September 9 NOTES FOR REFLECTION Ordinary 23

September 9                          NOTES FOR REFLECTION                         Ordinary 23

Texts: Isaiah 35:4-7a; James 2:1-10, 14-17; Mark 7:24-37

Theme:  Nothing very obvious this week.  Something about healing is one possibility, though that would only cover James indirectly.  Given the approach I'm taking to the gospel passage this week, I'm going with "Meeting our Principles in the Flesh".  This would certainly cover James, Part 2.

Introduction.  Isaiah offers the promise of a better future to a people who have hit rock bottom.  The Lord himself will come to his people, and when he does he will bring healing and wholeness, not only to the people, but to the whole of creation as well.  This vision is behind the presentation of Jesus' ministry in the New Testament (including today's gospel passage) where the advent of Jesus is accompanied by amazing healing and other miraculous signs.  [Remember the response to John the Baptist's agonised question from the depth of despair in Herod's dungeon: see Matthew 11:2-5.]  Meanwhile James shows his gift for satire as he mocks our fawning attitude towards the rich and powerful, and our preference for giving platitudes rather than practical aid to those in need.

Background.  In Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New, the hymn book used at St Barnabas Warrington, two versions of that cringe-making carol, Away in the Manger, are given (No.776).  Someone called Michael Forster has done us all a great service by writing an Alternative Version of verses 2 and 3.  Some of his changes seem trivial and unnecessary, but the major change was vital to bring the verse into line with orthodox paediatrics.   The traditional verse reads: The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes, a sure sign that urgent medical attention is necessary.  The revised version reads: The cattle are lowing, they also adore the little Lord Jesus who lies in the straw.  Still not great poetry, but a better guide to new mothers, I think.

The serious point of all this is the question of the perfection of Jesus at birth.  Did he arrive already fully equipped, fully self-aware, already perfect in every way; or did he have to learn, to grow and mature, to discover his Father's will, as the rest of us do?  Was he a normal human baby, or something else?  [I once got into strife with a parishioner for stating that in my view Jesus the baby not only cried, but probably burped and pooped in his nappy just like any other baby.  That's a hard idea to sell; try finding an icon of Madonna and Child at the changing table.  Yet the evidence of Scripture is there: Luke 2:40, 52; Hebrews 5:8-9: Jesus had to grow up.

Which gets me to my take on chapter 7 of Mark's gospel, and in particular this extraordinary encounter between Jesus and the spunky Syro-Phoenician woman.  Before getting to the details of that story, I am intrigued by the structure of this chapter.  [Yes, I know the original texts were not divided into chapters and verses, but the order of the text comes from Mark.]  So we start off with Jesus' teaching about what is and is not 'clean', in the course of which he virtually repeals the dietary laws.  Whatever we may think of such an astounding teaching, the connection with the two following stories does not seem to be related to this subject-matter.  Why does Mark suddenly switch from tough teaching about dietary laws to stories about the healing of a possessed daughter and a man born deaf and mute?

Well, here's my unorthodox (if not actually heretical) take on this.  The implications of the abolition of the dietary laws are widespread, and perhaps even Jesus hadn't thought about them fully.  If Jews are no longer required to follow a different dietary regime than that followed by Gentiles, why would the two groups need to eat separately?  And if they no longer need to eat separately, what has happened to the idea of separate communities?  Jesus has just enunciated in principle the breaking down of the walls that divide: he is now confronted with someone "from the other side of those walls".  She is the embodiment of that principle.  And Jesus' initial response to her approach suggests that he wasn't quite ready to grasp the enormity of what he had just taught.  He had more learning to do, and he did it in this encounter.  He taught his disciples a shocking new understanding of the Law: she taught him the practical implications of the teaching in the real word of flesh and bones.

Notice that the next story is also set in Gentile country, the Decapolis on the south-eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, so it is likely that the man born deaf and mute was also a Gentile.  Now Jesus does not hesitate: he has resolved to his own satisfaction the dilemma he first faced with the pushy mother from Syrian Phoenicia.  He had thought that his mission was only to the House of Israel: he had now realised that it was to the whole world: see Matthew 10:5-6; 15:24.

A startlingly brilliant example of the way in which a principle in which we sincerely believe can turn on us when enfleshed in a real person is found in Miroslav Volf's wonderful book Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation.  Volf is a Croatian theologian.  In 1993 he gave a public lecture in which he argued that "we ought to embrace our enemies as God has embraced us in Christ".  Great principle, eh?  We can just see his audience quietly nodding their agreement.  But one member of the audience was the great German theologian, Jurgen Moltmann, and he had a question for Volf: "Can you embrace a Cetnik?"  Cetniks were the notorious Serbian fighters who for months had been devastating Croatia, herding people into concentration camps, raping women, burning down churches, and destroying cities in Croatia.  Could this man who enunciated the Christ-given teaching of loving our enemies embrace a Cetnik?  Volf wanted to give a short answer, in itself brilliant: "No, I cannot – but as a follower of Christ I think I should be able to", but his full answer filled this extraordinary book.

