Pentecost 15, 13.9.20
Text: Romans 14.1 - 12;
Rev Paul Cannon
Matthew 18 In this passage from Romans Paul continues speaking to the Christian community in Rome.
Remember that at this time the Christian community was young and quite small, and it didn’t have any point of reference other than the teaching of the Apostles and the Jewish scriptures. The New Testament was a long way off being put together. So the Christian community is growing and developing in its understanding of how to be Christian. They are exploring what might be appropriate and they are struggling with what is good behaviour, and they are referring to the Jewish scriptures to find their compass reference for direction on these things. The issue that had arisen was meat eating. This was an issue of sacrificial law. For those of a Jewish background it was a breach of Jewish law to eat meat that wasn’t sacrificed in the prescribed manner and they were wanting to have a ruling on the matter. They were judging those who, as they saw it, were eating improperly because they ate anything without concern.
This issue gives Paul an opportunity to offer some guidance that is crucial to the community about living and behaviour. And it is that guidance that holds a principle that is as equally valid today as it was then. Our issues are different, but Paul’s response is the same for us as it was then because Paul is working with the principle of the matter, not just the historical moment. Paul’s response is about weakness and strength. I love Paul’s throw away line at the beginning: “Some believe in eating anything.” And if you cut the response there you might hear a negative voice, a judgement about those who eat anything being lesser people, weak, and unlawful.
But that would cut Paul short. He says something that should make us sit up in shock, like we’ve been hit by lightning. “Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.” While Paul goes on to say that neither side should judge the other. He then says that those who abstain do so to the Lord and those who eat anything do so for the Lord. So both sides are intentional in their devotion. But Paul has a view about those who abstain in terms of their fearfulness, their dependence on Jewish law, and their judgementalism.
Paul clearly states that those who won’t eat are the weak ones. What does he mean? He is saying very clearly that Jewish law is dead and should not be the basis of Christian living. He is saying that Leviticus has no central function for the Christian community. So when he is saying the weak only eat vegetables he is saying they are hemming themselves in by keeping to the old laws of Moses and they are clearly not set free in Christ. They are fearful of God’s judgement, so they desire to keep everything the way they feel safe according to the old laws.
But in so doing they are saying the others who are free and liberated are behaving wrongly. Paul says no. Paul is saying, it is not a bad thing to want to feel safe in the tradition, but don’t make it a judgement on others. If thats’ how you must live do so, but don’t make it the rule of how everyone should live. If you are fearful of ho wth meat is sacrificed then abstain, but really, that’s silly because in Christ it doesn’t matter.
Paul also begins with his intentional teaching - “Welcome those who are weak” not to lord it over them but to include them that they might come to an openness through their experience of being accepted and loved in the community. They are weak because they cannot trust fully in Christ, so love them till they grow stronger. So Paul is speaking to when we are weak in our judgements. It is in our weakness that we turn to rules, to traditions, to patterns, to how we make sense of the world, but without any reference to God. Paul is clearly concerned that the new community are referring back to the law, rather than moving forward and finding their way in Christ. Now Paul is not just speaking about new Christians, he is speaking about all Christians who cannot rise above legalism. Such behaviour also contributes to other behaviours.
Paul asks why we can’t live in Christ. What’s the problem, if we are followers of Christ, then whether we live or die, we live or die to Christ.
The upshot of that comment is - what on earth are we afraid of? If we are in Christ, then nothing can separate us as Paul says in Romans 8.38 from the love of God, so why judge? The other issue is the attempt at trying to play God. The strong might look down on the weak and judge them as failures. The weak judge the strong as liberal and lost, those who break the law. But Paul invites both sides to sit down together and eat as they feel right, not judging, but accepting, not turning to the law, but loving.
Paul goes on: why do you judge or more directly, why do you despise? Because to judge our brothers and sisters is to despise them. We are not to judge one another, we are to accept and love. If there is any judgement to be had, Paul says that is God’s business and not ours. So what is the principle that Paul offers in all so called moral decisions, matters of law, tradition and community? Paul asks that we welcome those who are weak in their faith that they might have a place to live and grow in safe community. That we are not to judge one another or quarrel as to who is right about matters. We are to go forward and discern our way in all matters, and love will enable us. And more than that, what is that we argue over.
Back then the community was in fierce discussion over meat and law, but today there are still issues that divide the community of Christ.
There are many who believe that scripture forbids certain things, or permits others, there are those who speak as if they are closer to knowing what God is thinking or wanting and they make rules based on that, there are others who think their way of living is the true way of Christ. But Paul is saying - we don’t, and we should not be playing God with issues or others.
The truly strong are those who can live in Christ and risk living and trying and not worrying about the finer details. The truly strong are those who don’t know but are willing to trust in Christ for the outcome of their actions and behaviour. The measure through the whole of Paul’s letters is love. For Paul love is the true law we should follow, love is the pinnacle of following Christ.
So if you are showing the fruit of love as you stumble along great, but if you are judging others then you are missing Christ. If we are judging, then love is not in us. If we are loving then true community is possible. What we have to work out is, what is our equivalent to the issue of sacrificial meat? What is it we are judging? What issue would Paul be raising with us right now?
