08 September 2024 - Proper 18, Year B

Theme

This week’s readings remind us that God cares for the poor, the sick, the downtrodden and the oppressed. In Mark, Jesus first exorcises an outcast in society before healing a deaf and mute man. James reminds Christians to care for the poor because faith without action is dead. Isaiah and the Psalmist encourage people to trust in God who saves the oppressed and the hungry.

Scripture Readings

  • Mark 7:24-37 - A Syrophoenician women brings her possessed daughter to Jesus for healing. Jesus harshly responds by saying that the children should eat before the dogs. The women replies that even dogs eat the children’s scraps and Jesus heals her daughter because of her reply.

    Jesus then heals a deaf and mute man by spitting, touching his tongue and saying “Ephphatha” which means “be opened.” Jesus instructed everyone to keep quiet about his miracles, but they could not because they were so amazed.

  • James 2:1-17 - Christians are instructed to not show favouritism and to care for the poor. Rich and poor should be treated equally so as to not discriminate and become judges. God has chosen those who are poor to be rich in faith and inherit the kingdom. Whoever stumbles at one point of the law has broken all of it. Mercy trumps over judgment. Faith without action is dead.

  • Isaiah 35:4-7a - An encouragement to those with fearful hearts to be strong because God will come and save them. The blind, deaf, mute and lame will be healed. Water will gush forward in the wilderness and the desert.

  • Psalm 146 - A Psalm of praise to God. An encouragement not to put trust in worldly powers who cannot save but in God who created heaven and earth and everything in them. God looks after the oppressed and the hungry, the fatherless and the widow.

The Context

The overall geographical choreography in Mark provides an important key for interpreting this passage. In Mark 5 and 6,  while primarily in Jewish territory, Jesus heals a desperate woman and then goes on to feed a crowd of five thousand; and in Mark 7 and 8, now traveling primarily in Gentile territory, he heals a desperate woman’s daughter (this week’s story) and then goes on to feed a crowd of four thousand. The overall dynamic in Mark, whose audience was primarily Gentile, is the saving, healing, liberating work of God expanding in scope from Jewish circles outward, eventually including all people. And though Jesus has interacted with Gentiles before in Mark, this week’s story is a decisive pivot point in this larger narrative of scandalous, widening inclusion.

Personal Application

Jesus is exhausted and seeks solitude in a house in Tyre. Unfortunately, people discover where Jesus is and a Syrophoenician woman whose daughter is possessed by an unclean spirit approaches him. She does not knock or announce herself, but barges in and demands a healing from Jesus.

Jesus’ initial reaction is harsh and quite shocking: “Let the children eat first for it is not fair to throw the children’s food to the dogs.” What? Did Jesus really just call this woman a dog?

One way of interpreting this passage is that Jesus used this phrase to bring to light the way that outsiders were traditionally seen in his context with the intention of overturning it shortly. Right on cue, the woman argues that even dogs gather crumbs from under the table of children and Jesus concedes and heals her daughter. Jesus then goes straight to heal another gentile, showing that the Gospel was truly on the loose as God’s salvation is opened up to the wider world.

A second interpretation is that perhaps Jesus is initially blinkered by the conventional thinking of the day and ends up learning from his encounter with the Syrophoenician woman. Jesus thus changes his mind, kind of how God changed his mind when confronted with Abraham and Moses’ insistence (Genesis 18 and Exodus 32).

However we interpret this passage, the Syrophoenician woman is an unlikely hero that opens up the power of the Gospel to a whole new world of people. Like Moses and Abraham, she stands up and demands to be seen by God. Her story is another example of an outsiders seeing and understanding what insider’s don’t.

How does Jesus’ interaction with the Syrophoenician woman speak to you about who deserves healing and attention? Do you ever feel unworthy of approaching Jesus for healing? How does this passage encourage you to approach God with boldness?

Communal Application

The author of James reminds us that faith without works is dead. Yes, it is true that we are saved by faith in Christ, but our faith is dead if it does not involve the things that Jesus has inaugurated by his Kingdom way of living - things like providing for the poor, caring for the widows and protecting the vulnerable.

Faith is not a type of certainty, but rather it is a type of courage to be willing to ask the hard questions and confront the difficult issues. Faith is not certainty vs doubt, but rather courage vs timidity. As the Syrophoenician woman demonstrated, true faith is bold. It puts important things first (such as a daughter’s health) and it is unafraid to wrestle and struggle with God.

Are we, as a church and a people, living out our faith with boldness and courage? Are we willing to discuss the difficult topics with love and grace all the while confronting God with our deepest desires and questions? May this week’s readings encourage us to live and worship with both faith and action.

Comments

Post a Comment