Readings

FIRST LESSON

The first lesson is from Touching the Holy by Robert J. Wicks

Due to our lack of complete trust in God’s revelation that we are made in the divine image and likeness, most of us get caught up in trying to be extra-ordinary. We become insecure and are tempted to rest our sense of self on something less than God’s love for us. As a result, we waste our energy worrying about whether we are liked, respected, effective, or as good as other people … There is little call in the world today to 'just be yourself.' Only a few persons are graced with the freedom to recognize the waste and illusion of trying to be someone other than who they’re called to be. As the poet e.e. cummings said: “to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting.

SECOND LESSON

The second lesson is from the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 7 verses 24 through 30

From there Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet Jesus could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged Jesus to cast the demon out of her daughter. Jesus said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then Jesus said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

This Week's Sermon

Date: September 13, 2009

Title:It Took the Wisdom of a Woman

Message Delivered By: Rev. Dr. Joe McMurray

A child in a Sunday school class was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible. The child wrote:

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, “The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that.” Anyway, God said, “Give me a light!” and someone did. Then God made the world.

God split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.

Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel. Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something. One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.

After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat. Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.

God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff. Oh, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother. One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.

After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me. After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore.

There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them. After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, “Close the door! Were you born in a barn?” It would be nice to say, “As a matter of fact, I was.”)

During his life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees. Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him. Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.

But all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.

Anyway, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.

I think this child paid more attention in Bible study than the televangelists who make bundles on some of the networks who are broadcasting as we speak.
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Will you pray with me? God, may our spiritual home always be a place where visitors feel welcome. In examining our own truths, help us to leave our judgments behind as we open our doors and open our arms to others. Make our invitation heart-felt, sincere and unquestioning. And let our efforts to reach out be received with the love and acceptance with which they re given. And may my words and all of our thoughts be filled with honor and praise to you. Amen.
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Did anyone ever ask you what your favorite movie is? I never have an answer for this question because I collect films, mostly—but not exclusively—classic films. I’d say we have approximately 1300 films, 90% of which have been recorded at home; and so many of them are my favorites. I guess you could call this collection a pastime … or an obsession, depending on your point of view.

I can rarely decide exactly what I want to watch at any given time. I have watched many of the films over and over again because of the impact they have on me, how they make me feel, the inspiration used to create them, and how they make me think about life and experience. Sometimes, they are simply pure entertainment. But even then, there’s something compelling about them that engages me again and again. No matter how many times I watch them, I always see something new I’ve never seen before.

The same could be said of the scriptures. Today’s scripture is one of my favorites. I never get tired of hearing it. I know I say that about a lot of the scriptures, but it’s true. Just like my films, there are quite a few scriptures on my favorite list.

Today’s scripture is important because it marks an intersection, a junction, a connecting point between multiple facets of faith, life and experience. I’ll say more about that in a minute.

There are few other scriptures, perhaps with these exception of (the Lazarus story, the vigil in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the humiliation and suffering on the cross), that so dramatically show the human frailty of Jesus. Yet unlike those other dramatic moments that deal with suffering and death in a way that directly impacts Jesus in one way or another, the confrontation we witness today has very little to do with Jesus at all.

In our gospel lesson we find Jesus hiding out, which is understandable. After having to deal with the Pharisees, the crowds, and the unevenness of the faith of his own disciples, Jesus has had it. He’s had enough and he stops off at the equivalent of a Motel 6 because, no doubt, someone left a light on for him.

Jesus went to the region of Tyre, wanting to remain anonymous, or at least incognito—you know, have breakfast in the room instead of going down to the cafe.
Jesus was inside the house, apparently hidden from the crowds. But suddenly he is recognized. Jesus is accosted by a Syrophoenician woman, a Gentile who had obviously heard about Jesus and believed in his power—his strong connection to the Divine. She knelt before him and pleaded for mercy on behalf of her daughter who was plagued by a demon, as the scripture says.

Jesus’ reaction was, perhaps, understandable—if you believe that Jesus was like any other leader of his day who believed that only those of Jewish faith were worthy of God’s time. However, Jesus was not like any other leader. This is not the Jesus we have come to know. And ultimately, this was not the movement that was formed in Jesus’ name.