Pentecost 14, 6.9.20
Text: Romans 13.1 – 10
Rev Paul Cannon
In 1933 the German government under the direction of the Chancellor Adolf Hitler introduced a piece of policy known as the Aryan Paragraph which excluded Jews from all secular roles other than labour.
Hitler then extended this ruling to the churches of Germany, dividing the church between those who supported the government and those who publicly opposed the law. The majority of the German church became the Reich Church who were persuaded that Hitler had authority to make such a law and opted to sign the in favour of the Aryan Paragraph and came under Hitler’s chosen Bishop and therefore Hitler’s authority. And so they participated in the removal of Jews from positions of employment in Church schools, universities, orphanages, hospitals and so on.
Later such churches reported Jews to the authorities for deportation to the concentration camps for extermination. The Confessing Church was a break away group who denounced Nazism and who initially refused to sign the Aryan Paragraph. It included such luminaries as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Niemoller, Karl Barth, Franz Kaufman, Helene Jacobs, and many more. The Confessing Church further fragmented in 1934 when a document called the Barmen declaration was written calling on Christians not to recognise the church being controlled by Hitler. Many fearfully opted to support the government. Many of those who helped draft the declaration and who formed opposition to the Reich church were imprisoned and many of them were executed.
Pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was faced with a moral dilemma. To join the government approved church and accept is policies or take action against it. Bonhoeffer made a significant choice that would have grave consequence for his life. Initially he spoke out against the government, he illegally operated a seminary for student pastors and theologians, he wrote extensively and circulated his theological writings amongst his supporters and students. As early as 1938, Bonhoeffer decided to join with the German Resistance to find a way to remove Hitler from power and to save Germany from inevitable defeat. This was an intentional choice, as a Christian he had decided to play his part in subverting the government and overthrowing it. Later it would be the reason for his execution.
In 1980, El Salvador’s archbishop, Oscar Romero, was gunned down for daring to question the government on its human rights record, and to oppose the death squads and militias. Romero paid with his life by questioning the law and the government.
In 2020 many people around the world have taken to the streets to protest about human rights, racism, poverty and the environment. But they have been vilified and ridiculed and blamed. It seems to me that anyone who decides to take human rights seriously is automatically blamed as trouble makers, leftists, rioters, looters and killers. But the truth is, the majority of protesters are peaceful. They have taken a stand against authority because it is evidently corrupt. In a report released in the US yesterday, the government conceded that over 93% of the protests were peaceful.
Paul comes to this passage in Romans with a particular context in mind. You may not be aware but at that time there had been small uprisings against the Roman Empire, and they had been crushed by the empire. Paul is concerned that the fledgling and fragile Christian community is at risk if it takes part in opposing the Roman Empire. There had been talk in the Roman Christian community of resisting taxes as a confrontation with the Empire. And Paul is very concerned that the response would be fatal for the community. He knew the Empire would crush the Church before it had even got going, it was too small and fresh to survive a major conflict.
And so we come to his words in this text. That is why he is asking the Christian community to honour the authority of the Empire.
But are his words binding today. Yes and no. Before I come to that, always remember that Jesus challenged both the Jewish authorities and the Roman Empire. And Paul broke the Roman law by proclaiming an unauthorised God, which woulds have been an apron to the law and to the divine right of the Emperor who claimed to be the Sun of god. Paul’s words are only binding in so much as good order is necessary. Paul declares the law dead is the law of Christ is higher and alive, the law of love. But he concedes that common law is necessary for the survival of community. So for us, speed limits are part of our safety, taxes enable community to pool resources fro roads and schools.
But Jesus and Paul set the example in speaking out when things aren’t right. When people are abused by policy and regulation that is clearly a breach of Christ’s way and a time for us to speak out. On a reading of Romans 13 at face value you might assume Paul is saying just shut up and obey the government.
His words were used in the past to justify the ideology of the divine right of kings, that is, God appointed kings and queens directly. That was certainly true of Saul and David, but not of others. Paul’s words have been used by dictators, corrupt governments and military juntas to justify their rule of law.
But on a closer reading we see that leaders can be whitewashed tombs, snakes and foxes. We see the example of the prophets calling out kings and leaders, John the Baptist railing against authority, Jesus naming Herod and the religious leaders as false and corrupt. We see Jesus clearing the Temple with the passion of anger. We see the persistence of the widow against the corrupt magistrate. We see Jesus send a herd of possessed pigs, a herd destined for the Roman garrison, into the Sea of Galilee an irony. Jesus also plays with Pilate in his last hours, effectively challenging Pilate’s assumptions of who has ultimate power.
Bonhoeffer’s view was that the ultimate command was to love God and to love our neighbours, and that loving might well mean protesting on behalf of the neighbour, resisting government on behalf of the neighbour. Bonhoeffer saw a great need to challenge the idea that Christ could be replaced by the state. Roman’s 13 is not a call for us to blindly obey government. It is a warning to both citizens and government that neighbour love is the true measure of a community, and where that love is absent everyone is on notice to stand for and with the neighbour.
