentile territory, perhaps Jesus himself is still learning something that the woman pleads for and hopes for – that the mercies of God extend even now beyond the boundaries of ethnic Israel.

As we have collected the stories early in the gospel of Mark, they illustrate the growth of Jesus’ ministry – his authority in teaching and preaching being questioned and affirmed; all those miracles Jesus has performed – healing, casting out unclean spirits and demons; his feeding thousands of people with just a couple of    fish and a handful of loaves of bread; his walking on water - and we have grown in our understanding of Jesus as the Son of Man who has come into this world to transform lives and hearts.

Now it seems that Jesus’ mission must break down the boundaries observed throughout the centuries between God’s Chosen people of Israel, and the Gentiles.

In an episode just before this story, Jesus articulates a reorientation of the religious law and traditions, as he and his disciples argued with the Pharisees over the ceremonial practices and the social mores surrounding the consumption of food – mores that in fact create separation.

Jesus said that it is not what is on the outside of a person that defiles them but what is on the inside. What is in the heart of a person is then what really counts and is made evidence by their actions, the words they say – the things they do.

We don’t know what the woman thought about her own worthiness of God’s attention or Jesus’ time. But she demonstrated through her actions, absolute conviction that her beloved daughter was deserving of Jesus’ healing.

Whatever Jesus may have meant by his initial response to her in today’s gospel text, we know that one way to disarm criticism is to agree with the critic.

So the woman doesn’t express outrage at Jesus’ statement, nor does she argue with him. "I am a dog,” she agrees, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table."  In other words, perhaps, "I know I don't deserve a thing from you. I am no better than a dog in your world, but even dogs receive better treatment than you're giving me. Can't you spare a few crumbs of grace? I'm not asking for myself, but for my daughter."

This woman may not fully understand the nature of Jesus’ mission either, but for herself – for her daughter - her hope and her trust in Jesus is all she has and all that matters. And with a word, Jesus performs the healing she requests.

The change this encounter provoked within Jesus calls us to reflect on the power our own encounters with people who are ‘other’ can have on our own understanding of the Kingdom of God and who it includes. This woman teaches us about the power—and influence— encounters with strangers, ‘foreigners’, and newcomers can have. They can influence our own understanding of the limitlessness of God’s grace.

Folks we don’t yet know, people from different walks of life and backgrounds, and peoples of all nations have the ability to stretch our perspective, and teach us about ourselves, themselves, the world, and God. Jesus himself shows us the way to allowing our hearts and our actions be softened and swayed by the hope and the need of strangers.

We remember that each and every person on this earth, even those we don’t yet know, are created in God’s image, and therefore bear God’s image in the world.

While Jesus may have a change of heart in an instant, our hearts—at least my heart—tends to need a bit more work.

But, it is my hope, my trust, my experience, and God’s promise, that our encounters with the Gospel, and with Gospel-bearers who come to us as “the other”, do change us, little by little, more and more into Christ’s likeness.

Just as Jesus was changed by His encounter with the Syrophoenician woman, by the grace of God, these encounters with “the other” teach us about the radical nature of God’s love and grace.         

The Gospel is more than just a whitewashed image of Jesus as God’s promise to makes us feel better: The Gospel is an encounter that changes. It is the living Word of God through which God blesses us.

Through it and through the strangers and neighbors who challenge us by their otherness, may God grant us eyes, hearts, and minds open to transformation, that, more and more, we may understand and live the radical nature of God’s Kingdom, as we share God’s Good News of love and grace with all the world. 

Crazy Busy, Harried and Flustered?

Mark 3:20-35

The past few weeks, for me, have been “crazy busy,” and I know the same is true for many of you. Some of you have traveled for weddings and graduations and many other family occasions; some have traveled to get your vacations in before your favored destinations become really crowded. For some of you, school sports have been winding down and all those end-of-the-season tournaments, and there have been school spring awards programs, and concerts taking place.

