"Faces of Faithfulness"
Sermon Presented September 10, 2006
Mark 7:24-37
When you hear me read this text, I can almost guarantee that you will dislike it as much as I. Actually there are two healings here, but it's the first that I'm concerned about because it's so offensive! If I were a non-Christian reading the Gospel of Mark for the first time, I would probably close my Bible and pick up the newspaper. To hear words of dismissal and prejudice coming from Jesus' mouth shocks me to the core.
Let me give you a little background to this reading. Jesus - a Jew - is in Gentile territory and he's there to escape the crowds, not to preach the Kingdom of God as he has been doing throughout Israel. He's tired and needs some R & R, so he takes his disciples to Tyre, a province of Syria far beyond the borders of Galilee. The second story takes place in the Decapolis - another Gentile area outside of Galilee. This text begins where we left off last Sunday. Mark 7:24-37 (Read text.)
We do see some similarities between these two stories: people come to Jesus seeking help for another; those approaching Jesus and those healed are not Jewish; and the healings take place outside of Jewish territory. In the first story, Jesus is traveling in Tyre, when a woman who has heard of him comes to plead for her daughter's healing. It takes courage to do this - much more courage than most women in that culture would possess. Her gender, race and culture are all barriers to her being heard by a Jewish man.
When Jesus addresses her request, we cringe because what we hear isn't in keeping with Jesus' normal response to human need. At best, it's politically insensitive! Jesus says: "Let the children be fed first, for it's not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." We understand that the term "children" refers to the Jews, and the term "dogs" is a derogatory word for non-Jews. Even though some commentators try to diminish the harshness of this statement with an explanation that the term for dogs here means little puppies or household pets, it's offensive none the less. On first reading - or second - or even 20th reading - we hear words we would expect from any first century Jewish man, but we don't expect them from Jesus.
I looked at several sources to gain a better understanding of this text and the explanations run the gamut - from "Jesus really didn't mean it" to the following idea that perked my interest. Gail Ramshaw wrote that we shouldn't try to explain it away, because if we do, we rob Jesus of his humanity and we rob ourselves of the opportunity to see that Jesus grew and changed, thanks to this courageous Greek woman. The thought here is that the woman teaches Jesus -Jesus learns from her!
Pursuing this idea, a scripture I memorized as a child flashed into my mind. Luke 2:52 says: "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor." Actually I memorized it from the King James Version as: "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man." I think the tendency of Christians is to make Jesus into all God and no humanity and that's wrong. Jesus was a flesh and blood person who had the same temptations and growth spurts as we. Jesus matured - and his maturation process wouldn't have stopped at the age of 12 or 30, but it would have been a life-long process. He learned as he traveled with his disciples, interacted with the people and faced death by crucifixion. He grew as God revealed God's self to him through prayer, reading the Hebrew Scripture, and living life. His interaction with this Greek woman shows us that her words changed him, and he healed her daughter.
Most women of that day would be put off by Jesus' rebuke but this nameless woman acknowledges the reality of their ethnic differences and challenges Jesus to move beyond them. She's quick witted and uses great logic! I picture her as a first century feminist. She confronts, cajoles, and holds tenaciously to the reason for her visit - healing for her daughter. She doesn't "lose it" and explode into anger when Jesus responds as he does, but keeps at it until she gets what she came for.
Hearing Jesus respond like any other man in that culture upsets those who want him to be only divine. His humanity is a tough pill to swallow - as is our own humanity, for that matter. We spend a great deal of time covering our own human foibles, mistakes in judgment and downright failures. We curse ourselves for being human. When we are open to grow and change as Jesus was, our words and actions will moderate and change because God will change us. In this story we can learn from both Jesus and the woman. We can deepen our knowledge and experience of Jesus by not rejecting or glossing over Jesus' humanity as he deals with ethnic tensions and heals the daughter of a woman who won't let go of her belief that he can heal her child.
Let's look at this unnamed woman again. She faced real barriers - gender, race and religion - when she approached Jesus. She crashed through monumental barriers, and she won the battle.
Keeping the examples of Jesus and the woman in mind, my questions for us are: how do we lose arguments? Do we refuse to back down, blame others or back down too soon as the woman could have done? Are we gracious and admit it when we are wrong as Jesus did, or do we stick with our approach until justice and/or healing occurs as did the woman? What barriers do we face in life and what can we do about them? These are just some things to think about when you have some thinking time.
The second story is more palatable. Here, instead of distancing himself from the person in need as he did earlier, Jesus takes the deaf - mute man aside and heals him without any negative interchange. However, Jesus tells him to keep the healing quiet. Ha! Fat chance!
You can't keep good news from spreading. In my apartment complex and the neighboring condos, we have had a rash of burglaries - even one armed robbery. The line of communication between neighbors is open and we speak openly of whatever we hear from the office, maintenance men or the Bayside police department because we want the latest information. However, when the police finally arrest the guilty person, the good news will travel even more quickly! We will be overjoyed and feel safe once again.
Now let's transition to our church. No one has told us to keep silent about what we have here at Roundy, but you might think that's the case. I want to suggest that we become bolder in sharing both our faith stories and the way God is working here. We have good news to share and these stories are meant to be shared. God works through people - those who find their voice and have the courage to speak out. Roundy has a voice in this community and the greater Milwaukee area, but we need to open our ears to the needs for community that are expressed and then loosen our vocal cords to share the good news.
Both healings took place on the fringes. They were unplanned and spur of the moment, because the reason Jesus was there was to avoid the crowds and rest. The needs arose and were met - even though the first wasn't met enthusiastically. I would like to suggest that most of the needs we encounter occur on the fringes too - over coffee, in the teacher's lounge, over dinner, while raking leaves, in the classroom - places outside of these walls. And I would also like to suggest that when we are listening to God's Spirit within, we will be open to learn from the ones we encounter.
The faces of faithfulness in our text show themselves as relative and friend in pursuit of healing for loved ones. We not only go to Jesus to meet our own needs, but we must be advocates for those who have no voice. Then we must spread the good news of what we have seen and heard. Just as there was healing and grace for all of the participants in these stories, there is healing and grace available for us. Thank God!