In the Preface he gives us an insight into how difficult the task of facing Moltmann's question was: My thought was pulled in two different directions by the blood of the innocent crying out to God and by the blood of God's Lamb offered for the guilty.  How does one remain loyal both to the demand of the oppressed for justice and to the gift of forgiveness that the Crucified offered to perpetrators?

One final thought before turning to the readings.  Perhaps the connection with all this and the healing of the deaf mute is that the causes of deafness are not always physical.  Sometimes we do not hear because what is being said conflicts with what we already think we know, or with what we want to believe.  Jesus had not yet fully heard his Father's mission for him until the Syro-Phoenician woman's effrontery commanded his ears to be opened further.   Miroslav Volf had heard only part of the commandment to love our enemies: he was deaf to the idea that for him that included the Cetniks until Moltmann's question opened his ears to the enormity of his own teaching.  "There's none so deaf as those who will not hear."

Isaiah.  A short messianic prophecy, given to a devastated people who know the reality of defeat, captivity, and exile, as well as the harshness of life in the wilderness.  Here we have wonderful poetry (it would make a great Advent Hymn – in fact, I seem to have a vague idea that there is an Advent Hymn based on this passage somewhere.)  The short point is that when the Lord comes it will not be just a spiritual event, but one that will have dramatic effect in the physical realms.  Restoration meant for the people of the time a return to Jerusalem, but it means much more than that in our faith tradition.  Ultimately, of course, it means full restoration of that relationship we had with God before the Fall.  Its great symbol for Isaiah the prophet and poet is streams of water flowing in the wilderness.

Taking It Personally.

·        We claim that the Lord has come, so where is the evidence for that?  What would you point to in your life to show the fulfilment of this prophecy?

·        Ponder verse 4.  What do you understand by the references to "vengeance" and "divine retribution"?  Does the coming of the Lord necessarily mean bad news for some as well as good news for others?  From what (or whom) does the Lord save you?

·        Is the wonderful work of the Fred Hollows Foundation part of the fulfilment of this prophecy, do you think?  Pray for those you know who are bringing sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and mobility to the lame.

James.  Do you get the impression that James would have been a difficult fellow to have in your local church?  Last week he lectured us on the need to control our tongues: this week he displays his own biting tongue, with two satirical pictures apparently drawn from his observations of local congregations.  Priority is given to those who are rich (even in those days, perhaps, the need for funds was never far from the minds of local faith communities!)  And as for verse 16!!!.

Taking It Personally.

·        Are we inclined to have favourites?  Do we tend to exclude?  Isn't that simply human nature?  Isn't it natural to feel most comfortable with those who are most like us?

·        Have you ever attended a church and felt excluded?  How did that feel?  How did you deal with it?

·        Does the Church have the right to expect visitors to comply with "reasonable" standards of dress and behaviour?

·        Is James going too far the other way?  Would the rich be welcome in the light of this teaching?

·        If a VIP comes to a church service (The Governor-General, say, or the local mayor), should he or she be accorded a special welcome, or is that showing favouritism?  If all are equal in the eyes of God should all earthly honours, titles, etc, be left at the doorway?

 

Mark.  The text is clear (and even clearer in Matthew).  Jesus initially rebuffs this woman quite sharply.  It may be that he is frustrated that once again his desire for some private space has been thwarted; or, as suggested above, he hasn't yet grasped the breadth of his God-given mission.  Whatever the reason, the usual "defence" offered on Jesus' behalf, that he was testing her faith, finds no support in the text.  This woman has great faith and great courage.  She has obviously heard about Jesus' ministry and on the basis of what she has heard (her ears have been opened to the good news) she has come across the cultural and gender boundaries that "ought" to have excluded her.   She prostrates herself and calls him "Lord"; and she will not accept his rebuff.  Then her faith shines through in her immediate acceptance of Jesus' assurance that her daughter has been set free.  She returned home without any way of "knowing" the truth of that assurance until she arrived.

 

The healing of the deaf mute is somewhat odd in the amount of detail that we are given.  In most cases the word or touch of Jesus is enough; and as we have just seen sometimes the patient does not even have to be present to receive healing.  Here something much more elaborate is necessary.  I'm not sure why, but I wonder if it has something to do with working with the local belief system.  Remember the famous complaint from Naaman, the Syrian commander who had a very clear idea how a faith healer should go about his business (2 Kings 5:11).  Perhaps Jesus adopted a local practice so that the patient may believe in the healing.  But who knows?  It probably is significant that the lack of hearing prevented the man from talking properly, and when the deafness is cured the man is able to speak plainly.  There is a spiritual as well as a physical truth here, I think.

 

Taking It Personally.

 

·        Both these stories lend themselves to praying with the imagination.  Put yourself into these situations and see what happens.

·        Pray that your ears may be fully opened to hear the quiet whisper of God.