Enough for Everyone

Text: Matthew 15:21-28

Today’s story is one of the most troubling narratives in the Bible. The Jesus in these passages does not sound like the inclusive Jesus we may think we know. He pretends he hasn’t heard a woman crying out for help. His silence hurts, because it gives permission to those around the woman to continue to ignore her presence. The embarrassed disciples try to find a solution, saying: “Send her away.” Jesus replies: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” When faced with the woman’s urgent need, Jesus chose to reaffirm his mission statement. When the Centurion, who was also a Gentile, appealed to Jesus on behalf of his servant, Jesus listened and granted his wish right away. So, what’s stopping Jesus from helping this Gentile? Is it because she is a woman and without power? Even if we accept the fact that Jesus wasn’t entirely free from the I ultural boundaries of his time and place, it hurts to see the double standard based on gender and power. However, the woman is determined; she comes and kneels before him, saying “Lord, help me.” Jesus answers, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” He is calling his people children and the mother and her child dogs - a derogatory name his fellow citizens routinely gave to Gentiles. What comes out of the woman’s mouth next changes everything: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” She claims God’s mercy even if it’s like a crumb that no one wants. If the story ended here, we may end up pointing our finger at Jesus and the disciples for failing to include her in their circle, as though we are free from any assumptions we make. The story, however, is not just meant to disillusion us with the Jesus we didn’t know existed. It’s also meant to challenge our own faith. Notice it’s the woman’s faith that is affirmed; Jesus says: “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” Rather than valuing what we consider good Christian qualities in our time, especially in the United Church, such as kindness, decency, warmth, self-control and working hard, the great faith Jesus commends here is rather noisy, annoying, impolite and very demanding. What is it that makes the woman’s faith great? It has nothing to do with her religiosity - what doctrines she believes in, what rules she follows, what rituals she practices, or what organization she belongs to. Instead, it has a lot to do with her perseverance; she has a single purpose – to save another’s life at the risk of crossing social boundaries and breaking cultural norms. Her power does not depend on how the world sees her or treats her; it comes from deep within based on her experiences as the triple outsider on account of her gender, ethnicity, and family situation. The very reason she is excluded, ironically, makes her believe that God’s mercy is for everyone. Her socioeconomic status helps her see better than anybody else in the crowd, including Jesus and the disciples. I once participated in a privilege walk with a dozen students at The Centre for Christian Studies. The activity is designed to get participants to reflect on the power imbalance based on different degrees of privilege. Statements were read by the facilitator and the participants were asked to take a step forward or backward based on their responses. At the end of the exercise we were asked to notice where we stood. We were spread out in the classroom. One particular student was at the very front, followed by less privileged people, one after another, along the invisible line of privilege, like we were in a race. I found myself in the middle of the race, wondering in what direction my heart was inclined – to the front, the back, or the middle. What we could see depended on where we stood - those who were at the back could see the whole picture, whereas the person at the very front could only see what little of the room was left in front of him. The farther we went, the less we could see. In the story, it is the woman, because she is marginalized, who is able to see the whole picture and believes God’s grace and mercy is for everyone. Though the crowd ignores her presence, the disciples try to send her away, and even Jesus refuses to help her, she is the one they desperately need in order to be a truly inclusive and caring community for all. In our present situation, we must find a way to be a community of faith while keeping a safe distance. We must stay attentive to what the Spirit is saying to the church, and follow what God is already doing in the world. Our faith is needed more than ever before, though the kind of faith the pandemic requires of us is not so much our old ways of doing church as it is looking at the bigger picture with a simple yet profound truth that God’s mercy is for everyone. We all have a shared responsibility – to save lives; everything we do and say becomes our way to achieve that goal. Whether we keep the doors closed or plan to reopen, we do it as a spiritual practice, to love others as ourselves. If Jesus learned from the woman how to be inclusive and caring, so must we.