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9. Sunday after Pentecost, 08/14/2011
Sermon on Matthew 15:10-28 (RSV), by David M. Wendel
"Bread for Jews and Gentiles"
10 And he called the people to him and said to them, "Hear and understand: 11 not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?" 13 He answered, "Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit." 15 But Peter said to him, "Explain the parable to us." 16 And he said, "Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and so passes on? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man." 21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon." 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying after us." 24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." 26 And he answered, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 27 She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.
On Sermons That Write Themselves
When pastors are out of town, or get unusually busy, we hope and pray that a given sermon will "write itself". That doesn't mean, of course, that the computer becomes like a player piano, typing in words on its own, nor does it mean that ala Charleton Heston in the Ten Commandments movie, God burns the words of the sermon into tablets of stone. It means simply, that there are some biblical passages that are so simple, and straightforward and natural for preaching, that when you sit down to prepare the sermon, it pretty much writes itself. It flows from the biblical passage, through the preacher to the sermon naturally and quickly, which is, of course, the blessing, when a sermon "writes itself".
Since returning from Rome recently, things have been so hectic that I've been counting on the sermon today doing just that-to write itself. Last Sunday, that happened, as the gospel passage was full of meaning and message, as we heard about Jesus walking on water, and calling Peter to do the same. As I turned to this week's text, however, I was faced with a real challenge, because a sermon on this passage would never "write itself". Why? Because there are just too many hard questions raised by it-questions that make this passage difficult to understand, and even more difficult to explain. Questions like...why would Jesus have rejected the Canaanite woman? Why was Jesus so focused on ministry to Israel, to the exclusion of others? Isn't that exclusion just the kind of narrow-mindedness Christians are battling today? These are valid questions, and ones which need answers. But, the questions are not, in fact, hindrances to the message of the text, but are integral to our understanding it. And that's why we struggle with them-to better get at the message. So, where do we begin with this difficult gospel lesson? We begin with God's relationship to Israel. Because to better get at the message of Jesus' encounter with the Canaanite woman, we need to look first at God's relationship with the chosen people.
God and Israel: A Strained Relationship
For reasons we sometimes find it hard to understand, in the beginning, God established a special, covenantal relationship with Israel. From the beginning God called Israel to be his people, as he would be their God, forever. But not as an end in itself-as a means to an end. God established a special relationship with Israel so that, eventually, he would draw all people-ALL people in the world, unto himself. Remember, the Lord God said, "And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." The Lord's intention, unmistakably, is to reach all persons-but he chose to do so, through Israel, who would be an instrument for the proclamation of His love to others; Gentiles, Canaanites, foreigners. But in spite of God's expressed plan, Israel was not faithful in response to the Lord their God's loving actions. And their unfaithfulness actually hindered God's mission, as Israel focused more and more on the letter of God's law, and less and less on God's will and purpose, meant to direct Israel to her neighbors. When love of neighbor suffered, the spread of God's love suffered, and Israel begun to see her only task as being justification of self, rather than as justification of others-the saving of those outside the family of God's chosen people, Israel.
Israel, or Israel and Others?
But, you might be wondering, isn't that attitude precisely what Jesus is reflecting and perhaps advocating in our text from St. Matthew? Isn't Jesus also suggesting a focus on Israel, alone, to the exclusion of others? Yes...and no. Yes, Jesus is focused on Israel, the lost sheep of Israel, but no, not to the exclusion of others? While it seems that Jesus is excluding the Canaanite woman and her possessed daughter, even as she cried out, "Son of David, have mercy on me!", his apparent lack of concern for the woman, is more concern for God and His will, which sent Jesus, in the first place, to Israel lost, to redeem Israel, that Israel might become the instrument God had originally intended, the instrument for the spread of the good news, to all people. To us, judgmental human beings, we might still accuse Jesus of at best, not being interested in the woman's plight, and at worst, being guilty of the same prejudice against Gentiles that so plagued the Jews. But the text emphasizes, and rightly so, Jesus' strict adherence to God's will...and God's will alone. His mission to preach to, and teach the Jews was monumental, and as such, surely he felt the need, at times, to limit himself to the task for which he had come. While that might seem like he was uninterested in the woman's request, while that might seem like Jesus lacked compassion, the truth is, Jesus was obedient, and single-mindedly dedicated to the Father's work-to save first, the errant house of Israel, and thereby, ultimately, all Gentiles and foreigners.
But does that change the fact that Jesus appeared to lack compassion, that he seemed to express no love for the woman and her suffering daughter? We can only imagine that sick, dying, possessed people were everywhere, surrounding Jesus constantly. The fact that he didn't heal every hurting person does not imply he lacked love or compassion, it simply points to the reality that there must have been people crying out continually, so many that he had to attend to the work at hand, to direct himself to Israel, or be overcome by the tremendous need, and so never accomplish that for which he came...the salvation of the world.
The Woman, Apart from the Crowd
Realizing that, what could the woman do, but attempt to distinguish herself from the crowds, in some way, in order to catch Jesus' attention? And she caught it with her persistent faith, her unfailing trust in Jesus' power and authority. Yes, in this gospel which begins with the Magi, representatives of foreign lands visiting the Christ child-and ends with the Great Commission for the disciples to go to all nations, baptizing and teaching-here we see a Gentile with great faith-faith so remarkable that it causes Jesus to take note of her, and to heal her daughter. Which finally helps us to get at the real heart of this text-the message of the text for those first disciples and for us-the message that the bread of heaven is not only for deserving children, but for all those whom the world considers-the dregs of society, yes, even the dogs of society
Jesus, Bread For All
In our gospel reading, we hear how Jesus had left Israel to travel north through Galilee to the land of Tyre and Sidon, for a time of rest and refreshment away from the connivances and hostilities of the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees, who often referred to themselves as the "deserving" children of Israel. Where did Jesus go, then, but to the land of those whom Israel considered dogs-to the land of the Gentiles. And what does Jesus find there? Dogs? Dregs? Pagans and unbelievers? He finds great faith-and in a Canaanite woman! What message could there be in this text, but the profound proclamation that what is important is faith in Jesus, the Son of David-no matter whether the faithful is Jew or Gentile, male or female, "child" or "dog". To all, will be given salvation and healing-that which Jesus refers to as "bread"--to unquestionably connect the experience to that which would become the central act of Christianity, the Lord's Supper.
To the early Christians, especially those reading Matthew's gospel, such a reference would have been heard as an unmistakable reference to the Eucharist, to the bread that is broken and shared, indeed, from the Master's table. And in making such a reference, Jesus was illuminating for all Christians, the message of this encounter. The message proclaimed by his words and action-that his bread, to be sure, is to be broken and shared with the children, with those who feel they belong at the table-but that it is also to be broken and shared with those of us who feel like the dogs, those of us who've been told we don't belong, and aren't deserving. To all of us, to each of us, the bread is given, that we might be healed, made whole, saved-for one purpose only-that we might be faithful instruments for the further spread of God's unconditional love, the good news that He has had mercy upon us, and is feeding us with the bread of heaven, the bread that is for all nations, races, and peoples. As we receive that bread, may we seek to share that bread, especially, with those who feeling they are not worthy of it, that finally, all God's children will come to the table to be fed.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.