Pentecost 16 Year B
Sermon Preached by Reverend Michael Hillier on Sunday, 8 September 2024.
Mark 7.24 – 30
Pentecost 16 Year B Mark 7.24 – 30
The wolves were circling, waiting for Jesus to make one false move, say something politically indiscreet, cross one more line as far as the Jewish Faith went, and then they would pounce.
Jesus was well into His ministry now, and it was becoming more apparent that it would end in tears.
Our Gospel reading last week focused on externals, what was clean and unclean, but Jesus clarified it was not about this but our hearts. Concentrating on externals and rules misses the point. The real question is, are our hearts pure? The power of self-reflection and spiritual growth can transform our hearts.
Our reading for today follows straight on, and we see Jesus leaving the region of Galilee and heading north to the area of the coastal town of Tyre in modern Lebanon.
So why did Jesus leave His homeland? I have hinted at an answer. We can’t be sure, as we are not told nor privy to Jesus’ thinking.
I suspect Jesus is considering two things on a day-to-day basis. The first is the daily events as they present themselves to Him. Will there be teaching, healing, confrontation, or something to be avoided?
The second is the big-picture stuff. God, His Father, had given Him a mission. What was that, and how could that be accomplished? What strategies would be needed and developed? What dangers lay ahead? We have already seen one pertinent strategy: slowly gathering up disciples and choosing twelve to become leaders.
To relate that to us as a parish: There are the day-to-day issues—someone to visit, a sermon to write, rosters to be organised, a weekly service booklet to be prepared, bills to pay, and so on – all involving numerous people.
But alongside that sits the big picture: What are we trying to do here in Walkerville? What is St Andrew’s purpose? Who are we trying to reach, and how will we do that? How will we care for people?
But back to our Gospel. The crowd was pressing in on Jesus, desperately seeking His attention, and the vultures circled. I think Jesus headed north to find some space and quiet time to give His disciples some solid teaching, for in the end, they would carry on His mission, which was God’s.
But then comes this strange dialogue with this Syro-Phoenician woman desperate for Him to heal her daughter. She would not take no for an answer, and any parent would understand this.
We can see it as good-natured banter between them, albeit with an earnest intention. She is very quick-witted and very persistent. Both knew that Jews and foreigners despised each other, and they played on this, gently sparring.
Behind this banter, Jesus was doing some rapid, hard thinking. We know that He saw His ministry as being to the Jews and not to the Gentiles. That time would come beyond His crucifixion and resurrection. It would be the 12 apostles who would lead that Ministry, not Jesus Himself. His ministry was to the Jewish people, to tell them that their long-awaited deliverance was now at hand. God was acting and bringing this to pass. The new Exodus was a hand!
None of us can be and do everything, and Jesus had to stay focused on what He saw as His mission.
And yet, He was suddenly and unexpectedly being forced to rethink this. Was she using Him?
What would the consequences be? All those rules about cleanliness that we looked at last week were being wiped away in this healing of this foreign woman’s daughter, and things now could never be quite the same again. Old taboos and barriers were coming down. The whole edifice was being shaken to its core.
Change is never easy. It took time for the early Church, beyond Jesus’s death and resurrection, to accept Gentiles in their midst. In the incident with Peter and his vision in Acts 10 (v.9f), foreigners finally began to be accepted. How much pain was felt and how much arguing went on in the early Church before most people could accept and then start assuming that the Christian Church could not just be a narrow Jewish Church.
Think of the arguments 30 and 40 years ago over the ordination of women, and that issue is still not entirely resolved. I wonder how it will be viewed in 200 years.
For Jesus, I think this was a moment of indecision, but it was only that—a moment. He had a very clear picture of what God was trying to do to bring in His kingdom. He was willing to challenge the status quo and break down barriers. And He always sought to be inclusive.
If you think about your life over the years, there have been times when situations have challenged you and forced you to rethink your understanding and approach. More than 50 years ago, I lived in Papua New Guinea and slowly realised I could never view my own country, Australia, in the same way again. I was both challenged and forced to rethink things. Marriage does this to you as well.
Our Church, our society, and yes, even each of us are living through a time of enormous change, and we and our institutions are being forced to rethink and reimagine things. It doesn’t mean that everything has to change for the sake of change, but we need to reflect deeply on what we are being called to be and do as individuals, as a Church, and as a society. In response, we need to act wisely, thoughtfully, and responsibly. Those thoughts I have offered you emerged from Jesus’ encounter with a new and unexpected situation—this Syro-Phoenician woman needing help for her daughter.
Back then, to our text. There is now a transitional moment in one verse, which, at face value, makes it an extraordinary roundabout journey. Jesus leaves Tyre and returns to the region of the Decapolis by the Sea of Galilee, but He does so via Sidon to the north. It would mean going from Adelaide to Victor Harbor but via Port Pirie.
I suspect this was not intended as a quick journey but rather a leisurely trip, perhaps of some months, to give Jesus time to teach His disciples and be away from the crowds. In the next chapter, chapter 8, there are several incidents initially. Then comes that decisive moment at Caesarea Philippi when Peter declares Jesus the Messiah. That recognition, though still not fully understood by Peter, did not come out of a vacuum.
Let me leave this here. I don’t want to explore the other healing in today’s Gospel, with Jesus healing a deaf man with a speech impediment; there is enough material in what I’ve said.
The thought I would leave you with is this: We live in a time of enormous transition, and naturally, the Church is struggling, as is every institution and every human being. Jesus withdrew with His disciples for some solid teaching. I am not suggesting we should withdraw from the world. But I am suggesting that God might be doing something new, leading us to a deeper place in our spiritual journey and calling us to encounter our world in new ways. Like you, I struggle to imagine what that might be. But the place to begin is to listen and talk to God.