A Jerk Like Jesus

A Jerk Like Jesus

Pastor Mark Havel

Matthew 15:21-28

Jesus left that place and went to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then, a Canaanite woman from that region came to him and cried out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” Jesus didn’t answer her at all. His disciples said to him, “Send her away from here. She keeps shouting after us.” Jesus replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came, and kneeling before him, said, “Lord, help me.” And Jesus replied, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” The woman replied, “Yes, Lord. But even dogs get the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Jesus said, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed, instantly.

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I make it a point not to compare myself to Jesus – for so many reasons. But I found myself doing just that this week when I sat down to wrestle with this difficult Gospel reading. This one hit differently, for a change, and not in a good way.

What I mean is, like we just heard from Jesus, I was sort of a jerk to a couple of people who needed my help this week. I wasn’t as mean as Jesus, honestly – I didn’t call anyone a “dog” – but I was kind of a jerk, nonetheless. But first, I’d rather talk about talk about Jesus.

He and the disciples are spreading the Word, their working miracles, their feeding, healing, and teaching. I’m sure they’re still talking about how Peter walked on water, which we heard about last week. And then along comes this woman – a Canaanite woman; a Gentile woman in the land of Gentiles; and she wants to talk to Jesus. She wants his mercy and his blessing and his healing for her sick daughter and she has the nerve to ask him for it.

I say “nerve” because she was a Gentile, a Canaanite. She was not a Jew, like Jesus and his disciples. She was NOT one of the “lost sheep of the house of Israel,” as Jesus puts it. And because of that, she wasn’t on his agenda or in his plans or on his list of priorities. Even though they were in her neck of the woods – the region of Tyre and Sidon – neither Jesus nor his disciples wanted anything to do with her.

“Send her away,” the disciples say, “she keeps shouting after us.” “Lose her before she makes a scene.” And Jesus tries to brush her off, himself: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” “I really am only here for the Jews. Not for Gentiles. Not for Canaanites. Not for the likes of her.”

But she doesn’t give up. She keeps after him. She persists, like any good mother would, who really wanted help for her sick child. And, even after hearing all of this, she kneels before Jesus, utterly humbling herself, and she begs him … simply … “Lord, help me.”

And it gets worse before it gets better. If there’s any doubt that Jesus didn’t want anything to do with this lady, listen when he says, “It’s not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” That is as bad as it sounds. He compares her to a dog – unworthy of receiving the same blessings he came to share with his fellow Jews; with “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

*** Now, a little sidebar here. I have preached and taught about this text several times over the years and usually take the same tack … to make it about race, for instance; or ministry to the “other,” for example; or about doing away with the social and cultural divisions that separate people from each other – like how Jesus and his disciples saw themselves as separate from – maybe better than – that Canaanite woman. I like to talk about how even Jesus was influenced by his culture and community and about how even he had to learn and be persuaded to see God’s grace as deeper and wider and more all-encompassing than he was first inclined. And I think that is quite a compelling lesson to be learned here. But I’ve been there and done that – as far as sermons go – so this time around it hit differently, as I said. ***

Whatever it was that made Jesus rebuff, dismiss, and ignore the needs of this woman, this is hard to hear because either he meant it, which can’t be good. Or because he was messing with her to test the fortitude of her faithfulness, which isn’t great, either. Or maybe, like me this week, Jesus was just tired and feeling rushed and put upon and taken for granted by people who needed their emergency to become his emergency at a time when he just didn’t feel like he had it in him.

(For me it was phone calls and requests from some folks outside of the congregation – none of you, in other words. One was from a guy who needed help at the food pantry – NOW; another was someone looking for marriage counseling; and another was a woman who had a sick child, was out of work following surgery, and who needed help with her rent … IMMEDIATELY.)

For what it’s worth, like Jesus, I ultimately helped two of them and I plan to call the third. I just wasn’t my best self along the way or in my heart of hearts … I was a little slow on the uptake, a little frustrated in the meantime, I was cynical, suspicious, and skeptical about the “need” of their “need.” I dragged my feet and I thought some thoughts, if you know what I mean.

So, while I don’t like experiencing or seeing or admitting to this side of myself – or to this side of Jesus – bear with me for a minute. To not see this side of the story is to miss something significant; something practical; something holy.

Because what we see – for my money – is one of the greatest examples of Jesus’ humanity. Even Jesus could put up barriers. Even Jesus had blinders on every now and again. Even Jesus, it seems, had trouble feeling the pain, understanding the need, recognizing the desperation of those who weren’t like him. And even Jesus struggled to acknowledge the difference his kind of GRACE could mean for some people.