I hope that as followers of Jesus that we never have to ask him like the teacher of the law did in Luke 10, who is my neighbour? Everyone is our neighbour. The question for us is, is our love Christ’s love for neighbour, or is it blind love for law
Pentecost 12, 23.8.20.
Text: Matthew 16.13 - 20.
Rev Paul Cannon
Who do you say Jesus is?
Jesus asks his disciples who the people say he is. Most of them respond with - some say John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. Only Peter names Jesus as Messiah, as Christ. The disciples have opted for the type of answers we might call Sunday Jesus. The answers we think we should have or share. Jesus wants the disciples to answer for themselves, that’s why he pushes back at them and asks “But who do you say that I am?”
This is a real challenge. And we are being asked, daily, the very same question; who is Jesus for us? Of course, Peter has insider knowledge when he gives his answer. He gives a typical rabbi school answer. But the basis of his answer comes from having seen Jesus calm storms, feed multitudes, heal people, deal with demons, teach with wisdom and compassion. Ordinary rabbis couldn’t do those things, so, ergo, Jesus is clearly the Messiah because these actions can only be of God.
So the other question for us is, where do we see the work of Jesus that informs us who Jesus is for us? Sr. Joan Chittister the Benedictine who is now 84 yrs old and a veteran of many books and publications on Christian living recently wrote a new book in 2019 entitled ‘The Time Is Now.’ In this book she reaffirms for us that Jesus would be supporting those who are oppressed. Isn’t that exactly what Jesus quotes as his manifesto in Luke 4 when he takes the scroll of Isaiah and reads what his role is to be?
Where is Jesus working today in these ways? Or is Jesus defending police brutality and corruption in the world, is Jesus merrily supporting bombing and shootings in the middle east? Is Jesus the one stopping the boats and imprisoning families on Manus Island and Christmas Island? Is Jesus the one building a wall, separating families, using torture to get so called vital information, using cluster bombs, forcing people to work longer and longer without industrial protection, is Jesus the one lying about economics, about brutality, about neglect and racism? So, who is your Jesus and how do you know who he is? What work is he doing in the world today? Is Jesus the one being arrested for occupying government offices to protest in support of the rights of refugees, is Jesus the lawyer standing against the evil of Robodebt, is Jesus the one who is standing with the homeless, the single parent, the poor, the victims of our economics? Is Jesus the one standing alongside our brothers and sisters who have risked their sexuality? Is Jesus the one who is advocating for those with disability so badly served by government policy, is Jesus the one who is standing with our hospitals and medical teams in our current crisis? Is Jesus the one on the front lines of protest? Sr. Joan Chittister makes it very clear that scripture says Jesus is indeed with those people and in those places.
Who is that Jesus? This is the Jesus who angered the religious and civil authorities because he dared to call out their behaviour and their attitude. Herod the venal billionaire, Pilate the vacuous and hopeless governor, the Pharisees as legalists and controllers, the Sadducees as theologically misguided, the priests as money hungry, people who laughed at him as blind. This is the Jesus who they plotted to murder and in the end they succeeded. This the Jesus who showed the world that food can be free and shared, that healing is not based on allegiance or income, that evil can be defeated, that the vulnerable deserve the same love and care that we do, and that indeed prisoners and those who are oppressed are victims of revenge and that one crime is not made right by another.
Jesus was quite serious about setting prisoners and the oppressed free, as you see in Matthew 25. There is a significant movement within Christianity to move the west to restorative justice rather than the misguided forms of so-called reform and punishment. Christ is there.
There is a strong movement within Christianity to move to community owned banks to enable the poor to get on their feet, TEAR mission and EFICOR do that work in the developing countries. Christ is there.
There have been strong advocates for righting the evil of Robodebt and finally a high court challenge has already made the government concede some ground on this sick punishment of the innocent. Jesus is there.
Christians are very active in opposing national governments on refugees, Jesus is there.
And yes Jesus is on that frontline of protest, protesting the sickness of gross wealth, the control of food markets, medical supplies, access to education, the detaining of prisoners without representation or public knowledge, the lies of those who control the media, and yes, Jesus is on that frontline protesting historic and current racism.
Chittister writes: “If people continued to follow Jesus in growing numbers, such new ideas, such dangerous insights could have toppled the tightly held authority of both Temple and Throne. New ideas endanger old systems, old rulers. They cast doubt on their moral integrity because if this new thing is right, then the old thing was wrong, or at least deeply lacking.”
Many in our society today live by these old ideas, and as Chittister warns - we have become complacent - a privileged people in a privileged world. We live in a bubble oblivious of the plight of others and Chittister reminds us that Jesus trod a different path, he reached down to lift all others up, he walked alongside those we won’t, he socialised with those we reject, he accepted those who society looked down upon. That Jesus is everywhere I look, challenging governments, policies, processes, attitudes, inequalities.
Yes, Jesus was loving, but he was not meek and mild as Wesley’s misguided hymn portrays, Jesus was challenging, angry, forceful, blunt and passionate. 3 Chittister challenges us with: “Those who risk nothing, risk much more. While we keep our heads down, our mouths closed, our public reputations unblotted thanks to the silence we keep in the face of great public issues of the day, the pillars of society erode around us.”
