Pentecost, Proper 15
The Rev. M. Fletcher Davis
Seeing God’s Face
Since Michael Phelps is the most decorated athlete in modern Olympic history with eight gold medals and seven world records in Beijing alone, it stands to reason that the rest of us have not won such honors.
Yet you are all potential gold medalists in another arena where you don’t have to swim at record pace, or run fast, or outperform star athletes. You can win far more than Olympic gold by living Christ’s love day by day.
Today’s Gospel [Mt 15.21-28] takes us beyond Jewish territory to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon on Lebanon’s coast, the farthest north Jesus ever traveled. It starts when a Canaanite woman approaches him, and begs him to heal her daughter. He rebuffs her. Why? His reply sounds harsh; “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Ah, but his words reveal a vital clue about his mission. He went out to the desert after his baptism and conquered every temptation. But that wasn’t enough when he realized that God’s call to him was nothing less than to heal the gulf between holy God and sinful humans. How could he accomplish that?
He devised a pair of positive policies. First, he would focus his ministry on his own people, the Jews. Second, he would put God’s love ahead of Moses’ law. Both strategies were in play when the Canaanite woman approached with her urgent request. His reply articulated his first principle, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
Psychologists note that up to 90% of oral messages are conveyed by non-verbal cues - like posture, expression and tone of voice. Jesus’ harsh words in today’s Gospel must have been softened with a smile. Seizing on his cue as permission to continue, the Gentile woman rebuts, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the master’s table.” Jesus, seeing her faith gladly invoked his second principle - putting love ahead of law - and healed her daughter.
The story of their encounter was vital to the early Church because Jesus’ disciples were uncertain about how to share faith with non-Jews, and how to put love above law.
After his death and resurrection, Jesus commissioned his followers, “You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” [Ac 1.8] When we encounter the Risen Christ, life’s agenda changes. We see Christ in one another. And we must act on what we know. We call that action “mission.”
Mission starts here, says Jesus, at St Augustine’s altar. In his Great Commission Jesus calls that Jerusalem. Mission then radiates around our island to other people like us. He calls that Judea. Then mission leaps the barrier Jesus vaulted with the Canaanite woman when we encounter people of another culture, tradition, or language. He calls that Samaria. Finally, we may find ourselves in places where our common humanity seems to be about all we have in common with the people to whom we reach out with Christ’s love.
Fifty years ago, mission often connoted going overseas to proclaim Christ – as I did in Botswana among people very different from me in the 1960’s. They were black and I was white; they were third world and I was first world; they had little formal education and I lots of it; they were hungry and I had never gone hungry except by choice - or foolishness.
Today our challenge is not so much to go across the sea as to go across the street - because we can no longer assume that our neighbors who live there know God’s love!
Mission has two components: evangelism – which means bringing others into a saving relationship with Jesus, and outreach – which means doing all we can to make the world a better place by reflecting Jesus’ love. Mission is evangelism plus outreach.
An old tale from the early Church tells of angels welcoming Christ to their realm. One asks, “Who will carry on your mission now that you have ascended into heaven?” Jesus replies, “My disciples will carry on my work.” Another angel asks, “What if they fail?” Jesus answers, “I have no plan B.” He entrusts his work to you and me. Christ’s mission is now entirely up to us.
William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury during World War II, observed that the Christian Church is the only organization in the world that exists primarily for the benefit of the non-member. Emil Brunner, eminent 20th century Swiss scholar, noted, “The Church exists by mission as fire exists by burning.” And Stephen Bayne, Bishop of Olympia from 1947-60, penned the phrase that became the keynote of the 1963 Anglican Congress, “The church that lives to itself dies by itself.” In other words, mission and faith are essential to each other.
Faith is always a gift. We do what we can to open ourselves to it, but it never originates with us. It’s always a gift from God. And faith has an unusual quality - we don’t have it until we give it away. How counter-intuitive! In our consumer society, the familiar model is a pie – when you give me a slice, there’s less for you. But Jesus’ model is not pie but love – and unless you give love away, you don’t have it.
Our natural instincts help us understand that mystery. When I experience something wonderful, I want to share it. I can keep pain and sorrow to myself. But good news wants to burst forth. For example, if I find a restaurant where the food is outstanding, the service excellent, the prices modest, and the ambiance agreeable, I want to share it. And if we will do that for a restaurant, how much more must we do it when we discover what a friend we have in Jesus. Introducing people to his love is evangelism.
Jesus’ charge to us is clearly articulated in Matthew 25 [31-46]. “They said to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink, or when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you, or when did we find you a stranger and welcome you?’ And he said to them, ‘As as you did it to one of the least of these you did it to me.’” So we reach out to people in need with a heart of love and a hand of help. Working to make our neighbors’ lives healthier and happier in Christ’s name is outreach. Evangelism + outreach = mission.
Somewhere in the Holy Land centuries ago an old monk asked an eager class of novices how one can tell when the darkness is past and dawn has come. One student ventured that it’s when you can tell the palm tree from the pomegranate. The holy man shook his head, no. Another suggested it’s when you can tell a goat from a dog. Again the monk shook his head, no. Since no one else volunteered, the old monk answered his own riddle: “You know the dawn has come and darkness is past when you can see Christ in the face of another.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we treated one another that way? Even if we don’t win Olympic gold, we can do that.
Why not make a promise this morning?
O Christ, as I greet the dawn of a new day, I will show my thanks for your love and make your mission my own, in evangelism or outreach – or both. Help me to seek your face in at least one other person and respond to that person’s need with your love – this week!
The world needs Christ’s love. And you can share it. Try it. You’ll like it. You may even want to make it your mission in life. I do. Amen.
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