josephholubsermons


 

August 16, 2009  -  Pentecost 11
Mark 7:24-30

The Offense of Grace!

"...it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." Mark 7:27

Did you catch that?  Holy cow!  What is this all about?  This story of Jesus and Syrophoencian woman, last time I checked, hadn't made it on the list of the Top Ten Biblical Stories featured in Sunday School curriculum.  This story blows out of the water the portrayal of Jesus as sweet, domesticated and nice.   Historically this story has not been on my personal top ten list of favorite Jesus stories, and I dare say probably not on yours.  But you know, it’s been moving up my list in recent years, and I will  share with you why that is so.   

A Gentile woman of Syrophoenician origin comes to Jesus.  Matthew, in his gospel, refers to her as a Canaanite. The point is she was a non-Jew, a Gentile, and the Jews and Canaanites were ancient and bitter enemies - deep and profound animosity existed between them.  She was an outsider, religiously and ethnically.  But even so, this woman dared seek Jesus out and pursued him even into the very house into which he had retreated in order to get a break from the crowds.  She barged in, violated custom by addressing a man directly, and one with religious status at that to make matters even worse.  She had apparently heard that Jesus was a healer, and she needed a healer, for she had a daughter with an unclean spirit, which could have meant any number of things.  She was desperate, and she thought perhaps Jesus could help, so much so that she pursued him, found him, came to him and took a humble posture before him, and begged him to help her daughter.

The Jesus with whom we are most familiar is the Jesus of compassion and mercy, the Jesus from whose lips came teachings like, "Love your neighbor as yourself."  "If you do it to the least of these... you do it to me."   So, when this woman cries out for help, we expect a response of compassion and sensitivity.  Perhaps a polite, "Yes, my daughter, what can I do for you?"  So much for that idea!  This time Jesus seemingly was not so nice.

Make no mistake about it, Jesus calls this woman and her daughter "dogs."  "Dogs" in that time and culture was a racial slur.  They called the Gentiles "dogs," and they didn't mean sweet domesticated animals like our well-loved, well-tended, well groomed, well fed pets.  But rather they meant diseased and garbage-eating mongrels. It was a prejudice that ran deep; a prejudice that was passed on from one generation to the next; a deeply embedded and deeply ingrained prejudice..    

This is clearly not the Jesus we thought we knew, treating another in such a condescending and dehumanizing manner.

Even so, this woman apparently was not deterred in her mission, but she deftly responds, "Sir,  even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."  Responding to her quick-witted remark, Jesus agrees to help her daughter, and immediately the daughter is healed.  Matthew's version has Jesus  saying, "Woman, great is your faith!"

So what do we do with this rather abrasive story?  What do we do when Jesus does not behave as we expect?  

Theologians and biblical scholars disagree on whether or not these words can be traced back to the actual words of Jesus.  Some scholars say that they are not Jesus' words but a story that emerged in Mark's community several decades after Jesus.  I think that is a distinct possibility, even likely.  But either way, whether they are Jesus' words or a story that emerged from the community, the important question is what does the story mean?  What is Mark saying about his community’s experience of Jesus by including this raw story in his gospel?  What is the message?  What is the purpose?  What does it mean? 

Many have tried to soften and rationalize Jesus' words, making excuses for Jesus saying he was stressed from traveling so far and speaking to the  crowds. Or, some say he was just trying to get away for some quiet time and this woman interrupted.  Or that Jesus was testing the woman's faith in some way. Or that Jesus didn't mean "dog" in the pejorative sense, but more like "puppy."  But I don't buy any of that. Let's not change the story, for if we do we just might miss the real power and the cutting truth of this story. 

I don't know about you, but this story upsets and offends me!  But you know what? Just maybe that's the key to understanding the whole story – the offense.   Maybe that's Mark's point in telling it the way it is told.  Perhaps the key to the story lies in the offense of the story.  But which offense and who is offended?  You see, there is more than one! 

First of all, our domesticated and rather polite sensibilities might be offended, but if you were a typical first century Israelite, you would not have been offended at all by Jesus' words.  He simply mirrored what was culturally and religiously acceptable. The story shows Jesus acting, doing, and speaking just like the Israelites would have expected him to act, do and speak.  His racial slur would have been hardly noticed as a slur, but as an accepted designation, just like when I was a kid and the white Scandinavians with whom I grew up had an assortment of racial slurs for everyone: Italians, African Americans, Asians, Latinos, Native Americans – and nobody thought much about it.    

