From the beginning of time, human beings have shared stories. Those
stories have expressed the universal themes of life and death—love, loss, and the longing for new life. And when we enter into such questions about life and death, we quickly realize that often we are living
amidst perceptional, social, and theological boundaries. To cross these boundaries for some persons is to raise their ire, and for others to cross those boundaries
is a gift of grace.
The
gospels are clear that when Jesus crossed boundaries, the religious leaders, the crowds, and sometimes his own disciples were
not ready to go with him. And when Jesus crossed such boundaries, he allowed
the conversations to unfold, knowing that in every circumstance God could bring a teachable moment. And that is exactly what happened in the story before us today!
The
story begins innocently enough. Jesus needed some “R&R”—he
needed to get away from the crowds that always were seeking to get his attention. He also needed a time to get away with his disciples for a time of fellowship and instruction.
Therefore, he crossed a geographical and political boundary to get that time
away with his disciples. Jesus took his disciples on a 25 mile journey to this coastal town—a town predominately settled
by Gentiles.
Jesus
had gone there to get away, but his fame had spread even there. Secrets are hard
to keep in small towns, especially when such strangers have brown skin and strong Galilean accents.
This
woman found out that Jesus was in town. She was a person of financial means,
for she could afford to have beds in her house. But even her wealth could not
cure her daughter of her affliction. She had tried everything, but to no avail.
All the while, the demon within her daughter continued to devour the little girl’s
life. She loved her daughter. She would do anything for her daughter to be healthy. She
was willing to cross hazardous boundaries to help her daughter. So when she heard
that Jesus was in the village, she looked him up. We are told that “she begged him.” As a wealthy person, it was unbecoming to her to beg. But she
was willing to do anything, including begging, to help her daughter!
And
how did Jesus respond? “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair
to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs!” The words stung. They
still sting. For Jesus had told her that as a Gentile she had to get in the back
of the line. So far back, that she was not going to get any help from him.
One
of the most helpful courses that I had in my Doctor of Ministry studies at McCormick Seminary was a course taught by Dr. Hugh
Halverstadt. The course was on how to manage conflicts within the church. In teaching that course, Hugh Halverstadt had us role-play a conversation that one
might have with someone with whom one was having a conflict. In that conversation
we were to try to find a way through the conflict. All the while Hugh Halverstadt was videotaping the role-play. Afterwards, he showed us the videotape on a TV set—all the while shouting out what we were really
thinking. His comments were very revealing—we had to hear what we really
were thinking.
In a
similar way, Jesus knew that his disciples were very prejudiced against Gentiles. He
knew that they simply saw this woman as another Gentile. Jews referred to Gentiles
as “dogs”. Jesus therefore allowed his disciples to “over-hear” what they were already thinking. In such a way, he “drew” his
disciples into a “teachable moment”.
I am
told that Anthony Hopkins has the habit of not just memorizing his own lines in a script, but every line of every actor in
the script. He does this so that he will have a “feel” for the “give
and take” in the dialogue, and be able to respond intuitively.
Jesus
likewise knew the heart of this desperate mother. He knew that since she had
been willing to throw social-decorum out the window for her daughter—that she would not be stopped by his unkind remark.
He knew that her response like a volcano erupting already was welling up within
her heart. And, when she spoke she said, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs
under the table eat the children’s crumbs!”
“Yes,
we are considered dogs to you Jews. But
we are not wild dogs, but we are family pets.” We are allowed to wander
throughout the house, and even to beg for food under the table. And the children joyously drop food to us family pets from
the family’s dinner table.” Indeed, that was a God-inspired insight!
God’s truth had laid bare for all to see. The
disciples could see that God’s sustaining grace is far wider than we can even comprehend or even imagine.
Before
going to serve in Mississippi, I served as the Interim
Pastor at the New Hope Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, NC. We lived in the manse next door to the church, and at the entrance to
Camp New Hope. It was a very isolated location at night. We had not lived there very long, when about 9 pm on a Friday night
we heard a knock on the door. Not knowing who was there, I looked out the window
and saw a teenage boy and girl standing at the door. They appeared upset. I opened the door, and asked how I could help them.
The
girl spoke up, and she told me that her uncle had once belonged to that church, and that he had died. Her family wanted me to come and “perform Last Rights” for him.
I knew that I had not met that family before. I also knew from her request
that they had not been active in that church for a long, long time. Most of all,
I knew that they were hurting. They had come to the church seeking God’s
sustenance in the midst of their pain. I had on blue jeans, and therefore I told
her that I was going to change clothes and would be there shortly.
I then
called one of the ruling elders in the church to ask him about what he could tell me about the family, and how to get to their
house. The ruling elder, said that he knew the family within the community. The elder volunteered to go with me to visit the family. A few minutes later he arrived at the manse, and we drove off down a country road to the home. We then turned off the main road, and then drove about a quarter- mile through the woods down a narrow
one lane dirt road. Finally, we saw the house, a double-wide trailer neatly
tucked away in a clearing. It was his sister’s home. She had taken her brother in when he had gotten really sick. It
had been in his sister’s home where he finally had died. A hearse was parked out front, and two family members were out-front waiting for us to arrive.
We entered
the home and talked with the sister and her children for a few minutes in the living room.
I learned that the man, who looked far older than his age—he had suffered for years from a drug and alcohol addiction,
complicated by his mental illness. Finally, a cancer had ended his painful life.
Then
I asked her where her dead brother’s body was. She said that he was in
the back bedroom. The Ruling Elder and I then went in there with her and her
children. The deceased man had been laid out on the double-bed, lovingly dressed
in his street-clothes as if he were being prepared for taking a journey. The
sister had placed two small pictures of Jesus on his chest. Standing there all
about the bed, I read from the scriptures about the resurrection-promise. We
then all joined hands and prayed. Three days later I conducted his funeral in
the church’s sanctuary, and he was buried in the church’s cemetery.
That
evening, that Ruling Elder and I were blessed. We were blessed in seeing how
God’s love had been manifested through the love of a sister and her children. We also saw that when life and death had
overwhelmed them, they knew that as members of God’s family (the Church), God would provide them the strength to endure.
And God did!
Today
we celebrate the two central symbols of the Christian faith—Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Through these two symbols that Jesus gave us, we declare whose we are and what we are to be about. In Baptism
we declare that we are not in the Church because we have earned our place. Rather,
we are those who have been immersed in God’s love, and claimed as members of God’s family.
And,
as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper— we pull up a chair to the family table—and there we eat and drink with
the Lord Jesus and all the saints in Heaven. And we are to be about inviting
others to dine at Christ’s Table.
Thanks be to God!
Amen
