2023 08 20 PROPER 15 (20) Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost Year A
Genesis 45:1-15 and Psalm 133 Romans 11:13-32 • Matthew
15: (10-20), 21-28
Oh, how good
and pleasant it is when we can all dwell in unity! But the question is; Can we be as gracious as
Joseph, who not only forgave his brother, but saved them in the time of famine?
I’m
remembering a saying about not burning bridges.
You know, those times when have been miserable in a job where the boss
is incompetent and causing you grief, so you apply for a new better job with
better pay and better conditions, and you are offered that better job. Then you feel you want to tell your old boss
that he or she is horrible etc….. and
list all their shortcomings, shake the dust of your sandals and leave with a
sense of finality. BUT if you remember
the lessons of others, you won’t do this – instead you will thank that boss for
the amazing opportunity that they have given you and regretfully advise them of
you resignation, striving to leave on the very best of terms. Why?
Because you never know what might happen in the future and when that
boss might move into another position of leadership and you need their approval
to continue to do your project.
The sons of Jacob/
Israel had well and truly burnt a bridge, when they sold their younger brother,
who had prophetic dreams of ruling over them, into slavery. They wanted to kill him, but the eldest
talked them out of it so that he might later rescue him. Then the other brothers sold him before that rescue
could happen. They then told their
father that a wild animal must have attacked Joseph, so it was presumed that Joseph
was dead. They thought that they were
finished with their annoying little up-start of a brother. Fast forward a number of years and that
little brother now has almost the greatest power in all of Egypt…. They are at
his mercy, and he has the power to destroy them.
Last week’s
readings had a common thread, and that thread was the word SENT. Joseph was SENT to Egypt, St. Paul spoke
about the Good News and how for people to hear and accept that Good News some
one needed to be SENT. In last week’s
Gospel reading, Peter walked on water…. He took a step of faith. To be SENT means being willing to step out in
faith. This week, there is also a word
that connects our readings and that word is GRACE.
Grace is one
of those words we use a lot in Christian circles, but it’s meaning can be
lost. It means undeserved favour, and we
see GRACE represented perfectly in the actions of Joseph to his brothers.
Joseph had
every right to be angry with his brothers and leave them to suffer and die
during the famine, but instead he knew that God’s hand was in all that had
taken place. The brothers meant to harm
Joseph, but God used their evil for their eventual salvation. Those brothers did not deserve either God’s
mercy or Joseph’s forgiveness and yet GRACE (undeserved favour) was lavished on
them.
It is
natural for us to fall – to sin, but if we were made with no ability to sin, it
would mean we would also have no ability to choose. In other words, no free will. Every single person has free will and freely
chooses good and right at times, and also the “wrong” at times. Joseph’s brothers were unhappy with Joseph and
jealous that he was their father’s favourite.
Their father was a wealthy man and they were lacking in nothing and yet
this brother of theirs irritated them so much that they conspired to kill him…
then thinking better of it, sold him to passers -by. They allowed their father to suffer grief
thinking him to be dead even though they knew that he was most probably alive.
These sons
of Israel were evil in what they had done to Joseph, but God still loved them
and worked on a plan to save them. In
fact, it could be said, that God used the consequences of their actions to SHOW
them his love and his GRACE in stark contrast to their own actions. Scripture tells us that it is God’s kindness
that leads us to repentance.
The Brothers needed to see that Joseph was not the little
up-start lording over them, but he had the anointing of God to be their
leader. Joseph showed this anointing of
God by showing them the mercy and Grace of God.
Joseph, who could well have had the whole family put to the sword,
embraced them and treated them with honour and bestowed his favour on them.
It is
amazing to consider that these brothers went to Egypt tentatively and humbly
hoping to buy grain from a foreigner so that they and their families might
survive the famine. Instead, they did
not only survive, but they thrived, by being completely and lavishly looked
after as the favourite people of Joseph.
Joseph had such an
intimate relationship with God that he could see the bad that happened to him,
as being the actual GRACE of God.
Much the
same as the brothers, we all make wrong choices. How does God treat us when we do? Believe it or not…. And it actually seems
ridiculously extreme, but God does not treat us as our sins deserve. Psalm 103:10 tells us that “he does not treat us as our sins deserve or
repay us according to our iniquities.”
God’s GRACE to us is that he treats us like Joseph treated these
brothers. He prepares the way before us
and though we may, and WILL, come face to face with the consequences of our
actions and be horrified to see the reality of what we have done, God meets us
with open arms and banquet of love.
Really…? Is God so loving that he always accepts us
this way? What about that Canaanite
woman with the demon possessed daughter?
Our Gospel
reading tells the story of a lady who was desperate to find healing for her
daughter. At first glance it appears
that Jesus treated her with some rejection- completely uncharacteristic from
other stories about Jesus’ interactions with people. This was a culture where the Gentiles, such
as the Canaanites were considered unclean.