What would have offended and appalled the first century Israelite would have been if Jesus did show mercy to this Gentile woman, did heal her daughter, and did commend her for her great faith, because as an outsider she had no legitimate claim whatsoever, as far as they were concerned, upon Jesus.   That would have been offensive!   And that's exactly what Jesus did. He offended the in-crowd by ultimately affirming someone on the outside. Those who are offended the most by this story are not you and me; not the Gentile woman; but the religious insider of Jesus day.

This is a dangerous and subversive story - for the Israelites of Jesus' day - and for we who name ourselves followers of Jesus in our day. The stakes are very high!  This pleading woman was asking Jesus for a great deal by their definitions!  She was asking for far more than merely the healing of her daughter. She was asking Jesus to bestow upon her gifts that were, according to their religion and culture,  not by right hers to have or claim.  

I will use a contemporary analogy. The attitude projected in this story toward the woman is somewhat analogous to the attitude by some towards undocumented workers who live within our borders and who use resources supported by our tax dollars.  Some intensely and passionately say, "They have no legitimate claim on the stuff that rightly belongs to American citizens!"   Perhaps that analogy just might help us understand how those first century Israelites might have felt in response to Jesus bestowing grace upon this woman – a Gentile – an outsider - a "dog."  

You see, the stakes were so very high, for if Jesus were to grant the request of this one Gentile woman, the implications of his action would forever change the meaning of their religion; the direction their religion was leading them; the destinations their religion would ultimately take them!

It is right here with the grace shown to this outsider that the real offense lies.  I believe this story was remembered and recorded by Mark’s early faith community - first for the insiders - the insiders of the house of Israel;  the insiders of Mark's community of faith; and the insiders of today, you and me!

This is a very clever story, skillfully and subtly presented by Mark.  The story portrays Jesus beginning this encounter in a place that was acceptable to the insiders, mirroring and mimicking exactly the conventional religiously and culturally legitimated prejudices of the time.  But then, in one brief moment of frozen time, he turned the whole thing around and offended those same insiders who just moments before were cheering him on!   What a story!  What an offense! What an offensive story - the offense of grace - and with the offense of grace comes a monumental challenge, an invitation, and the possibility of transformation. 

Jesus turns the tables on us insiders with the offense of grace. He shocks the living daylights out of us by demonstrating that God is active and present in and with outsiders too - not just us. It's a tough pill to swallow folks – for it is offensive - the offense of grace.

Who are the outsiders to you? to me?  to us?  Muslims?  Undocumented workers?  The family who comes to the church door begging?  Our gay and lesbian friends? The visitor who's a little different in some way? The teenager with pink hair and a nose ring?  Those dying of malnutrition and AIDS in Africa and elsewhere?  The homeless on our streets? The alcoholic?  The disabled?  Who are the outsiders?  Who are those that are, somehow and someway,  outside of the lines we draw; objects of our disdain and prejudice or just flat out ignore?

Robert Capon, contemporary pastor, theologian and author knocks us over with this quote:

"What happened to radical Christianity--the un-nice brand of Christianity that turned the world upside down?  What happened to the category smashing, life threatening, anti-institutional gospel that spread through the first century like wildfire and was considered by the insiders to be dangerous?  What happened to the kind of Christians whose hearts were on fire with radical and inclusive grace... who made the power structures of the world uncomfortable and squirm; who were willing to follow Jesus wherever and to whomever he went?   What happened to the kind of Christians who were filled with passion and whom every single day were unable to get over the grace of God?  What happened?  I'm ready for a Christianity that 'ruins' my life, captures my heart and makes me uncomfortable.  I want to be filled with astonishment which is so captivating that I am considered wild and unpredictable and dangerous!   Yes, I want to be 'dangerous' to a dull, boring, exclusive and judgmental religion.  I want a faith that is considered 'dangerous' by our predictable and monotonous culture. What happened?"

What happened is... it’s easy to domesticate Jesus to make him look more like us - than we like him, especially when Jesus asks too much or challenges us to change our insider, condescending attitudes.

What happened is… it is easy to delude ourselves and  mistake the gospel life for a life of strict and narrow morality rather than embracing others with the wild and passionate grace of God!

What happened is… it’s easy to become pre-occupied with our own self-righteousness and the faults of others rather than be astonished by God's unconditional love.

What happened is… it’s easy to be blinded by our insulating walls to see God at work on the outside of our walls.

What happened is…  we forget that grace is offensive to a world that bears the wounds and scars of prejudice. 

For the sake of Jesus and gospel we need to remember that and start living offensively with grace.