Plan B?

 

Matthew 15:[10-20] 21-28

Just because I am not preaching from a pulpit right now doesn’t mean I am not pondering the texts each week. The Gospel for August 16 always makes me cheer for the Canaanite woman. Often, the story that precedes this story is omitted, since it is an option. But let’s include it, because there is a fascinating correlation between the two stories.

 In the first story, Jesus and the disciples discuss what defiles a person, what makes a person unrighteous in God’s eyes, according to the rules currently in use.

Apparently, the Pharisees had criticized the disciples for eating with unwashed hands. Perhaps, they are sitting outside at a “picnic” and had no way to wash. Perhaps they were inside – which means they had washed their hands at the same time as they washed the soil of the street off their feet. And the issue was really that they didn’t use the ritual finger bowls before eating.

Jesus makes it clear that it is not what goes into a person but what comes out of them. What comes out of a person comes from their heart, or their guts, and sometimes that defiles them. So, the lack of finger bowls does not defile them.

Then the next story is about what comes out of the mouth of a non-Jewish woman. She begs Jesus to heal her daughter. Jesus claims it is not the right time for Gentiles to benefit from God’s healing. She, a foreign woman, begs him again. Perhaps she is face down in the dirt, pleading. But when Jesus calls her a dog, a cur, she stands up with fire in her eyes and gives Jesus her response: But even the dogs eat the crumbs under the table.

Her words prove to Jesus that, sometimes, his plan needs some adjustment, because the words from a foreigner’s mouth are worthy of his attention.  Whether Jesus was thinking of tradition, or has in mind a plan of how his mission will unfold, he has been caught thinking like a human. He has limited the plan to Jews. This foreign woman has challenged his assumptions.

What’s the lesson for us? That it’s easy to get caught up in limiting thinking. We make plans and try to stick to the plans. And sometimes, we need to broaden our thinking. We need to make exceptions. We need to revise our plans. Sometimes, we need to pay attention to the movement of God’s Holy Spirit.

As soon as he figured this out, Jesus was gracious to the woman, and healed her daughter. And he went farther, he praised the woman for her great faith.

I hope we will all remember that sometimes, we need to heed the movement of the Holy Spirit, and revise our plans and expectations.