No doubt those critics of Jesus were carefully watching him to see if he
would reject her – and in their opinion, a pure and holy person, would reject
her.
Note that
this Canaanite, is also a woman, therefore, even less “worthy” than a Canaanite
man. But wait, there is more…. Just to add to all these undesirable
attributes, this woman was very obviously considered a sinner as well – She had
a demon-possessed daughter! They
believed that bad things happened to sinners… this was a very bad thing,
therefore this lady was a sinner.
The Jews who
were with Jesus would have shunned this woman.
The fact that Jesus had to be told to send her away tells us that Jesus
was waiting for the right moment to show her GRACE… but first he had to deal
with the perceptions and the prejudices, and so he says to her, what he knew
the Jews were thinking, “I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel”. Now, an interesting thing of note, is that
the Canaanite woman addressed Jesus as the “Son of David.” In this, she not only reveals a connection
with Israel, but she is addressing Jesus as the Messiah.
When Jesus
says that it isn’t right to take the Children’s bread and give it to the dogs,
there is more going on here than what appears to be a derogatory
statement. Jews would commonly refer to
Gentiles using a word that meant “wild Dogs”, but the term that Jesus uses is
not actually the word the Jews would normally use in this context. The actual Greek word that Jesus uses in this
place, which we see translated as “dog” is actually a different word that means
“little dog.” Or “pet dog”.
In all that
Jesus says and does he is dealing with prejudices and misunderstandings about
the heart of God and he draws these out as he speaks about his mission to the
people of Israel. This changed word for dog brings to mind an image in the
lady’s mind, of the beloved pets that would eat the crumbs and dropped morsels
of food that the children would spill on the floor.
In the
opinion of the Jews, the disciples and perhaps even in the heart of the lady
herself, she was not someone worthy of God’s mercy. She cries out for it anyway. This lady knows what people think about
her. They think she is a sinner… She is
acquainted with the ways of the Jews and their opinion of her as a wild dog –
and as an unclean person. She cries out
for mercy from the Messiah – she believes that Jesus is the Messiah. She receives underserved favour. It wasn’t
just a crumb that she received, but the healing of her daughter, the
restoration of her status from sinner to someone who’d been favoured enough to
receive from God, and God’s lavish GRACE.
Saint Paul
deals with this prejudice or divide between the Jew and the Gentile. By the way, the Gentile is those that aren’t
Jews… in other words, us! As we’ve seen,
in the view of the Jews the Gentiles were regarded as wild dogs. In modern times there has been some elements,
and accusations of antisemitism, a poor opinion of the Jews. Anyone who has any understanding of the
Scriptures should always hold the Jewish people in high regard – Because
regardless of their failings they always have God’s favour.
Saint Paul
explains that God’s gift and His call is irrevocable, and he first called the
Israelite people. Many of those people
rejected Christ, but the first Christian church was a Jewish one and none of us
would have come to know the saving Grace of God without them. More than that, those who have rejected
Christ are still loved by God and called to be His children – and here is the
not-so-secret secret; This being loved and called by God, regardless of their
rejection of His message, is true for all the children of the world. We therefore need to treat all people with
the utmost respect as those who are loved by God. He WILL show them His amazing Grace and some
of that showing will should come through us who are the body of Christ.
We have a
message of salvation so simply explained in last week’s reading; that if we
believe in our hearts and confess with our mouth then we are saved. We are saved by the sacrifice of Jesus. It is cut and dry. We believe, and at each service we confess
our belief, and we are therefore assured of our salvation. We belong to the family of God and we are
heirs of salvation. But what of those
who haven’t believed and confessed? The
truth is, none of us has a love for these people that is a fraction of the love
that God has for them. God has wisdom
that is beyond us. We can do our best to
show them God’s love and Grace, and then trust these loved ones with him.
Joseph could
have rightly taken offense at the brothers.
The Canaanite woman also, could have taken offense at the reference to
the derogatory view Jews have of the Gentiles.
They did not take offense. What can
we learn from them?
How Joseph
treated his brothers is how God treats us.
God makes a way for us without us even being aware that we need him, and
despite the terrible ways we may have let him down. This Good News about the love of God is the
message that needs to be proclaimed, and it is us who are called to proclaim
it. We proclaim the Gospel profoundly
when we can echo the GRACE of God to others.
We do not deserve God’s GRACE, but we receive it like the Canaanite woman
– receiving every good gift – not just crumbs.
Therefore, our challenge is to respond to those who may have hurt us, in
the same way as Joseph with his brothers.
Can we be gracious with each other? After all, we are all loved by God and have
been given the gift of God’s undeserved favour- His amazing Grace.
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