Are we the silent acquiescing ones or are we the Christlike ones making a noise? Jesus calls to be about something greater than just ourselves, to be about others. Jesus calls us to kingdom community values that do not diminish or break the vulnerable. Jesus calls us to make a noise about injustice. The work of God is in our hands. Who is Jesus for you? How are you responding?
Pentecost 11, 16.8.20.
Text: Matthew 15.21 - 28.
Rev Paul Cannon
In the Australian on Thursday Johannes Leak, the cartoonist published a cartoon which is, in my mind, racist. The cartoon depicted the Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden with his newly chosen running mate Kamala Harris an American of Indian heritage. The Caption read “It’s time to heal a nation divided by racism. So I’ll hand you over to this little brown girl while I go for a lie down.” Biden did not use those words, he was saying that by choosing Harris, little girls woke up, especially brown and black girls, potentially seeing themselves in a new way. He was saying Harris was inspiring! The cartoon caption is troubling in several ways, not least that it is a supposed to be a slur on Biden too. For him to go and have a lie down is a reference to slavery - let the brown servant girl do the work.
But the reference to little brown girl is is both sexist and racist. There is an unwritten understanding that the word girl should never refer to a woman because it would be a sexualising of the woman in a particular way, let alone demeaning by reducing her clear maturity, Harris is 44 years old, not eight. The word brown is not so problematic, it is okay to refer to colour, but when you put it in context, put brown with girl and lie down it is a reference to brown girls as inferior slaves.
Tim Soutphommasane the former Australian Race Discrimination Commissioner said yesterday in reference to the paper and to the cartoon that: “It indulges racism, and uses it as part of its business model. This sort of commentary diminishes our society.”
Some have tried to suggest that Jesus was racist because Jesus appears to insult a Canaanite woman with a racial slur. But first some background. Jesus has only recently fed a multitude, calmed a wind storm on Lake Galilee, healed the sick around Gennesaret. He seeks some respite and, as we saw with the feeding of the multitude, it is hard for Jesus to keep his presence a secret so he heads into Lebanon, to Tyre and Sidon where he might be anonymous.
Soon a woman approaches Jesus, Matthew describes her as a Canaanite woman who seeks healing for her daughter. Jesus’ anonymity is shot, this woman knows who he is, which indicates the spread of his reputation in the whole region, and without the internet. It is the exchange between the two that can be a shock on first reading.
A some modern scholars have tried to suggest that Jesus is being racist in his response to the woman. Well what is he saying? Well before that, while she is calling out to Jesus, the disciples ask him to send her away. So here is a clue to Jesus’ response. The disciples are what? Indignant, embarrassed? She’s a nuisance, send her away. Jesus is silent. And then he declares: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Meaning, I am called only to reach out to my own.
But the woman persists “Lord, help me.” His answer is what is so contentious: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” He is saying, it is not fair to take what belongs to Israel and share it with the likes so of you! And, as you heard, she continues to persist with Jesus and he commends her faith and honours her request for her daughter. The term “dogs” is contentious, in the middle east it is still a slur.
But first the word itself. The word dogs comes in two particular forms in the Greek and Jesus will use both forms. In Matthew 7.6 Jesus bluntly says “do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine ….” Here he uses the word κυον (kuon) or wild cur, a word for dogs that means unclean, wild, dangerous. In Matthew 15 Jesus doesn’t use the word κυον (kuon), he uses the word κυναριον (kunarion) which means small dog.
It’s still a jibe that says Israel is more deserving right now, you are lesser. So what is he trying to achieve here? We need to remember that in Matthew 8.5 - 13 Jesus has already met with and healed the centurion’s daughter. In this encounter Jesus outlines a multiracial vision of the kingdom community (Matthew 8.11). Several times in Matthew, the most Jewish Gospel, Jesus reaffirms that he has come to the lost house of Israel.
But, Matthew is also the gospel of Gentile inclusion. Matthew’s genealogy reminds us that Gentiles are woven into the human heritage of Jesus, his bloodline. Matthew records that Gentile Magi come from all over to worship Jesus. Matthew also records the prophecy of Isaiah that Jesus’ ministry is the light of the Gentiles. In Matthew 8 Jesus while in Gentile territory delivers two Gentile men who are demon possessed. So Jesus is no stranger to speaking with, healing, and being with Gentiles. Even more important is right before this encounter Jesus was teaching that it is not important what you put into the body, but what comes out of it that matters.
Which Paul echoes in Galatians 5.22 “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. What comes out of us matters. It seems to me from both the text and from scholarship that Jesus is being playful in a particular way, and I think the woman gets it.
Look at the text. R.T. France once said: “A good teacher may sometimes aim to draw out a pupil’s best insight by a deliberate challenge which does not represent the teachers own view ….” And some scholars say Jesus is testing her. And she has a great come-back - “Yes Lord, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” She is saying Yes, the children of Israel, but everyone must be fed, the children and the dogs must be fed. She is saying yes it is right for the dogs to take the bread. She pushes back on Jesus boldly. This woman takes Jesus’ words and develops them so that she and her daughter have a place in the story. Jesus acknowledges her wisdom and her faith, she has persisted and never wavered in this exchange. In fact it is the only time Jesus describes someone’s faith as great.
