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A Lectionary Resource for 3 July – August 14 (Pentecost 7 -13)
By Pamela Tankersley of Palmerston North
Introduction
In some lectionaries, this time after Pentecost is called Ordinary Time, and in one sense the selected readings are sustaining and building up of our faith, just because of their ordinariness.
The stories in the Hebrew Scriptures tell the stories of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs whom scholars tell us lived in the Middle Bronze Era, maybe 4000-5000 years ago. Yet their stories are familiar, and they are “ordinary” people, seemingly our ancestors, who lived and loved, who wrestled with each other and with God, who tricked and manipulated each other and yet were still counted as faithful to God.
In the Gospels, Jesus uses the “ordinary” things of life to illustrate with parables and stories his vision of the Kingdom of God , and we hear Paul speak to his friends in Rome of “ordinary” faith.
There are only three books of the Bible in this set of studies: Genesis, Matthew and Romans. Each is rich and rewarding to study. It maybe that you might wish to invite your study groups or home groups to focus on one or other, or maybe run a sermon series – it is a lot harder to do this in the “high “ seasons of the church year. Perhaps some of you belong to an “Exegesis” group that meets regularly to gain a deeper understanding of the texts to be preached on each week.
A wide senior minister once told us (at the Hall) that the first person we preach to is inevitably ourselves. May the Spirit enable you to hear God’s word in a life-changing way as you prepare for your weekly offering of the Word. I hope you enjoy preaching in this ordinary season.
Sunday 3 July (Pentecost 7) Trusting God
Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49 & 58-67
An ancient story telling of the manner in which Abraham found the right wife for his precious son Isaac, and thus kept the promises of God for many descendents. We catch glimpses of the rituals of hospitality and matchmaking inherent in this ancient people, who seem like our people, our ancestors, or is this just the way we interpret the stories? Interesting that the signs of her being the “right wife” were her outpouring of hospitality and her care for the camels… We remember that it is the child-bearing women that keep the covenant alive.
The heroes of the story are
- the servant Eliezar, trusted confidante of Abraham, who is attuned to God’s will, and searches with sensitivity and hope.
- the beautiful Rebecca who makes a journey into the unknown, like Abraham before her, trusting that God will go with her, and culminating in her marriage in Sarah’s tent. She becomes the leading woman of the tribe. For the romantics among us obviously it is a love match, with a happy ending. Surprisingly Rebecca is asked if she wishes to go off to become the wife of Isaac. (We do not hear Isaac having the same choice)
The message is that people of the covenant live by faith, trusting in the providence of God to bless and protect.
Epistle: Romans 7:15 – 25a
This passage reflects a very human Paul, afflicted like most of us, with deep inner conflict between our good intentions and what we practice. Like Paul, we recognise the clamour for attention in our lives of many competing “gods.” We know what is right, but that doesn’t mean we will do it; when we know that something is wrong, it doesn’t mean we won’t do it .The important realisation is that only as we depend on Christ to lead us and guides us, are we able to run the straight race.
We might have difficulty with the inherent dualism in this passage between human nature (the “law of the mind”) and the “law of God,” but all of us are like Paul at times, pulled two ways.
What are the battles we fight? For some it takes much courage not to listen to the “shoulds” and “oughts” and “musts” which bind us into obedience to a self that is not free to follow Christ. For others it takes courage to deny the impetuous self, and to listen to the voice of Christ grounded in compassion, past learning and common sense.
Gospel: Matthew 11: 16-19 & 25-30
Jesus comments with frustration (or is it just sorrow) on the behaviour of the religious leaders, which is like a bunch of kids in the school yard. They mockingly refuse to play anyone else’s game, and would rather be in control! They will neither follow the austerity of John the Baptist, nor dance with the joy and abundant life found in Jesus’ way. They criticise both, pointing out shortcomings and failures: no matter what is suggested, it is wrong, and they are not satisfied.
We should not confuse this childish behaviour (an insult in Jesus’ time) with the “childlikeness” Jesus advocates in other passages, and this is echoed in verses 25-26, where he thanks God for what has been revealed to the unlearned rather than to the wise and learned. A little proverb comes into play at verse 19, “wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” We might say “the proof is in the pudding.” Both John and Jesus’ prophetic ministries are bearing fruit, giving them both legitimacy. They should be seen as complementary, not in competition.
