Mark 7:24-30
It’s not news to us, but we must underscore it: Men in Jesus’ time did not engage in conversation with women of a different religion and culture out on the street. In His encounter with the Syrophoenician woman, Jesus is risking His own social status. We have seen His willingness to break this convention for the woman at the well and others.
This openness by Jesus automatically elevates these powerless people in the eyes of others. Simply by addressing them, He is giving them dignity and self-worth in a time when that was in very short supply for so many, especially for women. His willingness to engage in conversation with those of a different religion makes a statement without saying anything. This is another masterful stroke. He is teaching the crowds—and us as well—that everyone deserves this basic respect.
We may not even realize it, but we have our own social norms that relegate people to second-class status. I remember on a mission trip to Toronto with my senior high youth group, our local host invited us to walk the streets at midnight (at this time, Toronto streets were very safe!). He and I stood back as we watched our young people. Two of our young ladies began to engage some homeless people, and I became nervous—after all, their safety was in my hands—so I walked over to make sure everything was safe.
As I heard the conversation, I realized that these ladies had a gift. They spoke to these two men exactly like they would to anyone else. They did not have to try. There was no fear in their voices, no condescension, and no self-righteous pity. This was a gift they were giving these homeless people, a rare encounter simply as fellow travelers in this world connecting in the most human of ways—by talking.
To be able to engage someone with such openness to their inherent dignity, no matter their station, no matter how much or how little money they have in the bank, no matter when their last shower was, no matter their race, or their political views, is not easy in this world. We have been trained through our culture to fear, divide, categorize, and judge. These two young ladies emulated Jesus’ willingness to meet all people as people.
And yet, Jesus surprises us in this encounter. His words at first don't seem to convey respect for her or her daughter. He calls her a dog!
Some context will be helpful. In those days, the Jews and the Syrophoenicians were bitter enemies. In fact, the Israelites (Josephus, Antiquities) had come to refer to them as dogs because the wealthy Syrophoenicians devoured all the food while the Jewish people in the countryside in that area of the world were constantly on the brink of starvation.
Thus, Jesus’ statement: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” And so, Jesus was prodding this woman to see what kind of person she was. Was she another Phoenician trying to steal what rightfully belongs to the Jews—in this case, the blessings of the Messiah—or simply a mother desperately looking to save her daughter?
And so, even though Jesus, to us, makes a surprising statement, ultimately this is another example of His openness. He’s willing to engage this woman in a real conversation. Unlike a recent conversation with Peter that He completely controlled, with this woman, we see a real exchange of ideas taking place.
When she replies, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs,” Jesus instantly knew in that humble response she was not someone who believed she was superior to the Jews, but someone motivated out of deep love for her daughter. Jesus has been shaped by this encounter, and His heart is moved to say to the woman, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.”
It is of particular interest that Jesus treats people of a different faith differently than He does His disciples. He reprimands His disciples and castigates them for their obtuseness and lack of faith. When Jesus encountered those outside His faith, He did not require them to adhere to His doctrine but listened, spoke, opened Himself to them, and offered them what THEY were voicing!
Jesus’ compassion, grace, healing, and openness are for anyone open to His love; He does not require understanding or doctrinal beliefs, and so wonderfully proclaims and sets the pattern for us: “Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens.” All who are weary.
It is the hope of Brick Church to become a place that welcomes people exactly like this woman. She may not have all the same beliefs that we do or live within the same cultural sphere, but she is welcome and belongs just as much as any of us.
And it is amazing how Brick is continuing to grow wider and broader through the Brick Church School, through the Summer Steps Program, through finding ways to offer people the sacraments of the church.
Sacraments have historically been only for the insiders. In fact, at times you had to prove that you were worthy by going before the elders, and if you were deemed acceptable, you would get a token so that you could take communion. Baptism would only come after lengthy periods of education, which sometimes devolved into indoctrination.
While within PCUSA guidelines, the Session seeks to open these sacraments to more people. After all, we are placing requirements that not even Jesus placed upon them. I truly believe the sacraments not only have the power to bring help to the faithful but to actually createand form that faith and trust within people.
Our call as a congregation is not to require doctrinal alignment, for not even Jesus did that, but to follow His lead to offer dignity, respect, and love to everyone. It is not up to us to create or monitor belief; that is between God and that person.
In His encounter with this woman, Jesus is showing us that everyone is of utmost value to the Kingdom of God, and so must they be to us. Jesus gives the most respect often to those whom the world gives the least.
In preparing for this sermon, I came across an article which I think might be the modern counterpart of the people whom Jesus loved so much.
Lauded science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin described who she thinks would be the best candidate to send aboard a visiting spacecraft whose crew wished to learn about humanity and the planet Earth. Le Guin suggests the following choice to serve as an interplanetary spokesperson:
I would ... go down to the local Woolworth's, or the local village marketplace, and pick an old woman, over sixty, from behind the costume jewelry counter... She has worked hard at small, unimportant jobs all her life, jobs like cooking, cleaning, bringing up kids, selling little objects of adornment or pleasure to other people. She was a virgin once, a long time ago, and then a sexually potent fertile female, and then went through menopause. She has given birth several times and faced death several times - the same times. She is facing the final birth/death a little more nearly and clearly every day now. Sometimes her feet hurt something terrible. She never was educated to anything like her capacity, and that is a shameful waste and a crime against humanity... She has a stock of sense, wit, patience, and experiential shrewdness. (Dancing at the Edge of the World via Martin E. Marty's Context via Review of Books and Religion)
It is for such people that Jesus offered the most compassion and love. As Isaiah 56:7 proclaims, “My house shall be a house of prayer for all people.” May you and I work to make it so. Amen.
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