James
2:1-17; Mark 7:24-37
In
today’s Gospel, Jesus has a conversation with a foreign woman that surprises us.
We know Jesus loves everyone and included even non-Jewish people in his
ministry. This seems so unlike Jesus, but it will help to look at the whole story
of Jesus so far.
We
are in chapter 7 of Mark, and so far, Jesus has stayed in and around Galilee preaching,
teaching, and healing Jews. So far, only once does he venture out of Galilee,
and that is to cross the Sea of Galilee to heal Legion, the man possessed by
demons. After this healing, he quickly returns to Capernaum to continue his
ministry. He has become so well-known he needs some rest. He knows that he can’t
get a break at home, so he leaves the Galilee and goes into non-Jewish territory
northwest of Galilee, near Tyre and Sidon.
Hoping
to remain anonymous, he tries to have the disciples with him protect him: “Tell
them I am not available.” Apparently, the people in the region have heard of
him but they are respecting his request for some time off. Except for one
woman. Her daughter is seriously ill, infected with a demon, and she is desperate
for healing for her. She will not go away.
Finally,
Jesus says he will talk with her. “Don’t you realize I have been sent to feed the
children of Israel first? Later will come your time.” The woman hears a promise
– that eventually the good news Jesus brings will come to foreigners. But, she
wonders to herself, why not ask for something now. Why do we have to wait?
So
she challenges Jesus, “The dogs get the leftovers from the whole loaf of bread.
Why can’t I at least have the crumbs?” Jesus is amazed at the faith he hears in
her statement. “Go on home. Your daughter is already healed.”
It
surely seems that Jesus learned something in this encounter, something he had
not considered until this moment. His mission was not just for the Jews, but
for all people.
The
woman is happy with the crumbs. Think about this. How many people do you know
are happy with the crumbs? How many people do you know would rather have the
whole slice, or even the whole loaf?
Last
week I heard a brief story about someone who would be happy to receive some
crumbs. He said something like this: “I grew up poor. We got by, but the
hardest thing was the shoes. We could get clothes, but it was really hard to
get shoes.” He would have been happy to
receive our cast-off shoes, the crumbs of our efforts at closet-cleaning.
That’s
rather how we think about it, isn’t it? What aren’t we using now? What stuff can
we get rid of to make room for more stuff? If we can make money on it, we’ll
put it in our own yard sale. But if it’s not that valuable, we’ll give it away
directly to the poor or to the church yard sale. We sell the slices, and give
away the crumbs.
We
also treat some people like the whole loaf and other people as the crumbs. James
cautions us that all are loved by Jesus and none are his favorites. “If we show
partiality, it is a sin,” James says. And he quotes Jesus: “You shall love your
neighbor as you love yourself.”
From
Tyre, Jesus traveled east toward the region of the Decapolis, which is sort of
where the kingdom of Jordan is today. Once more, Jesus is in non-Jewish
territory, and once more, Jesus has in interaction with a non-Jewish person.
This
time, he doesn’t try to turn the man away. Instead, he takes him away and does
the healing in private. We have such surprising details about the healing, and
no explanation about why Jesus took these steps – putting his fingers in the
man’s ears, spitting and touching his tongue. The man is healed with the words,
“Ephphatha.” “Be opened!”
This
time, for this healing of a foreign person, Jesus doesn’t hesitate. He touches
a foreign person despite the rule that doing so will make him ritually unclean.
Jesus doesn’t give him just the crumbs but the whole loaf.
When
we participate in the order for healing, we assume Jesus can and will hear us
and heal us. But we don’t really believe it. We show up. We pray for healing.
We say amen, which means “so be it.” But, deep down, we aren’t sure we will
really be healed. We are convinced that we will receive only the crumbs of healing,
and not the whole loaf. We are sure we will feel God’s blessing, but not a
relief from pain, or a cure of our cancer, or a mending of our arthritic bones.
Hear
this. God wants for us to have the whole loaf, not just the crumbs. God wants
for us to be healed. God wants for us to have enough of everything we need to
live a full life.
The
challenge for most of us is that in order for everyone to have enough, we need
to give to others more than just the crumbs of our lives, of our closets.
This
week, I encourage you to pay attention to how you think about people. Are all
people you think about worth a whole loaf, or are some of them just crumbs? When
you think about yourself, how much are you worth, just crumbs, or a whole loaf
in God’s eyes?
When
you think about the things you are donating to the yard sale, are they just crumbs,
or at least a whole slice? When you write your check for the offering, are you
giving God the leftover crumbs, or enough to make a difference?
