On this, the day of the Women’s World Cup final, I have a confession to make. Now, this may come as a surprise to some of you, but I am actually a really competitive person. Whether it was on the soccer field growing up or playing board games with friends and family now, the people in my life know they need to watch out if any sort of competition is involved. Emily and I even compete to see who can donate blood the fastest. And, there is nothing that quite brings out that competitive spirit in me like unfair play (just ask Emily, who often has to tell me to stop getting so upset when we watch sports) and playing our most hated rivals. It’s always interesting to me that even if we like and respect those athletes outside of that specific game, there is this flip that gets switched when they are suddenly playing our beloved team. It always fascinates, and scares me, the way we are so easily able to divide ourselves into us and them.
Now, you may wonder where I am going, but I promise there is some connection here, but I need to tell one more story quick. Because, in Seminary, our New Testament professor was this short, feisty woman who lectured every day using a karaoke microphone and the most elaborate PowerPoint presentations. Well, one day, this professor was using many words that I will not and cannot bring myself to repeat in church to describe how the Israelites viewed the Canaanites. They were a godless people who couldn’t possibly add anything good to the lives of the Israelites and there was certainly no way that they were going to respect the God of the Israelites. One could say that of all the other tribes, the Canaanites were an especially hated rival and it shows in today’s Gospel story.
I just want to note that I am not going to try to defend Jesus today. There are a few times in Scripture where I have a really hard time preaching because Jesus’ words feel so unlike who we understand him to be or who we want him to be. I think this happens for a couple of reasons. One, is that as the inspired Word of God, the Bible is still written in a specific context for a specific group of people. Scripture favors the Israelites and their view, but it also still holds onto the patriarchal values of the society it was written in. And, it would make sense that the Israelites, and even us, want to view God as being on their side and not also being on the side of those they hate. Two, when we view Jesus as perfect all the time, I think we forget that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. It leaves no room for us to wrestle with these stories where Jesus is not being loving or inclusive like we want him to be today.
So, for better or for worse, sorry to my Seminary professors who would probably not want me to say this… I don’t think Jesus should be the focus of this Gospel story today. I think the woman is. Because as humans we make these divisions between us for all sorts of reasons, whether it is through cities or sports rivalries or the isms that are much more harmful, like racism, sexism, and ableism. Even today the division between the Israelites and the Canaanites is incredibly clear. Jesus just ignores the woman who is trying to get his attention, compares the Canaanites to dogs (which would have been a way worse insult back in the time when dogs weren’t treated in the same way they are today), and the disciples want Jesus to get rid of this woman because she is annoying them. In the face of this all, this Canaanite woman, who isn’t even given a name, but more derogatorily called just “woman,” by Jesus just wants to heal her daughter. She is willing to do anything, including being mocked and dismissed by Jesus and his disciples, the very people who are supposed to be able to help her.
Now, I have always admired this woman’s perseverance, especially in the face of all of this. And, it is even so much more than that because women didn’t converse with men outside of their household. Think of the scandal of the woman at the well. But this woman is willing to risk talking to a group of 13 men. And, she comes speaking the language of faith. She calls Jesus “Heir to the House of David” (Matthew 15: 22) and “Rabbi” (Matthew 15: 25). Does this sound like a woman who has no faith to you? As my Seminary best friend reminded me while we were all talking about the directions our sermons were taking, this woman reminds Jesus who he is, even when he seems to forget. Yet Jesus responds that he is only here for the “lost sheep of the House of Israel” (Matthew 15: 24). This is good news, of course, if you are from the house of Israel, but is devastating for the Canaanite woman today. But she doesn’t leave without a fight.
I am left with so many questions here and almost no answers. Like, would Jesus have helped this woman if it was just the two of them, like the Samaritan woman at the well? I like to think that he would, but then why is he acting this way just because the disciples are around? Why is Jesus so harsh to this woman who only wants to help her child? Why does this woman have to prove her faith to them before they will provide healing, when in almost every other circumstance of healing involving men the people are healed and then they believe in Jesus? Is it just because of her Canaanite identity that makes this so difficult for Jesus and the disciples or was it a combination of social factors? Even still, why should she be punished for who God created her to be?
Like I said, I have a lot of questions, but almost no answers. And, I think it is okay for us to do that, even if it isn’t a satisfying way to end this sermon, so sorry about that. Because there are two things that I at least am taking away from this reading today. The first is that I am using this reading to continue to give us permission to wrestle with and question our faith, especially the points of our faith that come with a risk of harm to others when we want to keep faith only for ourselves. And, secondly, I think this story is trying to show us that perhaps even Jesus missed the point some times when it came to the kindom expansion work that God was doing. That even he could be caught up in the social divisions. Because God is working through this Canaanite woman much to the surprise and dismay of Jesus and the disciples, and it clearly shows that the Israelites do not have a monopoly on faith in God, despite how difficult this is for them to accept. So, as continue about our weeks, I want us to even start to pay a little bit more attention to how God might unexpectedly be working in our world because God’s love is broader than our human understanding and our human divisions, and we never know through whom God might choose to be working.