The cartoonist for the Australian has tried to say he was reflecting on Biden’s own problems with race, that the cartoon was being satirical and ironic. The cartoon fails because it is simply provocative and a slur whereas Jesus is not being racist towards this woman at all, he provokes to test not to slur. Jesus challenges the orthodoxy of the time, a bold step. And the woman is equal to the moment.
This is a lesson for us in how we deal with each other and the world. I think this Canaanite woman is an inspiration. What comes out of her is patient persistence, faithfulness and wisdom, fruit of the Spirit. She models, like the Centurion, like the widow who persists with the magistrate, a way to engage God fearlessly in persistence. May we take Jesus’ words and develop them, so that we are part of the story. Embracing this story as a way of living into community and culture, but also as our way to live with integrity that it may be said of us, great is our faith.
Pentecost 12, 23.8.20.
Text: Matthew 16.13 - 20.
Rev Paul Cannon
Who do you say Jesus is?
Jesus asks his disciples who the people say he is.
Most of them respond with - some say John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. Only Peter names Jesus as Messiah, as Christ.
The disciples have opted for the type of answers we might call Sunday Jesus. The answers we think we should have or share.
Jesus wants the disciples to answer for themselves, that’s why he pushes back at them and asks “But who do you say that I am?”
This is a real challenge. And we are being asked, daily, the very same question; who is Jesus for us?
Of course, Peter has insider knowledge when he gives his answer. He gives a typical rabbi school answer. But the basis of his answer comes from having seen Jesus calm storms, feed multitudes, heal people, deal with demons, teach with wisdom and compassion. Ordinary rabbis couldn’t do those things, so, ergo, Jesus is clearly the Messiah because these actions can only be of God.
So the other question for us is, where do we see the work of Jesus that informs us who Jesus is for us?
Sr. Joan Chittister the Benedictine who is now 84 yrs old and a veteran of many books and publications on Christian living recently wrote a new book in 2019 entitled ‘The Time Is Now.’ In this book she reaffirms for us that Jesus would be supporting those who are oppressed. Isn’t that exactly what Jesus quotes as his manifesto in Luke 4 when he takes the scroll of Isaiah and reads what his role is to be?
Where is Jesus working today in these ways?
Or is Jesus defending police brutality and corruption in the world, is Jesus merrily supporting bombing and shootings in the middle east? Is Jesus the one stopping the boats and imprisoning families on Manus Island and Christmas Island? Is Jesus the one building a wall, separating families, using torture to get so called vital information, using cluster bombs, forcing people to work longer and longer without industrial protection, is Jesus the one lying about economics, about brutality, about neglect and racism?
So, who is your Jesus and how do you know who he is? What work is he doing in the world today?
Is Jesus the one being arrested for occupying government offices to protest in support of the rights of refugees, is Jesus the lawyer standing against the evil of Robodebt, is Jesus the one who is standing with the homeless, the single parent, the poor, the victims of our economics? Is Jesus the one standing alongside our brothers and sisters who have risked their sexuality? Is Jesus the one who is advocating for those with disability so badly served by government policy, is Jesus the one who is standing with our hospitals and medical teams in our current crisis? Is Jesus the one on the front lines of protest?
Sr. Joan Chittister makes it very clear that scripture says Jesus is indeed with those people and in those places.
Who is that Jesus?
This is the Jesus who angered the religious and civil authorities because he dared to call out their behaviour and their attitude. Herod the venal billionaire, Pilate the vacuous and hopeless governor, the Pharisees as legalists and controllers, the Sadducees as theologically misguided, the priests as money hungry, people who laughed at him as blind. This is the Jesus who they plotted to murder and in the end they succeeded.
This the Jesus who showed the world that food can be free and shared, that healing is not based on allegiance or income, that evil can be defeated, that the vulnerable deserve the same love and care that we do, and that indeed prisoners and those who are oppressed are victims of revenge and that one crime is not made right by another.
Jesus was quite serious about setting prisoners and the oppressed free, as you see in Matthew 25.
There is a significant movement within Christianity to move the west to restorative justice rather than the misguided forms of so-called reform and punishment. Christ is there.
There is a strong movement within Christianity to move to community owned banks to enable the poor to get on their feet, TEAR mission and EFICOR do that work in the developing countries. Christ is there.
There have been strong advocates for righting the evil of Robodebt and finally a high court challenge has already made the government concede some ground on this sick punishment of the innocent. Jesus is there.
Christians are very active in opposing national governments on refugees, Jesus is there.
And yes Jesus is on that frontline of protest, protesting the sickness of gross wealth, the control of food markets, medical supplies, access to education, the detaining of prisoners without representation or public knowledge, the lies of those who control the media, and yes, Jesus is on that frontline protesting historic and current racism.
