Isaiah 35:4-7a; James 2:1-17; Mark 7:24-37

September 6, 2009

EVEN

:26  Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin.  She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there.

Tired.  Reflective.  Pensive.  Wanting time away ( a vacation Sunday) to figure some things out.

Even Jesus gets tired.

But there is a woman in need – her daughter is afflicted by a demon.  She has heard that this stranger has helped people – and she wants some of that help. 

Even after Jesus doesn’t want to offer it to her.

She is in mother-bear mode, and will not be stopped by the word no, or shame from an implied put-down, or rules of conventional behavior.

You might remember that in the in the preceding passage Jesus essentially 'declared all foods clean' (7:19).   Here he seems to realize that  this truth extends to people.

And so Jesus sees:  Even Her.  His work, God’s love – it is for her too.  He may have imagined that any people he encountered so far ‘up north’ would be outside the bounds – but God seemed to be saying, do not call anyone outside the lines whom I choose to embrace with my love.

We see this demonstrated in the second reading, as Paul asks:

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?  James 2:1

E.P. I cannot follow Jesus any which way I like.  My following must be consonant with his leading.  The way Jesus leads and the way that I follow Jesus are symbiotic.

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?  James 2:1

It is even  a question for us.

Do we live in ways in which our choice and acts each day are shaped by Jesus?

What James suggests is that  faith is not adherence to a set of beliefs but the fuel of our daily actions.

What we learn in today’s texts:

If we want to follow Jesus – be human.  Be open to what God might be doin in every momentg.  Live in God’s grace, with faith as the fuel for our actions.

            Then there can be healing – in those we encounter.

            And even in us.

amen