Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Wide and Wider Our Circle Expands, by Rev Steven R Mitchell for Mountain View United, Aurora, CO based on Matthew 15:21-28


Wider and Wider Our Circle Expands

By Rev Steven R Mitchell

Mountain View United, Aurora, CO 8/17/2014

Based on Matthew 15:21-28

 

 

           At the close of each worship we sing the chorus:  Wider and wider our circle expands.  As to the world we reach out our hands. Led by the Spirit, we’re learning to bend.  Loving, and growing, and loving again.

We sing this song because it speaks to our willingness to be not only inclusive but our willingness to look beyond our current boundaries and expand our understanding.   This comes in part by our understanding of Jesus’ call about who is included in the kin-dom of God.   So I would like to start off this morning’s reflection by asking you: “What is your image of Jesus of Nazareth?”   Is this reading from Matthew consistent with your image of what the Son of God’s actions are supposed to be?  If not, then what is making this reading inconsistent with what we read in other parts of the Gospel? 

        This morning’s story raises some deep questions about prejudice, divine election, and the limits of God’s kingdom.   How can the image of the man who goes from village to village speaking about the salvation of God, healing the sick, and feeding the hungry be so prejudice in this morning’s reading?  And is this side of Jesus inconsistent to what we think we know about Jesus?  If we were to go back a few chapters in Matthew to chapter 10, as Jesus was sending the twelve disciples out on their own mission, we would read these instructions that He gave, “5 Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, 6 but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep. 7 Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.[d] 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!  This morning’s story seems to be consistent with Jesus’ earlier practices. 

        Every so often, we here in the United States live out this story as we struggle with whom is considered equal.  From the 1950’s – 80’s we labeled this story, “the civil rights movement.”  Since 1976 thru now, a major segment of the church has labeled this story as, “the gay agenda.”  In the past decade we can re-label it as “immigration reform” as we deal with the subject of who has the privilege to live in this country.

As followers of Christ, we have the task to continually interpret scripture in order to help make what we read relevant to us.  How do we understand in today’s world what Jesus was telling the Canaanite woman, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  I have come to understand “Israel” to mean “those who are called by God.”  The term “Israel” is difficult for us in the United States, as there was a strong association between religious practices and the political state separated along ethnic lines in a way that does not exist in our society.        

As disciples of Jesus, we take seriously the teachings of Jesus, his actions, and his temperament to be a path in which we are to follow.  When Jesus says, “Love one another”, we try to incorporate that within our lives; When Jesus says, “feed my sheep”, again we work toward providing food for the hungry.  With this understanding in mind, does today’s reading provide a “loop hole” in which we can use to exclude specific individuals or particular groups of individuals equalities and inclusion to our circle?  The reference to the Canaanite’s as “dogs” is equivalent to the use of the “N” word in our culture toward people of color.   Are we allowed, based on this morning’s story, to see some people as being on the level as less than human?

        It would seem Jesus was doing this; at least at the beginning of the text.  There are however some interesting aspects of this story that need to be brought into light.  First off, Jesus was not in an area where the general population was Jewish; he was in the region of Tyre and Sidon, which was home to Gentiles, and out of the reach of Herod Agrippa, how had just recently beheaded John the Baptizer.  It would be as if Jesus was in Mexico, still in North America, but out of the United States jurisdiction.

This interchange between Jesus and the Canaanite woman reminds me of the “ugly American” image that has developed with those Americans who feel privileged and empowered, who while visiting in a foreign country, are offended by the customs of that country and boldly insist that the locals change their behaviors to match those of the American tourist.

        Matthew says a “Canaanite woman” came up to him and started shouting.  The use of the word “Canaanite” is a powerful word to any Israelite as it brings up images of “ungodliness”, of “idol sacrifices”, and “idol worship”.  The word “Canaanite” is to the Hebrew as is the word “Homosexual” in our culture.  

        What is disturbing about this story isn’t that the disciples were highly bothered by this Canaanite woman, crying out for the help her daughter, that is normal for them, but that Jesus ignores her.  Only because of her persistence, does He finally sits down to talk with her, not to find out what she is needing, but rather tells her that his mission was only for those who God counts worthy.

That’s a shocker!  Does this statement mean that there are truly those who are counted as favored by God (divine election) and the rest are going to hell?  Undeterred this mother continues to beg Jesus to help heal her daughters illness.  Then Jesus actually likens her, solely because of her being a Canaanite, to that of a dog!  It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs.”  And she once more responds with, “You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table.”

        I would like to point out that this story comes after a serious of stories where Jesus is confronting the Pharisees over questions of ritual purity and obedience to the law of God, and Jesus quoting from Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy not sacrifices.  Jesus is now being confronted with exactly what he had been chastising the Pharisees of doing.  It is a story of a woman putting a mirror up to Jesus’ face and calling him on his own prejudices and limited scope of what and to whom his mission was about.

Finally, as I understand this story, Jesus has an epiphany as to who is equal in the sight of God.  It isn’t just about who gets help, who we give assistance to, but rather a point of “who is equal in the eyes of God”, which translates for us, “who do we see as equal”, as “brothers and sisters – as family?”  It is a profoundly important message to us, “do we tolerate a person who is homeless by letting him sit out on the side patio of the church or do we see that person as a part of this community, a part of the family of God?  Do we go out of our way to speak to this homeless person, to invite him not just to worship, but to our community meals?  Or do we see him as outside of our acceptable social circle? 

Or more closely to home, how do we view all of our members in this faith community?  Do we see them for only what they can contribute to the larger good?  Are we actively concerned about what is going on in one another’s lives or are we too busy with our own personal agenda’s to be bothered by other people’s concerns?  When we don’t see someone for a few weeks in worship do we drop by their house or give them a call to see how they are, or are we like the disciples going to the pastor and asking him to take care of it? 

        Our text today is truly speaking about God desiring “mercy over sacrifice”.  Sacrifice is form and doctrine; mercy is love, acceptance, and equality.  God is telling us, that every person, regardless to race, social standing, educational level, sexual orientation, even mental illness, is equal in God’s kin-dom.  It is a challenge to recognize that we do fall short of inclusion and need to take the time to sit down with those asking for help and realize that their needs are as valid as are ours.  It is a call to reach out and allow our circle to widen, for in that widening we are opening ourselves up for new blessings that God gives when we interact with those outside our own circle.  In reality, if we can come to such an understanding and reconciliation within our own hearts, then there will be no need to discuss who gets the crumbs, for everyone will be eating at the table and our circle will be like the ripple in the water, continually moving outward and ever enveloping those that we meet.  Amen 

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