It’s not the picture I’ve painted of Jesus in our heart of hearts, for the most part. It’s not the gracious response we’ve come to expect from our Lord. It’s not the open arms and the open heart and the open mind I’d rather tell you about. And if this was true for Jesus from time to time – shouldn’t each of us imagine … wonder about … consider deeply ... acknowledge – that it might also be true of us in more ways than we are always able to recognize or willing to admit?

And, as hard as it may be to see in Jesus or to acknowledge about ourselves, we should, because I believe what happens next for Jesus, and by God’s grace, is the point in all of this.

What happens when Jesus encounters this nameless Canaanite woman – seemingly so different from him and his kind – is that he learns something about her, about himself, and about the power and potential of his ministry. This annoying, persistent, desperate woman – searching for her daughter’s cure – pushed Jesus and his ministry to a new level. What she showed Jesus and what she shows us is that we can open ourselves up in surprising ways. We learn from Jesus that his ministry – and ours – is for those we don’t always understand or “see” and who experience the world differently than we do.

The guy who got help from the pantry was humbly grateful for it this week, as he always is. The woman whose rent I paid could barely contain her great joy and sincere gratitude when I called to tell her I was on the way to deliver it – she wept with gratitude and raised a few “hallelujah’s.” Her landlord told me I didn’t even know the kind of blessing I was able to be for her this week. (Which wasn’t me, by the way. I just got to deliver that blessing, thanks to the funds you all contribute to our Pastors’ Discretionary Account for such occasions.)

So for me, the Good News in this morning’s Gospel is found in the humanity we’re allowed to see in Jesus – and allowed to acknowledge in ourselves, because of it.

The even better Good News in this morning’s Gospel is that Jesus, in spite of that humanity, makes a change.

And the best news of all in this morning’s Gospel is that it’s a call to invite that kind of change in ourselves – to slow down and to see people more clearly, more fully, more patiently; for the sake of grace … for the sake of mercy … for the sake of the world our God so loves.

Amen

YOU Give Them Something to Eat

YOU Give Them Something to Eat

Pastor Mark Havel

Matthew 14:13-21

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.

When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’

Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

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This feeding of the 5,000 is one of Jesus’ great miracles – maybe THE great miracle, if there were a popularity contest. (You’ve got water to wine, walking on water, lots of healing here and there, and this feeding of the 5,000, right?) We wonder about how in the world Jesus could take just five loaves of bread and two fish and feed that many people. We marvel at all those leftovers – 12 baskets full – and the idea that if there were about 5,000 men – not including women and children – how many people Jesus really must have fed at the end of that day.

I also always marvel at the compassion Jesus mustered for the crowds that afternoon, when all he really wanted was to be alone, to grieve after learning that his cousin and friend, John the Baptist, had just died. It’s amazing to think about all of the people he must have healed or taught or sat with and listened to, in the midst of his grief. And you have to wonder what it was that he said to himself when he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke that food, before making the miracle happen.

But the disciples were there too. And while it’s easy to wonder about all of the other stuff – to focus on the size of the crowds and the lack of food and the miracle of it all – I also think about those disciples.

It had been a long day and they were probably tired, too. Their appeal to Jesus to let the crowd go get some food, was probably just as much about them getting the heck out of there, too. Never mind the 5,000 … those five loaves and two fish weren’t all that much for 12 tired, hungry disciples, either.

And in the face of their questions … in response to their doubts … in spite of their laziness … whatever it may have been … Jesus says, “YOU give them something to eat.”

“What do you mean, ‘you’? You want US to feed THEM? Maybe you haven’t noticed, Jesus, but there’s like 5,000 people on this hill and all we brought with us is a couple of stinky fish and a few loaves of sourdough.”

“Yes,” Jesus said. “YOU give them something to eat.”

See, the miracle’s a good one and it makes a great story, but if we only focus on what Jesus prayed or on trying to figure out how he did what he did, or on the crowds or the fish or the bread and the math – I think we miss the point. Just like the rest of Jesus’ parables – and the ones we’ve been hearing the last couple of weeks – they really aren’t about yeast or pearls or nets; they aren’t about weeds, seeds, soil, or gardening. And today isn’t really about fish or bread or a hillside picnic. For me, the Gospel – the Good News – in the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand is found in Jesus’ short and simple response to the disciples:

“YOU give them something to eat.”

