Sermon for Sunday Aug. 17: No One Left Behind

Matthew 15: 21-28 Rev. Shannon Mang

Is Jesus a racist?

This is one of the most uncomfortable stories for me in the Gospels because of the way Jesus responds to the pleas of the Canaanite woman. Jesus has just finished telling the Pharisees that they are over concerned about whether hands are washed or unwashed for eating food; Jesus says that what is most important is not the how’s and whys of what goes into a person’s mouth, but what comes out of a person’s mouth, because what comes out of a person’s mouth indicates the state of that person’s heart.

Jesus and his disciples need a rest so they leave Jewish territory and enter the area of Tyre and Sidon where they will encounter unclean Gentiles. This woman has heard of Jesus and she comes to beg this Jewish healer to come and heal her daughter who is possessed by a demon. First of all, Jesus rudely ignores her. When his disciples get so annoyed with her screaming, they ask Jesus to send her away, he says that “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” drawing a clear boundary around who he will and will not heal. She persists and gets close enough to Jesus to ask him “Lord, help me!”- this is the exact phrase that Peter used in our story last week when he was walking on the water in the midst of the storm towards Jesus and he lost his focus and began to sink-“Lord, help me!”. And to the woman’s face he insults her- “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

This was just as significant an insult then as it would be now. In fact, it was likely considerably more insulting in Jesus’ time. Jews looked down their noses at their Canaanite and Samaritan neighbours seeing them as mongrels- half-breeds- unclean and uncouth. Jesus tells this woman that she is not worthy to get what God has sent in Jesus to the Jews- she and her daughter are not worthy of his healing. This coming immediately after Jesus tells the Pharisees that they should be more worried about what comes out of a person’s mouth rather than what goes into it… we are seeing something uncomfortable about what lies in Jesus’ heart… he is expressing his own racism towards this woman—the racism common of his people, the Jews against her people- the Canaanites.

This woman does not take the verbal abuse and slink away, nor does she insult him in the manner in which he has insulted her. With grace and courage she challenges his racist slur saying- “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” She is saying that she might be dog in the eyes of the Jews, but are there not scraps of God’s abundance for the dogs who come to the table of the Jewish God. She was not likely at the scene of the feeding of the 5000 but she certainly heard about Jesus’ reputation and she came expecting that he could and would heal her daughter. She would take his insult and be called a dog, but as a mother desperate to help her daughter, she clearly showed both Jesus and his disciples that she “got” the message of God’s abundance better than those who witnessed the miracle of thousands being fed.

Her challenge changes Jesus. He says, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” This is more like the Jesus I’m used to… he has turned the tables, only this time the tables are turned on him first. Jesus’ racism has been challenged by a courageous and articulate woman. Despite the fact the she is an unclean Canaanite, and she is an unclean woman, and her suffering daughter would be considered less than dirt by the Jews, Jesus’ has his heart challenged and changed by this mother. He says that she has great faith- the direct opposite of what he said to Peter- the exemplary disciple when his faith faltered as he attempted to walk on stormy waters. The Canaanite woman’s faith is greater than Peter’s, and by her faith, her daughter is healed.

We’re going to take a few minutes to work at making this story real for us. We’re going to go into a neighbour nudge time to discuss some questions. I’d like you to group yourselves in 2’s or 3’s, if you are a group of 4 or more I like you to split so everyone has a chance to talk.

I’d like you to first consider where our own prejudices lie- in your heart of hearts, is there a group of people that you really never want to hang out with- to the degree that you are comfortable talking about this, I’d like you to share with your partner or partners who this group is. As you are considering this, I’ll start by sharing….

…. I would not like to hang out with people who bully others. I do not immediately respond with compassion to school-yard bullies; or work-place bullies; or abusive husbands and fathers who terrorize their families. So, if I had to choose one particular group, I guess I choose that latter- men who are husbands and fathers who bully their families. I know that both women and men are equally capable of being abusive, but in my heart, I would have to admit to being prejudicially sexist in this attitude. You’ve heard my confession… to the degree that you are comfortable—please share who you would not want to hang out with… and know that it is perfectly alright to say that you rather pass on this. I’ll give you 3 or 4 minutes to chat.

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The next question that I’d like you consider is actually a scenario- imagine yourself in situation where Jesus and the disciples are present along with someone who represents this group of people you really don’t want to hang out with- and this person asks for Jesus’ help. Jesus responds to this request saying that this person doesn’t deserve his consideration. How does this make you feel?

You have about 1 minute to respond.

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Carrying on with this scenario- imagine the person coming back at Jesus challenging his insult- but not insulting him back. How does it feel to have this person challenge Jesus to practise what he preaches?

About another minute to respond.

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For our last conversation, I want each of us to get inside the skin of the person we have admitted prejudice towards. What would it be like to see the world from inside their skin? What would it be like to encounter Jesus and asking him for help, only to have him insult us? What would it feel like to stand up and challenge Jesus’ insult from inside that person’s skin? And finally, what would it feel like to have Jesus’ change his mind and say the we are a person of great faith?

I’ll tell you when we have had about 3 minutes.

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I still don’t like abusive men, but I am challenged hate the behaviour and love the ones who resort to abuse- love them with a tough love to help them take responsibility for their behaviour and to heal themselves and those who have suffered from their abuse.

There is a significant difference between us and the first listeners of the Gospel of Matthew. Most of the community that this Gospel is written to were Jewish Christians. The fact that this story is imbedded right in the middle of the chapters that are leading up to the turning point of the story indicates that the issue of whether or not Gentiles should be included in the circle of those who followed in the Way of Jesus was not just a passing problem, it was a burning problem. It struck to the heart of how this community of believers understood itself. It challenged very deeply held beliefs about who was in and who was outside the circle of care. This story powerfully demonstrated that the Gentiles were in. And, not only were they in- those who were the lowest of the low- even a Gentile- even a woman – even someone who stood up to Jesus was the one with ‘great faith’- more faith than Peter. The difference between the community of Matthew and us, is that we are the Canaanite woman. We are the Gentiles. We have enjoyed 2000 years of adopted privilege- this woman is our Gentile, Christian grand-mother.

Take the experience of having entered into the skin of the person you are prejudiced against- and let that encounter with Jesus change your heart. Then- let all of our changed hearts change a world that is in desperate need of “scraps from the Master’s table”

May it be so!