35th Sunday after Pentecost

Title

Separation and Unity

Outline

Have you noticed how people tend to separate into isolated groups

They are not isolated in the sense that they have no desire to control people and situations outside the group

But they are isolated in that the talk about in-group issues with in-group rhetoric and want neither control nor influence from outside the group

Ecclesial communities often function in this way, as may racial groups, political organizations, and clubs.

There is a truth and an idolatry in such behavior

The truth is that watering down the true, the good, and the beautiful gets one involved in the idolatry of the age

We are, as Paul says, “the temple of the living God” with one supreme and sovereign God who embodies the good, the true, and the beautiful

It is easy for our looking for “seeds of the word” is all of human culture or looking for the handprints of God in the world he created to get us worshipping such things and slipping away from our center or mixing what does not mix.

Paul faced that issue in 1 Cor 8 - 10 in which he argues that eating the meat from sacrifices can be good in some situations, but going to a meal in a pagan temple was not appropriate. In 1 Cor 6 he does something of the same with both legal disputes and sexuality

If there is no boundary, no separate standards and behavior, the group gradually merges into the the surrounding culture.

The loss of clarity and appropriate distinctions is not good for either the culture we are supposed to serve or the Christian community

And yet there is no boundary to love, to seeking the good of others, so it is an idolatry to ignore the needs around us

Jesus had a clear mission: as Messiah he was to gather the tribes of Israel.

A mission to the gentiles would come later, but first he was to create the renewed Israel into which the gentiles would be gathered.

We find him having made a strategic retreat into the former-Phoenician lands, for Herod was taking too much interest in him. He is therefore trying to be quiet.

A Canaanite woman recognizes him and calles to him for help, showing faith in his Messianic mission: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon.”

Jesus knows his mission (“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”) but the woman is understandably persistent, so he makes a diagnostic response: “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Herod taxed the agriculture of Galilee to purchase the better technologies and goods of the Phoenician coast, much as Solomon had done centuries earlier. Was this woman asserting a right to the benefits of the mission to Israel?

“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Yes, but you are my master as well; yes but there is more than enough in the mission to Israel that is your priority. Yes, but the nations (dogs) are already coming under the table, catching the scraps now. This was indeed great trust in Jesus.

Jesus know that love, when the mission one is entrusted by God is kept central, knows no boundaries. This woman knows both that he is the Messiah of Israel and also her place in the Theodrama and therefore trusts in that overflowing love

Brothers and sisters, keep this balance in mind

Know your calling and know your boundaries - but also know the call of love

If we can keep these straight, we will be able to fulfill our mission without falling into the idolatries of the age around us and without neglecting love due to self-protection.

Readings

Byzantine Lectionary (Revised Julian) 10-17-2021: Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council

EPISTLE

2 Corinthians 6:16–7:1

16  What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will live in them and move among them,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

17  Therefore come out from them,

and be separate from them, says the Lord,

and touch nothing unclean;

then I will welcome you,

18  And I will be a father to you,

and you shall be my sons and daughters,

says the Lord Almighty.”

7 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.

Byzantine Lectionary (Revised Julian) 2-14-2021: Thirty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

GOSPEL

Option A

(17th Sunday, Greek)

Matthew 15:21–28

21  And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying after us.” 24  He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25  But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28  Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Notes

Byzantine Lectionary (Revised Julian) (1-23-2022: Thirty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2022 | OCTOECHOS THIRTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Byzantine Lectionary (Revised Julian) 2-14-2021: Thirty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Matins Gospel Mark 16:9–20

Epistle 2 Corinthians 6:16–7:1 (17th Sunday, Greek) or 1 Timothy 4:9–15 (32nd Sunday, Slavic)

Gospel Matthew 15:21–28 (17th Sunday, Greek) or Luke 19:1–10 (32nd Sunday, Slavic)