Year A
Isaiah 56:1,6-8
Psalm 67
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15: 21-28<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel and I like watching those remodeling shows on Home and Garden TV\u2026 like Fixer Upper\u2026 and Home Town\u2026 shows where the stars\u2026 I guess we could call them that\u2026 work on a house that\u2019s either been neglected and allowed to get run down\u2026 or perhaps abandoned\u2026 and they envision what it could look like\u2026 and draw up some elevation sketches and floor plans\u2026 maybe even program some of those animations where the kitchen cabinets and appliances fly in from nowhere and plop into place\u2026 they often plan to knock down a wall or two and create an open concept space\u2026 put in some clean-looking subway tile\u2026 turn a hallway closet into a half-bath\u2026 upgrade some amenities\u2026 and roll on some fresh paint\u2026 fresh paint is like love\u2026 it covers a multitude of sins\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when they begin to really get in there\u2026 when they start ripping things up\u2026 when they get close to the bones \u2013\u2013 I mean you can almost hear God asking Ezekiel\u2026 Mortal\u2026 can these bones live\u2026<\/em> when they hope to breathe new life into that house the way God breathed new life into the House of Israel\u2026 they discover things that aren\u2019t in the budget\u2026 they discover plumbing that\u2019s not up to code\u2026 or electrical wiring that\u2019s a fire hazard\u2026 or a rotting foundation which holds up the entire house\u2026 that needs to be replaced\u2026 and they have to decide whether to compromise on the potential of their vision\u2026 and settle for something that\u2019s less than what they wanted\u2026 something that\u2019s sub-standard\u2026 and in the long run\u2026 will really not serve them well\u2026 or whether they\u2019ll do what needs to be done\u2026 do what it takes to realize their vision so it can become a home for their family\u2026 and a place of welcome to others for generations to come\u2026 and much of the time\u2026 it seems to me\u2026 they decide to free up the needed resources to do it justice\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The prophet Isaiah reminds us to maintain justice\u2026 and do what is right\u2026 even the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord\u2026 who love God\u2019s name\u2026 and serve God\u2026 who keep the Sabbath\u2026 and hold fast God\u2019s covenant\u2026 God will bring even these to God\u2019s holy mountain and make them joyful in God\u2019s house of prayer\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But did you notice in the citation\u2026 that there were some verses that we skipped over\u2026 so let me read vv. 3-5\u2026 do not let the foreigner say\u2026 the LORD will surely separate me from his people\u2026 and do not let the eunuch say\u2026 I am just a dry tree\u2026 for thus says the LORD to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths\u2026 who choose the things that please me\u2026 and hold fast my covenant\u2026 I will give in my house and within my walls\u2026 a monument and a name better than sons and daughters\u2026 I will give them an everlasting name\u2026 that shall not be cut off\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n You see\u2026 the prophet understood that God welcomed into the congregation\u2026 two groups\u2026 who based on Pentateuchal law\u2026 had traditionally been excluded\u2026 who had been kept out of community\u2026 foreigners and eunuchs\u2026 and yet even down to Jesus\u2019 time\u2026 for about 500 more years\u2026 the dominant notion that the Israelites were God\u2019s chosen people\u2026 persisted since this part of Isaiah was written\u2026 and for too many years\u2026 Israelite superiority made them think they were so special\u2026 that salvation was only for them\u2026 yet the Gospel of John (ch.4 v.22) affirms that salvation was simply from them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n So here we have this Canaanite woman\u2026 and Jesus tells her\u2026 what he\u2019s just told the disciples five chapters earlier in Matthew 10:5-6\u2026 when he sent them out he gave these instructions\u2026 go nowhere among the Gentiles\u2026 and enter no town of the Samaritans\u2026 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel<\/em>\u2026 and it raises for some\u2026 the question\u2026 was Jesus racist\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Rev. Dr. Joy Moore\u2026 associate professor of Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary asks\u2026 how do we interpret this in a way that is consistent with the systems we want to dismantle\u2026 it\u2019s hard for me\u2026 she said\u2026 as a woman of color\u2026 to read Jesus as a screw up\u2026 and for me\u2026 sexist ethnocentrism is a screw up\u2026 it\u2019s hard for me to get to the lordship\u2026 of someone who needs me\u2026 to tell him\u2026 that I\u2019m created in the image of the God he claims to be the Son of\u2026 Jesus is simply voicing the prejudices of the onlookers\u2026 of the disciples\u2026 and he\u2019s saying what\u2019s