Sure the disciples are skeptical. Yes Jesus does whatever he does to make the food go as far as it did. But, what he says and what the disciples do is even more profound and powerful: “YOU give them something to eat.” Don’t send them away. Don’t look for a way out. Don’t hope for someone else to do it. Don’t wait for tomorrow, even. “YOU give them something to eat.” “And do it now.”

And don’t we sound and act like the disciples too much of the time? We don’t have enough bread – whether that means time, or money; energy, willingness, or ability; faith, love, compassion, or whatever. We’re skeptical. We’re pessimistic. We’re preoccupied, distracted, lazy, uninspired, selfish, insecure, unconvinced, we have so many other, better things to do – maybe all the things those disciples were feeling that day. A lot of the time, if you’re anything like me, you’re just downright full of really good excuses.

But just like the disciples in the Gospel, Jesus gives us something greater than even our best excuses. He gives us more than just another miracle, too. He gives us something better even then bread and fish to chew on. Jesus reveals to us just what a high opinion God has – not only of the lost and lonely; the sick and needy people on the hillside that day for whom he shows so much compassion – but Jesus reveals what a high opinion God has of those who believe in and who want to follow him so faithfully.

What I hear Jesus saying is, “Don’t pretend you don’t have the time or the skills or the resources to do God’s work in this world.” “Don’t pretend you’re not qualified or capable.” “Don’t put it off for another day or time or moment when it might be more convenient.” “And don’t wait for me to do it in your place.”

“YOU give them something to eat.”

Which is what I hope you notice and want to be a part of around here – doing the work of the Kingdom, I mean, in and for the sake of the the communities we serve at Cross of Grace. Of course, I think of our Food Pantry and Agape Ministries and Project Rouj in Haiti, that literally support and feed people in gracious, powerful ways.

But I think about our CarePortal Crew, too, who does this in ways that continue to surprise me. Stephanie Smith sends an e-mail every couple of weeks with requests for everything from diapers to bed frames to clothing to swing-sets. Ostensibly, she’s saying, “You give them something to eat – or somewhere to sleep, or something to wear, or whatever the need may be,” and before you know it diapers and clothes and all the rest start showing up – from so many of you – to be delivered to children and families nearby. It’s as miraculous as it is simple, if you ask me.

And I think about less-obvious things like our Summer Reading Program, too. Inspired by a desire to help English Learners in our neck of the woods, I proposed this idea with more hope than I had plans – a couple of stinky fish and some crumbs of bread, if you will. But we had dozens of Cross of Gracers sign up and show up to make it happen. We didn’t pack a hillside every Wednesday, this summer, but we consistently gave about a dozen children a regular dose of patience, time, opportunity, and learning over the course of the last couple of months that I believe fed and filled them in some meaningful ways that will last and linger as they begin another school year.

And, of course, I have in mind the fantastic week of our “Toy Story” themed Camp @ Church that we just pulled out of our behinds. When Lutheran Outdoor Ministries canceled our annual Camp @ Church about a month out, it was temping … it would have been easy – and reasonable – to just cancel the whole thing and try again next year. There wasn’t enough time. There wouldn’t be enough resources, ideas, hands-on-deck. These kids and families could have found other ways and places to fill their days, instead.

But we decided to give them something to eat, after all. Day after day, there were crafts and songs and Bible Studies and games and – no loaves and fish – but plenty of good food, too. Every day, 45 kids – and a gaggle of men, women, and teens, too – were filled to overflowing with reminders of God’s love for them, with the Truth of their value in God’s eyes, with the promise of their call to love one another, with the hope of their place in God’s story.

This is all a reminder that there is some way each of us can help to feed somebody else – literally or otherwise – through the ministry we share here. Maybe it’s helping with Sunday school this fall, sharing a meal, helping to clean, mowing the lawn, getting onto that CarePortal e-mail list, or showing up for the CrossRoads class to learn more. Let’s not wait for someone else to do it. Let’s not pretend we aren’t capable or qualified or called, even, to respond to the needs around us, in this place or in our world. And let’s not wait for Jesus to do it all by himself, either – that was never God’s plan.

No, let’s be amazed by the story. Let’s wonder about the miracle on that hillside. But let’s think about our mission here – as a congregation and as individuals trying to follow the ways of Jesus. Let’s hear the command to give the world something to eat. And let’s realize that we have all we need to make that happen – that because of God’s love for us, we are called and capable of doing the work of love and grace and generosity for the sake of the world. And let’s trust that when we do, there will be more than enough of go around – with leftovers besides.

Amen