But Jesus’ heart goes out to all those whose lives are weighed down with cares and sorrows. He offers solidarity in sharing the load, bringing relief and rest by being “yoked,” or joined, with his life in the living God. The emphasis is on the gentleness and humility of Jesus’ demands on us. While he does not always offer us a rose garden – there will always be struggle and pain - we can be sure when we make the choice to follow his way that we will find sufficient strength and sustenance for the journey.
Sunday 10 July (Pentecost 8) Making Choices
Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis 25:19-34
Rebecca conceives late in life, struggling to bear twins. She is assured by God that her sons have a future in God’s plans. One son is rough and impulsive, and becomes the hunter: the other, more reflective and homely, a shepherd. One finds favour with Rebecca; the other is rather more outside the fold. (Is the sociological movement of Abraham’s descendents from hunting to pasturing being “explained” here?)
In this ancient culture, inheritance is about line primogeniture and is patriarchal - the eldest son of the patriarch had real authority and power over all members of his family.
This is the context of the amazing story of the handing over to Jacob of Esau’s birthright, in exchange for a good meal! This unprecedented preference for the younger son will be continued in the scheming of Rebecca for Jacob’s priority in gaining Father Isaac’s blessing, in chapter 27.
When Esau gives the birth right to Jacob, he is not only giving over his potential status as patriarch, his family authority and possessions, and his right to represent the family, but also the inheritance of the covenant promises. The text subtly implies that Esau would not be a good ruler any way - he is said to despise his birthright. We might ask, what “should“ happen when a person born to rule is not a fit ruler? And let’s not forget to ask, who is writing the story, and for whom?
Is Jacob merely an opportunist, or just compliant with his mother’s ambition and powerless to act except with her son? He seems an unlikely hero -either he is weak and under his Mother’s influence or he is a cunning trickster (or both!) It is easy for us to see the fallibility of the family and yet these people are basic cogs in God’s intentions.
I ponder on the way we assign national characteristics to people, especially those who are different from us, or are a threat to us. We agree that Italians are passionate, the Spanish are volatile, Americans loud, Kiwis she’ll be right, When we “sort people out” in our minds, are we allowing folk to be themselves, or giving voice to our prejudices and putting people in boxes. This labelling does not permit us to see the image of God in each, with their own individuality.
Epistle: Romans 8:1-11
Paul talks about a paradigm shift from being “under flesh” to being “under law.” We are speaking of transformation, of conversion, of reorientation of metanoia (which means “to turn around.”) We hear Paul’s Damascus Road experience here, as we do underlying most of his letters.
In order to make a paradigm shift, we must glimpse the alternative vision. Paul gives his readers a glimpse of a life of freedom, in union with Christ Jesus. He reminds them that
Jesus, who walked the human journey, shows potential for us all. He gives us hope and a new vision.
The shift will be empowered by God’s Spirit who becomes the controller of our very nature. What we believe becomes what we think, which becomes what we say and what we do.
Gospel: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
The clue is to this parable is the verse” If you have ears to hear…”
Though it is usually labelled the Parable of the sower, I wonder if it not about the sower, but about the soils… We are not called on to be good sowers, but receptive soil.
What kind of soil will we be? Will the good news in us be choked up, withered, eaten up or flourishing?
Our agricultural and gardening souls are inclined to pass judgment on a sower who does not spread his/her seed only in fertile ground. However, the Sower must use every available bit of soil to maximise the crop. First the seed is sown, then the soil is cultivated? What is described here is the cultural norm. Maybe it reminds us that God actually does give the good news outside the definitions of the church. It is not just ”the church” who spreads the good news. The word will be sown, whether it takes root or not. The message is about the abundance of God’s grace, sown freely.
Many scholars maintain that the interpretation of the parable given in vs 18-23 has been added later into the record, and is unlikely to have been given to the disciples by Jesus. Jesus parables are rarely allegorical; they usually the have one major point. However, this is how we have received it in the Gospels and we need to pay attention to it as an interpretation of the parable.
As we consider being “fertile soil”, we might ask what attitudes, habits, commitments and values prevent us hearing the gospel and encouraging it to root.
Another approach might be to use as a further parable the way modern farmers/gardeners look after the soil, with fertilisers, resting, crop rotation and an emphasis on the sustainability of the total environment?
Sunday 17 July (Pentecost 9) Facing Challenges
Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis 28: 10-19a
The narrative describes an incident which occurs while Jacob is on the run from the consequences of his own deceitful behaviour in cheating Esau out of his birthright
It’s a highly emotional time for Jacob. He is afraid; maybe he is also filled with guilt and must wonder what it is all about! So he seeks security in a “sacred “place where his grandparents entered the land of promise. And he dreams of a stairway to heaven, with angels coming up and down.