in their hearts when they say\u2026 tell her to go away to shut up<\/em>\u2026 but she knows that God\u2019s faithfulness to Israel doesn\u2019t stop there\u2026 but is a blessing to everyone else\u2026 and if Jesus isn\u2019t keeping God\u2019s promise to Israel first\u2026 then how can the rest of us trust this God\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it may help us to ask ourselves\u2026 what blindnesses are we following\u2026 because this woman is not asking for special seat at the table\u2026 like many people in our time\u2026 she\u2019s not asking for special rights\u2026 or privileges\u2026 because if it\u2019s a right it can\u2019t also be a privilege\u2026 she\u2019s just asking for rights that have been denied\u2026 the rights that everyone else has\u2026 and since she names the truth of who Jesus is\u2026 Son of David\u2026 she knows what she can expect of him\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And there are several times in Matthew\u2019s Gospel\u2026 when Jesus is speaking to people he knows by name\u2026 and comments on what little faith they have\u2026 and here is an unnamed Canaanite woman who has enough faith to know that God can heal her daughter\u2026 and perhaps it is in her vulnerability\u2026 in her emptying herself of any status she may have\u2026 perhaps it is in her words of need for a child she loves\u2026 that Jesus who also did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited\u2026 but emptied himself in the form of a slave\u2026 and re-cognized that her daughter\u2026 possessed by any thing which rejects God\u2019s love\u2026 could only be healed with God\u2019s love\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And just as God\u2019s good\u2026 was not only for Israel\u2026 we are\u2026 in our time\u2026 beginning to realize that God\u2019s good is not only for Americans\u2026 but for all people\u2026 and in our country\u2026 we need to ask ourselves whether we want to compromise on the potential of our vision\u2026 like one of those houses on HGTV\u2026 there are physical infrastructures like roads and bridges which need to be repaired\u2026 but there are also non-partisan foundational principles which need to be shored up too\u2026 so that no one is injured by rights that are neglected and allowed to get run down\u2026 or perhaps abandoned\u2026 if the prophet affirms that salvation is for all people\u2026 and if salvation is not just for heaven\u2026 but is for here and now too\u2026 maybe especially for here and now\u2026 then how can we ensure that no one\u2019s right to vote is made more difficult or denied\u2026 that systemic racism\u2026 and all isms\u2026 are acknowledged and that we at least begin to heal them\u2026 that affordable housing is within everyone\u2019s reach\u2026 and so is healthcare\u2026 and good education\u2026 and an environment that\u2019s free from pollutants\u2026 and that no one is above the law\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus seeks out the least\u2026 the last\u2026 and the lost\u2026 Jesus comes for Jew and Canaanite\u2026 for those in Mosul and Beirut\u2026 for those against whom we would discriminate\u2026 or to whom we are blind\u2026 Jesus would go from heaven to earth\u2026 from life to death\u2026 through hell and to resurrection life\u2026 so that each of us might know God\u2019s love\u2026 and he feeds us a rich feast\u2026 not just crumbs under the table\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And like the Canaanite woman\u2026 we will not be satisfied with less\u2026 because we believe in the promise of God\u2019s kingdom coming to our world\u2026 but God will not force it on us\u2026 the gift of free will that we\u2019ve been given enables us to co-create it with God\u2026 and since we\u2019ve been created in the image of God\u2026 then that means that we were created to create\u2026 so let\u2019s create\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year A Isaiah 56:1,6-8 Psalm 67 Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15: 21-28 May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026 Joel and I like watching those remodeling shows on Home and Garden TV\u2026 like Fixer Upper\u2026 and Home Town\u2026 shows where the stars\u2026 I guess we could call them that\u2026 work on a house that\u2019s either been neglected and allowed to get run down\u2026 or perhaps abandoned\u2026 and they envision what it could look like\u2026 and draw up some elevation sketches and floor plans\u2026 maybe even program some of those animations where the kitchen cabinets and appliances fly in from nowhere and plop into place\u2026 they often plan to knock down a wall or two and create an open concept space\u2026 put in some clean-looking subway tile\u2026 turn a hallway closet into a half-bath\u2026 upgrade some amenities\u2026 and roll on some fresh paint\u2026 fresh paint is like love\u2026 it covers a multitude of sins\u2026 But when they begin to really get in there\u2026 when they start ripping things up\u2026 when they get close to the bones \u2013\u2013 I mean you can almost hear God asking Ezekiel\u2026 Mortal\u2026 can these bones live\u2026 when they hope