Still Speaking.

I preached this sermon at St. Andrew's United Methodist Church in Edgewater, MD on August 14th, 2011.

For this sermon, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Dr. Daniel Deffenbaugh of Nebraska for his blog post "Gathering Others," which you can read here. I really had no idea where I was going with this text before reading his post.

I also mention fellow Bryn Mawr alum Beth Stroud in this post. You can read more about her here. As a postscript to her story, I should mention that she served in ministry in a lay capacity for some time after being defrocked by the UMC and is now working on a PhD at an institution almost as illustrious as Bryn Mawr.  


Matthew 15:10-28

10Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: 11it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” 12Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” 13He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” 15But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” 16Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? 18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.” 

21Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 27She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Still Speaking:
Matthew 15:10-28        

I won’t be here with you next Sunday. Instead, I’ll be in Columbia competing in my first triathlon: a .6 mile open-water swim, followed by a 17.5 mile bike ride, and a 3.3 mile run. I registered for this event on November 1st, so, for almost 9 months now, August 21, 2011 has been burned into my brain as the day I face one of the biggest challenges of my life.

August 21st will be a big day for me. Yet, I may end up remembering August 14th as the day I faced an even bigger challenge: preaching on this morning’s Gospel text. In the United Methodist church, preachers aren’t required to preach on the Gospel text from the lectionary. In fact, we don’t have to preach on the lectionary at all. We can choose a different Scripture text, or just pick a topic. Yet, Pastor Dave has always chosen to preach on the lectionary, and so do I. We each have our own reasons, but I know we have at least one in common: When you choose to preach on the lectionary, sometimes you have to preach on difficult texts. Texts you don’t really understand or like. Texts you would just as soon avoid. As a lectionary preacher, you have to face those texts and see if you can find some truth in them. For me, today’s Gospel is one of those texts.

It starts out well enough: In the first part, Jesus talks to his disciples about some of the purity laws that they observe as Jews- rules about what to eat and how to stay ritually clean. Jesus doesn’t condemn these rules. In fact, He probably follows them himself. But he warns his disciples that simply following the rules doesn’t mean a person is leading a Godly life. What a person puts in his or her mouth doesn’t reveal what is in that person’s heart. Instead, Jesus says that people should be judged by the words that come out of their mouths.

It makes sense to me. Imagine two hypothetical people: Person A goes to church every Sunday, tithes 10% of their income, reads the Bible every day, and makes something delicious for every bake sale. Yet, Person A also gossips about friends and neighbors, is rude and abusive to co-workers, and never has a good word to say to anyone. Person B, on the other hand, has never even heard of Jesus. Person B has never been to a church or read the Bible. Yet, Person B is honest, kind, and charitable. Person B chooses words carefully, only saying what will help and encourage friends and neighbors. Person A may be ritually pure, but Person B has a pure heart.

Jesus spends much of the Gospels exposing the hypocrisy of the Person A’s in his community, and reaching out to the Person B’s. Yet, in the second half of today’s text, Jesus seems to do just the opposite. A woman approaches him on the road. Her daughter is tormented by a demon, and she is desperate for help. By this point in the Gospel, Jesus has performed many miraculous healings, so we know he can heal this woman’s daughter. Yet, he ignores her. Why? Because she is a Canaanite and he believes he’s been sent only to the Jews. Jesus tries to sends the woman away. Then, when she persists in her request, Jesus does the unthinkable: he calls this desperate woman and her child “dogs”! When I hear these hurtful and demeaning words come out of Jesus’ mouth, I have to wonder- what is in his heart? What causes him to treat this woman so badly? And then, what causes him to change his mind and grant her request?

As confused as I am by Jesus, I’m just as confused by the Canaanite woman. She approaches Jesus for help and gets rejected four separate times: First, Jesus ignores her. Then, the disciples try to send her away. Then, Jesus says that he can’t help her because she’s not from Israel. And finally, Jesus calls her a dog. Four rejections, but she doesn’t give up. She keeps asking for help. Would you do the same? Would you beg for help from someone who insults you and your child? Or would you say “Fine, we don’t need your help anyway!” Personally, I think I would walk away.

 Imagine if this story happened today. Imagine that a woman brought her troubled daughter to someone like me- a pastoral counselor. I would have no right to refuse her based on where she comes from. To turn her away like that would be immoral, unethical, and illegal. I would be violating the ethics of my profession- opening myself up to being fired, or sued, or both.

Imagine if a friend or relative told you a story like this one. What if a woman from here in Edgewater tried to take her child to a famous doctor in Washington, DC? And what if that doctor called them a couple of rednecks and told them to go back home? Would you tell that woman to keep going to that doctor? I know I wouldn’t. I’d tell her to take her business elsewhere, and maybe even to file a complaint.
Yet, the Canaanite woman doesn’t walk away. She doesn’t seek help elsewhere. She wants Jesus’ help, and she argues until he gives in. Why? I think the only possible answer is that she believes in Jesus and Jesus alone. She believes that Jesus can help her daughter, in a way that no other person can. She is willing to swallow her pride and do whatever it takes to get Jesus’ attention because she believes that he’s the real deal. She needs his help, and no one else will do.

As I worked on this sermon, I came across an essay by a religion professor named Daniel Deffenbaugh. Dr. Deffenbaugh points out the Canaanite woman’s persistence in the face of rejection, and compares it to the persistence of people who are marginalized by their own churches. We all know that there are religious communities who have to fight to practice their faiths: Christians in China who defy the state by meeting in secret house churches. The Christians in Pakistan that Usha tells us about, who face the possibility of violence every time they go to church. These communities are incredibly courageous and important, but they aren’t who Dr. Deffenbaugh is talking about. Dr. Deffenbaugh isn’t talking about people whose faith is attacked from outside their churches; he is talking about people whose faith is attacked from within their churches. People like the Canaanite woman, who stay and fight for what they believe in even when they have every reason to walk away. 

