Mark
7:24-30
When I was first encountering Jesus
and getting to know him as presented in the Scriptures I loved the Jesus of the
Gospel of John. In John’s Gospel Jesus
is cosmic, he is powerful, he has secret knowledge, and he seems to glow with
holiness. The Jesus in the Gospel of
John is like a super hero Jesus.
The longer I live in the world and the
more time I spend working in ministry, I am surprised to say that I have fallen
in love with the Jesus of the Gospel of Mark.
The Jesus in Mark’s Gospel is not a super hero. In fact, he is a bit of an anti-hero and this
morning’s reading is a perfect example of that.
Our reading picks up right where we
left off last week. Jesus has fed some
people, and he has healed some people, and he has taught some people. In last week’s reading, Jesus helped the
Pharisees and the disciples understand that it is what lies within our hearts
that makes us clean or unclean. It is
the sins of our hearts that separate us from God.
Now, Jesus is tired, and Mark tells us
that he has gone away to hide. He
travels outside of Jewish territory into a predominantly Gentile region. He enters a house and Mark makes it clear
that Jesus did not want anybody to know he was there. He is trying to hide, he is trying to rest, and
he is trying to take a well-deserved break.
But, Jesus can’t get a break. Jesus can’t get away from the needs of the
people and it is not long before a woman enters the house, asking him to do
something. One more person, with one
more need, and she is a foreigner to boot.
She throws herself at his feet and begs for the life of her daughter who
seems to be possessed by a demon. In a
most un-Jesus-like fashion, the tired Jesus lashes out at this person in deep
need. He snaps at her saying “Let the
children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw
it to the dogs.” Ah yes, the Son of God
using a racial slur, this is not the Jesus we expect.
So what is happening here? It should come as no surprise that throughout
the centuries commentators have attempted to soften this image of Jesus. Some scholars have said that Jesus was faking
it. He was just being inhospitable to
try to throw the woman off and test her faith.
Others have said that Jesus was just joking. Even though dog was a common derogatory term
used for those of Syrophoenician decent, Jesus was simply calling her a puppy
and he meant it to be cute.
You can explain Jesus’ words any way
you want to, but frankly, I like this Jesus.
I think he said it and I think he meant it. I think Jesus was suffering from physical and
mental exhaustion, and he was just tired of seeing people. I think he had had enough. He was trying to get away, he was trying to
take a break, he was trying to hide, and in comes one more person asking for
one more thing. We talk about Jesus
being fully human and fully divine, but as soon as his humanity shows we want
to explain it away. I think this was
Jesus’ humanity. He was annoyed and he
told her so.
Surprisingly the woman is not
fazed. She snaps right back at him. “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the
children’s crumbs.” Now I imagine Jesus
sees her. I think before, when she came
in begging, she was just one more person asking for one more miracle, and he
was too tired to deal with it. But now,
he looks up, and he really sees her. He
sees her wit, her faith, her determination, and her desire to have her daughter
healed. “For saying that, you may go –
the demon has left your daughter” he says, granting her the miracle she
requests.
This is one of my favorite stories in
all of the Scriptures. I love this
woman. I love her wit, and her
strength. I love her determination, and
her unwillingness to take “no” for an answer.
I love that she accepts this insult and turns it around. I love that she talks back to Jesus. And I love that she gets what she wants. It may not be the world, it may not be the
glories that God has reserved for the Jews, but it is enough for her. She is happy to survive on crumbs, if that is
what she is going to get.
I also love Jesus in this story. I love that he is real and human. I love that he is in a place where I
sometimes find myself; tired and worn, hoping that the phone won’t ring, hoping
for a quiet night at home, hoping for a chance to rest and recharge. I love that he says something he shouldn’t,
because we all do that when we are tired and have had a long day. I love that this Jesus seems real to me.
Just like the woman, at this point I
think Jesus is surviving on crumbs.
There has been no break, there has been no chance of rest, there has
been nothing for days but the throng of needy people, the scorn of the
Pharisees, and the foolishness of the disciples. I think he is suffering from compassion
fatigue, a condition common among individuals who work with those who have
suffered trauma conditions. Compassion
fatigue often manifests as a lessening of compassion over time. I don’t think that is a stretch for the fully
human Son of God, for surely being among humanity is to witness trauma a hundred
fold. Jesus is exhausted, he is running
on empty, he is surviving on crumbs.
I am going to go so far this morning
as to suggest that the Syrophoenician woman speaks to Jesus with the voice of
God. I don’t think that’s too much of a
stretch. We talk all the time about God
speaking to us through the voices of those around us. Why can’t that have happened to Jesus? Why can’t God have used the words of this
woman to wake Jesus up from his stupor?
Why can’t God use this moment to shock Jesus out of compassion fatigue?
Through the voice of the Syrophoenician
woman, God is telling Jesus about the abundance of grace and healing that is
available. God is saying that the gifts
that God is presenting through the life of Jesus Christ aren’t simply for the
Jews, aren’t simply for the chosen children of God, but are for all the people
of the world. Even when the only things
that Jesus has left to share are crumbs that will be enough. What if God is saying that there is enough
for everyone? What if God is saying that
crumbs are enough?
I love this story of Jesus because we
find ourselves here so often in our lives.
Sometimes we are the woman and we are so desperately in need. Our hearts are broken by the suffering of a
loved one and we ask for anything from God.
We will gladly take crumbs if crumbs are what is available. In the midst of crises, we know how to survive
on crumbs.
And sometimes we are like Jesus in
this story. We are so tired of giving
and doing and sharing. We just want to
be left alone for one minute and then the nominating committee calls and asks
us to be on a committee again. Or it’s
that one family member or friend that always needs help and always calls at the
most inconvenient time and it is all we can do not to snap at them and tell
them to go away. Go away, we want to
say, leave me alone. All I have right
now are crumbs.
And God intervenes, and God challenges
us to share our crumbs. God challenges
us to dig even deeper. When all it seems
that we have are crumbs, if we are willing to share, then there will be
enough. Like Jesus, we have to be
awakened to our capacity to keep going, keep giving, and keep sharing in the
community of faith.
I think there is an abundance
available to us if we are willing to share what little time and energy we
have. A few days before this story,
Jesus was standing around with a crowd and the people were hungry. 5 loaves were broken and shared among
thousands of people and 12 baskets of pieces were left over. 12 baskets of crumbs. If another crowd had come upon them that day
I am certain there would have been enough bread. They could have survived on the crumbs.
As we move through life today, I encourage
you to take the twin lessons from this story.
I know that this is a sad and difficult time in the life of the
church. There are those among us that
are in crises and we feel the reverberations of that throughout this
community. People today are surviving on
crumbs of faith. It is not a lot, but it
is enough.
I also know that there are those among
us today who are tired and burnt out. We
feel we have done enough work for the church and we are ready for a well-deserved
break. I would remind us that even if we
feel like we have nothing but crumbs left, that crumbs are enough to
share. God will provide, and will craft
even tired and worn people into a Session, into a board of Trustees, into
leadership for this church community and more.
We can survive on crumbs.
May God bless us this morning with the
things that we need. May we have the energy
and faith to get through difficult and scary times. And may we have the willingness to share what
we have, even if we only have crumbs, with those around us. May we experience abundance and generosity
together even as we survive on crumbs.
Amen.
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