Jacob wakes to find that he is part of plan bigger than his own scheming. He is not in control after all. But he is challenged to give up his justifying and lies and to accept his place in taking responsibility as given by God. His guilt and fear become relief and joy and mystery/awe? He is fleeing death and ends up with promise of great life. The covenant promise is as real for him, as it was to his grandfather Abraham.
Jacob’s reputation is not tidied up; he does not have superior moral fibre! But God will use him anyway; all that happens to him is seen as God’s doing. He becomes aware of the close communion of God and humanity. God doesn’t censure him, but offers hope. The journey becomes not just a flight and a search for a wife but “life’s journey” and he becomes bearer of the covenant, with its promise of land, of fertility and descendents, its personal encounter with God and the assurance that God will go with him.
Questions we might ask ourselves ….
- What do we run from?
- When we expect censure, how does God offer us hope and blessing, and close communion?
- How do we regard dreams in our spirituality?
- How can we catch a glimpse of God’s bigger world of which we are part?
Epistle: Romans 8:12-25
The critical line is that those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children – calling God Abba and inheriting the blessings of offspring along with Christ. We share Christ’s redemptive suffering and therefore his glory.
But this transformation is the work of the Spirit of God, who seeks us out.
Unlike the slave/master relationship, which is one of fear, there is an intimacy in this relationship; it is rather like the child/parent relationship – the Aramaic word “Abba” is close to “Daddy” and indicates the approachability and compassion of God. This has the potential to be a creative, hopeful relationship, as we grow to maturity. God’s love, grace and blessing are offered freely to all God’s children.
Gospel: Matthew 13: 24-30 The Parable of the Wheat and Weeds
In this parable, the slaves are horrified when they discover that their master’s field has weeds in it as well as wheat. They offer to go and pull them out – as obviously an enemy has come in the night and planted the weeds! The Master says, “No, wait until the final harvesting.”
This parable is unique to Matthew, and we might wonder why it has been included. Perhaps there is an aspect of his community that needs addressing? We surmise from the Gospel that they are Jewish Christians. Were they too zealous in their desire for purity?
The parable tells us to let God be the judge! We know we are a company of sinners, and it is non productive to divide us up into the good, the bad and the ugly. We remember Jesus’ words that he came to bring help to the sinners, the ill, not the healthy!
We might ask what is wheat and what are weeds? Who decides what is pure or impure? We may want to uproot that which is different, or that we simply don’t understand or like or what seems to be working against us personally. But maybe God judges things differently! Maybe God does like it, need it, want it! We need to be careful that our desire for holiness and purity does not exclude those precious to God, and end up with uniformity. We should not be tempted to play God and destroy what is valuable to God.
Within our own individual psyche, we know that we cannot divide our actions and thoughts and simply discard the “bad.” CJ Jung tells us we all have a shadow side. We are who we are, and God will be the judge. Indeed, maybe reflection on the shadow side helps us claim who we are; the forgiven and acceptable children of a loving God. Like Jacob, in spite of our imperfections, we may still act within God’s purpose.
And a word of hope: at the final harvesting, the parable says the wheat is mature enough to stand the pulling out of the weeds!
Sunday 24 July (Pentecost 10) Maintaining Hope
Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis 29: 15-28
I hear this story of Jacob finding a wife in Laban’s household from the perspective of the women, particularly through the person of the rejected Leah. It is a story of manipulation, of manoeuvring and out-manoeuvring, in a culture that expected such behaviour! But the women are commodities to be traded with little regard for their positions in life, let alone their feelings.
Most scholars agree that it is very difficult to ascertain what the significance of Leah’s eyes are (v 17) Some translations give that she had “weak” eyes - others that they were “limpid “ or “lovely.” Whatever, though she is the elder daughter, she is rejected by Jacob who wants to marry Rachel who is shapely and beautiful!
We remember that he also is the younger son, and tricked his older brother into giving over his birthright. So now the trickster is tricked by Laban - but the women are pawns in this men’s game.
Lois Wilson, in her book of children’s stories, Miriam, Mary and Me, draws on this story to teach children about unfair discrimination against those differently-abled. Maybe the last word is in the potential of the women, as they are once more the carriers of God’s promise of great numbers of progeny
However, it is important not to be carried away with a modern interpretation of this story, because in its time, it is about a business deal between two men - a father and a groom - and had little to do with love and courtship. Let’s also observe that Jacob noticed the size of the flock Rachel was tending. And of course polygamy, as a means of increasing the number of descendants, was the norm.
