Matthew 15:10-28

This is the sermon I preached this morning. You're welcome, Ben. :)


Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

This summer, I’m interning as a chaplain at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. It’s part of our seminary program to learn about hospital ministry and all it entails. It’s been quite an experience! I only have a week left, so it’s closing in quickly, but, man, have I learned a lot about ministry. I’ve learned a lot about hospitals, too. If you’ve ever worked in a hospital or been a long-term hospital patient, you know that there is never a dull moment when you want one, and long, slow days and nights when you don’t. It’s quite a world.

For most patients, conversations with me are entertainment, distraction, comfort, or even bothersome. But the St. Joseph Hospital system, of which Mission is a part, is committed to the care of the whole person – a multi-disciplinary team addresses the mind, body, and soul of every patient. We guarantee that every patient will be visited by someone from our office, no matter the duration of their stay. Being in a hospital 30 hours/week, you learn a lot about people. You learn a lot about the triumph of the human will, and occasionally about the defeat. Throughout the process, though, you learn that all that goes on here is healing. Sometimes, the patient does not heal and the healing must instead be for their family, slowly but surely. Sometimes, healing takes much longer than anyone had hoped. Other times, people are in and out at lightning speeds. Every situation is different. But the underlying theme is healing.

In this Gospel text, Jesus heals that child of this woman who begs him. This Canaanite woman has faith that Jesus can heal her child, and the Gospel tells us that he does. But, at first, he doesn’t. He responds to her Canaanite social location as though she is unworthy of even asking for his help. She takes a stand and insists that she is worthy. 

I was talking to one of the patients I’ve been seeing regularly about this week’s Gospel. Jessica is expecting twins in October, and has been on bed-rest since mid-July. She has a lot of time to talk to me. She said that she loved the idea that it was not Jesus or the disciples who first said that Jesus’ message was for Jews and Gentiles alike. In fact, Jesus recognizes himself as the Messiah for Israel, and no one else. This Canaanite woman saw what Jesus was about and wanted in on it. Jessica appreciates this human moment for Jesus. This moment where he doesn’t automatically know what to do. Jesus and this woman have this terse exchange where he denies her daughter healing; the disciples wonder aloud why no one has sent her away. But she knows that Jesus can give her what she needs – and she will not let him get away. This is quite unlike Jessica’s usual image of Jesus. Usually, he’s helping those who do not recognize him for who he is.

What’s also odd about this Gospel text is that the first half is Jesus rebuking the Pharisees’ obsession with ritual cleanliness. He says that is what comes out of our mouths – the words we say – that provides for cleanliness, rather than the food we put into our mouths. And yet, he responds to the social location of the Canaanite woman, rather than to her humanity. She refuses to accept that she is unworthy of even the scraps from the master’s table. Jesus realizes that she, too, is one whom he has been sent to serve. It is not her social location, in the end, that dictates her daughter’s fate, but her faith. Jesus responds to her deep faith, even though it was in an unexpected situation.

The texts today are really all about the consequences of a prophetic voice. For Joseph, Isaiah, Jesus, this Canaanite woman, and for us, now, it is not easy but certainly necessary to say that which is not being said by other leaders, especially those who consider themselves moral leaders. Sometimes ours will be the only voice of opposition. I’m sure by now you are sick and tired of hearing about our nation’s budget negotiations and debt crisis. Every news outlet has offered every “expert opinion” on the face of the earth to explain how we can get out of this mess. Among those voices has been the ELCA’s Presiding Bishop, Mark Hanson. In June, Bishop Hanson, accompanied by other bishops of various US churches spoke out against the budget proposals they saw as immoral.

Bishop Hanson said in a meeting with President Obama and other faith leaders, "Mr. President, isn't it good that God does not join in our drawing lines in the sand, but instead draws circles of protection beginning first with those who are most vulnerable. … Jesus kept standing with those whom individuals with political and religious power wanted to exclude and judged unworthy. We are pledging to stand with those whom God embraces in God’s circle of protection. In the difficult budget decisions to be made, let our shared commitment be to those who are hungry and those who live in poverty."

It is our responsibility as Lutheran Christians to fight for the rights and protection of the least and the lost. These leaders, of both parties, who campaign on American and Christian values, are doing a poor job of showing it. Those whom Jesus implores us to serve are the ones losing in these budget negotiations. Healthcare for the elderly and for children; pre-schools; women’s health; social services – all of these are in danger of disappearing entirely from the budgets proposed by our congressional representatives. This is unacceptable, as our Bishop has said publicly, knowing that it would not be a popular sentiment. It is this kind of prophetic voice that we are called to have.

