11th Sunday after Pentecost/Proper 15A (Gen. 45:1-15; Ps. 133; Rm 11:1-2a, 29-32; Mt. 15:10-28)6/27/2018 One of many pearls of wisdom in my chaplaincy training is this: Do not try to defend God. God does not need my defense. God can defend Himself. We as believers can very often feel like defending God or speaking for God when we hear criticisms about God.
In today’s gospel reading, some of us might feel this urge to defend Jesus because of his mean words to a Canaanite woman. Others might feel Jesus needs to be criticized for being ignorant or indifferent to this poor woman. She comes to Jesus for her daughter who is tormented by a demon. It looks like Jesus should’ve been kinder and more compassionate to this woman. Even if he didn’t want to associate with this gentile woman, he didn’t have to refer to her as a dog. That is just mean and insulting. In the original Greek, the term for a dog is more like a puppy or a doggie. Well, this doesn’t change anything about his mean words or attitude towards her. Again, I’m not interested in sugarcoating Jesus’ mean words to this Canaanite woman. Perhaps I might have more of an urge to fix up Jesus to have a better attitude. Or I might dare to remind him his own teaching about how we ought to treat each other. While we can imagine how Jesus should’ve behaved or what kind of words he should’ve said to the woman, there’s something inconsistent about his behavior and attitude towards the gentiles. This inconsistency might make us more curious about Jesus. In chapter 8 of St. Matthew’s gospel, we see a Roman centurion who comes to Jesus to heal his servant. Jesus shows no discrimination against the centurion. Instead, he is willing to go to the centurion’s house. Quite ironically, it is the centurion who tells Jesus not to come, saying, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.” (Mt. 8:8) His humility not only saves his servant but also earns Jesus’ praise. Jesus being amazed by the centurion says to his followers, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.” He doesn’t stop there and says, “I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (vv. 10-12) Jesus compares the centurion’s faith and humility with that of the Israelites, especially those local religious authorities such as the Pharisees and scribes. No one in Israel has such faith like this Roman, gentile centurion. He would eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but not those local religious leaders. This is indeed provoking. Today’s gospel lesson situates Jesus in a similar context. The Pharisees and scribes criticize Jesus and his disciples for breaking purity and dietary laws. And Jesus directly tells the crowd that it is the heart that should be pure, not the unclean hands which do not defile. After this conflict with the local religious figures, Jesus encounters the Canaanite woman. We can see that both his encounters with the centurion and with the Canaanite woman are not just about how great their faith is, but are used as an example to show the local Jewish religious authorities’ hatred and unfaith. There’s this concept called “mirroring” in psychology. It is the behavior in which people mimic and imitate others’ gesture, way of talking, or attitude. It can be done subconsciously or consciously and very intentionally. There are some articles how this mirroring can be helpful in a job interview or other social situations. When it is to be done successfully, the person you’re imitating must not know your mirroring. Otherwise, it can backfire and be perceived as annoying and rude. Jesus, it seems to me, is doing something called “mirroring.” He’s mirroring the local religious leaders’ behavior and attitude towards the gentiles who they consider as God’s un-chosen ones or dogs. It seems, Jesus reflects how they see the gentiles. These gentiles are not to be nearby because they’re unclean and unholy. The Messiah is sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel! It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs! God does not care about them. God does not exist in their lives. This is the message in the background. In the responses of both the centurion and the Canaanite woman, however, we hear something radically different. Jesus discovers and shows God is already at work in the lives of the gentiles. In the lives of those who are considered as unclean and unholy, faith in Jesus as Christ is found, not in the lives of the children of the house of Israel, God’s chosen ones. Faith is planted and grown already in the most unexpected places. Thus Jesus proclaims, “Woman, great is your faith!” In our first lesson from the Book of Genesis, we can also see that God is already at work in places and situations that no one would think God would even exist. Joseph tells his brothers who sold him to Egyptians out of envy and hatred that it is God who sent him to preserve their life. In other words, God was with him even when his brothers threw him in the dry well. God was with him when he was sold and sent to the prison. God is already at work in the most unexpected places we can ever imagine. This means that God is not just found in this church context, but is to be discovered everywhere. We don’t bring God with us everywhere we go. God is already there, working and loving God’s people. We do not own God. We do not possess God. It’s not about having God on our side or “many sides” or “both sides,” but placing ourselves on God’s side. We have witnessed quite a lot of evil things that are done in the name of God, in the name of Christianity. Reflecting the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, it is especially disturbing and troubling to hear that many white supremacists claim themselves to be Christians. We may want to distance our faith from theirs, yet their identification with Christianity makes this terrorism a “Christian problem.” When we ignore this and stay out of this, there’s no such humility and faith like the Canaanite woman’s within us. Only the warning of Jesus echoes, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” If we believe that God is already at work everywhere, our action is to join God in our neighborhood, in the world, and in Charlottesville where God’s reconciliation is most needed. Jesus makes us look outside the church and discover God who is already at work, inviting us to experience God’s presence and join God’s mission. One of the most beautiful prayers that the Book of Common Prayer has is the Prayer of Humble Access. If you’re familiar with the Rite I or the 1928 Prayer Book, you would know this prayer by heart. There’s this one phrase that seems to combine the words of both the Centurion and the Canaanite woman: “We are unworthy to gather up the crumbs under thy Table.” Our call as Christians is to utter this phrase with humility and gratitude in our lips, discover God in the crumbs, and join God in the neighborhood. Once we open up ourselves to join God in the world, the crumbs of the Bread, the crumbs of the Body of Christ outside the church in the most unpleasant and unwanted places will come to us. Our duty as Christians is to gather up the crumbs under the Altar of Christ placed in the world where suffering and torture happen. And we also find God’s reconciliation hidden in the crumbs. Today at the Eucharist we eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood to dwell in him and he in us. I pray that we not only gather up the crumbs of Christ’s Body here at the Eucharist, but we ourselves become the crumbs of Christ’s Body for the world so that people taste the love and compassion of Jesus in our lives. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. |
Paul"...life up your love to that cloud [of unknowing]...let God draw your love up to that cloud...through the help of his grace, to forget every other thing." Archives
January 2025
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