Sunday, August 20, 2023

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 56:1, 6-8
Psalm 67
Romans 11:1-2a, 13-15, 28-32
Matthew 15:21-28

May God be merciful to us, bless us, and cause his face to shine on us. Selah.

I can’t tell you how many times I have been misidentified as an employee in a retail store. It doesn’t matter that I’m not wearing the uniform; people see me and ask me for help. I worked in retail, and I loved the work, so maybe there’s something about my demeaner that screams, “She’ll help!” I am usually willing to help, especially if I have an answer. I’ve even been known to go out of my way to make sure the customer gets what she wants. The other day I was in a hobby store and a lady needed an item. I knew I had seen it, but it wasn’t where it should have been. She walked away disappointed, but I kept looking until I found what she was looking for. Then I went searching for her. She was so thankful.

I’ve read stories about other people who have had encounters with people who have misidentified them as employees, and they usually aren’t as positive as mine. They accidentally walk in a store wearing clothing similar to the uniform, so some demanding customer insists that they should help. “I don’t work here,” doesn’t help. The customers threaten to have them fired. They go off looking for a manager, who is confused when they don’t recognize the “employee.” “Ma’am, that’s not our uniform.” Sometimes these encounters get violent, with the customer even being arrested. Wearing the wrong clothes can lead to trouble.

Students are headed back to school in the next few weeks. One of the big expenses for many students at this time of year is for organizational t-shirts. These shirts are specially designed for the students to help define them as part of that organization. The students receive points whenever they wear their t-shirts at meetings and events, giving them incentive to purchase the shirts. They can be part of the group without the shirt, but it helps identify them.

Have you ever heard someone say, “He (or she) looks like a Christian.” What does a Christian look like? Does it have to do with what they wear? Can race, nationality, physical features, or gender act as identifying marks? Does wearing a t-shirt with a bible quote mean a person is a Christian? We all know the answer to these questions. Of course, there are some outward signs that may make a person’s faith obvious. Like the organizations at school, certain communities require certain clothing. I have a cross necklace I never take off, but the outward signs do not guarantee commitment to God. A person can be a Christian without wearing it on their sleeve, and sometimes the pictures on the t-shirts do not mean the person is faithful.

For the people in Isaiah’s day, the identifying mark of God’s people was national and religious heritage. The Jews were Jews because of where and who they came from, not who they were. You’ll note throughout the scriptures the lists of genealogy. These are important because those lists establish the proper credentials for God’s leaders. Many Jews today can still list their genealogy back to Abraham, thinking that it establishes their relationship with God. At least, that’s what they thought.

Through Isaiah, God told them that it is not their race or nationality, or any other outwardly identifying marks, which makes them people of God. The ones who do justice, who wear righteousness and obedience, are those who will be found joyfully worshipping in the Temple. They are the ones whom God will embrace, whose sacrifices God will accept. It doesn’t matter what they wear, whether or not they can pinpoint their genealogical line. God sees their hearts, and the world sees that they live according to the ways of the God of Israel.

What is truly interesting, though, is that God says that He will bless foreigners who do the same. God’s grace is not just for those who hold the right pedigree; His grace is for all who believe. That’s what we see in today’s Gospel lesson. Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman shows us that Jesus didn’t look at outward appearances, but at the hearts of those who trust in Him.

A few weeks ago we looked at the parable of the sower. We tend to focus on the seeds that fall in the good soil because we know that they will produce a harvest. But it is interesting to consider what happens to the other seeds, the people for whom the seed did not have lasting effect. The seeds in the stones withered away. The seeds in the thorns were choked.

The seeds on the path didn’t stand a chance. They were snatched away by the birds, which represent the devil. As I have considered that parable, it has occurred to me that God can do the impossible. Though it is a bad thing for the birds to steal the seed that fell on the path, many plants grow because a seed has passed through a bird’s system and end up in good soil. As a matter of fact, in James Michener’s book, “Hawaii,” a good portion of the beginning tells the tale of how the volcano created the islands. Eventually the islands were large enough to be higher than the waves of the ocean and the volcanic debris became rich soil. The islands were then planted with seeds from birds as they flew from other places over the new ground. Then I thought, “It would be really hard to preach ‘bird poop,’ wouldn’t it?”

It isn’t bird poop but leave it to Jesus to work such a natural human (creation) function into a sermon. He says, “The food we eat just goes out the other end.” That’s how Jesus teaches; He takes the things about life with which we are very familiar and shows us how it fits into the life He is calling us to live. It is shocking, almost offensive, to think about human waste as a topic for religious discussion. Yet, we learn a very important lesson in this passage. It isn’t what goes into our mouths that makes us unclean, it is what comes out of our mouths.

