Proper 18 Year B

There are miracles and then again there are miracles. . .

Mark 7:24-37

aI recently read a definition of miracles that went like this: Miracles are supernatural events that only happened in the past, and therefore didn’t really happen at all.

I feel very sorry for the person who wrote those words because he is operating out of a terrible misconception that I believe brings about a kind of joylessness in life that is just too pervasive these days.

I would change that definition to: Miracles are perfectly natural and wondrous events that happened in the past, happen now and hopefully will always happen.

Miracles are not freaks of nature; they are the gems of nature. 

The word Miracle has a Latin root which means to wonder at. It is also the root for the word mirror. So, miracles serve two purposes:

Firstly, they cause us to be filled with awe.  That is why a beautiful sunset or an opening flower in the morning mist can be called a miracle.

Whenever I think about the births I’ve witnessed, I am always in awe of the fact that here is a brand-new baby person who previously had not known the light of day.  No matter how many times we witness the birth of a baby, the only word that comes to mind is miracle.

But sunsets, and flowers and the birth of a child are perfectly natural; because for them to occur, God has to be constantly working in concert with creation in love through eons of time. Miracles should bring us to our knees to praise our God as in the words of the great hymn:

You move on the water’s face bearing the gifts of grace, and in earth’s darkest place, let there be light!

The second thing miracles do is they help to mirror God’s activity in the world; they actually help us to understand how God approaches creation. . . how God approaches us. Miracles can teach us more about God’s modus operandi than all the volumes of Theology that line the shelves of the Graduate Theological Union Library at Berkeley. This is especially true of the two wonder-filled miracle stories in our Gospel this week.  

Therefore, let’s take a look at all the pieces of Jesus’ encounter with these two remarkable people.  Let’s not jump to the end to find out whether or not these two were cured and how amazed the people were. No, let’s stop to take the time to dissect each part of the story and find that mirrored reflection of God’s mode of operation; let’s see how the story can reflect what it means to say, God is love.

Perhaps the first thing that should cause us to take notice is Mark’s very straight forward narration: He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there.Jesus was trying to avoid notice. He shut down his E-mail, silenced his cell phone, logged off of Facebook and pulled the blinds.

But, as always, someone is in need. . . someone has sought out Jesus, and he responds with an encounter.

Let this act on the part of Jesus be the reflection of God’s unrelenting willingness to encounter us in every moment of our living. We are never alone!

Now, not only was it scandalous to have a religious conversation with a woman, but this woman was a gentile, an outsider. She was like one of those Dreamers who everyone thought was just looking for a free hand-out. But Jesus ignored all the protocol and prejudice, and he made sure to let the woman have her encounter with him.

So, we have another reflection. Let this act on the part of Jesus be the reflection of the fact that our God always puts people ahead of scandal and controversy, bigotry and bias. What this story mirrors is the God who is an unrelenting extremist when it comes to grace and acceptance.

Ralph Keyes, in his book, Is there life after High School? has interviewed celebrities and famous people and asked them about their most prominent memories. It’s very interesting to me that Mia Farrow didn’t recount that as a child she was struck with polio and spent an entire year in an iron lung. Instead, her most prominent memory was attending a High School dance where every girl got asked to dance except her. It’s also very interesting to me that Henry Kissinger didn’t recount his open-heart surgery. Instead, his most prominent memory was being the kid that nobody wanted to eat lunch with at school.

Right down the line, it was the painful moments of rejection that each of them remembered the most. If you have ever stood with them, then you know the miraculous healing power of acceptance!  The bottom line is people need to be given love that they can remember. Wouldn’t it be great if more and more people had trouble recalling times of rejection and disappointment, failure and misfortune because they were so busy remembering all the times that they were miraculously loved? 

The woman’s daughter, we are told, has a demon. Illnesses that were not understood were often diagnosed as demonic possession in the First Century world of Jesus. I, for one, don’t take that word demon literally. It is sufficient for me to say that this woman’s daughter was very sick. 

Now at first, Jesus takes the standard First Century Jewish stance and throws her the standard line: The children must be fed first; King David should have closed those borders while he had the chance. And then he even adds the cruel twist about throwing crumbs to the dogs.

I decided a long time ago that I’m not going to try to rescue Jesus from this Gospel Narrative anymore. Jesus was an Israelite, and Jesus was human. I believe in the Divinity of Jesus, but I also believe every bit as much in the humanity of Jesus. . . so much so that I have no problem with Jesus needing to evolve in his thinking.  In fact, I have come to PREFER a Jesus who evolves in his thinking!

The woman has a comeback that knocks the Messiah’s sandals off!  She says, Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.

The evolution of thought is given a swift kick in the pants by this woman. Jesus changes his mind and brings her and her daughter into his healing embrace. Jesus seems energized now, and Mark tells us that he picks up and heads through the region of the Decapolis. . . more non-Jewish territory. Jesus is on a new mission. Jesus now goes out of his way to minister to those outside his narrower, religious fold.  Jesus, the Anointed One, the one we call Lord and Savior has changed direction because of the faith and forbearance of one female foreigner! Lilly Ledbetter could easily claim this Syrophoenician woman as her patron saint.

Let this act on the part of Jesus be a reflection of a God who not only listens, but who can actually be surprised; a God who can hold fast, but also go bipartisan; a God who is willing to change with us as we move along life’s currents; a God who is a dynamic God of real life, not the static Unmoved Mover of Ancient Greek Philosophy!

Next, they bring to Jesus a man who is deaf. . . the crowd is growing large, so Jesus takes the man away to a private place. This isn’t incidental to this story. Firstly, it tells us that Jesus isn’t interested in celebrity status; in fact, he isn’t interested in status period!  All Jesus cares about is that he sees a real person in need, who has slipped through the social safety net, and who deserves to be treated with real dignity and real respect.

I just love the story of the little boy who accompanied his parents to a diner one evening. The waitress came up and said, Can I take your order?

The little boy quickly answered, I’ll have a hamburger, fries and a chocolate milk shake.

At this point mom interjected, That’s not what he’ll have.  He’ll have the roast beef with vegetables and a glass of milk.

The waitress came back, as if to completely ignore the boy’s mother, and asked the boy, What would you like on that burger?

Lots and lots of ketchup, the little boy answered.

After the waitress left, the little boy looked up at his bewildered parents and said, She’s really neat; she thinks I’m real!

The deaf man wasn’t a disease to be cured; he was a real person, and by taking the man aside out of compassion and grace, Jesus spares the man an insult to his dignity.

Let this act on the part of Jesus be a reflection of the fact that our God doesn’t want to be known for how many lightning bolts God can throw from Mt. Olympus, or how many speeding bullets God can beat in the 100-yard dash, or how many tall buildings God can leap in a single bound. In fact, dare we say that God doesn’t want to be known for anything as much as God wants to touch every person’s life and help to advance that life toward self-worth and wholeness?

And finally, notice that Jesus touches the man’s inner ear and his tongue. Jesus essentially uses sign language here, perhaps the only language the deaf man understands. He takes the time to communicate in a way the man can understand. 

Let this act on the part of Jesus be a reflection of the fact that our God speaks the only language that the whole world understands: the language of love! 

You know, even if the Syrophoenician’s daughter had not been cured, and even if the deaf man had not had his hearing restored, I would bet all that I have that they would one day recall being touched by one who reflected the love of God.

At every baptism when I hand the lit candle to the newly baptized, I go off script and say, Receive the light of Christ and know that you are called to reflect this same light in the world.

In reality, that’s just another way of saying that you are called to go out into the world and give away the kind of love that people will actually remember!