Some of us have been busy with other things – like doctors’ appointments and moving or caring for loved ones. Some of us have been putting in gardens or putting boats in the water – or both.

 For me, the month of May began doing all those things you do when you know you’ll be away for a while. Then there was travel, and upon my return prepping for our wonderful Pentecost and Confirmation celebrations.

My travels took me first out to Denver for a preaching conference, then to Connecticut to see our daughter graduate from Yale Divinity School, and help her move. A week later I was packing up again, to go to the Delaware Maryland Synod Assembly. Whew!

It is no wonder, I suppose, that I have felt like the month of May was gone practically before I knew it had even arrived. I have felt, at times, harried and flustered, in the whirlwind that was the month of May.

Jesus, too, has been “crazy busy,” involved in a whirlwind of his own, as he has traveled all around Galilee. His travels make mine – and yours – seem like a trip to the corner store. We return to the gospel of Mark this week after several weeks spent in the gospel of John. As we read the gospel this morning, there are some who might even question whether Jesus himself is harried and flustered.

While this morning’s text comes from just the third chapter in Mark’s gospel – early in Jesus’ ministry – there has been a lot of action so far in this gospel.

Right out of the box, after the introduction of Jesus as the Son of God about whom this “good news” is written, the whirlwind through Galilee begins: Jesus baptized in the Jordan River; the Spirit alighting on him; the wilderness adventure complete with the temptations of Satan; and then, Jesus’ first words, announcing the presence of God’s kingdom, and issuing the command for all to repent and believe. Then there is Jesus walking by the sea, summoning common fisher folk to follow him; his immediate circle widening to include the 12 apostles; his teaching in the synagogue with astounding authority; and everywhere he goes, healing and casting out demons along the way; pronouncing forgiveness of sin and even sharing meals with those who might be deemed unfit to spend time with.

It seems that on this whirlwind tour, Jesus is an instant success – he’s reached stardom in these first few chapters of the gospel. The crowds following Jesus have grown to such a point that as we enter the text this morning, everywhere he goes instantly becomes really, uncomfortably crowded – so much so, that Jesus and the apostles are having a hard time moving around or even finding a place where they can eat in peace.

There are some who don’t really know what to make of Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees have been watching him, and they are not quite buying into this Jesus, with his new ideas challenging the way things have “always been done.” They have become angry and fearful – especially as they see so many people coming to follow him. I mean, people are coming from all over Galilee - even from regions beyond the Jordan, like Tyre and Sidon to hear Jesus. To be near him. To be healed by him. To be part of the story, perhaps.

As we all know, as we have all witnessed through the events in our own world the past few months, angry people and fearful people often become dangerous people.

So disturbed by Jesus and his rock-star popularity are the Pharisees and the Herodians that they have already begun to try to find a way to destroy him.

And Jesus’s family? They aren’t quite sure what to make of Jesus either. There is no indication at this point in the story that they have any real understanding of who Jesus really is and why he has come. They only know he is their beloved son, brother, and friend. So, having heard what Jesus has been doing and how he has been challenging the status quo, the powers that be, they are worried that he has lost his mind. He is more than just “crazy busy,” or harried and flustered, they think.  Perhaps he is just plum crazy. Or perhaps, they thought Jesus was getting carried away with himself, as The Message tells the story, and they decide they need to rescue him, by force, if necessary.

Now, just a point of common sense if you will, if you live in an occupied territory, and if you are a member of ancient cultural and religious systems with very strict customs and rules, and if you value your relative freedom and your life, you generally try to fly under the radar. Know what I mean? You don’t do things to call attention to yourself. You don’t go about openly questioning, agitating, and advocating for things that lie contrary to the prevailing systems of authority and power. And you don’t go about claiming access to divine authority or power.