This woman, who incidentally has no name (more than likely because to name her would have given her too much power even in the male-dominated culture within which this book was written) begged Jesus for his time and attention, not for her, but for her daughter.

Perhaps Jesus was caught off guard. Perhaps he was just tired. Perhaps he was a bit “off his game” that day. Jesus rebuked her, saying, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Let the children of Israel who have priority in God’s sight be fed first, and if there is time, if there are leftovers, if somehow there is enough energy remaining after all the healing that must be done for them—perhaps then and only then will you lowly receive attention.

But the woman, who, by the way, disagreed with Jesus but still answered him with respect (that’s a side note to Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina who called the President of the United States a liar as he addressed a joint session of Congress and the American people on health care reform), “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

This was a wise woman. In that moment, she knew what Jesus thought about her; she knew what he must have thought of her people to say such a thing. But that did not prevent her from humbling herself and asking for help from the only one in that moment who could offer her hope.

This was the woman who forced Jesus to see from her perspective. Her courage forced Jesus to realize how hurtful his statement was; her strength forced him to acknowledge how narrow his thinking was; and her wisdom underscored how demeaning religious intolerance had become.

His eyes ultimately opened, Jesus admitted her worthiness, and replied, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found that her child had been healed.

Too often we make up our minds on so little evidence for the sake of our own convenience—so that we can finally arrive at a conclusion, thereby no longer having to think. We’re seeing this happen all over our country right now, by thousands of people. If I watch TV, they’ll tell me what to think, and I won’t have to think about it anymore. I won’t have to be challenged anymore. I won’t have to be conflicted anymore. I won’t have to face it anymore.

There is no difference between this remedy and the remedies we seek from drugs and alcohol to take away our pain, to take away the need for decision-making, and to remove the responsibility that comes with our faith that says, as a Christian (or one who espouses Christ-like principles), “I am the keeper of my sister and my brother.”

The voices are deafening. I hear them all the time right here in our community. The same arguments are being made with regard to the homeless, or being responsible community leaders, or with people who come asking for financial assistance because they can’t pay their light bills. Let us be fed first. We are worthy.

We hear the same things about people who have no health care but because of their life situation, are priced out by the insurance companies and cannot afford to protect themselves and their families. Let us be fed first. We worked hard, so you must not have worked hard—as if somehow, they are ineligible to receive our grace and a certain remedy for health protection.

We hear the same thing about people who live on the other side of the artificial boundaries set by national territorialism that decide that because you were born on the wrong side of the imaginary line, you are not worthy. Let us be fed first.

We hear the same thing about women in the workplace who make only 78% of the value of a man’s salary though they performing equal work; and whose bodies are subjugated by the minority gender because it wields more power. Let us be fed first for we are more deserving; we are worthy.

I mentioned earlier that this gospel story is special because it is a connecting point, an intersection where faith, human suffering, and divine intervention collide. Jesus would have failed this test had it not been for the wisdom of this woman who could see beyond the narrowness of his own religious tradition. And Jesus, being the person he was, saw this flaw instantly upon it being pointed out to him. And he was humbled, as no doubt his mother had humbled him when she raised him as the precocious child he probably was.

And so, what of it? What can we do to change the dynamic of “let us be fed first”? What do we have to offer and how are we in a unique position to make a difference? What language do we use in welcoming the marginalized to our table for the feast rather than the crumbs? What gifts can we share about difference, tenderness, compassion, non-judgment, and welcoming the stranger; and how can we offer these in ways that are inviting and loving rather than commanding, presumptuous and authoritative?

Robert Wicks touches on the answer: be yourself; work with what you’ve got; question why you’re not using yours rather than questioning why others aren’t using theirs.

We seem to be waiting for some metamorphosis to kick in. We glance sideways into mirrors expecting to find someone different than who we really are, refusing to see what God sees and deciding we can work with that. There’s no need for a superhero reflection to stare back at us before we can decide what we need to do. We already know what to do. We know what’s right to do.

Perhaps e.e. cummings said it best: “to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else” is to fight the hardest battle any of us can fight … God help us to realize that all we really need is to roll out of bed in the morning and go out and change the world.

May we continue to follow where God is leading. Amen.