Nevertheless, the trickster Jacob in this time learns patience and perseverance!
Epistle: Romans 8: 25-39
This is the heart of Paul’s theology, and contains some of the best known and best loved texts. Each verse speaks of how God, who loves us with an immense love, does not “sit and wait” for us to come, but runs down the road to meet us, with arms outstretched and a heart of deep understanding and mercy for his beloved children.
First, there is the reassurance that we don’t have to find the right formula for our prayers to be effective and be “heard “by God, that prayer itself is the work of the Spirit of God. At V 28, “In all things, the Sprit will work with those who love God to bring about good, with those whom he has called according to his purpose...”
V 39 “There is nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord…”
Neither of these verses argues predestination; they do not say that everything is God’s will and part of God’s plan and that we are powerless to change our future. Rather, they remind us that we have free will and can choose or not to attune our selves to God, who loves us unconditionally. When we are open and attuned to God’s way, God can transform whatever happens into “good.” It is a reminder that our transitory plans are often only part of a big whole - in time, in the community of which are a part, in the totality of our lives. Now we see dimly, then we shall see God face to face.
What are some of the things we would imagine come between us and God’s grace and love for us?
However, the idea that God is for us and not against us, or “on our side” can be a dangerously misused one. We have seen in recent years, many wars that have been fought with the idea that God is on our side (and not on the side of the enemy.) Let’s be careful with the phrase.
We know that God is with us, through the love of Christ, the one who suffered and died and was raised again. This is extent to which God loves us, and the reason we can cling to the notion that nothing, not even death can separate us from God’s love
Gospel: Matthew 13: 31-33 & 44-52
This little series of parables have themes of the Kingdom in common: how does the Kingdom come about, the nature of the Kingdom, and how shall we respond. Jesus chooses to use parables, images and metaphors: the parable of the mustard seed, the active yeast, the pearl of great price, the hidden treasure and fishing with a net.
Using parable allows us to see with an inner eye and heart, and to distinguish God’s Kingdom from that of earthly realms. Parables use common people and their activities - farmers, housewives, and fishermen. They speak of the small beginnings. In God’s economy, the least is often the greatest! (Like the mustard seed and the small piece of yeast.) The message may be small and hidden, yet we do not know how ultimately significant. They speak of the value, the continuing activity and hiddeness of the Kingdom, and the way the knowledge of the Kingdom permeates all things with its potential for change and growth. The Kingdom is at hand, present in the whole world and working to make it whole.
However, the final parable in the set of five reminds us that citizens of the Kingdom of God must take up the responsibility to journey on. Smallness is no excuse!
We need to trust in God, that as part of the whole, our efforts are worthwhile and may have value beyond what we know. Not only the great change the world! This must have been a source of hope to the early church (as it is to us.) The passage finishes with advice both to hold onto what is valuable in the past and be open to the new.
Sunday 31 July (Pentecost 11) Offering Blessings
Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis 32: 22-31
Jacob the trickster is on the move again! He has taken his wife Rachel, his family and all he has earned or won, and has decided to return to his Father’s lands, to claim “his” birthright and the blessing he had wrested from Brother Esau. True to form, he works out a plan to make this happen to his advantage, appeasing Esau of whom he is afraid. But on the way he has an encounter with God at the Ford of Jabbok.
The significant portion of this text is the prayer that Jacob prays (v 9-12), where he puts himself into the hands of the God of the covenant. And thus he becomes Israel , the true bearer of the Covenant of God.
As is true with many of these stories of the patriarchs and matriarchs, God is seen to choose the weak and imperfect to bring about blessing for God’s people and for God’s purposes.
Wresting a blessing from the struggle is something we may be familiar with. Certainly the hard struggles in our lives leave their mark (the limp). Yet when we journey with grace, we know that the human spirit can emerge from trauma strengthened and undaunted, with deeper understanding of what it means to be human, and a closer affinity with God.
Epistle: Romans 9: 1-5
In this passage we hear the anguish and despair of Paul that the people that he loves and cherishes as his whanau, his own flesh and blood, have failed to believe in Jesus as the Christ. He goes so far as to suggest that because he loves them, he almost wishes he was still in the place of ignorance about what Christ has done, even if it means separation from Christ. Why does the rich heritage he shares with them not bring them to belief in Jesus as the promised Messiah?
