Over the last several weeks I have drawn your attention to the readings from Romans.Of late I have been working from a section, Romans 9 through 11, in which Paul wrestles with the question so simply put in our second reading: Has God rejected his people? (11:1a). He answers quickly: By no means! (11:1b) More directly in the next verse: God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew (11:2a) Remember, Paul is an evangelist. He is certain that salvation comes through the gift of faith in Jesus Christ This gift is for everyone. And he is emphatically sure this includes the Jews. He is also certain that his call is to evangelize the Gentiles, not the Jews. His argument contains within it a plea: Somebody, please, bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the Jews. Paul's mission is way outside the box in which he was raised. He was an Israelite, a descendent of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin (11:1c). Once he thought righteous living was something accomplished by keeping the Laws of Moses. He discovered righteousness is a gift through Jesus Christ. Somebody needs to tell the Jews but that's not him. Paul's mission is outside of the box.
In our gospel reading Jesus seems to have been awakened to his broader mission too. That's where I'll be spending most of my time this morning but let me share with you some preliminary observations. The Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, bring to us the apostolic teaching. These reports are 2 to 4 generations after Jesus ascended into heaven The Letters of Paul, like Romans, are from what's called the Pauline corpus or tradition. Paul named himself as an apostle but not everybody in the early church agreed. Paul's vision of Jesus on the Damascus Road, reported in Acts 9, led to his call to evangelize the Gentiles. But it is Peter, the leading apostle, who is reported to have opened the mission to the Gentiles in Acts 10, when he had a vision that led to his baptizing the whole household of a Roman centurion, a Gentile, named Cornelius. Paul may have been called to evangelize the Gentiles but the apostles authorized it. Extending the Gospel beyond the Jews was outside the box. In our Gospel reading Jesus ignores a woman calling after him. She's way outside the box. A woman calling for mercy Ð outside the box. A Gentile woman calling after Jesus for mercy Ð outside the box. A Gentile woman with a demon-tormented-child calling after Jesus for mercy Ð outside the box. Got it? She's way outside the box Ð don't be doing this lady. The disciples want Jesus to stop her Ð silence her. In doing so, they recognize her existence. Jesus won't even recognize her existence. Then Jesus names the box: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (15:24) In short, Jesus understood his mission was to the Jews.
Just how far outside the box was this woman. A little history and geography will help. The setting for this passage is in the district of Tyre and Sidon (15:21b). This is Northwest of Jerusalem Ð on the Mediterranean coast Ð known as Phoenicia. I've never been there but I'm told it's beautiful. This is the homeland of this Canaanite woman.
Who are the Canaanites? They are the ancestors of Ham, Noah's youngest son. In Genesis 9 we're told that Noah was the first to plant a vineyard. He drank some of his wine and got drunk. He fell asleep in his tent uncovered: naked. Ham found him and told his brothers: Shem and Japheth. The older boys held a blanket between them and backed over Noah to cover him. When Noah found out that Ham had looked at him, he cursed Ham and his descendents to slavery. The descendents Ham settled in what we know as The Land of Cana.
When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, they wondered for 40 years. Finally they were guided to the promised land: a land flowing with milk and honey Ð The Land of Cana. First they had to push out the residents so they could have the land. So a people banished to The Land of Cana, Ham's descendents, Were again pushed out. Canaanites are people who have been banished once and then pushed out. Canaanites are way outside the box of God's plan for salvation Ð so it seems.
And what all did she say and mean when she cried out to Jesus, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon." (Mt. 15:22b)? By calling Jesus, Lord, Son of David, she is identifying Jesus as the promised Messiah to the Jews. Perhaps hoping to find herself inside the box.
What is it to be tormented by a demon? I can't be sure. Father Gruss once told me that evil spirits are more common than demons. Demons actually overtake a person while evil spirits misguide people.
Why did the mother ask for mercy rather than ask for mercy for her daughter? My hunch, as a father of a daughter, that when my daughter got to the age of, 12 or 13, I needed help. I called on Don Roehr, then the middle school principle here in Pella. He encouraged my patience because I would never understand what he called, "your daughter's private logic". Let me dare to say, the woman was the one tormented. A Gentile, a Canaanite, a woman with a twice-banished ancestry, with a demon- tormented-child calling after Jesus for mercy. Way outside the box. No where near being a member of the Lost House of Israel or inside the box. Nevertheless, she presses harder: She came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." According to Matthew, and in Mark's report, Jesus resists. "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." (15:26).
