May my words be in the name of the living God, creating, redeeming and sustaining. Amen
The world feels in a bit of a mess just now with what is going on in Gaza, Iraq, Syria, Africa to name but a few. Yesterday we had the sad situation of someone dying in a container full of people being trafficked. My daughter had a t-shirt that I picked up at some festival or another years ago when she was a child that said “why should I tidy my room when the world is in such a mess” It can feel a bit like that. It’s like saying I’m alright it’s them!
Many of us, in fact, don’t feel comfortable when we are among people we don’t know? Visiting a new church can be nerve wracking, unless we are extremely extroverted. Going into a pub alone to meet mates can make us feel all insecure. We might deliberately be late so that they get there first and there is a familiar face amongst all those strangers.
Even within our own country, which I think is a pretty good one and quite accepting of the diversity of life, we find cultural and ethnic differences that may challenge the best of us.
What I’ve realised about many of us is it’s easier to be caring from a distance. Giving to charities to help other people in need is a vital and good thing to do, but it is perhaps made easier because we don’t have to rub shoulders with the people we are helping. The people we are “different”from. If we volunteer in a second hand shop or help feed the needy via donating to the local food bank, we can sit back and give ourselves a pat. What would it be like if we actually had to share a meal though and look at someone in the eye and share their pain.
Have you ever noticed when 2 people are rowing they don’t look at each other. They often sit with their arms folded and slightly turned away and from that position they hurl poisoned words not seeing the hurt and pain as these barbed comments hit home. It’s much harder to hurt someone if you actually look at them.
In the gospel today, Jesus has a discussion about the way we think. He points out that what we say, perhaps how we act toward others is much more indicative of how we think than keeping certain religious rules about what we eat or drink.
It seems his comments offended the pious. It reminds me of the story Jesus told of the pious person who went into the temple to pray. He stood there in the attitude of prayer and said, “Thank God I am not like other people.” It would be dreadfully offensive if we said, “Thank God I am not black or gay or homeless or a refugee.” Yet we do find ourselves thinking such things as we watch the news or engage in heated conversations about those people who don’t agree with our politics or religion or social attitudes. It makes it worse when we are sure we are right and they are wrong. Being bigoted against bigots is no virtue!
This week a young theologian called VickyBeeching came out. She was raised in the evangelical tradition. She realised her sexuality as a teenager but had to bury it because it was against her faith. On one occasion she went forward and confessed to these feelings. She was prayed for and several people surrounded her and laid hands on her for the demon of homosexuality to be removed. Of course that didn’t happen because Vicky was made the way she was and is wonderfully and fearfully made in the words of my favourite Psalm. Problem is she didn’t feel it and had all these internalised homophobic messages. She dealt with it by studying hard and got to Oxford. After uni she went to the States because she is an accomplished song writer and musician and she was signed by EMI and placed in the bible belt. This did nothing to help her come to terms with who she is. Unfortunately she got seriously ill and had to come home and finally this week at the age of 35 she was able to be honest about who she is for the first time. I think the church should hang it’s head in shame and ask for God’s mercy.
The head of the C of E’s communication a fellacalled Arun Auora tweeted that Vicky was welcome in the C of E where we are all broken. I was incensed. How would you like it if someone said that you were welcome here at St Saviour’s as a heterosexual because all are broken?People’s sexuality is not a sin, it is not a matter of being broken and I am so frustrated that I can’t get the Church to put its listening ears on which is what I say to my grandkids when they are not paying attention.
The gospel today goes on to tell a story about Jesus leaving his homeland and going into what we would now call Lebanon. There are only two recorded occasions when Jesus leaves Jewish territory.
There was a long-standing ethnic feud between the people of the Holy Land and the people of Lebanon. As we know there still is, so this might well be a modern day story.
Jesus is approached by a local woman who wants him to heal her daughter. This woman would have been considered a Pagan by the Jewish people. In fact this woman worse than a Samaritan because of where she came from, and we know that the Samaritans were barely tolerated by the Jews of that time. The Israelites called these people “dogs.” And remember that dogs didn’t enjoy the privileged place in society then as they do for many people now.
It was obvious that the woman was desperate. She would have been brought up to despise Jews. She risked being rebuffed and insulted. Have you ever had a moment where you have been so desperate that you felt impelled to step out of your safety zone?
Jesus tests the woman and uses the common racial slur. “We don’t give dogs human food.”Jesus is not merely saying that dogs shouldn’t beg at a table. He is using a dreadful slur. Is he doing it to test the faith of the woman? We may find that shocking. He is testing the boundaries that have been set. The woman is desperate, but can she, is she able, to step through the pride and prejudice that exist in her and her daughter as well as the disciples around her and reach the point of acceptance and healing?
Yes, Jesus comes to us, but we also must make that step of faith toward him.
The woman replies with some good humour. That could indicate that Jesus, although saying some harsh things was doing it with a sense of bantering. We will never know and I still find this a challenging and hard Gospel to understand.Anyway getting back to the woman. She points out that even dogs get the scraps that fall from a table. Jesus tells her that her trust and faith has made it possible for her daughter to be healed. In this act the woman is being an advocate for her daughter. It is in this that I can get really excited.Ain’t it great that we may become “go-betweens” for others and be the means by which God’s gift of healing and transforming love may be extended to others. Mother Theresa once said that she was merely a little pencil that God wrote his love messages with around the world.
All too often our prayers are safe. They are prayers at a distance. They cost us little. They trip off the tongue at bedtime or even in church when that long list of sick people is read during the Intercessions or we pray through the news and these tough situations nationally and internationally. Prayers are important but what would happen if we truly felt the pain of those we pray for?
When Jesus says that if we are to follow him we must carry our cross, he invites us into uncomfortable, painful, and hurting places where those who need our prayers live. He invites us out of our comfort zones. He invites us to experience the tragedy and hurt that people suffer. He invites us to be with those who may be called “dogs,” or think of themselves as “dogs” – unclean, apart, perhaps at the bottom of the social or class ladder, or perhaps “apart” because of their lifestyle or habits. To feel the pain and anguish of Vicky’s journey to freedom and coming out knowing that we have been a part of the establishment that has hurt her and scores of others so badly
The woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon came to Jesus where he was. He also came to her. They met and exchanged barbed words, and someone was healed. Here is an extraordinary example of reconciliation and grace. The Church of England and other Christian denominationscould learn a lot from the message at the heart of this Gospel.
It is clear that none of us has the strength to reach out beyond our comfort zones on our own. Yet at the communion table open for each of us so regularly, we step from our own comfortableworld into the unknown and places of hurt where Jesus is and he feeds us with more than crumbs or scraps. We receive him. We live in him and he lives in us. The question remains, for who is our encounter with God intended? Is it intended for another, a person who may live in a place or have an experience outside the normal routine of our life, or whose habits or lifestyle may offend us greatly?
Perhaps in this holy place, this day we can think of a group, or a person who cries out to be healed in one way or another. Dare we step out to the table at which Jesus sits and beg for his aid? Dare we be a channel of healing and love to that other person or group who, too, belong to God and for whom Jesus died?
Amen