It’s almost laughable that this Sunday worked with both Pastor Laura’s and my schedule, and happened to throw some of the best political scripture my way. I’m inclined to get political with my religion on a regular basis – you may have seen the bumper stickers on my car. At Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, where I go to school, we have a group on campus called Lutherans in the Public Sphere, or LIPS. We are committed to making sure that that which comes out of our mouths is ritually clean. We find causes to encourage our classmates and community to support, through local causes like the growing homeless population in Berkeley, or organizations like Students United for Worker Justice, and we discuss appropriate Lutheran responses to current events like the Arab Spring. Here at Bethlehem, you’re in luck – Bethlehem Serves is just around the corner. Take that opportunity to love and serve the Lord by loving and serving the outsider among us.

Our world and our nation are struggling. We have a greater disparity between rich and poor than ever before. On one hand, we have Dr. King’s dream. On the other, we have Barack Obama’s reality. The poor, hungry, sick, unemployed, young, old – they need their social location recognized and overcome now more than ever. It is these huddles masses that yearn to breathe free. It is our responsibility to offer relief to those who need it – not those who can afford it; not those who have easy access to it. And, sure, it took even Jesus two tries to practice what he preaches. We’ve had our first chance, at least – and it’s not working. So here goes our second chance.

Amen.

Today is the day.

This morning, President Barack Obama officially announced his plans to run for re-election. We are 582 days away from Election Day 2012. Time to get moving!

Sure, the Republican Party has yet to officially announce any of its candidates. We don't even know who's going to show up for the primary, let alone who the President will be running against. The way I see it, we've got a head start on campaigning.

Sure, the Tea Partiers are going to run the dirtiest of campaigns we've seen in a while. It's what they do. The way I see it, we've got a leg up on taking the high road.

Sure, some Democrats are disappointed in what President Obama has been able to accomplish in his first term so far. But do you really think that John McCain would have had any of our interests in mind? The way I see it, we're light years ahead of where we'd be if McCain and Palin were in the White House.

This campaign is going to be heavy. It's going to take a lot of work by a lot of people. But we worked hard to elect him in 2008, and we're going to work hard to elect him again in 2012.

It is my hope that you will do your part. It is my hope that you will not let your busy life, your apathy, your frustration, or your anger somehow manage to let the Republicans win. I know it seems early. But if you wait, it could be too late.

And if you don't want to hear my incessant election banter, you may need to take a hiatus from reading this blog and/or following me on Twitter, and you may even go so far as to hide me on Facebook. I'm not going to lie to you and say that nobody did that in 2008 and 2010, haha. But if you want to know what's up, and you want to BE what's up, stay tuned.

And please, get involved.

[P]interestingly enough...

I love the internet. Have I mentioned this lately? I feel like maybe I just love the world, and I happen to access so much of the world via the internet, that I misdirect my love toward the internet instead. Regardless of that useless sentence, the latest thing that I spend my time doing on the internet is the greatest time-suck ever invented. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Pinterest. Essentially, it's a website where people collect and share images of things. Seriously that's all it is. BUT! Via pinterest, I have come across amazing things like Uncommon Goods and The Urbanophile and (though I can barely bring myself to admit it) Shoe Dazzle and all sorts of cool stuff.

Additionally, I was telling a story about two of my friends from CLU, Evan and Grant, who I think should have a show on NPR where they talk about what they think about the world. Evan and Grant are pretty much the ultimate leftists, and have been known to quip onto the ends of other people's statements with "or the lack thereof" whenever we talk about societies (our own, even!) that lack certain human rights, etc. Therefore, their show should be called "The Lack Thereof" and they can talk all about how from their atheist/socialist/whateverist perspective, everything is lacking. I think this is very hilarious. It was brought to my attention by those listening to this story that, by the same logic, I should have my own NPR show where I talk about how backwards things can be in this world, and it should be called "Interestingly Enough," because that is how I always begin my stories about how ironic/hypocritical/backwards something is. And then Kelsey can have a show called "Food For Thought" (even though she never says that) about cooking and being smart. Because Kelsey cooks and is smart. I guess I just want everyone to have their own NPR show? Too bad there's about to be zero funding for NPR, so the likelihood of all of this is very low.

Anyway, you've spent four minutes wondering what the point of all of this is, I'm sure. Interestingly enough, there is no further information to give. So, with that, I say you should see what Pinterest can offer you, and then make a donation to NPR.