Sermon: August 20th – Matthew 15:21-28 Pr. Janine Goodrich
One of the interesting things that happens when you follow the lectionary…the assigned readings for each Sunday, that are set in rotation every 3 years… is that sometimes it happens that the texts are uncomfortably sharp in the context of current events. So much so that pastors are apt to be accused of hand-picking the scriptures to suit their political biases. I can tell you that more than one pastor heard it from their people early this spring…when in the midst of national conversation about immigration and refugees… week after week, the scriptures just wouldn’t quit talking about caring for the refugees, the aliens, the outsiders in your midst. It seems that God’s Word has an uncomfortable way of reminding us that God really has no interest in our national borders or security or wealth or who belongs or who doesn’t. God just cares how we treat our neighbors. Well that was then…and this is now.
This week, after listening to a crowd of white people in Charlottesville chant “One people, one nation…end immigration”…our lectionary gives us scriptures from Isaiah that remind us that any house of God’s is a house for all people…that God gathers the outcasts to himself…and many, many more besides them. In contrast to those who try to tell us differently, this morning we are reminded that God’s people are never limited to one people…one nation…or even one faith. And after hearing that same crowd chant that “Jews will not replace us”, our lectionary has Paul speaking very clearly this morning in the book of Romans that God has NOT rejected his Jewish people… they are God’s chosen ones still and receive mercy just as Christians do. And just a week after a rally that proudly advocated White supremacy and White nationalism …our gospel is about a persistent Canaanite woman who reminds Jesus that just because his Jewish community thinks they’re so much better …so much more “human”…than the Gentile “dogs”….(basically, the same claims that white nationalists make in reference to black and brown and red lives)….that doesn’t make it so. Jesus’ Jewish community may have been taught to assume they mattered more to God…but she insists that she’s still included in God’s household. And she is just as entitled to God’s grace. Basically, Jesus gets schooled in our Gospel this morning. And so do we.
Yes, by random chance this Sunday, we have three Scriptures assigned that really couldn’t speak any more directly to a that voice of ugly racism and hate that persists in America… generation after generation…just as it persists throughout the world…millennium after millennium. In every corner of the world we witness the ugliness of our deep human desire to insist that we matter more than others…and to use whatever power we have at our disposal to preserve that privilege.
In preparing to go to Haiti, I read a book by Dr. Paul Farmer, a physician who has committed his life to serving folks in Haiti and other poverty stricken nations through the organization he founded called “Partners in Health” . One of his foundational statements is that “The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world.” I don’t know if the truth can be stated more simply. In God’s eyes…every person is precious…just like we learned when we were little. “Jesus loves the little children…all the children of the world…”
Yet, over and over again…we lose sight of that truth. I think we just become so comfortable in our own little bubbles, surrounded by our familiar language and familiar communities, and familiar stories and familiar backgrounds and familiar music and familiar accents and familiar homes and familiar values…that we think that’s the way the world’s supposed to be. Like us. And we get nervous and feel threatened when the unfamiliar creeps in. When suddenly there are all sorts of people around us whose stories are so different than ours….whose ways of dressing or talking are strange to us. We get nervous…and then, all too easily that nervousness turns to fear. And fear turns to hate. And dear friends, fear and hate…are our greatest enemies. They stand fully in opposition to God’s grace. God’s love. God’s presence in our midst. They cause us to miss God’s presence IN our neighbors…for God is there…among those whose stories we do not know.
So what do we do, then…to stop the hate and the fear? Well, probably the most important thing we can do is begin to learn each other’s stories. Pay attention to each other…appreciate each other….see each other…with an eye to see what God sees — the marvelous breadth and variety and beauty of God’s people of ALL kinds. And to tune our ears to hear the pain and hurt and fears that others feel. Noticing people. Paying attention to their stories, not to criticize…but to understand.
Some people say that it would have been better if people would have just ignored the rally in Charlottesville…been silent. But silence in the face of hate…does nothing. The hate goes unchecked…and grows. It’s like saying it doesn’t matter. That it doesn’t really hurt people. It’s just a little thing. History tells us that hate unchecked…is never a little thing. It can grow like cancer. And let’s be clear…the Bible isn’t big on ignoring injustice and evil. And then there are others who say we need to fight hate like a war…with hate in response to hate and violence in response to violence. And of course…we all know how well that works. We saw some of that ugliness in Charlottesville. We see it in every act of terrorism. We see it in wars and unending cycles of violence throughout the world. Throughout History. Sure, somebody might declare victory by destroying the other…but adding hate to hate only feeds the fire and makes it worse over time…the violence and ugliness grow. That’s why the Bible tells us to love our enemies. To let love cast out fear. As Rev. Martin Luther King said…Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
So we need to say something…we need to do something…in the face of hate…but what? The truth is that most of the counter-protesters in Charlottesville were simply there to say…this is not okay. Most were local people like Heather Heyer…saying this is not who we are in Charlottesville. Many were church members and pastors from all denominations saying this is not who we are Christians. They were young and they were old and they just wanted to say …this isn’t who we are …and your message of intolerance and hate does not describe the world we want to live in. We want a world where people of all colors…where people from all backgrounds….where people of all nations and languages and religions….matter. And that…that, I think, is how we speak God’s word in the face of hate and fear. We bear witness to the voice of our scriptures this morning. Yes…God loves Christians…but God still loves the Jews just as much. Yes God loves the Jews…but God loves the Canaanites just as much. God’s house…is as big as creation…and it is a holy house of prayer for ALL people.
This week we were out a lake near Curlew…a small lake with a swampy area at one end. I tweaked my calf muscle and ended up sitting there for about a half an hour. The longer I sat…the more I saw. Loons calling….families of ducks feeding and sunning themselves on the logs. Minnows swarming in the shallows and water bugs skating on the surface. Dragonflies –large luminescent turquoise ones, and small feather-like ones darting all around. Squirrels and chipmunks chasing each other through the brush and up the trees. Tiny orange moths clustered on every purple thistle flower…and larger lone butterflies fluttering nearby. Fish jumping. A kingfisher diving for his lunch. Thistles reseeding themselves with floating parachutes. So much life. So much beauty. So much diversity….in this one tiny corner of creation. This is the world that God makes. Overflowing with more life than we can ever take in…than we will ever see or understand. And it is holy. It is a holy house of prayer…truly….for all people…int their diversity.. May we notice and appreciate all that God has made…and all the people that God has made. Truly we are all children of God. May we love…with the love of our creator. And when we are tempted to fear…to hate….may we be drawn once again to the Word…the Word of God that is the foundation of Creation…the Word of God that speaks through the prophets…through Isaiah…the Word of God made flesh in Jesus Christ, who makes room for the Caananite woman in the circle of Grace. May we listen to the Word once again…that speaks to our lives…and calls us to love. Amen.
Rebecca Morey says
Sermons speaks volumes hard to digest in a moment but what God really does, is open our eyes to a light we sometimes dismiss. Good and evil are out there, but when our Faith in Him is tested by chaos of storms in front, and we dismiss political and economical gaps, we are ALL EQUAL in His Eyes. Read the Creeds, Recite our Lords prayers everything falls into its place, with Grace, Mercy, and Love are its truest forms in walking with the Lord! Amen