Chittister writes: “If people continued to follow Jesus in growing numbers, such new ideas, such dangerous insights could have toppled the tightly held authority of both Temple and Throne. New ideas endanger old systems, old rulers. They cast doubt on their moral integrity because if this new thing is right, then the old thing was wrong, or at least deeply lacking.”
Many in our society today live by these old ideas, and as Chittister warns - we have become complacent - a privileged people in a privileged world. We live in a bubble oblivious of the plight of others and Chittister reminds us that Jesus trod a different path, he reached down to lift all others up, he walked alongside those we won’t, he socialised with those we reject, he accepted those who society looked down upon.
That Jesus is everywhere I look, challenging governments, policies, processes, attitudes, inequalities. Yes, Jesus was loving, but he was not meek and mild as Wesley’s misguided hymn portrays, Jesus was challenging, angry, forceful, blunt and passionate.
Chittister challenges us with: “Those who risk nothing, risk much more. While we keep our heads down, our mouths closed, our public reputations unblotted thanks to the silence we keep in the face of great public issues of the day, the pillars of society erode around us.”
Are we the silent acquiescing ones or are we the Christlike ones making a noise?
Jesus calls to be about something greater than just ourselves, to be about others. Jesus calls us to kingdom community values that do not diminish or break the vulnerable. Jesus calls us to make a noise about injustice. The work of God is in our hands.
Who is Jesus for you? How are you responding?
Pentecost 11, 16.8.20.
Text Matthew 15.21 - 28.
Rev Paul Cannon
In the Australian on Thursday Johannes Leak, the cartoonist published a cartoon which is, in my mind, racist.
The cartoon depicted the Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden with his newly chosen running mate Kamala Harris an American of Indian heritage. The Caption read “It’s time to heal a nation divided by racism. So I’ll hand you over to this little brown girl while I go for a lie down.”
Biden did not use those words, he was saying that by choosing Harris, little girls woke up, especially brown and black girls, potentially seeing themselves in a new way. He was saying Harris was inspiring!
The cartoon caption is troubling in several ways, not least that it is a supposed to be a slur on Biden too. For him to go and have a lie down is a reference to slavery - let the brown servant girl do the work. But the reference to little brown girl is is both sexist and racist.
There is an unwritten understanding that the word girl should never refer to a woman because it would be a sexualising of the woman in a particular way, let alone demeaning by reducing her clear maturity, Harris is 44 years old, not eight. The word brown is not so problematic, it is okay to refer to colour, but when you put it in context, put brown with girl and lie down it is a reference to brown girls as inferior slaves.
Tim Soutphommasane the former Australian Race Discrimination Commissioner said yesterday in reference to the paper and to the cartoon that: “It indulges racism, and uses it as part of its business model. This sort of commentary diminishes our society.”
Some have tried to suggest that Jesus was racist because Jesus appears to insult a Canaanite woman with a racial slur.
But first some background. Jesus has only recently fed a multitude, calmed a wind storm on Lake Galilee, healed the sick around Gennesaret. He seeks some respite and, as we saw with the feeding of the multitude, it is hard for Jesus to keep his presence a secret so he heads into Lebanon, to Tyre and Sidon where he might be anonymous.
Soon a woman approaches Jesus, Matthew describes her as a Canaanite woman who seeks healing for her daughter.
Jesus’ anonymity is shot, this woman knows who he is, which indicates the spread of his reputation in the whole region, and without the internet.
It is the exchange between the two that can be a shock on first reading.
A some modern scholars have tried to suggest that Jesu sis being racist in his response to the woman.
Well what is he saying?
Well before that, while she is calling out to Jesus, the disciples ask him to send her away. So here is a clue to Jesus’ response. The disciples are what? Indignant, embarrassed? She’s a nuisance, send her away. Jesus is silent.
And then he declares: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Meaning, I am called only to reach out to my own. But the woman persists “Lord, help me.” His answer is what is so contentious: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” He is saying, it is not fair to take what belongs to Israel and share it with the likes so of you!
And, as you heard, she continues to persist with Jesus and he commends her faith and honours her request for her daughter.
The term “dogs” is contentious, in the middle east it is still a slur. But first the word itself.
The word dogs comes in two particular forms in the Greek and Jesus will use both forms.
In Matthew 7.6 Jesus bluntly says “do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine ….” Here he uses the word κυον (kuon) or wild cur, a word for dogs that means unclean, wild, dangerous.
In Matthew 15 Jesus doesn’t use the word κυον (kuon), he uses the word κυναριον (kunarion) which means small dog. It’s still a jibe that says Israel is more deserving right now, you are lesser. So what is he trying to achieve here?
We need to remember that in Matthew 8.5 - 13 Jesus has already met with and healed the centurion’s daughter. In this encounter Jesus outlines a multiracial vision of the kingdom community (Matthew 8.11).
Several times in Matthew, the most Jewish Gospel, Jesus reaffirms that he has come to the lost house of Israel. But, Matthew is also the gospel of Gentile inclusion. Matthew’s genealogy reminds us that Gentiles are woven into the human heritage of Jesus, his bloodline.