When I think about marginalized people in the church, many examples come to mind. I think about African-American Christians. During slavery, many African-Americans found strength and hope in the Christian faith. This is amazing to me, because Christianity was the religion of slave-owners. Christianity was used to defend the practice of slavery. After slavery, Christianity was used to defend the continued oppression of African-Americans. For centuries, African-Americans have witnessed the worst kinds of hypocrisy from fellow Christians. Yet, instead of turning their backs on Christianity, generations of African-Americans have seen a truth in Jesus more powerful than any hypocrisy. They believe in that truth, and they’ve used it to fight for their rightful places, in the church and in society. 

The Canaanite woman also reminds me of the Roman Catholic women I met in seminary. Many of these women would love to be ordained clergy. They have the education for it, the passion for it, and the skills for it, but their church doesn’t allow it. If they wanted to, my friends could leave the Roman Catholic church and join a church that ordains women. There are many churches that would welcome them as clergy. Yet, they consider the Catholic church their home, so they stay. They believe in their church, even in the face of what feels like rejection. 

I also think of my friend Beth Stroud, a fellow Bryn Mawr alum and a former United Methodist pastor. Several years into Beth’s ministry career, she made the decision to tell her congregation that she is in a committed lesbian relationship. Under the rules of our denomination, Beth’s relationship makes her unfit for ministry, and her credentials as an ordained pastor were revoked. Beth fought this decision all the way to the highest governing body in our church, the Judicial Council, which ultimately ruled against her. The case went on for several years. It drew a lot of attention, both within and outside our denomination. Much of that attention was positive, but much was negative and hateful. At any point in this difficult process, Beth could have walked away. Like my Roman Catholic friends, she could have found a denomination that would welcome her service. She could have left ministry altogether and been successful in a different career. But Beth didn’t leave. She was baptized United Methodist, raised United Methodist, and she believes in the United Methodist Church. Despite everything she has been through, she still considers our church home.   

Now, I realize that some of these examples are controversial. I realize that that people of good faith and conscience have different opinions about them. I bring them up not to advocate for one point of view over another, but to highlight what they have in common. In all of these cases, people love and believe in their churches. They believe in them enough to stick with them, even when they have good reasons to walk away. Whether we agree with these people or not, I think we have to acknowledge the faith and courage and love it takes for them to keep fighting. We should all love our churches that much. 

I think that Jesus recognizes this kind of faith in the Canaanite woman. In writing about this text, many scholars suggest that Jesus is merely testing the woman’s faith. They explain away Jesus’ rejections and harsh words by saying that it’s all part of a bigger plan. Personally, I don’t buy that. To me, the idea that Jesus is just testing this woman takes away the wonder of what really happens in this story: Jesus changes his mind.

When Jesus first sees this woman, he has one idea about his mission, and it doesn’t include her. His followers agree and want to send her away. But Jesus doesn’t send her away. He listens to what she has to say, and what she says changes his mind. It changes his mind about her, and it changes his mind about his mission. The Canaanite woman is not from Jesus’ community. She doesn’t share the same beliefs or follow the same rules as Jesus and his disciples. Yet, Jesus hears the words that come from her mouth, recognizes what’s in her heart, and decides that she deserves a place at his table. 

This story reminds me of an ad campaign from the United Church of Christ. The slogan is “God is still speaking.” I’ve always liked this slogan because I think it expresses a real truth: Our God is a living God. We don’t worship a God who said his piece and moved on. Our God is still engaged with us, still listening to us, and still communicating with us. To me, that’s what today’s text is all about. Jesus and the disciples live by a set of laws that tell them one thing. But, every once in awhile, God breaks in and tells them something else. At first, Jesus believes he is only called to the people of Israel. Then, God breaks in, in the form of the Canaanite woman, and changes his mind. 

Of course, this isn’t always easy. Take a look at the Book of Acts, which is the history of the early church. In that book, we learn that the first Christians spent much of their time debating who should and should not be allowed into the church. And these debates are still going on today. Across all denominations, Christians of good conscience still disagree about who does and does not belong. God is still speaking, but sometimes it seems like he’s telling different people different things.

Still, I think today’s text is an important reminder that we Christians should never get too comfortable with our structures and our rules. We might think that our mission is clear and straightforward. We might be comfortable with our churches the way they are. But God might have other ideas. God might send people into our churches who look, act, and think differently. God might call leaders with new ideas and new ways of doing things. We might see these people in our pews or hear them in our meetings and want to tune them out. But today’s text reminds us that Jesus didn’t tune people out. Even when Jesus was skeptical about people, he gave them a chance. He listened to them, and he was open to being changed. We need to do the same.

In just a few minutes, we’re going to celebrate Communion, like we do every Sunday. In some churches, people have to believe specific things or go through certain rituals to participate in Communion. But our church is different. Our Communion table is open to anyone who wants to come. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, or what you have done or believed in the past. If you want to come to our table today, you are welcome. And we don’t leave anyone to gather crumbs under our table. At our table, everyone gets to pull up a chair, settle in, and feast on the abundance that God has given us. This is truly good news, and it should set the tone for everything else we do and say as Christians. 

As we go about our mission and our lives, we should strive to be open to whomever God puts in front of us. We should listen to the words that come out of their mouths, and give them a chance to show what is in their hearts. And we should take care that what comes out of our mouths reflects the grace and love that we take in every week around this blessed table. 

Amen.