They say, “You are what you eat,” and in many ways that is true. If you eat only junk food, your body will become unhealthy. A good and balanced diet is important for good health. Scientifically we understand that not everything that goes into the mouth actually comes out the other end. Fats and toxins can damage organs and cause dis-ease in the body. God knows this, which is why some of the sanitary laws existed in the Jewish world. Pork was dangerous to eat. Dirty hands can spread disease. The laws themselves were not a bad thing.

However, the traditions of the elders had become more important to the keepers of the Law than the reality of God’s laws. In the verses that come before our Gospel text for this week Jesus questions the Pharisees about a law that actually dishonors fathers and mothers, against the commandment of God. Though tradition can begin as a way of living out the intent of God’s Word, it can become something completely different because we insert our human frailty into all we touch. We are sinners and everything we touch is spoiled by our sin. And that’s the point. God’s creation is not bad; the food we eat is good because God made it. The sin that lives within us defiles us, and manifests in the words that come out of our mouths. Let us remember, however, that God is not offended as we are. We might be disturbed by talk of bird poop, but God is disturbed by the real things that defile us: evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and railings.

The disciples were upset with Jesus because He interacted with the Canaanite woman, but Jesus knew she was more than she appeared to be.

To what sort of person would you say the words, “Great is thy faith”? When we think of great faithfulness, we think about the people in our lives that lived an obviously Christian lifestyle. We think about those whose life is one of service. We think about those who praise God even in the midst of hard times. We think about those who are dedicated to the life we live together as a body in Christ. I can remember people, often older women, from every congregation who exhibited to me “great faith.” A few pastors and other church leaders also impressed me with their great faith. We can name several famous people, like Mother Theresa, who would find themselves on the list. The Saints throughout the ages showed great faith. There was something special about those folk. They stood out in the crowd. They were people who were recognized as Christian even by those who did not have Christian faith.

Considering that we’ve had two thousand years of Christian history, however, list of people with great faith seems very small. Most Christians do not stand out in a crowd. As I encounter my neighbors on my street, in the store, at work or school, I can’t say without a doubt which ones are Christian. I am aware of a few who go to church. I know some do really great things in the community. Most would give me the shirt off their back if I needed it. But I doubt I would ever say, “Great is thy faith” to any of them. I’m sure my neighbors would think the same of me. I know one woman who does incredible charity work in our city who admits that she’s a nominal Christian with no real connection to the body of Christ.

The Canaanite woman was not part of the faith community. She was an outsider who came to Jesus for healing. She must have heard about His power, perhaps she was in one of the crowds and had heard Him preach. She may have even been in the crowd who ate the fish and the bread a day or so earlier. The people who were thought to have great faith were the Pharisees and teachers of the law; they thought they were faithful because they obeyed all the religious rules and did what tradition demanded of them, but they aren’t the ones to whom Jesus says, “Great is thy faith.”

Jesus is not radically rebelling against the faith of His fathers in this story. As a matter of fact, when the woman approaches Him, He refuses her at first. His points out that His ministry is for a specific group of people: the lost sheep of Israel. Even after she worshipped Him, He said, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She became bolder, but at the same time humbler, by saying that the dogs eat the crumbs. She didn’t let Jesus go, she continued to pursue His help, but also accepted her place in the world. She was not one of the lost sheep. She is one of the dogs. Even so, she has the faith to say to Jesus, “Please help me.”

It is to this woman that Jesus says, “Great is thy faith.” The world will know us by our love, but we might just be surprised by those whom God calls faithful because they don’t fit into our expectations. They don’t wear their faith on a t-shirt or a necklace. They don’t serve the way we think they should serve. They don’t come from where we expect or live with their Christianity on their sleeves. They might even seem like the Canaanite woman, at the point of their greatest trouble, but God knows their faith because they are bold and humble enough to turn to the only one who can help them.

Richard Pryor played Montgomery Brewster in the movie, “Brewster’s Millions.” Monty Brewster was a minor league baseball player who was having trouble making ends meet when rich relative died, leaving his entire fortune to him. He would get the money, which was $300 million, if he could spend ten percent in just thirty days. At the end of the thirty days, Brewster had to be exactly where he started, with nothing of the $30 million left. He could not have any new possessions. He could not be one penny richer than he was before he learned of his new fortune. He also could not tell anyone the conditions of the inheritance.

So, Brewster spent the money. Everyone thought that he was going crazy, wasting the gift he’d been given. He hired his friends to help him. He rented the most expensive penthouse and furniture to fill it. His employees thought that their job was to help Brewster keep his money. They made savvy investments, recommended more economical ways of doing business. They got upset by his foolish decisions. He ran for mayor, but when it looked like he might win, he began to say that he would not be a good mayor and convinced the entire city to vote for “None of the Above” because all the candidates were horrible. He bought an extremely rare stamp for one million dollars and used it to mail a letter. He even rented the Yankees for three innings so that he would have the chance to pitch against his dream team.