Matthew records that Gentile Magi come from all over to worship Jesus. Matthew also records the prophecy of Isaiah that Jesus’ ministry is the light of the Gentiles. In Matthew 8 Jesus while in Gentile territory delivers two Gentile men who are demon possessed. So Jesus is no stranger to speaking with, healing, and being with Gentiles.
Even more important is right before this encounter Jesus was teaching that it is not important what you put into the body, but what comes out of it that matters. Which Paul echoes in Galatians 5.22 ff “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. What comes out of us matters.
It seems to me from both the text and from scholarship that Jesus is being playful in a particular way, and I think the woman gets it. Look at the text.
R.T. France once said: “A good teacher may sometimes aim to draw out a pupil’s best insight by a deliberate challenge which does not represent the teachers own view ….”
And some scholars say Jesus is testing her. And she has a great come-back - “Yes Lord, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” She is saying Yes, the children of Israel, but everyone must be fed, the children and the dogs must be fed. She is saying yes it is right for the dogs to take the bread. She pushes back on Jesus boldly. This woman takes Jesus’ words and develops them so that she and her daughter have a place in the story.
Jesus acknowledges her wisdom and her faith, she has persisted and never wavered in this exchange. In fact it is the only time Jesus describes someone’s faith as great.
The cartoonist for the Australian has tried to say he was reflecting on Biden’s own problems with race, that the cartoon was being satirical and ironic. The cartoon fails because it is simply provocative and a slur whereas Jesus is not being racist towards this woman at all, he provokes to test not to slur. Jesus challenges the orthodoxy of the time, a bold step. And the woman is equal to the moment.
This is a lesson for us in how we deal with each other and the world.
I think this Canaanite woman is an inspiration. What comes out of her is patient persistence, faithfulness and wisdom, fruit of the Spirit. She models, like the Centurion, like the widow who persists with the magistrate, a way to engage God fearlessly in persistence.
May we take Jesus’ words and develop them, so that we are part of the story. Embracing this story as a way of living into community and culture, but also as our way to live with integrity that it may be said of us, great is our faith.
Pentecost 10, 9.8.20
Text: Matt. 14.22 – 33.
Rev Paul Cannon
All the sermons I’ve heard on this story focus on Peter sinking when he begins to doubt Jesus.
Many sermons simply say that if you take your eyes off Jesus you will sink so, ergo, we must keep our eyes firmly on Jesus.
And at some level that is true. But often the rider of increasing your faith becomes the main point, that if we simply gee ourselves up all will be well. And sadly that becomes a cycle, we need a daily gee up, a weekly injection. That is a consumer model, keep putting the fuel in and you’ll survive.
But that always reminds me of when Elijah encounters the 500 prophets of Baal in a showdown. Elijah relies on God’s counsel, constructs a simple altar and sacrifices a bull to God, which is consumed in fire demonstrating God’s existence. However, the prophets of Baal dance, beat and cut themselves in a frenzy, all to make Baal real, and nothing happens. No amount of thrashing and cutting and shouting worked.
Jesus doesn’t encourage this either. If we only focus on Peter sinking we will miss the best part of this story.
We need to look past Peter and look to the good news.
Peter walks on the water just like Jesus does. After a few steps he begins to sink, but for a brief moment he walked on the water. He showed great faith in leaving the boat and going towards Jesus across the water. Remembering that Peter is used to boats and water as any fisherman, but he’s also caught in the reality of the storm, yet he still got out. The reason Peter sinks is not because he is wrong, but because his trust, his faith waivers.
The greatest failure in this story is not Peter getting out and sinking as his faith waivers, it is the rest of the disciples who sat huddled in the boat, frightened and still wondering if they were seeing a ghost who failed. Peter’s faith may have been weak, but it was stronger than his fellow disciples. Peter had a bold faith.
All the disciples arrive safely on the shore, but only Peter walked on water.
This is a passage of promise, if you trust in the call of God, if you respond to God and get out of the boat you can do what you are called to do.
However, the whole point being, if you want to walk on water you have got to get out of the boat! Not that the boat is a bad thing or a bad place to be. The boat serves a real purpose, it carries, it protects and shelters, it is a platform and a vessel. However, you cannot stay in a boat forever. At some point you’ve got to get out.
There is a time honoured way of seeing the boat as the church.
The World Council of churches chose the image of the boat with everyone in it as an image of the churches together, the cross is the mast, and the water is the world. If the boat is the church, even the local one, that is a good thing.
But at some point we must get into the water of the world.
We talk about the possibility of doing things, we speak of wanting to work miracles in the world, wanting to do great things for God. Yet we are conflicted because we don’t want to compromise the safety of our boat.
But that cannot be. Miracles, just by definition, occur in risk and are risky, they defy what we know and believe to be the natural order of things. However, we can’t walk on water without getting out of the boat, without taking a risk. Miracles, even small acts of ministry and mission, are not always the result of practical living and common sense. And for those prepared to get out of the boat, their trust, their faith, makes no sense to those still huddled in the boat.
But not much of the Christian faith does make sense to the logical mind.
Empty tombs don’t make sense, life through death doesn’t make sense, leading by serving doesn’t make sense, being last in order to be first makes no sense, and it certainly makes no sense to step out of a boat in a storm.