Father John Klassen, abbot of St. John's in Collegeville, Minnesota, says one would expect this passage to have landed on the cutting room floor. But it didn't Ð it's here for us. Abbot Klassen knows this is the living word of God for us and we've got to face it. The boundaries of the kingdom of heaven are about to be pushed. The woman persists Ð "Yes, Lord, yet even the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." (15:27)
Let me remind you of what surrounds this passage: In the previous chapter Jesus served bread to 5000 people. Then Peter cried out for the Lord to save him from drowning Ð Jesus did. Following our passage Jesus heals everyone brought to him. Then he feeds 4000 men, and more if women and children were counted, with the 7 loaves and few fish that the disciples had with them. There is enough bread Ð There is enough mercy It's time to get outside the box.
Our church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America met in assembly this past week. The assembly is the highest authority for decision-making in our church. Many wondered just how far outside the box would our church be taken? The 3 recommendations from the Church Council regarding homosexuality got most of the press coverage. [The press favors the culture but remember, the culture is not the church]. * The first, that we would stay united though we have differing opinions, was approved by 87% (a 50% majority was needed for approval). * The second, that gay and lesbian people are welcomed by ELCA congregations and can receive the pastoral care of the fellowship was also approved Ð this one by 67% (a 50% majority was needed for approval). * The third, that in special circumstances, gay and lesbian people in committed relationship can be ordained, consecrated or commissioned for rostered ministries in our church was defeated by 51% (a 67% majority was needed for approval).
What does this mean? Is the mission of the ELCA outside the box? No, not here Ð nothing really changed. But these votes were not about mission-outreach. This was a vote about how we live Ð about behavior. Everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, is welcome. The Visions & Expectations for rostered leaders has requirements for behavior that cannot be outside the box.
But mission, the mission of the ELCA, our mission as a congregation, loving others and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, always takes us outside the box. * A bridge was built with the United Methodist Church for sharing Holy Communion was approved by 94% - that's moving outside the box. * As a church that is 97% white, mission strategies to Arab & Mid-Eastern people was approved by 99% mission strategies to people of African descent was approved by 99% both are outside the box. * A strategy to participate in the peace effort in Israel and Palestine was approved by 71% - that's outside the box. * A memorial was overwhelmingly approved to make "ending world hunger" a core conviction of our church Ð that's outside the box.
The gospel according to St. Matthew ends with Jesus announcing this imperative, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (28:19a) Jesus is naming the mission: it's always outside the box. As for this woman Ð did she join a synagogue or join the throng following Jesus? I don't know Ð but she's the only one ever to have great É faith (15:28b)
What is great faith? I dare say it is believing that God's love is unconditional, deviant and wonderfully audacious Ð for one such as me; for one such as you. Christ died for all because all people need a savior. Our joy is to be joined to this wonderful mission to all people.
Is there enough bread? Are there more than crumbs available? Can even the furthest away, the ones most outside the box receive God's saving mercy?
In a culture like ours that fears death and imagines scarcity, It may not seem so. I have been with the people of Mwanga; I have been with the people of Agua Prieta; I have been with people of La Voz de Esperanza. Our culture knows nothing about scarcity or the fear of death. Our scarcity and fear is imagined when compared to the poverty and hunger of the nations.
Gretchen King needs $6000 for her volunteer year of mission in Kenya. Sure her parents will help Ð she'll get there and won't go hungry. Designate a generous gift for her Ð be connected to mission.
Bev Meyer needs $6000 for her volunteer trimester in Tanzania. She can withdraw from her retirement fundÐ she'll get there and won't go hungry. Designate a generous gift for her Ð be connected to mission.
Don't give even a dime from your scarcity to support these women Give only from your bounty: if you know God's unconditional riches, then you know the urgency of these women stepping outside the box in mission. Our giving grows out of our confidence in God's bounty. Our giving grows out of our grateful joy for what God has done in Christ. Our giving grows out of knowing God's promises and wanting others to know.
The mission of the church is always outside the box. You wonder about that? Go in your mind with the women to the tomb: Hear the heavenly messenger: "He is not here; for he has been raised" (Matt 28:6)
Thanks be to God!