Brewster’s relative knew that inheriting a fortune can ruin a person, so he required Brewster to do the month long exercise to learn how to properly use the gift. Many people receive a windfall like a lottery win, a tax refund, or an inheritance and spend it too quickly. Brewster’s relative wanted him to be sick of money, so sick that he would not be foolish with it. It worked; Brewster got sick of spending.

During the exercise, Brewster learned about the love and compassion of his friends. They were so grateful for his kindness, his extravagant salaries; he even had a magnificent party for them at the end of the month to thank them. He was almost broke and ready to be done with the game. They had loved him so much, had told the world about Brewster’s virtues, and then when he was nearly at his lowest point in the movie, they took up a collection to help him. He, of course, went nuts because he had to be penniless in just a few hours, but they wanted to show their appreciation by sharing what he had first given.

He was almost ready to give up, especially in the very last minutes of the exercise when it was “discovered” that $1000 was set aside (by one of the lawyers to cheat Brewster from his inheritance). The lawyer claimed that it was extra for something and that he “forgot” to give back to Brewster. How could he spend $1000 in a few minutes in a room full of lawyers who wanted him to lose? He hired one of the other lawyers, signing a retain in the final seconds of the exercise. Brewster gained the inheritance and looked forward to using it in ways that would honor his relative’s generosity.

The psalmist today joins with the congregation of believers singing the praise of God. They seek God’s blessing on them, but unlike many of our prayers, they wanted to be blessed so that they could be a blessing. They wanted to be able to share His blessedness with others so that they could share it with the world, so that everyone would sing His praise. $300 million was a lot of money, and Brewster’s rich relative knew it. He wanted Brewster to receive it with the knowledge that it was not something to waste, but something to use rightly. Brewster won, and hopefully so did the community as he took his blessing to others.

Paul was in agony over the question of his people. He knew three truths: first, that Israel is God’s chosen people; second, that God is faithful; and third, something new has happened. People around Paul claimed that Paul was rejecting God’s Word of promise to Israel by grasping on to this new thing. Paul, having experienced the love and mercy of God in a very real and tangible way could not understand how the rest of Israel had not embraced Jesus. But he knew God is faithful, so he found comfort in the reality that Israel was, at that moment, wearing a mask. He was certain that the truth dwelled within their spirits and that one day, when the time was right, their eyes would be opened and they would believe. For the moment their hearts were hardened, but there is always hope. There is hope because God is faithful. We are no better because we believe. We were, and are, also disobedient, but He is merciful, transforming us into the people He has created us to be.

In chapter 15 of Matthew, Jesus told it as He saw it. The Jewish people, especially the leaders, were no longer living faithfully according to God’s Word; they were following a bunch of self-righteous rules. Justice was not according to God’s intent, but what they thought they deserved. He condemned the practices that manifested false piety. The traditions of the elders, the masks they wore, had become more important to the keepers of the Law than the reality of God’s justice. Jesus questioned the Pharisees about a law that actually dishonored fathers and mothers. They claimed it was honoring God, but they dishonored God by dishonoring their parents.

Jesus’ answer to the woman is shocking or perhaps even offensive to us, but it fit the expectations of a man in His position. He was being like the Pharisees He’d just rebuked for following the letter rather than the spirit of the Law. He showed His disciples what it looked like to be unmerciful.

Jesus did not send her away as they advised. Instead, He continued the exchange, leading her into a confession of faith. She was not a Jew; she was not marked by the covenant or bound by the Law. The disciples were Jews and had the advantage of being born into that covenant. They knew the Law and lived rightly and yet last week Jesus said they had little faith. The self-righteous Pharisees were rebuked for misusing the Law for their own benefit. They may have looked faithful, but God saw their hearts.

We may never know what God has done in our neighbor’s lives. We can’t see their faith and may never know about their miracles. The lessons for today call us to live as those in the text from Isaiah, doing justice and what is right, holding fast to the covenant of God. We should boldly and humbly seek God in the midst of our troubles. We can live like the woman, acknowledging that we are dogs, assured of the truth that God’s grace is bigger than the masks we wear, whether they are by choice or thrust upon us by the world. God sees our hearts and we can hear Jesus’ voice saying to us, too, “Great is your faith.”

The faithful will live like the psalmist, singing praise to God and recognizing that He is looking for people who are humble of heart, those who willingly accept the reality that we are merely dogs. We are unworthy of the crumbs God gives, but we are faithful when we believe the promises. God doesn’t bless us because we do what we think is right. He has blessed us so that we will live in the faith we have been given, doing what is right so that God’s graciousness will be revealed to all.