August 17, 2008 at Saint Mark Norman, OK
Isaiah 56: 1, 6-7 + Psalm 67 + Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 + Matthew 15: 21-28
For three more weeks, until September 14 when will assemble here to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Cross we shall listen to Paul as he writes to the faithful in Rome. For some time, the Jewish Christians were the sole presence of the Gospel in Rome, and they had paid for it dearly by their expulsion from synagogue and alienation from other Jews who would have nothing to do with the Gospel and its Christian traditions. They certainly must have taken great comfort then from each other. We could suspect that they were very close, and their identity came from what they suffered and what they believed to be true. Then in no time at all Gentile convert/believers are all around them, and then before they knew what was happening, the Gentile Christians outnumbered the Jewish Christians which gave rise to questions and conflicts that Paul addresses with pastoral passion and a spirit filled wisdom. Who was more Christian? Who was more faithful? Who is more worthy: the faithful Jewish Christians, the Gentile outsiders? What about the other Jews long thought to be God’s Chosen? How could these foreigners fit in? They were not chosen by God. How are they going to pray: in Hebrew, in Latin, in Greek, Aramaic? What about the customs that for all the groups had for so long been the source of their pride, their reason for celebration, their identity?
It all sounds like our church still troubled with the same experiences in this country, and the wisdom and counsel of Paul is as true today as it was while he was writing. We are very much like those Jewish Christians suddenly surrounded by others. We are used to doing things our way, and some have no doubt considered themselves “chosen people.” Some among us have paid a big price for their faith, and all of us have customs and little things that express our identity. We like to pray in our language even though some imagine that it was better in Latin. Instead of Gentile Christians, now it’s Hispanic Christians who by some counting will soon outnumber us; and things will be different. We will be different and they will be different. To this experience Paul speaks in a powerful way, and so does the Jesus of today’s Gospel.
Racism, anti-Semitism, any kind of phobia about others as well is what Paul challenges in this chapter of his letter. We cannot allow these things to spoil our lives together before our God. All kinds of stuff goes on in Christian communities. The fact of the matter is, we don’t always like each other, we hold grudges and sometimes think of getting even. Add to this the fact that this is an “eye for an eye” culture, and the mission of our church and the work of our faith is serious and difficult. We are called to build relationships as a church in which we confess that there is something more important than me. We are called to remember and to witness to the world that our Lord is present; and has an agenda beyond our differences that can build a context big enough for our differences even when they are ongoing and unresolved.
What Paul explains to the Romans and to us, is that God has chosen us all. In the context of Paul’s Rome, that included unfaithful Jews, and un chosen Gentiles. Everyone was in need of salvation, the Gentiles who did not know election, and the Jews who even though they were chosen were not examples of faithfulness. It’s the same for us. The only people in need of salvation are those who have been unfaithful or “disobedient” as Paul calls it. “Let anyone without sin cast the first stone.” is how John put it.
The discussion here is not about whether Christians have to be Jews or Jews are to become Christians. It is about how God saves and calls a commonly disobedient humanity that exists in a broken relationship with God.
To get the point even more clearly, enter a Canaanite woman in Matthew’s Gospel.
The Canaanite’s were famous for their idolatry and human sacrifices, and Israel wanted nothing to do with them. To make matters worse, this is a woman, a Canaanite woman! Jesus is embarrassed and you can almost feel it in the text. He is even silent in the face of this mess. But, see what happens. Disciples push for her exclusion, but her faith gains her a place of honor regardless of anything else. Her faith triumphs over national boundaries. Pay attention to what the Prophet said in Isaiah about how foreigners are joined to the Lord and come his holy mountain.
What we see and what we learn is that the mission of Christ is for all people and even all creatures — all creation. Everything is made new in Christ. The theologians have a term: apokatastasis it means making things new, a transformation of all beings, the reordering of fallen creation in Christ. In an age that has seen gas chambers, firing squads, anonymous mass graves, ethnic cleansing exploitation of poor countries by wealthy, industrialized nations the work of Christ will take divine presence, and we have it in the church, in you and me. Jesus came to make possible what seems impossible. In a way, the Canaanite woman is a guide here, and an unlikely one at that. Yet, herein lies the truth: those whom we target as outsiders are often the ones who lead us to the doors of the kingdom of God.
Now the Eucharist is before us. Here at this table, we become one here on this holy mountain. We must stop looking at how different we are and discover how much our faith and our hope for the Kingdom has made us one.