Pentecost 15, Proper 18
Year B
September 4, 2015
Boundaries.
God is always pushing us to expand our boundaries in the
interests of justice and oh, how we resist his efforts. Even Jesus, if we
are to interpret our Gospel lesson correctly, needed a nudge once in a
while.
As our passage begins Jesus is continuing his travels into the
region around Tyre, north of Galilee. He’s probably tired he has fed the
5000, walked on water, and challenged the purity laws all while
teaching the well-meaning but clueless followers dogging his heels. He
has sought refuge in a house trying to remain unnoticed by the local
populace. Lo and behold a gentile woman tracks him down, something
no self-respecting, God-fearing, Jewish woman would have done. She
has heard about him, heard about the miracles that he has performed
and has come to him because she has a little daughter who has an
unclean spirit. There are not many to whom she can go for help, Jesus is
her last hope. Now in that region the Syrophoenecians were the ones
with the land and the money. In fact the Jewish peasants in the area
have been oppressed by their landlords – the crops that they raise go to
feed those with money and not those who actually till the land – the
typical tenant farmer story.
Boundaries.
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Pentecost 15, Proper 18
Year B
September 4, 2015
Here is this woman humbling herself, probably coming to these
less wealthy tenant farmers with whom she has no regular contact,
humbling herself to ask for help. They were probably very surprised to
see her when she came to the house, maybe resentful, maybe a little
frightened by what she might be doing there. But the woman is very
humble when she sees Jesus she bows down at his feet. She begs him
to cast the demon out of her daughter.
Jesus’ response is not what we expect of “gentle Jesus meek and
mild”, no, Jesus is unyielding and downright insulting. He refuses to
help her saying “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the
children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
Not only is Jesus refusing to help he has just called the
Syrophoenecian woman a dog.
We all have our days.
Perhaps Jesus was just tired of the constant requests for help. For
those of you who have raised children you might recognize it as the
exhausted mommy syndrome where your toddler has followed you
around all day long and you are trying to sneak just one moment of
peace in the bathroom, but not, not even there can you be alone… Or
perhaps Jesus is thinking about the harsh realities of the socioeconomic system and expressing his resentment of her exploitation of
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Pentecost 15, Proper 18
Year B
September 4, 2015
his fellow Jews. On a theological level he is saying indirectly, that he
has been sent to the children of Israel, God’s chosen people that he
came to them, was born one of them, in order to bring salvation and
that it was not yet time to share that news with the gentiles. Some
commentators have even suggested that he is being ironic, putting his
own disciples to the test but that seems unlikely given that Mark
doesn’t make any mention of their reactions either positive or negative
in this sequence. Whatever the reason, Jesus has said no.
So why would Mark have included this interchange in the gospel
since it is not entirely flattering to our Lord and Savior? It’s because of
what happens next. The woman is not to be gainsaid. She doesn’t bat
an eye before responding, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the
children’s crumbs. Her response is respectful but assertive. While dogs
were considered unclean creatures in ancient Israel they were
everywhere, scavenging, picking up the neglected crumbs that fell from
the table. Jesus himself would be one of those crumbs when he is
rejected by most of the Jews so in a way her response foreshadows
what will happen after Jesus’ death – that the Good News will spread
among the gentiles. It is with this thought in mind that Mark has
included the scene. Jesus does not become angry at the woman’s
response, you can almost imagine a quirk of the lips, even a slight smile
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Pentecost 15, Proper 18
Year B
September 4, 2015
of approval when he says “For saying that, you may go – the demon has
left your daughter.”
Boundaries.
Jesus hasn’t changed his mind about the focus of his ministry but
he is acknowledging that it is destined to spread beyond the boundaries
of his immediate concern. It is no wonder then that Jesus next miracle
is the healing of the deaf man with the speech impediment. Jesus too
had had a transformation so that he was able to hear differently and his
message was heard perhaps more clearly by this outsider than by his
disciples.
Justice was done and it is justice that is also at the heart of our
other readings. In Proverbs we get a few snippets of wisdom that tells
us that it is better to be known for being good than for having great
riches; that the Lord looks after the rich and the poor equally; that
injustice will bring its own punishment and that those who have are to
be blessed for sharing with the poor who are not to be abused. James
pricks our consciences about the dangers of favoritism based on
wealth. The good works we are called to do in the name of justice is
what models our faith. Speaking compassionately is no substitute for
providing those in need with food, or clothing. I am not sure that the
message that we are to care for the poor can get much clearer than
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Pentecost 15, Proper 18
Year B
September 4, 2015
that. Yet that boundary issue is always there, and when we are not in
the mood to deal with it we find all kinds of excuses for not taking our
responsibility seriously.
Just last Monday I found myself pushed against my own ropes so
today’s lessons are particularly timely for me.
Monday is my day off and I was puttering around inside the house
when I notice a scruffy looking man with dreadlocks walking up the
driveway. In just a few moments there was a knock at my front door. It
was a man who has been on the property asking for handouts several
times before, although not recently. On previous occasions the thrift
shop has provided him with clothing and I think we have even given
him a food card. He always has the same story - he has just been
released from the hospital either because he has been mugged or has
epilepsy. He wears a couple of hospital bracelets and waves some
crumpled discharge papers around to verify his story.
Boundaries.
This day he was asking for bus fare. I asked him why he had come
to the front door. He said “A lady told me to come here.” I have been
pretty clear that people are not to be sent to the rectory so I had to
wait for a moment for the red mist to clear from my eyes. I told him
that I couldn’t help him and closed the door. Now I can justify my
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Pentecost 15, Proper 18
Year B
September 4, 2015
behavior on several grounds, I was officially off duty, he should never
have been sent to the rectory, and it is never safe to distribute cash.
The availability of cash is a magnet and word gets around very quickly,
and I certainly didn’t want to give the impression that there was
anything to be gained from coming to the front door of the rectory.
Boundaries.
So here was this scam artist and all he was asking for was bus fare
and I said no. I didn’t even offer to get him a food card from the office
because I was so peeved about having been disturbed at home. Selfrighteous irritation is a dangerous thing. Unlike Jesus I remained deaf to
the voice I could have heard. His request was fairly harmless and he
was very polite.
God never told us that we were to distinguish between the
deserving and the undeserving poor.
Boundaries.
I chose to maintain mine but at what cost? “… faith by itself, if it
has no works, is dead.”
Amen
Elisabeth Tunney
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