20TH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A
In this Sunday’s gospel reading, we hear once again how Jesus is continuing his ministry
of teaching and healing; moving ever closer to Jerusalem, where he knows that he will face trial
and crucifixion. So he goes to Tyre and Sidon, which was a Gentile district.
By going there, Jesus and his disciple were out of their comfort zone. It was bandit
country, and their safety net as Jews would not have any effect there. They were among
Gentiles with whom they had little or nothing in common. And they probably felt nervous by
being in such strange and hostile surroundings.
It is here that a gentile woman comes after them, pleading for help. No self-respecting
Jewish woman would talk to a man the way that she was talking to Jesus. This is a deeply
uncomfortable situation. All the social rules are being broke and everyone – disciples, Jesus,
and the woman are outside their comfort zones.
And what is Jesus’s first response to the woman’s plea? He did not answer her at all!
What a seemingly cruel response. What a humiliating non-reply. Not even to address
her pain; and then, to suggest that she is no better than a dog. This isn’t Jesus at his most
likable or compassionate.
And yet, our Gentile woman is feisty. She’s not willing to give up and she throws Jesus
words right back at him. Surely, there is enough to go around; even the dogs eat the crumbs
that fall from their masters’ table.
And listen again to Jesus’ response: Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you
as you wish.
Jesus reaches out and meets this woman where she’s at – within her culture and heritage.
He doesn’t ask her to “join the club.” He doesn’t set any requirements for welcome. He just
accepts her as she is, shows compassion and allows her to continue in her own cultural way of
being.
But more than that, it appears that Jesus and the disciples are open to learning from this
woman from another culture. Eventually, they not only tolerate the difference, they actively
engage with it and allow themselves to grow through this cross-cultural interaction.
Perhaps that’s part of being a truly mission-shaped Church; that rather than expecting
others to join us exclusively on our terms, instead, we are prepared to learn from others and
enlarge our own vision of mission and ministry as a result of engagement with others who are
different from ourselves or have different expectations of what church should be.
It’s a brave church that seeks to be truly mission-shaped, because we will be forced to
change and to grow in ways that we never thought possible.
It is a brave church that seeks to be truly mission-shaped, because we will be forced to
change and to grow in ways that we never thought possible. But there really is no alternative if
we want to mirror the ministry of Jesus himself.