Hurricane Harvey which demolished Houston in 2017 with over 50 inches of rain, 300,000 buildings flooded, and $120 billion in damages. Through much of that storm and afterwards, you could hear stories and see videos of neighbors helping neighbors, friends being there for friends, and strangers helping strangers just because they need help. Our country was, and is, divided in many ways along political lines, urban vs. rural, and racial identity. But, however you didn't see the videos of blue boats and red boats picking up people who voted like they did, who had the same skin pigmentation, or listened to the same radio stations. People were truly human and saw the humaneness of those in need and that was enough. In the midst of tragedy, we all became just people who needed help and could help. We could truly proclaim, "The kingdom of God has come near, is at hand, is at work..." I believe that God was proud of us during that time.
Which makes it all the more strange in our Gospel of Matthew story that Jesus didn't recognize his neighbor, someone in need, the person, not the label/stereotype/other/foreigner in front of him. Jesus first brushed her off and then insulted her. "We don't take the food meant for God's children and serve it to the dogs." Wow. If you read all four gospels closely, Jesus gets in many arguments with the Pharisees, Sadduccees, temple priests, government authorities, even his own family and disciples, and because he is Jesus, the Son of God, he never loses, until this Syrophonecian, this woman who isn't even supposed to speak to a man, much less a religious Jewish man, pleading that he heal her daughter. He tells her that he has come only for the children of Israel. She will not be quiet, so the disciples get annoyed and tell Jesus to send her away. She then plants herself in his way and kneels before him, begging him to heal her daughter. He then calls her a dog, an animal that is not human, a lesser being compared to God's chosen people. But she persisted and called him on his insult and said that even dogs get to eat the scraps that fall from tables. With this, because of this, Jesus relents, maybe repents, and does the thing she is asking for, the healing of her daughter.
Some Biblical commentators, scholars, and preachers will say that Jesus said all of this with a wink and a smile, just playing along with the woman, knowing he would heal the girl and just stirring up a little drama for the group, because Jesus is perfect and everything he said and did was perfect. However, we also claim that Jesus was fully human, and in the Gospel of Luke, the story of the boy staying in Jerusalem. The story ends saying he grew in wisdom and in stature, so he wasn't perfect God-like then, and I believe he wasn't perfect God-like in this story. He seemed to have to be reminded that he wasn't only send to the lost sheep of Israel, but to the lost sheep of the world and all God's children. I do believe that by the end of Jesus' ministry here in this world, that he came to understand and accept the full breath and depth of his ministry when he went to the cross, not just for the few, but for all the world.
In our nation right now, in the run up to the Presidential election, there are lots of lines being drawn in the sand, even within the political parties, racial identities, and geographic areas (Confederate Flag). We seem to be more and more trying to figure who is in our group and who is out. Who we should love and care for and who we can exclude and even hate. Jesus in this story, didn't hate, but he was apathetic, uncaring, and dismissive which in some ways is worse. But near the end of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus tells us the parable of the sheep and the goats and doesn't qualify who are the least of these (only Jews, or only men, or only people who have good moral characters or people who agree with us politically), but that we are to help someone, anyone, and everyone. We should stand up for justice, for truth, for love, and for peace. But we should in ways that are healing, bridge building, and repenting.
Peace
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