The Slur

Invocation:

Dear Lord, thank you for this time in which we can find the comfort of the presence of our friends beside us as together we worship and praise your holy name. Thank you for making this gathering possible in this way through the technology you have made available through the human minds who built it. Be with us in this place, and hear the meditations of our hearts, and the prayers on our lips. Gift us with your Spirit, dear God, and open our ears to hear your voice and your message. We pray to you always in the name of the one who taught us to pray…Our Father, who art in heaven....

The Slur

When I look at the lectionary each week for guidance on scripture lessons to consider for the message on Sunday, I have about four to six different passages I can consider. And when I looked through the list for this week, I saw one that made me kind of wince. It is the scripture from Mark’s gospel. Some scriptures are easier to deal with than others, and today’s message that I chose to address is one of those that, at least for me, has always been a difficult passage to get close to. It shines a different light on Jesus than what we are used to seeing, and it can be somewhat disconcerting. Jesus is supposed to be kind to all, always loving in what he says and does, and always wins his arguments with those who attack him for what he is doing, by showing them the error of their ways, or their words. We have the idea that Jesus always knew what he was doing, every step of the way, that he never mis-stepped, or misspoke, or mistreated anyone. But, today’s scripture lesson brings all of that into question, and we are left to wonder what to make of it.

From Mark 7:24-37, we read two healing stories that seem to be disconnected in the physical distance and settings separating them, and in the message that they convey. But, a closer reading may reveal a connection between the two stories that may not be evident at first glance.

The New Revised Standard Version The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” 30 So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Jesus Cures a Deaf Man

(Mt 15:29–31)

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Jesus had just had a recent spat with the Pharisees that we read about last week, when they questioned the actions of the disciples of not washing their hands before eating, and he told them that there are no unclean foods, and no unclean people. That it is what is in our hearts that can purify, glorify God, or defile us. It was probably an exhausting experience for Jesus and his disciples. He was being pressured from all sides; his own disciples could be pretty obtuse, or slow on the uptake, and slow to understand, and he likely needed a break. So, he and the disciples went north and west about 40 to 50 miles to the region of Tyre on the Mediterranean Sea in Syrian Phoenicia, today’s modern Lebanon. This area was known for its Greek Gentile orientation, pagan worship, and a strong distaste for Jewish people and their culture. We don’t know about the house where Jesus went to. It could possibly have been the house of Jews that he, or perhaps his disciples knew in that area, or just a rooming house like a motel or something. But, Jesus was becoming pretty well known for his healing and storied miracles, even there.

A woman from that area had a daughter who was mentally disturbed, and likely acting out. The belief in those days was that she was likely possessed by a demon. The woman was desperate. I’m sure you who are mothers can identify with her concern for her daughter, and her determination to approach someone from even the despised Jewish people after hearing of him and what he had done for others. The exchange between the woman and Jesus, has been debated as long as people have read the story. Jesus is seeking some quiet time, refuge from the controversies, and tiring confrontations, the press of the people upon him. The woman, of different culture and background, finds him, approaches him and kneels at his feet, begging him to heal her daughter. In the Matthew version of the story, at first Jesus just ignores her, saying nothing. The disciples want him to just send her away, with all her crying and whining, making a scene. Then Jesus speaks those words, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” The woman, insistent upon his help for her daughter, says, that even the dogs get the crumbs that fall from the table.

I wish I could hear, or that there was a description of Jesus’ tone of voice, or the look in his eye, or what his body language was when he addressed the woman. Because there is no getting around the fact that the words that he used were a slur on her. The Jews thought little of the Syro Phoenicians, and it was a common expression in the Jewish world of the time to call them “dogs”. Some point to the word Jesus used here as being what is called the diminutive word for ‘dog’, to mean ‘little dog’ like a house pet. Some have tried to diminish his treatment of the woman by painting Jesus here with a smile on his face , or add in a sort of ‘wink-wink’ situation, as if he is just trying her. It is possible that he may have been trying to search out her faith. But, with this woman kneeling before him, in obvious desperation, how could Jesus compound his unpleasant words by acting in a condescending way toward her? It may be more accurate, and perhaps less insulting if he is just left with his words to her.

