The Healing Word

(Demons, Dogs, and Children)

Mark 8:24-37

In the study of the psychology of religion, there are those experts who will tell you that one of the main reasons that people are religious is so that they may feel that what they are doing in their lives is right. People want to be right. They want to be able to look around at their world, which often seems to be so full of wrong, so full of brokenness, so full of hurt, and be able to say, "I'm not a part of all of that." Instead, religion, as many of the experts say, gives people the feeling that they are above and away from the wrongs, and the brokenness, and the hurt, and alienation of the world. Religious people, or so say the experts, are given the appealing option of going into their own little enclave, of separating themselves from the rest of humanity, so that they can feel right.

It is not surprising, then that the most religious people of Jesus' day called themselves "Pharisees," for the word "pharisee" literally means, "separated ones." And it should not be surprising that another large group of very religious people in Jesus' day called themselves "Sadducees," for the word "Sadducees," literally means, "righteous ones." This should not be all that surprising to us when we understand that one of the most attractive things about religion to many people, according to the experts, is that it not only makes a person feel righteous (and, therefore good), but it also separates a person from what are perceived to be the evils and the hurts and the wrongs of the world.

But, I think we can safely say that Jesus was not comfortable with religion being this way. Rather than coming to bring about separation between the nations, it was Jesus' intent to bring all persons into the kingdom of heaven. Rather than save only a few, it was Jesus who died upon the cross so that any who believe in him may be saved. For, as the gospel says, "God so loved the world that he sent his only son that whoever believes him may have eternal life." Jesus didn't come for the few. Rather, he came for us all: for Jews as well as for Gentiles, for women as well as for men, for children as well as for grown-ups, for sinners as well as for the righteous. We can safely say that Jesus came to break down the barriers of separation. He came to save the world.

And, so, we may be surprised when we look at this morning's Gospel lesson where as Jesus is travelling along the Mediterranean Sea, near the old Syrophoenician city of Tyre, he stops at a house, along the way. And as he is there, a Greek woman from the city goes to the house, enters it, approaches Jesus, and falls down at his feet. And as this Greek, pagan, woman is lying there, she pleads with our Lord to help her daughter, who has been possessed by what she believes to be an evil spirit. Today we might say that the child was very ill, or that she had some psychological or neurological disorder. But, back then, people attributed such things to demons. So, the Greek woman pleaded with our Lord to cast the demon out of her daughter.

Now, the surprising thing here is that Jesus said something very puzzling. For he looked at the woman and said, "Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." Here, Jesus was acknowledging the religious attitudes of many of the most religious people of his day who would have been disgusted at seeing this unclean, Gentile woman kneeling at Jesus' feet. For the Pharisees and the Sadducees of Jesus' day strongly believed that if the Messiah came it would be for the righteous people of Israel, only. Certainly, the Messiah would not spend time with Gentiles and sinners. Doing so would be like taking bread reserved for one's children and feeding it to the dogs.

Many have found it puzzling, though, that Jesus would have said something as derogatory as this to this Greek woman. Why would Jesus, who came to die for the sins of the world, say something as seemingly racist and even as bigoted as this? The answer is quite simple, really. Jesus wasn't a racist. Jesus wasn't a bigot. So, I believe that Jesus' voice must have been full of sarcasm, full of irony and mockery and contempt against those who believed such things when he said, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

If Jesus had taken a walk through the deep South during the '50's and seen the segregation and separation there, he might have used such sarcasm in a very similar way. If Jesus walked through Serbia or Bosnia or Croatia or Northern Ireland, today, he might use such words in a mocking tone to make people stop and think. Indeed, if Jesus came into the midst of some of our own conversations as we talk about A.I.D.S., or crime, or poverty, or women's rights, or Cuban boat people, or whatever, he might certainly use such words in an ironic tone of voice to challenge us about our own attitudes and beliefs. What better way to challenge someone than to sarcastically throw their errant beliefs back into their face?

Of course, the fact is that Jesus knew that there was more than enough of God's love to go around. The righteous people of Israel didn't have to worry about whether there would be enough of God's love left over for them. In fact, Jesus came to prove that God's love is big enough to include not only the saints, but the sinners, as well. Jesus came to die on the cross, not only for the Sadducees and the Pharisees, but for the Lepers and the Samaritans and the foreigners and the down- and-outers, and the outcasts, and the possessed, and the adulteresses, and the thieves. And how important it is, especially when we begin to feel righteous about ourselves, to remember this. And how equally important it is, my friends, for us to remember this when we, ourselves, find ourselves suddenly separated, or alienated, or alone, or sick, or hurt. To know that God's love is big enough to include us at any time or in any situation we may find ourselves is to believe in an amazingly powerful and awesome God, indeed!

Jesus' sarcastic words of irony were made even more ridiculous when he healed the woman's daughter with only a word. For he simply said to her, "The demon has left your daughter." And the woman went home and found the child lying in bed, and the demon gone. Having done something as utterly amazing as this, so simply, for this foreign, pagan, woman renders ridiculous and meaningless any barriers of separation that we may put between ourselves and God and/or between ourselves and others.

As we read our gospel lesson for today we are impressed by the fact that after Jesus healed the Syrophoenician woman's little girl, he also healed a deaf man. Here, Jesus only had to say, "Ephphatha" (be opened) and the man could hear and speak. Jesus only had to speak a healing word, and that was enough.

God's love for the world is more than enough for all of us. A good share of Jesus' ministry was devoted to making this point. You can never run out of the love of God. The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 was a prime example of this. They only had five loaves, but there was more than enough bread to go around.

And this is God's healing word to us.

I can't help but finish, this morning, with a story from John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Movement. As he was riding across a place called "Hounslow Heath" late one night, singing a favorite hymn, he was startled by a fierce voice shouting, "Halt," while a firm hand seized the horse's bridle. Then the man demanded, "Your money or your life."

Wesley obediently emptied his pockets of the few coins they contained and invited the robber to examine his saddlebags which were filled with books. Disappointed at the result, the robber was turning away when Mrs. Wesley cried, "Stop! I have something more to give you."

The robber, wondering at this strange call, turned back. Then Mr. Wesley, bending down toward him, said in solemn tones, "My friend, you may live to regret this sort of a life in which you are engaged. If you ever do, I beseech you to remember this, "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin."

The robber hurried silently away, and the man of God rode along, praying in his heart that the word he had spoken might be fixed in the robber's conscience.

Years later, at the close of a Sunday evening service, the people streamed from the large building with many lingering around the doors to see the aged preacher, who was John Wesley.

A stranger stepped forward and earnestly begged to speak with Mr. Wesley. What a surprise to find that this was the robber of Hounslow Heath, now a well-to-do tradesman in the city, but better still, a child of God! The words spoken that night so long ago had been used by God in his conversion.

Raising the hand of Mr. Wesley to his lips, he affectionately kissed it and said in tones of deep emotion, "To you, dear sir, I owe it all."

"Nay, nay, my friend," replied Mr. Wesley softly, "not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ which cleanseth us from all sin."

There is enough Bread, there is enough of the Blood of Christ to go around for us all. Let that be God's gift, God's healing word for us, today.	Amen.