Passion and Persistence

Proper18BPentecost15, September 6, 2015, Sullivan Park Care Center, by Annette Fricke

            My co-workers and I have recently made it a habit to go out with each other more frequently.  I, being the second oldest aid of our employer, sometimes can feel a bit awkward.  What do I have in common with people who are actually young enough to be my grandchildren?  Well, we are all human and our group is only inclusive of the women co-worker aides.  As a once practicing mental health counselor, I sometimes do more watching than taking action.  I am sometimes caught in that paralysis of not knowing what to do to resolve some of the injustices I see around me and so I sit and wait things out.  One of my best friends is a bit younger than I and is Buddhist.  Despite our differing beliefs, we have much in common. Some of our common ground is a result of having lived on the other side of the state. I am going through a process of grieving right now because she told me that she has been accepted into nursing school at Mt. Hood.  Yes, that means she’s moving to Oregon. She is very kind and caring and treats me on an equal basis, as equal as it can be with our age differences.  I will miss her.

            The two healing stories in our gospel text have similarities.  The most glaring of the similarities is that they both take place in non-Jew territories.  These are places where Jews are not welcome and in fact, are rather despised and treated with contempt.  Perhaps the harsh words of Jesus to this woman from the region of Tyre are a reflection of the political imbalance of the wealthy Gentiles and Jewish peasants there.  Beyond that, Jesus was likely aware of the economic hardship that many Jews in that region experienced due to the exploits of the Gentile landowners. We should be asking why Jesus is there at all if he indeed sees his priority as the house of Israel.  Indeed, the Gospel of Mark gives us a vision of the outstretching of God’s kingdom to be that which extends beyond the reaches of the folks of Judaism.  Obviously, one of the major points of the reading is that we are to go beyond our own little villages or social groupings of people in our quest to extend the mercy of God. But note also that this text has nothing to do with converting anyone by means of God directly, nor of our evangelization in God’s name.  Pure and simple, this is about showing mercy to all people. It has nothing to do with imposing values or judgments on someone else.  It doesn’t mean that a person should not issue a marriage license because she does not think that gay men should get married.  It does not mean that if I am a Quaker and believe in pacifism that I will not issue you a permit to have a gun to defend your house and property.  Jesus did not ask her, as far as we know, what she believed in.  He met her at her need and healed her daughter.  We don’t know what happened after that.  We have no “Gospel according to the Syrophoenician Woman.” Perhaps we should; perhaps she would tell us how Jesus paid attention to even her, one who had a sick child among many sick children of the day.

            This woman was not going to just stand by and watch her daughter continue to suffer.  She was passionate.  She knew Jesus was a healer and she was determined to get healing for her daughter.  She knew Jesus had that which she most desperately desired more than anything.  She was prepared to do what it took to get it. Some of us will watch someone like that and say to ourselves, “What a stubborn fool,” but maybe that’s what’s lacking in us at times.  At times, we just give up and become lackadaisical, paralyzed into inaction.  Will God bring healing if we never ask for it or if we always pray meekly, “thy will be done?”  Is it not a step better to even demand that God hear our pleas for mercy?

            Lastly, it is important to notice that the mother pleads for the daughter and the deaf man is brought to Jesus by his friends.  Community is important.  God does not expect us to be the lone rangers and to conduct our prayer life and spirituality as though it’s just between God and me.  Many of my preacher friends have nixed the idea of worship services other than Sunday because there just is no interest in attendance.  Two services outside the regular service on Sunday are offered where I attend when I’m not here, but only a few regulars attend. Some will say things like, “I attended the Saturday service” meaning that they saw no need to be there Sunday morning as though fulfilling an obligation rather than a voluntary fellowship gathering. The prevailing cultural attitude that people can be spiritual on their own has spilled out onto the Church.  I see the same thing happen at work.  We have these forms in order to lodge a complaint or give a compliment.  Nobody wants to fill them out, but will complain about similar things as others.  Everyone sees it as a personal choice.  Nothing is done as a community and those who would seek change, even demand change don’t. The topic of conversation gets changed instead.  Even the James text dictates we go beyond talk to action.  Isn’t that really the essence of the lessons for today?

            Despite my being a reluctant nursing assistant, part of me is proud to be part of the nursing profession although as a candy striper at age 15 you would never hear those words out of my mouth.  The nursing profession is all about healing and trying to find the best way to care for the mental and physical needs of patients or residents, depending on the setting in which they are located. Modern day medicine is only a small part of the healing which is attributed to Jesus.  If we are to look more carefully into the gospel passage, we will find that the imagery of the crumbs which fall from the children’s table is a quite comprehensive picture of the enormity and generosity of God’s love for all humanity.  God’s love or mercy is like a table on which the children eat.  As with both children and some older adults I know, crumbs fall to the floor.  It is common for the family dog to scarf them up so that they disappear from sight.  They are fed from simple scraps just as pigs are given the leftover food the children don’t eat.  God’s mercy and healing is not just for the few, but for the many because God’s children are not just those we most love and admire, but also those who live on the fringes of society and the edges of what we might term unacceptable dress or behavior.  Not only do we put God in a box, but people as well.  We want both God and people to conform to our sense of what’s right and what’s wrong.  We want to be able to control things even though we know that the world is in a state of constant flux and the only constant is change.  We don’t like entertaining the notion that someone else has an idea that might be just as good as ours.  Jesus commends the woman not so much for her belief as for her passion and persistence.  She has a good argument.  She is asserting herself with logic.  Sometimes the smartest people in our midst are those without a formal education.  We are not called to simply repeat what others tell us.  We are to follow our hearts, passionately seeking---no demanding that those in our midst receive healing, remembering that we are all in this together.