Day of the Church Year: 15th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Passage: Mark 7:24-37
Friends, it’s bad. The division among the people of this nation, the division among the people of all nations.
In a recent visit to the ER where I learned I was just fine, a tech engaged me in conversation while conducting a simple test. Talking about Covid-19 and his relationships with other hospital staff, he said: Back at the beginning of the pandemic, we were all on the same side, fighting for the same cause. Now, there is division. Though he didn’t say it, he implied that, at least at his hospital, there is division between those who are vaccinated and those who choose not to be vaccinated, a division replicated throughout our society.
I strongly advocate for all people who are eligible for vaccination to get vaccinated. I imagine there is a small subset of people whose doctors have recommended they do not receive the vaccine for some particular medical reason, and by all means, everyone should follow the advice of trusted medical professionals. Still, we have learned from virologists whose expertise is the growth and mutation of viruses that vaccination is the fastest way to slow the spread of the virus and to mitigate virus mutation. Vaccination is the way to end the suffering that has been caused by this pandemic: physical suffering, economic suffering, isolation, and the overwhelm of and chaos within hospitals that affects everyone—since we ourselves or someone we love will surely visit an ER or be admitted to a hospital at some time, just like I did two weeks ago. Perhaps most troubling of all, like most other disasters, those who suffer the most are those with the least resources.
The Covid-19 pandemic has fractured our community, our nation, our world. I too am having trouble listening to those who don’t share my view because I believe that getting vaccinated is a matter of faith, love for all humanity, and justice. Because getting vaccinated is not about us but about others, about the common good. And tending to the common good is core to the prophecy of Old Testament prophets, to the life and teaching of Jesus, and to the writings of the Apostle Paul. I’m having trouble these days.
In today’s Jesus story, Jesus encounters people his disciples and even he have trouble with. People who are not Jewish; remember: Jesus and his disciples are Jewish. People from neighboring nations: Syro-Phoenicia to the north of Galilee and Decapolis to the east. A woman. A woman who challenges Jesus when he insults her. A man deaf and with a speech impediment, supposedly sinful as all people born with such conditions were considered at the time. Jesus encounters this woman whose daughter needs healing from a demon and this man who desires hearing and speech, and instead of turning away from them because they are different than him or because he or his disciples have trouble with them, he pauses and provides for them what he provides for the crowds of Jewish people who follow him: healing, acknowledgment, even commendation. Of course, though, the stories are more complex than that.
Of all Jesus stories, Jesus’ encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman reveals the tension between Jews and Gentiles, non-Jews. Jesus outright says that only the children of Israel deserve his healing, and because the woman and her daughter are not Jewish, he initially denies her daughter healing. To illustrate his point, Jesus calls her and her daughter dogs who should not receive the children of Israel’s food, to which she responds: “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” She acknowledges her status in his eyes and still cries out for his compassion. Jesus appears to realize his mis-step, declaring: “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” Jesus publicly reverses his position on the worthiness of a Gentile woman to receive healing from him. Jesus appears to learn from the Syro-Phoenician woman that he was wrong to insult her and disregard her. In front of his disciples and all those who may be crowding around, Jesus acknowledges the value of this woman and her daughter. He heals her daughter, yes, but he also begins to heal the fracture between the people of Galilee and the people of Syro-Phoenicia.
In this Jesus story, Jesus demonstrates a prejudice typical for people of his demographic, a prejudice shared by his disciples, and his prejudice has to do with characteristics that cannot be easily changed: gender, nation of origin, and religion. And so, this story is not a perfect match to our current situation where we are divided by vaccination status. Yet Jesus teaches us that, when we come face to face with anyone, regardless of our differences, regardless of our choices, we come face to face with a person, a person with needs and a complex story, a person whose value is not up for debate. Not for any reason.
There are no easy answers to the division in our nation. On Thursday evening, I commented to someone in our community: “I want to know what to do.” She heartily agreed. What do we do in this context? We weren’t just talking about the division sparked by the pandemic but about natural disaster, climate change, Afghanistan, and all the other bad news stories of this week. The words I keep coming back to are from Thomas Merton, a 20th century mystic who wrote: “Do not depend on the hope of results. When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on, essentially an apostolic work, you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself. And there too a great deal has to be gone through as gradually you struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for specific people. The range tends to narrow down, but it gets much more real. In the end, it is the reality of personal relationships that saves everything.”
We are a divided people, a fractured nation, and I too am having trouble. We probably all are, regardless of our opinions and vaccination status. This week, Jesus gets real, recognizes his own mis-step, and in the end, comes face to face with the woman and her daughter, people of value. People of value, that’s us; people of value, that’s everyone. Thanks be to God! Amen.