THE KINGDOM OF GOD EXPANDS:

THE KINGDOM OF GOD EXPANDS:
OPEN TO THE UNKNOWN, OPEN TO HEAR, OPEN TO SPEAK

Text: Mark 7:24-37

Today we have two stories about Jesus which show his power to heal. But they show something else too: Jesus’ inclination to act in a new way. In the first story, Jesus is in foreign territory, in the land of Syria-Phoenicia, to the far north of Galilee. The people here are Gentiles by religion, meaning they probably follow some form of pagan worship with many gods, which is completely distasteful to Jews. [It’s remarkable to note that this is the area in which there has just been six weeks of religious and nationalistic war between the Israelis and the Hezbollah militants in southern Syria. The peoples of these regions are still at each other’s throats…it‘s an ancient and ongoing conflict.] What is Jesus doing here? Did he come here to reach out to Gentiles? We don’t know. But when a local woman comes and places herself at his feet and begs for healing for her daughter, Jesus seems reluctant to help her. He says that “the children”, presumably meaning the Jews, should be cared for first, and “the dogs”, presumably meaning the Gentiles, may get what’s left over. A pretty harsh statement, coming from anybody, especially Jesus. The woman is quick-witted: she picks up on his image of children and dogs and says, “But the dogs can eat the crumbs that the children drop under the table.” And he grants her request - the child is healed.
This concession on Jesus’ part is not standard Jewish practice. He has no obligation to assist, or even to pay attention to the needs of a foreigner and an infidel - an ungodly person. Nor would a strict Jewish male have any conversation with a female outside his own small circle of family and community. But Jesus does so - pays attention to a foreigner, an unbeliever and a woman who is a stranger. Why does he do this? Because he is aware of her need; because she is quick and confident; because she is insistent and focused. She is not put off by the insulting term “dogs”. Her daughter’s need is too important to be put off by a racist insult. Jesus recognizes her determination and her faith and he responds to that by granting her request. The kingdom of God suddenly expands….

The next story is also about opening up to new possibilities. Some people bring to Jesus a man who suffers from deafness and the resulting inability to speak clearly. Jesus takes him aside and goes through a little procedure of touching the man’s ears and tongue. Then Jesus says, “Be opened.” And the man can hear and speak clearly. What a world of new possibilities are opened up to this man now that he can hear all the sounds of the world around him, speak and be understood. The man himself and those who witness this miracle are greatly changed. The kingdom of God expands….

Today is Welcome Back Sunday. Welcome back to those of you who have been away on vacation, to those of you who have been camping and traveling on weekends, to those of you who work long hours in the summer and haven’t made it to church. Welcome to those of you who have come from other places and are new to this church. Welcome to those of you who are visitors. I want to read you a story about relating to strangers, about hearing and speaking in a new way, so that others are drawn in and the kingdom of God expands. This story is from this week’s edition of The Lutheran, the magazine of the Evangelical Church in America, our sister-church in the US. It’s called “Be opened!” and it’s written by a woman called……………………..
Poet Maya Angelou said children need to see our eyes light up when they walk into a room. We need to know that we matter to someone. My grandmother did this for me - and every person who walked through her doors. With barely a word, she’d find you a place at her kitchen table, wrapping you up in love and cookies. Grandma’s welcome was so delicious I wanted to share it with all my friends.

In looking for a church home, we wanted a place where eyes light up at the sight of children and strangers. The first year we lived in our new house, I drove by Hephatha Lutheran Church as I ferried my son to and from school. This Milwaukee church has a great big “open door welcome” sign on its side. The church’s name, Hephatha, means “be opened.” It comes from a story in Mark’s Gospel about Jesus healing a man who was deaf and speech-impaired….

Two years after we moved to our new neighbourhood, on the first Sunday in Advent, I opened Hephatha’s doors. I walked into church that day feeling much like the deaf and mute man in the story. For the past two years, my young children and I had been seeking a church home. Our last congregation was difficult and we needed to be wrapped in love. We had visited plenty of churches but had yet to see any eyes light up.

At one church, a…member leaned over to me during the opening song (to which my two-year-old daughter was loudly singing “La La Laaaaa!”) and said, “You know we have a nursery.” At another, my son chose the sermon time to ask, “Is it time for the credits?” Fifty heads turned toward us, and I wanted to sink under the pew. It went better when I was alone - no one stared, but no one spoke to me either. I felt discouraged. I didn’t know if I was deaf to the shouts of welcome god was offering to us or if the delicious welcome I sought was simply a fantasy.

On that cold Advent Sunday we found that delicious welcome at Hephatha Lutheran Church. The community gently gathered us in. On our first visit, the pastor greeted us at the door. A woman helped us navigate the service. After the children’s sermon, a boy gently led my three-year-old daughter back to me. Since then, several young children have adopted us as their family - beaming each time they slip into our pew. At Easter, a woman grabbed my hand on her way up to Communion, her eyes bright, and said, “I’m so glad you are here today!”

Here at Hephatha, my children and I have found the gracious embrace we sought. Even more, this embrace has transformed us, opening us to speak freely about Jesus’ love to others. This is how it works at Hephatha: we experience Jesus’ embrace in baptism, in the word and the meal, in the smiles and hugs of those who are glad we came. The pastor invites us to welcome others. People do. A woman who is grieving the violent death of her son has found welcome and healing at Hephatha. She opens her home and heart to neighbourhood children, bringing them to church. One Sunday, a young woman brought 17 children from her block. These children, welcomed and loved at Hephatha, come back with their brothers and sisters, friends and neighbours. And on it goes.

Evangelism can seem like part mystery, part magic act. At Hephatha, outreach is as simple as my grandmother’s kitchen table welcome: an open door, eyes that light up with love, and a place at the table for everyone.

Not everyone is as bold and insistent as the Syrophoenician woman in the Gospel-story. Some are shy and uncertain and badly wounded by past experiences. So we must reach past the shyness and uncertainty and woundedness to gather and comfort those who come. Not all of them are strangers. Some are our own people. Some of them are ourselves. Do we have the faith and the love that it takes to reach out in that way? I think we do. Jesus gives us both the example and the power to do that. James, in the second lesson today, says, “You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself….’ So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” Let us be open to follow Jesus’ leading; let us welcome all who come - those we know and those we don’t know; let us be ready to hear and speak. In that way, the kingdom of God expands.