to breathe new life into that house the way God breathed new life into the House of Israel\u2026 they discover things that aren\u2019t in the budget\u2026 they discover plumbing that\u2019s not up to code\u2026 or electrical wiring that\u2019s a fire hazard\u2026 or a rotting foundation which holds up the entire house\u2026 that needs to be replaced\u2026 and they have to decide whether to compromise on the potential of their vision\u2026 and settle for something that\u2019s less than what they wanted\u2026 something that\u2019s sub-standard\u2026 and in the long run\u2026 will really not serve them well\u2026 or whether they\u2019ll do what needs to be done\u2026 do what it takes to realize their vision so it can become a home for their family\u2026 and a place of welcome to others for generations to come\u2026 and much of the time\u2026 it seems to me\u2026 they decide to free up the needed resources to do it justice\u2026 The prophet Isaiah reminds us to maintain justice\u2026 and do what is right\u2026 even the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord\u2026 who love God\u2019s name\u2026 and serve God\u2026 who keep the Sabbath\u2026 and hold fast God\u2019s covenant\u2026 God will bring even these to God\u2019s holy mountain and make them joyful in God\u2019s house of prayer\u2026 But did you notice in the citation\u2026 that there were some verses that we skipped over\u2026 so let me read vv. 3-5\u2026 do not let the foreigner say\u2026 the LORD will surely separate me from his people\u2026 and do not let the eunuch say\u2026 I am just a dry tree\u2026 for thus says the LORD to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths\u2026 who choose the things that please me\u2026 and hold fast my covenant\u2026 I will give in my house and within my walls\u2026 a monument and a name better than sons and daughters\u2026 I will give them an everlasting name\u2026 that shall not be cut off\u2026 You see\u2026 the prophet understood that God welcomed into the congregation\u2026 two groups\u2026 who based on Pentateuchal law\u2026 had traditionally been excluded\u2026 who had been kept out of community\u2026 foreigners and eunuchs\u2026 and yet even down to Jesus\u2019 time\u2026 for about 500 more years\u2026 the dominant notion that the Israelites were God\u2019s chosen people\u2026 persisted since this part of Isaiah was written\u2026 and for too many years\u2026 Israelite superiority made them think they were so special\u2026 that salvation was only for them\u2026 yet the Gospel of John (ch.4 v.22) affirms that salvation was simply from them\u2026 So here we have this Canaanite woman\u2026 and Jesus tells her\u2026 what he\u2019s just told the disciples five chapters earlier in Matthew 10:5-6\u2026 when he sent them out he gave these instructions\u2026 go nowhere among the Gentiles\u2026 and enter no town of the Samaritans\u2026 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel\u2026 and it raises for some\u2026 the question\u2026 was Jesus racist\u2026 The Rev. Dr. Joy Moore\u2026 associate professor of Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary asks\u2026 how do we interpret this in a way that is consistent with the systems we want to dismantle\u2026 it\u2019s hard for me\u2026 she said\u2026 as a woman of color\u2026 to read Jesus as a screw up\u2026 and for me\u2026 sexist ethnocentrism is a screw up\u2026 it\u2019s hard for me to get to the lordship\u2026 of someone who needs me\u2026 to tell him\u2026 that I\u2019m created in the image of the God he claims to be the Son of\u2026 Jesus is simply voicing the prejudices of the onlookers\u2026 of the disciples\u2026 and he\u2019s saying what\u2019s in their hearts when they say\u2026 tell her to go away to shut up\u2026 but she knows that God\u2019s faithfulness to Israel doesn\u2019t stop there\u2026 but is a blessing to everyone else\u2026 and if Jesus isn\u2019t keeping God\u2019s promise to Israel first\u2026 then how can the rest of us trust this God\u2026 And it may help us to ask ourselves\u2026 what blindnesses are we following\u2026 because this woman is not asking for special seat at the table\u2026 like many people in our time\u2026 she\u2019s not asking for special rights\u2026 or privileges\u2026 because if it\u2019s a right it can\u2019t also be a privilege\u2026 she\u2019s just asking for rights that have been denied\u2026 the rights that everyone else has\u2026 and since she names the truth of who Jesus is\u2026 Son of David\u2026 she knows what she can expect of him\u2026 And there are several times in Matthew\u2019s Gospel\u2026 when Jesus is speaking to people he knows by name\u2026 and comments on what little faith they have\u2026 and here is an unnamed Canaanite woman who has enough faith to know that God can heal her daughter\u2026 and perhaps it is in her vulnerability\u2026 in her emptying herself of any status she may have\u2026 perhaps it is in her words of need for a child she loves\u2026 that Jesus who also did not regard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":903,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902\/revisions\/903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}