The Pastor's Sermon - 9 September 2012 - 15th Sunday after Pentecost

Disclaimer: At the request of a few of the congregation, I’m ‘publishing’ the text of my sermon ‘as written.’ I cannot guarantee that I will deliver the sermon ‘as written.’

• ...a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him
• Each of the four Gospels of the New Testament are unique, even though they tell the same story.
• Mark's Gospel holds a particular place for me, and not because it is the shortest of the four. It is held to be the first Gospel written down and it carries certain details that are not found in the other three Gospels. Mark shows both a very human Jesus and a very powerful Messiah in one person
• It is exactly one of these details that is at issue today. We hear of Jesus going of the to the district of Tyre, a rather famous city in southern Lebanon. In this Gentile area, where he is a foreigner, Jesus seems to be seeking some peace and quiet, a retreat as it were from all the constant demands he's come to know in his ministry. Here among a people who do not share his heritage or his religion, he will be away from what has become an overly busy time dealing with those who were needy or who saw themselves as needy as well as controversial situations, such as the issues of purity and defilement we heard of in last week's Gospel reading. Here, among Gentiles who would be indifferent to a Jewish prophet and controversies over the Law of Moses, he could get a little rest and have a little time to think. (In Mark's Gospel, Jesus moves almost breathlessly from one action to another. One of Mark's favourite words is “immediately”, which is used even in today's reading.)
• No such luck in finding peace and quiet. Jesus is recognized even though he did not want anyone to know he was there. A woman of the area very quickly brought her concerns to Jesus. She had a little daughter in the grip of an unclean spirit and she came to beg Jesus to cast the demon out. No matter what we may think of the idea or possibility of demonic possession, something is wrong here. Now lots more goes wrong. The woman bows down at Jesus' feet, which would be insulting for people of that time and place – a woman would not address a strange man directly, let alone bow down before him. Beyond this, the woman is not Jewish, but is a Greek-speaking Syrophoenician. Jesus has already healed a non-Jew in Mark's Gospel – the Geresene demoniac who was living in the cemetery and whose possessing demons were cast out into a herd of swine. This, however, was different; the woman has come forward with a request.
• And Jesus does not treat her very kindly. 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."
• This passage has been controversial in the history of Scriptural studies and interpretation. Some authors have said this is Jesus way of testing the woman to see if she is sincere or just a seeker of experiences or healings, a person without faith in Jesus. Others have said that it is evidence of Jesus' own cultural background, that is, the fact that he is a Jew and Jews of the time looked down on Gentiles of all types as a general rule, and called them “dogs”, an animal considered unclean and an animal to be shunned. Western society sees dogs differently, so it's rather jarring to us to understand what Jesus said in the context of his own time and culture. There are some commentators who have gone so far as to say that Jesus is showing his own prejudices here. (I'll leave others to debate that.)
• The woman responds with wit and faith, seemingly without anger in the face of what might be considered unkind words. She repeats her request in a fairly poetic way: "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." ... and she receives assurance that what she asks is already done.
• No matter what we may think of this passage or it's various interpretations, there are two things we can take from the passage.
• First, we see quite clearly that Jesus the Messiah is fully human. This is something we often forget in our desire to know him as divine. The ancient teaching of the Christian Church holds that Jesus is both human and divine, without one taking away anything from the other. He surely lived as a man of his time and his own culture. We have to remember that when we read and meditate on these passages.
• Second, whatever the disciples thought, whatever the people around him thought, whatever may or may not have been in his own mind when first coming face to face with this foreign woman, in the end Jesus shows that he is everyone’s Savior by healing this woman’s daughter right there on the spot.
• What began as an apparent story of exclusion and separation becomes a story of unexpected grace for everyone involved. No matter what a person's situation, origin, background, or need, God shows concern through Jesus Christ and through Jesus' disciples.
• I could have preached on the letter of James and I might another time, but the conclusion there would lead us here. We are saved by grace and we are to live out our lives in grace, and in being messengers and agents of grace as disciples of Christ. Faith is seen in our actions and the actions of others build up our faith. In grace, we can ask for what we need and our ever generous God will not disappoint us.
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