Readings: Isaiah 56:1,6-7; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28
We, the Outsiders!
1. The Gospel reading of today reminds me of the incident that happened many years ago. As a Seminarian studying for the missionary priesthood, I was assigned to my home diocese for pastoral work. After presenting the letter from the seminary to the Vocations director, I waited for my assignment, but none came. I approached him and enquired why I was not assigned. He said to me, “It is not right to take the food of children and throw it the dogs”, the same answer Jesus gave to the Canaanite woman, who came to beg for the health of her daughter. I was an outsider!
2. Who was this woman and why was she so ill-treated by Jesus, who was naturally was very compassionate and empathic to women, children, the poor and the sick? She was a Canaanite woman, which means she was a Gentile, a non-Jewish. The Gentiles despised the Jews and vice-versa. She was an outsider who did not belong to the family of God’s chosen people. This woman whose daughter was afflicted with sickness must have heard of the wonderful things which Jesus could do; and she followed him and his disciples crying desperately for help. After ignoring her for some time, Jesus told her point-blank, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Yes, Jesus was sent to minister to his people, the Jewish people. This passage described the first time that Jesus was outside of Jewish territory. It fore-shadowed the going out of the gospel to the whole world.
3. How do we treat the outsiders of our world today? How do we relate with people who are different from us, speak different languages, have accent, or do not belong to our class? How do we see the immigrants, Africans, native Indians, women, the poor, the disenfranchised and the marginalized in our midst? We often compartmentalize people into categories like Democrats, Republicans or Independents. We are not comfortable with people who have different political views from ours. You are either with us or against us. Those who do not belong to our group are the outsiders. Depending on the categories we place them, the outsiders will always depend on us and the generosity of people around them. Their dependence is sometimes seen as a sign of weakness; but within that weakness lies their strength. An African proverb states that he who sees a person in the bush often forgets that he/she came from a home. So, we see this woman, an outsider, going to Jesus for mercy, for love, for healing; not for herself but for her daughter, whom she loved dearly. She would not take ‘no’ for an answer until her daughter was healed. The disciples saw her as an embarrassment and a nuisance; and wanted Jesus to get rid of her. “Give her what she wants, and get rid of her.”, they demanded. Just the way we see and treat the outsiders we meet. They are embarrassments in our streets, they feed on us like fleece and we are tired taking care of them. We do not want them in our country, taking all our jobs; we are spending too much money on their welfare. The reaction of the disciples was not compassion and love, and very far from a Christian response to someone in need. It was shameful, and Jesus knew it. But just like all the outsiders, no insult would prevent her from getting what she wanted for her daughter. Yes, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. But wait a minute! She was a foreigner, an outsider, a non-Jewish; her tribe was not among God’s chosen people, where did she get her faith from?
4. Her faith came from her love; not for herself, but for her daughter. It was love that made her approach this stranger. It was love that made her to accept rebuff and insult. She saw compassion in the seeming words of insult from Jesus. There is nothing stronger and nothing nearer God than the love we have for others. We live better when we live for others. This woman’s faith grew stronger when confronted by Jesus. She looked into the face of Jesus and discovered in her heart something divine and ended up calling him Lord. “Lord help me.” When faced with sickness and deprivation, the outsiders only have their Lord to fall back on; and that is when their faith grows ever stronger. God is truly close to the brokenhearted. She came crying out for help and ended up on her knees in prayer of adoration. She humbled herself and acknowledged the God of her salvation. She was not discouraged because the prayer of a contrite heart will always win favor from the Lord.
5. The lesson from these readings is that Jesus never misses a great opportunity to teach. Since his mission was to the Jews first, and this woman was a Gentile crying for mercy, Christ had to awaken true faith in her heart. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and to throw it to the dogs.” Her answer, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters”, demonstrated that her faith was strong enough for her miracle to be granted. “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” Isn’t it funny that it was Jesus who re-enforced her faith and showed it as an example to others?
6. Because of her faith, being an outsider was no longer a barrier to approaching the throne of grace. Peter recognized this, after his visit to Cornelius’ house, himself a Gentile, when he said, “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34-35). And the apostle John tells us, “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name.” (Jn. 1:12). According John Rose “The Jews were the chosen race. They had the right to receive the blessings of the Messiah. But if they do not have faith, they would forfeit that privilege. On the other hand, the non-Jewish people, the Syro-Phoenician woman, who did not belong to the Chosen race of the Jews, will still receive the same blessing because of their faith. One belongs to the community of Jesus by virtue of faith and not by blood. Faith will supply what we lack by nature.”
7. Our faith in Jesus and the water of baptism are, indeed, stronger than the racial and tribal bond. In Jesus, it doesn’t matter whether you are an outsider or not, once you believe in God and commit yourself to him, “Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed.” Those who join themselves to God, foreigners, outsiders and all, who minister to God and worship his name, will come to God’s holy mountain where they will pray freely to him, for his house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. May God who accepts us as we are, help us to accept others as they are. Amen.
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
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