Isaiah 35:4-7a; James 2:1-10, 14-17; Mark 7:24-37
Last week, we learned that the Pharisees and scribes were
harassing Jesus. It’s no wonder, then, that Jesus heads into Gentile territory
to get some rest. There, he also hopes, few people will believe in him and ask
him for healing. He just needs a day off, some time away, if not a week of retreat
and rest.
But it was not to be. Miles and miles from Galilee, word of mouth advertising has spread about Jesus’ ability to heal. Jesus is resting in the house of a friend, and when someone knocks on the door, he tells the host to tell whoever it is that he is not home. But the woman persists. Please, sir, it’s my beloved daughter.
And they have this conversation about who is eligible for
healing at this moment. We have to remember a couple of things: Jesus is a
Jewish man, and sees his ministry from the perspective of his Jewishness. We
also need to remember that we are reading the Gospel of Mark, the first gospel written,
so it doesn’t have the more mature faith perspective that John’s Gospel has.
The woman challenges Jesus, and he suddenly has an expanded vision
of his mission field. After this healing, Jesus spends significant time in
Gentile territory, healing, casting out demons, and feeding a multitude of
people.
From Tyre and Sidon, Jesus returns to Jewish territory in Galilee. Here, he is asked to heal a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment. While Jesus was able to heal the daughter long-distance, here Jesus uses spittle and his fingers to heal the man. In the ancient world, spit was considered to have healing properties, so what Jesus does fits in with what the folks in that place may have been expecting.
… Isaiah and James both urge us to welcome the stranger, the poor person, to not distinguish one from the other, to not identify one as better or worse than the other. But, isn’t this hard to do today? From our own neighborhood to the state and nation, and even the whole world, aren’t we encouraged to choose one kind of person over the other? One side over the other?
… So how do we, in this era when so many topics are hot-button topics, have healthy relationships with people we know? What happens when we discover we have radically different viewpoints? What happens when those viewpoints are supposed to, according to the “rules”, divide us from one another?
It’s then that we look to the guidance of Scripture. Isaiah assures us that God is paying attention, and it – whatever IT refers to today – won’t always be this hard.
But even more, James reminds us that we are people of faith
and people of faith take care of each other. People of faith welcome all
people, without regard to their status. People of faith welcome and respect all
people – even THOSE PEOPLE, whoever we put into the THOSE PEOPLE category.
… So, what do we get out of these stories? A main theme is
inclusion – all are welcome in Jesus’ love. But, another theme is that sometimes,
what we need is a change of perspective. Sometimes, we need to recognize, as
Jesus did with the Gentile woman, that we need to reconsider what we are sure
of.
Sometimes, even pastors need to have someone challenge their views of ministry. Pastor Bob loved inner city ministry. He loved wearing jeans and t-shirts instead of clerical shirts and suits. He loved spending nights on street corners and in basements with poor people, with oppressed people, changing lives by loving the most unlovable people. He did this ministry for twenty years. One day, the Bishop of his synod asked him to come into the office.
“Bob,”
the Bishop said, “I want you to accept a call to Fancy-Schmancy Church.” Bob
objected, “I always prefer ministry with poor people. They have my heart.” The
Bishop replied, “Bob, rich people need pastors, too.” Bob retired from
Fancy-Schmancy Church after 25 years of ministry there.