These words of Paul are, in content and mood, in great contrast with the words of chapter 8, that “nothing can separate us from the love of Christ,” But now the context is his justification that Gentiles are included in the new covenant, set by the death and resurrection of Jesus. We might wonder what question was posed to him that he shifts mood from the exhilaration of the previous verses to this sadness over the lack of response to the Gospel by his own people.
He articulates clearly however that Jesus is a Jew, (like Paul himself), a follower of the Law and the “old” covenant. He sees that God is “passing over” the people of the covenant. Is God ceasing to be faithful to the Jews? It would be easy to isolate this kind of passage from its context and become anti-Semitic in our preaching. Maybe there is the lesson for us. What if God were to decide that the charge on the church today to truly preach the Gospel is non-eventual?
Gospel: Matthew 14: 13-21
I love the way this story of God’s abundance and generosity follows on from what is obviously one of the low spots in Jesus’ story. John the Baptist has been horribly executed, and Jesus is trying to find some space on his own. But when the large crowd follows him, he forgets his own woes and takes pity on them - he heals the sick, and ministers to the crowd. Their demands are more pressing than his own needs.
It gets late, the crowd is hungry, the disciples anxious. “Send them off to look after their needs,” the disciples say. But Jesus turns to them and suggests they meet these needs themselves, and he demonstrates the bounty of God with a meagre offering of five loaves and two fish. They give what they can, and it is transformed by Christ’s blessing – God’s arithmetic is one of multiplication! However, note that it is the people’s gifts that are multiplied!
Perhaps we need to remember that God’s work is not always dependent on our competence and skill, but rather our loving and our ability to let God work through us. We need to remain the cockeyed optimists of the world, and believe that our God will provide! Too often our pride gets in the way of reflecting on our vulnerability, smallness and dependency on God’s grace. Perhaps God will work through us anyway?
Note too, that if we just talk about spiritual hunger and miss the reality of shared food, we are selling the Gospel short, by making it less than holistic. I am reminded of a quote form Oscar Romero: “to pray ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ and then not to share it is a form of blasphemy.”
Sunday 7 August (Pentecost 12) Trusting in God
Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis 37:1-4 & 12-28
There is no doubt that with the Musical Joseph and His Technicolor Dream Coat, that the story of Joseph has become very well known, but this might be an occasion to check the popular version against the Biblical version!
The saga of Joseph has a different literary style from the other stories of the matriarchs and patriarchs in Genesis. In particular, the narrative sequence of Joseph is more complete. A great drama unfolds. Some say its inclusion in the sagas is just to explain why it is that the Israelites are to be found in Egypt , but that would be to sell it short!
However the two extracts selected in the lectionary for this week and next, barely convey the excitement and drama of the whole story. Personally, I wouldn’t be too restricted in my choice of text, and maybe even tell it in my own words!
Here we focus on who Joseph is, as favourite son, with the special coat, the jealous betrayal by his brothers, and his sale to the Midianite traders.
But some points worth looking at:
Joseph is a dreamer, with great imagination and vision. His dreams hark back to Abraham’s vision of the fulfilment of God’s promises that Israel will be made a great nation. Joseph’s dreams are passionate, urgent and grow out of his life. We need the dreamers, those with vision, or we will perish!
Maybe it’s the content of the dream that is disturbing to his brothers, or maybe it is just that such dreamers are always a threat to the status quo, especially when those with power are investing in conformity and homogenisation? Dreams take us out of our comfort zones, and yet they are usually associated in the Bible with angels and prophets. Through dreams, God speaks.
But the brothers rationalise and mock – Joseph the dreamer is deluded. However, these same brothers are instrumental in making the dream come true! All is in God’s hands…
Then there is the notion of being sold into slavery – how do we do this to each other, in a world of comsumeritis? How do we keep the poor, poor, so that the rich can remain rich?
Epistle: Romans 10: 5-15
Here we find the ultimate justification for the proclamation of the word of salvation. The message is, in Paul’s words,” If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved.” It can’t be clearer than that!
And Paul goes on to point out that everyone - Jews and Gentiles alike - has the opportunity to be saved, because God is God of all. Then he points out why it is that the messengers of the Gospel are to be sent out. If it is only in hearing, believing and accepting this truth, that anyone is saved, then our responsibility is to preach the gospel to all. Much missionary zeal is here! Salvation is at hand, on the lips and in the hearts of believers, and if anyone believes in Christ as the Son of God they will not be disappointed. This is in contrast with the “past” belief that salvation came from obedience to the Law.