A bit of explanation may be necessary here to at least help some in understanding what Jesus was saying. His understanding of his mission was that of sharing about the Kingdom of God first with the Jews, the chosen of Israel. And there would be time for sharing that gospel with the Gentiles in the future. Even Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, when he found himself in a new area first went to the synagogues to teach the Jews, and when rejected there, took his message to the Gentiles. So, Jesus was telling her that he was to minister to the Jews, and it was not yet his purpose to minister to the Gentiles. And the woman, persisted by saying that she was willing to receive whatever Jesus had left over in his ministry if he would just help her daughter. But, Jesus was deep in Gentile territory, to take a break, recharge from the rejection of his own people back home, and now this woman of questionable faith was begging for him to do for her what she had heard he had done in Galilee. While I don’t think Jesus barked at her by any means, I cannot just explain away his words with conjecture, and excuses.

Could this be a story of the willingness of Jesus to continue to learn about his mission? Whereas the Pharisees were more than concerned about washing their hands before they ate to uphold their morality before God, here was a woman willing to eat off the floor for Jesus’ healing of her daughter. Could Jesus have learned in this situation that his message was being received more willingly in this Gentile area than it was back home; that this woman had pointed out a shortcoming in his thinking? Could it be that the exhausted human Jesus had let show a vulnerability that all humans have to make a mistake, but that we must recognize that in ourselves, and then do the right thing? When Jesus saw her faith in him, and heard her persistence that he do for her, and her daughter, what he had been doing for others, could it be that Jesus realized that it was time to start sharing the goodness of God beyond the children of Israel?

I find a strange comfort in the thought that Jesus too may have struggled within his humanity, and the frailties of the physical, and the emotional. Who of us has not, in a moment of utter fatigue or stress, told someone to just leave us alone, or otherwise spouted some rudeness? Jesus was a “spirit person”, in that he was led by the Spirit throughout his life, and it exuded from him in his ministry and in his relationships. But he was also a human, and all that that entails. But, as a human guided by the Spirit, when his ears were opened, and he heard the woman’s persistent and faithful plea for mercy and healing, not for herself, but for one she loved, and when he saw that God’s goodness could be shared in a meaningful way, he acted in the only way he could, compassionately. He told the woman that her daughter was fine now, and that she go see for herself.

After this scene, Jesus took a long and circuitous route first north toward Sidon, then southeast around the Sea of Galilee to the area of the Decapolis, or the area of the Ten Cities, another deeply Gentile area. I sometimes wonder if this trip was a sort of sabbatical for Jesus to recharge his batteries, and refocus his ministry, and perhaps he had a chance to reflect on his experience with the Syro Phoenician woman, and that his message was being so well received by the Gentiles, in contrast with the way it was being received in Israel. The Decapolis was the same area he was in when he healed the demoniac, by sending the demons into the herd of pigs, and the people, being afraid told him to leave there. And now the same people who had run him out, brought to him a man, another Gentile, who was both deaf, and mute for Jesus to lay his hand upon him, in hopes that he could be healed. In contrast to his initial hesitancy in the previous story, Jesus wasted no time, in taking the man aside to help. What the story says Jesus did then can sound a bit strange to our modern ears and sensibilities. He put his fingers in the man’s ears. Then he spit, and touched his spittle to the man’s tongue. These were common practices in the day, and we probably don’t need to be overly focused on the techniques described. But, what we might want to see is that Jesus called on the power of God when he looked toward heaven, sighed, and said in Aramaic, “Ephphatha”, or “Be opened”. And the man was healed.

Even though Jesus told the people to not tell anyone what he had done, they were so ecstatic, and joyous that they couldn’t help but tell everyone what Jesus had done. And just as his own ears had been opened by the pleas of the woman in Phoenicia, Jesus opened the ears of the man in the Decapolis to hear the good news, and to speak of the goodness that had been done for him.

