It's been a hard year. It’s been a hard week. There is
violence in our streets, there is fear of aggression by countries long seen as
the enemy. People are behaving badly all over the place. We've been stretched
to breaking with the demands on our patience and on compassion. We have
experienced so very closely the broken world in which we live. There is also goodness
all around us, in so many places and in so many people, but it is a broken
world, and we have seen much of the brokenness in these days.
And we have before us a hard lesson from Matthew and this
continuing story in Genesis of Joseph and his brothers, brothers who sold him
into slavery because they didn't like that he was a dreamer. What are we to
make of it all? What are we to make of the readings and what are we to make of
the reality?
In the verses from Matthew we have before us today, Jesus
really seems mad. He's been spending all of his time teaching the disciples and
other followers, parable after parable, story after story, trying to impart
everything he can about humanity's relationship with God, and God's
relationship with God's people. Jesus experienced the tragic death of his
relative, John. Jesus has fed thousands of people, and all he wants is to get
away by himself for a little R and R. He's got to walk on the water out to the
boat to save those hapless disciples, and after all that, the Pharisees come
all the way from Jerusalem to entrap him. I imagine that the telling of this
story has quite of bit of censoring and editing, I imagine Jesus' language may
have been much more harsh than we hear today.
Jesus says that what comes out of our mouths and from our
hearts can be disastrous when we don't speak with love and truth. Jesus says,
our words matter. Our words have the power to create a compassionate reality,
and our words can challenge the darkness, our words can even be the light in
the darkness. Our words and our actions even have the power to dispel the
darkness. One of my favorite books by my favorite author is A Wrinkle in Time,
it is a story that is all about using our gifts, following in the footsteps of
the saints who came before us, about daring to be different, it's about
foolishness, faith and free will, and the greatest call and commandment, loving
one another. That story shows us, like scripture tells us today, what we say to
one another matters, our words matter.
The words that dispel the darkness are words that come from
a heart that is filled with mercy and compassion, a heart filled with love for
each and every gift of God's creation. Even in the midst of sadness, even in
the midst of tragedy, we are called to speak words of mercy and compassion,
words of God's love for all of God's creation. We are called to speak words of
mercy and compassion into every darkness. If we don't do it, if we don't speak
words of love, words of mercy and compassion, the darkness will not be
dispelled. That is what Jesus is trying to show us in this gospel today, and
that is the truth of what God in Jesus has done and continues to do. Darkness
does not win. Love wins. Our words can create a compassionate reality. And we
are desperate for a compassionate reality.
The second half of the story from Matthew paints a picture
of Jesus that may be even harder for us to understand. He is angry, and mean,
and in this particular story, Jesus claims an exclusive mission. He says he is
sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. What is amazing in this story is that
the Canaanite woman challenges Jesus, and her challenge creates a new
compassionate reality. She challenges Jesus to include not just the lost sheep
of Israel, but everyone in the known world.
In this story, the Canaanite woman is absolutely and
completely the other, the foreigner, she doesn't look like us or talk like us.
But she's also a mother. Jesus is speaking to a mother whose daughter's life is
at risk. Many of you know that when your child's life is at stake, you will do most
anything, go to any lengths, you'll stay by their bedside, you'll take them to
the hospital in the middle of the night, you'll pray and ask everyone you know
to pray, you'll even bargain with God. This is that mother. She's not an insider,
she's not an Israelite, she is a foreigner, she looks differently and she
speaks differently than Jesus. And even Jesus, this Jesus who I have always
believed includes everyone, initially says no. Maybe he's just too tired, maybe
he's had a hard day, maybe he's fed so many people he's just spent. I've felt
that way.
But then, when you don't think you can do one more thing,
help one more person, listen to one more story, something happens. Something
shows forth the light, the love, the healing, the hope. Lord, help me she
prays. And he does. Something breaks through. And the break through expands the
love, she challenges Jesus, and the result is not just her baby being healed,
but it is healing for everyone, for all of us. The light shows forth, mercy and
compassion are possible.
We are desperate for this compassionate reality. Our words
matter. Love wins. What we do and what we say in the midst of violence is
capable of healing. This is that day. Remember, what Jesus does on the cross is
to take evil out of the world with him. He does not look for revenge, and
surely he is the one who would have the right to. Instead he loves. Instead he
forgives. Instead he heals.
It is our job to bear Jesus' love, forgiveness and healing
into the world, it is our job to speak words of compassion into the world. It
is our job to stand up for those who would be torn down. This is our mission: To
build bridges of love and compassion, to build bridges of healing and hope. Martin
Niemoller, a German theologian and Lutheran Pastor, who was imprisoned in
concentration camps from 1938 to 1945, said, “First they came for the
Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak
out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for
me.
We may not be any of these things, but we are followers of
Jesus and we must stand for Love. Amen.
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