Gospel: Matthew 14: 22-33
The story of Jesus walking on the water is one of great symbolism and deep meaning. It is about the power of Jesus to overcome the power of chaos and turmoil and the unknown powers that seem to take control of our lives. This chaos is represented by the power of the storm.
In this version of the story, Jesus has gone off to pray on his own after the demanding event of the feeding of the multitude. The disciples are in their boat on the lake, when a great storm arises. They are very much afraid, but in the midst of the life threatening storm Jesus comes to them with calm and gentleness, in contrast with their panic and fear. They think he is a ghost, but he echoes the words God says to Moses, “Do not be afraid, it is me!” Or literally, “I am!”
Peter attempts to join Jesus on the water, but starts to sink. But Jesus does not abandon Peter, who will at a later date abandon him, when his faith falters. “O you of little faith,” says Jesus, “why did you doubt?”
The message is that Jesus comes to strengthen the fearful and overwhelmed. This message is probably particularly treasured by the early Christian community for whom Matthew is writing, as they try faithfully to follow Jesus’ way.
Sunday 14 August (Pentecost 13) Making Peace
Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis 45: 1-15
We continue from last week the story of Joseph and in particular his time as ruler of Egypt . Now he has the power to save his family from the forthcoming drought.
We may want to give a synopsis of what has happened in between!
The dreams have come true: the promises of God will be fulfilled in Joseph; there will be descendents of Jacob, surviving to carry on the line of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. A moving drama unfolds as the brothers who once sold Joseph off for slavery, are brought terrified before him as the most powerful man in the land. He does not berate or condemn them but welcomes them as his brothers, and sees the hand of God in everything that has come to pass. The cruelty and malice are forgotten - there is poignant reconciliation. God’s mercy, not human sin, is the determining factor, and we sense that Joseph is modelling leadership whose ultimate authority is God. He does not indulge in petty revenge, but offers forgiveness (even though he tests them on the way.)
It seems a fulfilment of what Jesus says later about loving one’s enemies and praying for and doing well to them.
However, we know that reconciliation is often very difficult in families, where there has been deep hurt and estrangement. We can attempt to heal the past, but it takes reliance on God’s grace to be able to move forward, without rancour and bitterness.
Note the contrasts: alienation becomes reconciliation, power over and authority become vulnerability and power with, slavery is changed to deliverance, revenge becomes compassion, evil becomes good – God’s mercy is for all.
A little extra thought: It is much easier to love those over whom you have power than it is to love those who have power over you. I wonder how the brothers related to Joseph to whom they “should” have been so grateful…
Epistle: Romans 11: 1-2a & 29-32
Paul continues to struggle with what he has been taught in the past through the great heritage of faith, as one of God’s chosen people and what he now believes to be true: that in Jesus all, even the Gentiles may have salvation, through belief.
As we grow in faith it is not always a step by step journey, but may be more like a paradigm shift. (Like what we describe as “being born in the Spirit.”) At times like this, truth that we once took for granted changes into childlike faith that needs to be left behind because it is too simplistic or lacking in depth. Maybe we will find ourselves in the words of Marcus Borg,”meeting Jesus again for the first time.”
But it pays not to be too judgemental of those who do not see things exactly as we do, Maybe God is revealing a different side of love and grace to others than God does to you.
Gospel: Matthew 15: (10-20) & 21-28
This story is often seen as a growing point in Jesus’ ministry in that it enables him to declare that his saving power is not just for the Jews, the ”people of Israel,’ but for all.
It comes about because a desperate Mother asks for help for her daughter, and simply will not take “no” for an answer. She is Canaanite - religiously and racially she belongs to the enemies of Israel . She is the wrong race, the wrong religion and the wrong gender. She has barged in, past the disciples (Jesus’ minders), into some of Jesus quiet “away from the crowd” space. And she has the cheek to answer him back when he initially refuses her request.
He says to her request,”It isn’t right to take the children’s food and give it to the dogs.” Though he has insulted her race by calling her a dog, she comes back with a quick retort, “Yes sir,” she says, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs under the children’s table!”
One almost hears Jesus laugh with her quick witty answer, and he seems to change his mind. “You are a woman of great faith! What you want will be done for you.”
Jesus is acknowledging that his mission to his own people need not exclude the possibility of bringing God’s good news to the Gentiles as well.