As I mentioned early in this message, the meanings of these stories, particularly the first one, will be debated as long as there are those who read them. And you may disagree with the approach I have taken in this message to understand that which is hard to understand. But, may I suggest some things for you to consider?

First, Jesus lived in his humanity just as we do everyday. Everything he experienced on earth, he experienced as a human being, albeit he was led always by the Spirit and Will of God, even to his own death on the cross. But, he lived and died as a human being.

Second, Jesus heard his own words to the Syro-Phoenician woman. I suggest he learned something that day in her pleadings. Our common understanding of the perfection of Jesus may include his perfect willingness to learn as he carried out his mission to take the good news of the Kingdom of God to the Jews, and beyond.

And third, Jesus took the lessons he learned to heart, when presented with other opportunities to share his compassion with those of other backgrounds and orientations, who wanted to share in the mercy of the God of Israel through Jesus.

And last, in our efforts to be more Christ-like, we follow the perfect example of how to be a caring and compassionate human being, learning through Christ what it means to love those unlike ourselves, that all are deserving of God’s mercy, and that our ears be opened to the pain of the world, and then do the right thing by sharing and doing what we are able to and in that way demonstrate the goodness of our God.

In the words of the old hymn, “Open my eyes that I may see, Ready my God thy will to see, Open my heart, illumine me, Spirit Divine.” Amen

Pastoral Prayer:

Our Heavenly Lord, we thank you for all that we receive from you in your abundance. We ask that you receive our offerings, made earlier into your service, and that our joy in giving be what you see in our hearts.

Lord, as we lift up the names of some of our friends and loved ones, we know that you also hear our concerns for others who need your healing touch. We ask that you bless them with your compassion and companionship, and with gifted medical teams to care for them in their time of need. In your measure, we pray that you heal their illnesses, ease the pain in their bodies and minds, and calm their spirits in moments of anxiety. You are the Great Healer, and it is you we trust. Give them strength and endurance in these times, Lord. May they feel your presence with them always.

Dear God, we pray for your mercy in the world. Mercy in war torn areas, mercy in human to human conflicts, mercy in the face of daunting violence and terrorism, abroad and at home, and mercy in our conflicted hearts and minds, as we try to make sense of all the happenings in the world, and in our nation. We are completely dependent on you, dear God. Help us to find our way to the peace that is in you.

Lord, we ask that you be with all of those in our military services who stand ready to defend those they serve. Let us always be grateful to the men and women who sign up to give all if called upon in service to their country. Dear God, if possible let that military might be used to maintain and support a peaceful existence, to use the genius of our technologies as means to a better world, a world that will no longer know war, mass destruction, a world where the dreams of those who serve are not cut short by cruelty and hate. Lord, be with the families of all those we have lost to wartime activities, and we ask that they may not have been lost in vain. Let us learn the lessons we need to to avoid and prevent further losses. These are precious lives, and we lift them up to you for your love and care.

Dear God, be with our nation’s leaders, that they may represent all those they serve. Let them remember that we are not all alike, that we do not all have the same values, nor think, or believe alike. Let them remember we are a wonderfully diverse nation where we are free to live and love as we see fit with a spirit of cooperation and responsibility to each other. Help us see those laws that may be unjust, and do what we must to see justice served to expand opportunities; economic, social, labor, educational, and political opportunities. We are a changing country, Lord. Help us to always remain a country where dreams can come true regardless of who we are, or where we came from.

Thank you, Lord, for giving us the gift of your son, Jesus. We thank you for his teaching and his example. We thank you that the stories of his life and ministry were committed to writing to pass down to succeeding generations. Let us always read your Word with discerning minds, to hear your message of love, peace, forgiveness, and everlasting life in you. Let us always be mindful of your creation, Lord, that we have been given the responsibility to care for it, and for each other. We pray that we carry out that mission in the way you would have us do, and that we always choose to walk in the footsteps of Jesus toward that more perfect world. And it is his name that we pray......Amen

Communion:

After communion:

Benediction:

May our God be your guide, may the example of Jesus be the light unto your path, and may you always have God’s peace in the coming days. Amen