Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre
and Sidon.
Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and
started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is
tormented by a demon.” But Jesus, did not answer her at all. And his disciples
came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after
us.”
Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel.”
But the woman came and knelt before Jesus, saying, “Lord, help me.” Jesus
answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the
dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from
their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let
it be done for you as you wish.”
And her daughter was healed instantly.
****
If you believe Jesus is perfect, and knows every answer
before any questioned is asked, knows the future before it is right in front of
him, and has all power, and is completely divine, then this is a troubling
passage. As it has proved to be, for bible studies and theologians, and
Christians throughout the ages. Because Jesus, in this passage seems so human,
and perhaps not even a human on it’s best behavior. He succumbs to his culture,
racism, gender bias, and in the least, perhaps to his exhaustion, and lashes
out.
Here is a woman, who has ventured outside of her station -
which would be hidden in the home away from men, here is a woman who has
ventured out beyond her own ethnic group of Canaanites, whom were considered
pagans by the Jews of which Jesus was one. Here is a woman, who comes shouting
after the disciples, following them, demanding they pay attention, coming to
Jesus and begging up to him, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter
is tormented by a demon.” And I doubt it is any less than any of us would do,
had we had a child in this state. And Jesus, ignores her. The disciples ask him
to send her away.
Jesus says to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel.”
A.k.a. I was sent to save the Jews, and the Jews only, I was not sent for you.
This would mean, in turn, Jesus was also not sent for the majority of us in
this room whose descendants are not Jewish. this would mean that we too are the
woman whose daughter is tormented by deacons and Jesus is telling us he only
came for another group, his heritage, his race. But the woman doesn’t stop,
thank goodness.
She comes before him and kneels. I imagine her kneeling
right in the place which he was walking, stopping him on his path, asking,
“Lord, help me.”
and Jesus then, insults her, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and
throw it to the dogs.” A.k.a. the children are the Jewish people of Israel, and
everyone else, including this Canaanite woman, is a dog. He is calling a woman
a dog, which still translates into our culture, and wouldn’t this woman be
still seen as such. Her persistence, her stepping outside her place, and his
ability to dismiss her and kick her aside. Yet, even female dogs have fight in
them when it is for their children. She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat
the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” She has been kicked but she
knows the mouth that will feed her and her pup, and she reminds him this. It is
the kind of comeback we all wish we had. It is sharp, and it is true, and it
takes Jesus’ words and turns them on his head. It is that moment where the
other person stands for that extra second in disbelief. It's where there is no
worthy retort. And what does it mean that Jesus himself can be bested by this
woman? What does that suggest about his divinity and our humanity, especially
if in the next penance Jesus changes his mind?
Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it
be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly. It seems
as though Jesus’ initial assessment, and reaction was wrong, and in fact
hideous, the worst of humanity, sexist, racist, without compassion, insulting.
And this woman, was able to show him what was right, breaking boundaries of
gender and race, having valor for her daughter while still worshiping Jesus as
master and healer. It seems strange to me she was able to have faith in his
divine being that seemed less than man. But I think she knew something he
didn’t.
That there is divinity in the ability to change ones mind.
Here she was, a Canaanite, worshiping Jesus a Jewish prophet and healer. There
had to be a point at which she too changed her mind. That she turned away from
the rituals and beliefs of her own people to seek out that of his. If she could
do this, so could he. Is she could do this, so could he, and so can we.
So often, we equate honesty, resolve, respect, and
trustworthiness on people’s ability to be consistent, to follow through, to do
what they say, to hold fast to beliefs, and to stand by their personal values,
or campaign promises, or founding principles. But isn’t wisdom acquired from
experience, and part of what happens in experience is opening up one’s mind to
a new way of thinking, or being. What if Jesus’ perfection lies not in his
unwavering omniscient divinity, but instead his human ability to change his
mind, be bested, and be righted. What if for us too, our openness to change is
what allows us to grow closer to God’s perfection?
I think we as Presbyterians and those of us in the reformed
faith are pretty good at this. We believe that the church has been reformed
since Martin Luther and his 95 thesis against the Catholic Church and we
believe we will keep reforming for all time. This is a start, but it also must
sneak down into the essence of our personal lives. How often do we identify
people by what sport they played in high-school, and whom were their friends,
by where they are from, by their occupation or social status, or marital
status, or race, or gender, or sexual orientation. We think we know them, but
what if to be like Jesus is to be open to having those people change our minds.
This town’s Miner’s Jubilee is coming up, which if you aren’t from here, feels
like the whole town is someone else’s high-school reunion, which it is. But
what if instead of just catching up with old friends, you found the person with
whom you weren’t close and learned their story, what if you found the person
who wasn’t even from here? I am sure there are friends along who would love it
if you came up and asked about them while everyone else is telling old stories.
And for those who are traveling in these summer days, what
if when we went to a new place, we didn’t just talk about where we’re from, but
instead asked so many questions about the place which we are visiting. When I
was a little girl in fifth grade and my sister was in third grade we went to Mexico with my
family. And everywhere we went at first we said, “That’s weird.” “That’s
weird.” and my parents said, “They can’t be saying this.” So we two girls were
trained to say, “This is something to which we have yet to become accustomed.”
So here we were in third and fifth grade saying, with correct grammar, “This is
something to which we have yet to become accustomed.” “This is something to
which we have yet to become accustomed.” But there was something which my
parents did in that moment, which was teaching us that other isn’t weird, that
different isn’t wrong, and that perfection just might be the ability to become
accustomed to something you are not. And in this case, in our scripture, it was
Jesus and the Canaanite woman.
It’s a place to start, and I think we reformed
Presbyterians, already have practice at this, but it’s a place to start, but
lets go a step further, and maybe we can be like the woman, who spreads healing
to a whole new group, and allows us to find ourselves here, in this sanctuary,
saying, “Jesus, you are a master, healer and Lord. Amen.
