New perspectives

 James 2:1-17; Mark 7:24-37

I had been in Northwood, Iowa, for just a few weeks on internship. Pastor Paul wanted me to start preaching and Matthew’s version of this story of the Gentile woman was the text for my first sermon. 

As I preached, I noticed a man taking notes. I had seen others take notes during sermons, so I didn’t think any more about it. At the door, shaking hands at the end of the service, the note-taking man introduced himself as Bill. Could he talk with me in my office in a few minutes? Sure, I said.

So, in my office, Bill pulled a notepad out of his pocket and flipped a few pages. He began, “I noticed when you read the Gospel, you made Jesus sound angry. You might want to change that at the second service. You know, Jesus was always kind. He was never angry.”

I thanked him for his comment, and we had a conversation about Jesus. I reminded him about the time he overturned the tables of the money changers. He certainly was angry that day. Or when Peter tried to tell Jesus he would not be betrayed and Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan.” Yes, there were times when Jesus was angry.

Bill had never thought of Jesus this way. My words gave him a new perspective.

So, in this Gospel story, it is likely that Jesus spoke sharply to the woman. Jesus was a man of his own culture, a Jewish man who had grown up knowing that his people were the Jews. Yes, he welcomed others, but those times seemed to be his choice. He was in control.

At this point, Jesus is tired. He has been walking and teaching and healing for months, with little down time. He left Jewish territory for Gentile territory hoping he could escape the crowds and get some rest. Like a mother who tells her children, “Mommy is not home,” Jesus just needs some time alone, alone with God.

Even hiding behind the closed door of the house they were in, people, Gentile people, come to find him. He is not able to escape, even here. So, I can imagine his frustration when this woman kneels before him and begs him to heal her daughter. In his fatigue, he is not able to hide his frustration. He seeks an excuse.

“It’s not time yet, for me to heal your people. For now, I have come only to the Jewish people. Your time will come later. Now, go away!”

“Please,” she begs.

Jesus counters, “It’s not right to take the food off someone’s table and give it to the dogs.”

The word Jesus uses is not a polite word. But the woman will use it to her advantage. “But even the dogs get the table scraps!”

Suddenly, Jesus has a new perspective on this woman. She is so certain he can heal her daughter, she is willing to be called a bad name. In fact, she is so sharp, she uses the word against him in her reply. Without Jesus even seeing or touching the daughter, she is healed.

… The reading from James is also about new perspectives. Just because someone is wealthy doesn’t mean God has blessed them more and that poorer people are blessed less. God loves everyone the same, so wealthy people shouldn’t receive special treatment. On the other hand, poorer people should be assured that God loves them.  

For the people of James’ community, this was startling news. It is still startling news to many people today, wealthy and poor alike. Many people believe that if you have lots of stuff, God has blessed you, and if you don’t have lots of stuff, you must have done something wrong. In fact, James says, it is the wealthy people who are making the poor people suffer. That is a new perspective for many people.

Don’t we all need a new perspective? For example, as I drive around, I notice cars. Now, I like my car, but I wish it had more features, like my previous car did. I miss the larger console and the cubby holes my old car had.

So, I look with envy at the larger cars on the road with me, and wonder if I would like that car, and if I could afford it. But then, I notice that another car has some bumps and dents, there are children in it, and the windows are down, probably because the air conditioning isn’t working. Then, I get a new perspective on my current car.

Covid-19 has forced us to have a new perspective on lots of things. We never thought it was THAT important to have worship available on a phone or computer. We never even thought we would LIKE watching worship from home while the pastor did her thing in an empty sanctuary.

And, we never thought about how important it is to be able to have face-to-face conversations with other people, until it was unsafe to have them. Some people never imagined they would be asking for rent relief, and a box of free food, and an unemployment check. But, now we DO know. And we have a new perspective about giving and receiving help in a time of crisis.

What will we do in response? James cites a portion of the Shema, a prayer every Jew knows by heart. “Hear, O Israel. The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Then, James challenges us to not just pray for hurting people, but to put our money where our mouth is: loving our neighbor as we love ourselves!

Today, hungry people in our communities need to know they are still important to God and to us who believe in God. People about to lose their homes need to know we are willing to help them, through our contributions to Interfaith. People who used to work for large companies with big salaries need to know that they still have value, even though their new job pays a lot less, if they can find one at all.

Photo credit: Woodcut, Christ of the Breadlines, by Fritz Eichenberg (1951) 

It doesn’t matter to God how much money we have, how we worship, what language we speak, or where we call home. When we love God, we express that faith by welcoming everyone into the community, by taking time out to be with God, and by sharing what we have with others as an expression of God’s love for us. Amen