Sermon by the rev. Bernadette Hartsough. September 5, 2021
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in the courtyard with Tommy and some of the ASK youth. I asked them two questions. Are dogs mentioned in the Bible and where are they mentioned? I got blank stares. The youth looked at me as though I was crazy. I answered the first question for them. Yes, there are dogs in the Bible. Today’s gospel reading gives them one of the most famous passages about dogs in the Bible. Other famous passages include the book of Tobit and Lazarus and the rich man in the Gospel of Luke. Dogs appear in scripture as insults, as scavengers that eat what is leftover, and as companions.
In today’s gospel, it appears as though Jesus is calling the Syrophoenician woman a dog that gets what is left. It sounds as though he is insulting her. Let’s look closer at the passage.
In Mark this passage comes right after Jesus is confronted by the scribes and pharisees about what is clean and unclean. Jesus goes to Tyre. Tyre is in upper galilee on the northern part of the Mediterranean Sea. Upper Galilee exported produce through the coastal cities. The cities of Galilee depended on these regions for food. Poor Jewish farmers and laborers in this region were exploited by Rome-Gentiles to export food to the bigger cities.
Jesus goes there to rest and to get out of the spotlight. Jesus is in an unfamiliar area. He went there to get away and to rest but Jesus was already known there. A woman from the area comes to him. She begs that he heal her daughter from demonic possession. Jesus responds, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Jesus’s response is demeaning and insulting. So, Jesus tells her no because Israel must be served first. She is an outsider.
Jesus was sent to bring salvation to Israel-the people of the covenant first. The Syrophoenician woman was not Jewish. However, God’s covenant with Israel ALWAYS included the rest of the world. Israel was to be the example-the leaders to bring the rest of the world to God. As a side note, in the laws in ancient Israel there are specific laws for how to treat the foreigner. Foreigners were classified by various terms in Hebrew depending on whether or not they lived and worked among Jews or were just visiting.
I think Jesus was having a truly human moment here. Jesus was a male Jew in the first century. Being a male gave him status and rights. Being Jewish meant that he had boundaries to keep. Boundaries that kept him in covenant. Boundaries that kept him ritually clean. Boundaries that kept Judaism safe.
As humans we gravitate to those who are like us because it is comfortable. We like to feel comfortable. We take care of our own first. We do not unconsciously cross boundaries. We must be very intentional to cross boundaries to be with others who are different, or a crisis happens that forces us to go into unfamiliar, uncomfortable areas. Jesus goes to Tyre and puts himself in uncomfortable territory. The woman reminds Jesus that he is to minister to all not just Jews. She pulls him out of his comfort zone, reorients him, and reminds him of his mission. The Syrophoenician woman went out of her social boundaries by approaching a Jewish man. She was a gentile woman in first century Palestine. Her love for her daughter and her faith in Jesus caused her to leave her comfort zone. Jesus is pleased by her courage to cross boundaries. Jesus encountered her. He hears her words. He sees her. Hers is an example of faith that knows no boundaries.
So today we have examples of crossing boundaries. Jesus put himself in an unfamiliar place. Being in Tyre gave him the opportunity to encounter others who were different. He listened to the woman. He understood the woman’s situation. He saw her as a person not as a gentile.
The Syrophoenician woman challenged the boundaries of society to help her daughter. Societal boundaries need to be crossed to understand others.
Just as in Jesus’s time, today there are real barriers that divide peoples. Groups of people form and congregate around common lifestyles. Then barriers go up.
We think about politics and race. I see money, language, and politics as the biggest barriers that separate people. Crossing the barriers take courage. Initially there may be fear and distrust on both sides. We listen to the stereotypes in our head. Whenever we clump a whole group of people into a generalization, then we are stereotyping. We do this because we have a lack of information about people and stereotypes become so ingrained in us. We may hear stereotypes and believe them so often that we do not realize it. Have you heard these stereotypes: They are poor because they don’t want to work; Poor people are stupid; Poor people do drugs; Latinos are not smart because they do not speak good English; All Spanish speakers are illegal; All Spanish speakers are poor.
Sometimes we see the same traits and characteristics of people repeatedly. It causes us to believe the stereotype. But generalizing-stereotyping prevents us from seeing the unique human being that God created. Stereotypes promote fear and prevent us from crossing boundaries. It is only by encountering others that we can understand each other. Encounters break down stereotypes and allow us to see others as human beings created by God.
As the church we unite ourselves with our faith, our baptism, and our common mission. We profess in our baptismal vows to respect the dignity of every human being and to strive for justice and peace so we must cross boundaries and learn how to understand others. Jesus gives us the example.
The challenge of we the church is to look at our stereotypes. Many stereotypes are hard to see. so, we ask ourselves these questions. What group is missing in our church? Why? Is there a group we are stereotyping? Is a stereotype causing people to feel unwelcome? It is our role to find the barriers that surround us and start to open them.