Showing Mercy
“Showing Mercy”
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B September 9, 2018
James 2:1-17 Mark 7:24-37
First Presbyterian Church of Sandpoint, Idaho
Pastor Andy Kennaly
I grew up in Spokane (Washington), although I lived in Wisconsin when I went to college. The school was in Ashland, in northern Wisconsin, up on the shores of Lake Superior, about an hour east of Duluth, Minnesota on US Highway 2 (the same highway that goes through Sandpoint). Years later, I lived in Deerwood, Minnesota when I worked as a Program Director at a church camp and conference center. Deerwood is southwest of Duluth, about a two hour drive to Lake Superior. That Great Lake is amazing and I’m glad I was able to get acquainted with it over the years.
I remember talking with one of the cooks at the camp one summer as we packed up food for a backpacking trip along the North Shore of Lake Superior, and to my surprise, she mentioned she’d never been to Duluth, never had seen Lake Superior. She’d grown up in the area around the camp, but hadn’t driven two hours to visit one the largest and most beautiful lakes in the world. It really surprised me that she’s missed out on the amazement of Lake Superior and the natural wonder that it is, and that, for her, twenty miles was a long way to travel.
This morning as we read about Jesus going to the region of Tyre, we’re reminded that it’s only a bit more than 20 miles from his base at Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. Tyre is on the Mediterranean, in what was called, Phoenicia, and although it’s just a short distance by today’s standards, the fact that he went there was somewhat shocking because in many cultural and religious definitions, these places were worlds away, very different from each other. Of course, they had issues, such as prejudice and socioeconomic divisions. The wealthy cities of Tyre and Sidon on the coast is where merchants would ship their goods to larger markets. In the meantime, the wealthy Gentile people (non-Jews) in those cities had to eat, but they didn’t grow their own food. Instead, they bought their food from peasant farmers, the Jewish population that lived in the outlying regions from Tyre and Sidon. If there were crises or some sort of food shortage, hungry peasant farmers would resent selling this food to the rich city folk. Prejudices, ethnic and religious divisions, economic inequality, urban and rural differences: they were dealing with themes that continue to echo into our own culture today.
Part of what we read involves healing, and the woman’s daughter is healed, but this seems like a minor point. What’s really emphasized are the number of divisions and how Jesus and the woman overcome them together. She is a woman, Jesus is male. She is Syrophoenician, a Gentile, and Jesus is Jewish, based out of Capernaum in the Sea of Galilee region. Jesus goes to the city full of strangers to find isolation and be alone, and he hides out in a house to stay away from people. The woman hears about him right away and seeks him out by name, immediately comes to him and begs at his feet. Surrounding their encounter with all these dynamics are resentments, inequalities, hatreds, and all sorts of barriers that seem so fortified, established, and defended. Yet through their encounter, even with edgy and harsh words, Jesus and the woman seem to defuse each other, not backing down, but not trying to do harm either. By the end we see equality, respect, dignity, and wholeness. We see God at work through Jesus and the woman in ways that go beyond religious boundaries and our own limiting thoughts. This mission to the Gentiles is one part healing, and a whole lot of social restoration, but mostly it shows love as action.
In an article on Justice, Father Richard Rohr says,
Searching for and rediscovering the True Self is the fundamental, the essential task that will gradually open us to receiving and giving love to God, others, and ourselves, and thus to live truly just lives. […] You are created in the image of God from the very beginning (Genesis 1:26-27). This is the basis for God’s justice: Since everyone is made in the image of God, then we need to recognize, honor, and respect the image of God in everyone. No exceptions. (Richard Rohr, Center for Action and Contemplation, Daily Meditation for Tuesday, June 19, 2018, cac.org)
That’s the rub: the “No exceptions” part. If people bother us, if they’re mean, or different, or seem just crazy, it’s easier just to let those divisions have their way, to call them names and write them off as lost or too absurd to deal with, so why bother? Why stress ourselves out trying to overcome barriers that are so entrenched? Then again, if we’re focused on the barriers, then maybe it’s not the barriers, but our focus that needs adjusted? “Searching for and rediscovering the True Self is the fundamental, the essential task that will gradually open us to receiving and giving love to God, others, and ourselves, and thus to live truly just lives.” It seems Jesus and the woman are connecting at a True Self level. All those other things are contextual, are non-essentials, are things that tend to fade away in the large arch of action and activity in God’s creative purposes.
The passage in James hints at this as well, saying, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?” If you’re focused on superficial things, even cloaked in religious language, but you don’t have love in action, what good is it? Love in action reflects the love God puts in our core being. “Mercy triumphs over judgment” because judgments are based on external laws and rules, behaviors and codes of conduct. Mercy is based on internal identity, with love at it’s core; a healthy love of your True Self that can’t help but love God and others. Showing mercy is a visible sign that one has opened themselves to compassion from the Source of Compassion, the Ground of our Being, from God.
No wonder that the very next story in Mark’s Gospel featuring a healing of someone with hearing and speech impediments hinges on Jesus saying, “Be opened.” “And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue released, and he spoke plainly.” The Living Christ breaks down that which divides, barriers and boundaries, and brings healing and release. Jesus even goes out of his way.
After this verbal sparring conversation of Jesus and the woman, Mark says, “Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.” We already talked about how 20 miles in that time is a very long way, and rather than going back directly, Jesus adds another 20 miles, heading north instead of south, so he can go through Sidon, that other wealthy, Gentile city on the coast. Then from there, it’s now over 40 miles back to the Sea of Galilee, at the speed of walk. But Sidon is where he heals this man, a Gentile. Jesus is putting into practice what he and the woman were talking about, that it’s unfair to cheat Jewish peasants out of their food, and that shouldn’t be happening; but that it’s also unfair to think love is limited to one group over another. Jesus continues to level the field, unifying people through loving action and showing mercy that comes from God, the Creator of all.
How do we as a church, and as individuals, go out of our way to level the field, to bring and show unity when it would be easier to stick with divisions? How do we as a church, and as individuals, go out of our way to put faith into action through loving those the world would rather ignore or oppress? How do we as a church, and as individuals, create a space apart, sanctuary for people to open their hearts to God, finding rest and perspective to shed the influence of non-essentials and to embrace the fundamental, “the essential task that will gradually open us to receiving and giving love to God, others, and ourselves, and thus to live truly just lives.”? (Rohr, as quoted earlier). How do we discover our True Self in Christ?
Going out of our way is not easy. It is a journey into unknown territory. It involves letting go of a sense of security based on comforts and institutional supports. I’ll tell you right now, folks, the church as we know it is not going to get us there in the days ahead. But in living creative lives, putting faith into action through love, in going to margins of society, through spiritual disciplines that open our hearts: these are things that help show us the very Presence of the Living God. As we discover our True Self in the Divine heart, as God’s beloved, we can live in joy and gratitude, sharing grace as we live the Message of the Way of Christ Jesus, the one who goes out of his way because everything and everyone belongs. As we claim, once again, God’s love that claims us, may God be glorified, Now, even as forever. Amen.