When the religious authorities arrive, they don’t actually question Jesus’ power – they know he is truly performing deeds of extraordinary power and healing. But in their anger and their fear, they begin spreading rumors that the source of power Jesus is exercising is itself evil. They are saying that Jesus’ power is actually a form of black magic and devil tricks. They say that Jesus’ power comes from a demon and not just any demon, but chief among demons, Beelzebul himself – we might call him Satan.

They have witnessed the power of God at work in Jesus, they have heard John the Baptist’s proclamation and Jesus’ own assertion that the kingdom of God has come, and they have made the judgment that Jesus’ power is not divine but satanic. Even though they have been witnesses of God’s grace, they reject Jesus and call the power of God shown in his acts of love and healing, evil. They accuse him of being the devil and that is unforgivable.

Jesus immediately confronts their slander with a story, and a warning (again, from The Message):  “Does it make sense to send a devil to catch a devil, to use Satan to get rid of Satan”, he asks? “A constantly squabbling family disintegrates. If Satan were fighting Satan, there soon wouldn’t be any Satan left. Do you think it’s possible in broad daylight to enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man, and walk off with his possessions unless you tie him up first? Tie him up, though, and you can clean him out.”

“Listen to this carefully. I’m warning you. There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you persist in your slanders against God’s Holy Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives, sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.”.

Jesus isn’t denying that evil exists or that Satan is at work in the world. There were plenty of instances of such evil – just as there are today. There was human slavery, poverty, hunger, political and religious oppression, just as there is today. There were abuses of all kinds, greed, murder, and rape. There was brutality of one person against another. There was failure to love, comfort, and care for those in need. There was systematic discrimination and abuse of power. Just like today.

These are the powers that work against God. These are the powers that Jesus confronts, fights and condemns.

The good news of the gospel, as stated by Mark in his introduction, is that Jesus is the Son of God and that in him, rests God’s power and authority to defeat the evil one, to tie him up and to take from him what he would like to claim for himself.

In Jesus, there is food for the hungry and water for the thirsty; in Jesus there is healing for those victimized by injustice, hatred, poverty, war, violence and sin. In Jesus, there is acceptance and love for those previously rejected. In Jesus, the only place for condemnation is toward those who would claim his power, his word, and his salvation to be works of the evil one. In Jesus, a new day has arrived.

Not everyone in the world will agree, in fact there are quite a few who would find fault with this reading of the gospel. There are those who claim that the plight of the poor is their own fault and their own problem; there are those who are quick to blame victims of injustice or social inequality or abuse. There are those who say that we – (those who look like us, are of “our own kind”) have enough problems of our own and should not worry ourselves with feeding, clothing, protecting and defending, loving or caring for those outside of “our own kind.”

But Jesus says that whoever does the will of God is his kindred. Jesus says that the will of God is to love; to bring healing even when it is not “convenient” – even when it is risky. Jesus says the will of God is that we should follow the Ways of Jesus, forgiving, proclaiming the goodness of God and the power of God found in the cross. With his words Jesus teaches us. With his actions Jesus shows us. With his very body Jesus feeds us. With his blood Jesus slacks our thirst.

In all of his crazy busyness, harried and flustered as he may at times have been – just as we are, Jesus showed us that there is no middle way. Even when serving the needs of the poor around us makes us takes us out of our comfort zone, or stretches our resources, or challenges us in ways be cannot even begin to imagine, Jesus tells us to have no fear. Jesus says the only unforgiveable sin is to speak against what the Holy Spirit is doing in our midst as if it comes from the devil, to mistake what God is up to by calling it the work of the devil. The power of God, for the healing of the nations welcomes into the family of Christ all who believe, who follow the will of God, who know and embrace Jesus in the fullness of his gospel of repentance, love, healing and grace.

To follow Jesus means to look outside of our own comfort as individuals and as a congregation. It means looking around us and seeking ways to serve our neighbors. To invite them in, and to embrace and welcome them when they come. To follow Jesus means to look and act, perhaps, just a little bit crazy, because we follow in the Way of the one who gave his all for the world.