Musings for Pentecost 14

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Midweek Musings

Reflection by Deb Johnson

INTRODUCTION

James tells us to stop showing favoritism in the assembly, treating the rich visitor with more honor than the poor one. Jesus himself seems to show partiality in his first response to the Syrophoenician woman in today's gospel. Was he testing her faith in saying Gentiles don't deserve the goods meant for God's children? Or was he speaking out of his human worldview, but transcended those limits when she took him by surprise with her reply? Either way, the story tells us that God shows no partiality. Everyone who brings her or his need to Jesus is received with equal honor as a child and heir.

Prayer of the Day Gracious God, throughout the ages you transform sickness into health and death into life. Open us to the power of your presence, and make us a people ready to proclaim your promises to the whole world, through Jesus Christ, our healer and Lord.

Isaiah 35:4–7a

These verses are a word of hope to the exiles in Babylon. Chapter 34 portrays God’s vengeance on Edom, Israel’s age-old enemy, which makes the path from Babylon to Zion safe for the exiles’ return. The desert itself will flow with water to give drink to the returning exiles.

⁴Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

"Be strong, do not fear!

Here is your God.

He will come with vengeance,

with terrible recompense.

He will come and save you."

⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

⁶then the lame shall leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

⁷the burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water.

Psalm 146

¹Hal- lelujah!

Praise the LORD, O my soul!

²I will praise the LORD as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³Put not your trust in rulers,

in mortals in whom there is no help.

⁴When they breathe their last, they return to earth,

and in that day their thoughts perish.

⁵Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help,

whose hope is in the LORD their God;

⁶who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them;

who keeps promises forever;

⁷who gives justice to those who are oppressed,

and food to those who hunger.

The LORD sets the captive free.

⁸The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;

the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;

the LORD loves the righteous.

⁹The LORD cares for the stranger;

the LORD sustains the orphan and widow,

but frustrates the way of the wicked.

¹⁰The LORD shall reign forever,

your God, O Zion, throughout all generations. Hallelujah!

James 2:1–10[11–13] 14–17

Faithful Christians do not show partiality to the rich and powerful of the world, especially at the expense of the poor and weak. Likewise, faith does not pay mere lip-service to God’s will. Instead, a living Christian faith expresses itself in acts of compassion and mercy for those in need.

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? ²For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, ³and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," ⁴have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? ⁶But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? ⁷Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

⁸You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ⁹But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹²So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. ¹³For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? ¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 1⁶and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? ¹⁷So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Mark 7:24–37

In Mark’s gospel, encounters with women usually signify turning points in Jesus’ ministry. Here, a conversation with a Syrophoenician woman marks the beginning of his mission to the Gentiles.

²⁴From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, ²⁵but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. ²⁶Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." ²⁸But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." ²⁹Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go — the demon has left your daughter." ³⁰So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

³¹Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. ³²They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. ³³He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. ³⁴Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." ³⁵And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

Reflection

After having read this several times I am struck by the phrase “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.” Then suddenly James talks about how we differentiate the rich from the poor and I wonder why we gravitate to the comfortable (are we afraid?). Finally Jesus is met by folks who come to him looking for healing. Surely these people had no fear of this man whom they had heard about. What are we afraid of? I think each of us can list the easy fears, fear of snakes, of heights, of bridges. I know a woman who drove and extra two hours once to not have to go over a bridge. I have seen people cross the street to avoid someone. But it is the fears that we hold hidden in our hearts that serve as a barrier to livingly and loving fully.

The psalmist says “Be strong, do not fear!” James reminds us that in our faith we are called to love and serve one another. It is the woman who lives her faith and has no fear (or perhaps walks through her fear) by approaching Jesus seeking health for her daughter.

What are your fears? Afraid of spiders? Losing your job? Being poor? Are you afraid of being alone? Afraid of failing? BE STRONG, DO NOT FEAR! HERE IS YOUR GOD.

Let Us Pray

For those who live in fear

For strength to face and walk through our fears

For those who put their lives on the line everyday when they go to work, our firefighters, police, soldiers and EMTs

For our children and educators as they begin a new school year

For those without water to replenish their bodies

From the thoughts of others:

When you walk through a storm

Keep your chin up high

And don't be afraid of the dark.

When you walk through a storm

Keep your chin up high

And don't be afraid of the dark.

At the end of the storm

Is a golden sky

And the sweet, silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,

Walk on through the rain,

Though your dreams be tossed and blown.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart,

And you'll never walk alone,

You'll never walk alone.

Oscar Hammerstein