But there stands Jesus on the water calling. Peter does take an incredible risk, but Peter doesn’t put his feet into the water until Jesus has said to him “come.”
If God is not calling, if God is not clearly involved, then we would be silly to rush into the water. We cannot go into the water on our own. But when God appears, when God calls, new possibilities open before us.
The problem is our world does not live by trust. Today we live by safety, security and protection. We even hear this in corporations, governments, and families. And sadly now, in the institutional church.
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with that, but unfortunately the boat of security and safety spills over into our faith and worship life and we sink. Faith means nothing if it doesn’t mean risk.
We can say we have faith in God all we like, but until we get out of the boat it’s all hot air. We can quote “with God , all things are possible” and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” and yet stay in the boat and even look down upon those who are prepared to get out. If the boat is the church, the Christian community, questions arise. How safe have we become?
Put differently, what are we prepared to say yes to? God is certainly in the world, and there is no doubt God is calling us to continually get involved in the world but are we prepared to let go of the safety of our boat and heed the call and put a toe into the water of the world? “A ship in harbour is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.”
God calls us to set sail, and occasionally to step out into the water. Do we dare? God is patient with us when we get stuck, when we cannot leave the safety of the boat. But the mission of Jesus is for us not to remain there. Jesus is standing in the water that is the world saying, “Come.” All we have to do is get out of the boat.
Pentecost 9, 2.8.20
Text: Matthew 14.13 - 21.
Rev Paul Cannon
Food has always been an issue.
In Jesus’ day food was marked by significant inequality, and food insecurity was common.
I’m reminded by that famous comment by the late Helder Camara, former Archbishop of Olinda and Recife in Brazil who said: “When I feed the poor they call me a saint, when I ask why so many are poor they call me a communist.”
Is that how we divide the world up?
The Roman Empire was a hierarchical structure, with a few wealthy powerful people at the top who could afford what they liked, but most people in the empire lived just above or below subsistence level receiving inadequate nutrition.
Of course, Jesus would have had that in mind with Matthew 6.11 where he teaches that we should ask God for our daily bread.
The elite had power over all the resources. Lack of food was (and remains) an injustice that many people experience.
It also explains why there were so many sick people that Jesus encountered, they were undernourished and had no resilience.
From the earliest times, God had insisted that the hungry be fed.
In Exodus 16 we learn that God provides food for the wilderness generation.
In Ezekiel 34.1 - 10 the prophet condemns Israel’s leaders for failing the people.
In Isaiah 58.7, 10 the prophet tells the people that they should share bread with the hungry.
These are just three examples out of dozens of references to social justice on the issue of food.
In Matthew 6.2 - 4 Jesus is asking that we make sure that our generosity enables others, so that all may have a share of the wealth. This is the other issue of food - can people afford it?
Jesus was constantly drawing attention to how community should work, all must have their needs met, and sharing is the best way.
In Matthew 12.1 - 8 Jesus makes it very clear that religion must not get in the way of justice. He nails an argument that things cannot happen on the Sabbath, especially picking a hand full of grain. Jesus calls attention to the fact that the temple does not take precedent over needs, and nor does the notion of sabbath that the religious have.
In Matthew 25, that famous passage on justice, Jesus shows that the way we treat the hungry is the way we are also treating him.
And then there is the sense of the culmination of the fulness of the kingdom community in the prophets, take Isaiah 25 where we read that: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines ….” This is to make plain in contrast that in current time food is not available to all, but in the fulness of the kingdom it will be rich food and wine for everyone. It is a metaphor for the kingdom community that we see in Acts where everyone shared all the they had in common.
We are the kingdom and we are called to bring that justice now, not just wait for it in life after death.
All of this is wrapped up in everything Jesus says and does. And so in Matthew 14 we come to the feeding of the multitude. The setting is a deserted or wilderness place.
It evokes the exodus story and the feeding of the people fleeing Egypt and seeking the promised land. The irony of the Exodus story is that the people are supposed to be the promised land or kingdom, but they’re always looking for it geographically not seeing it in their midst. They wouldn’t have had to walk so long if they’d arrived at the obvious - that they were the community of hope. And double irony, God is always caring for them but they can never see it.
But there is something else at play here too. Jesus has just heard of John’s execution. Herod in lust, Herodius in vengeful anger, Salome a manipulator who is also a pawn, John an innocent victim. Jesus grieves, but also senses risk and withdraws to a deserted place. And there Jesus demonstrates a totally different power and possibility. Not one of murder, revenge, jealousy, manipulation, rather, one of compassion and generosity.
A large crowd gathers around Jesus, who responds to them with compassion. The disciples want to send the crowd off so that they can feed themselves. But Jesus invites the disciples to feed the crowd themselves.
Astounding! The disciples do find two fish and five loaves, which is laughable given that there are 5,000 men plus women and children present. And then Jesus takes charge and multiplies the food to a banquet, just like that.
The first thing to notice is that this is a picture of God at work, just as in the exodus, just as in the return from exile, God is present in the world working.
Jesus gathers the crowd. It was certain to be a mixed crowd from all over the district, which would have included the ritually unclean, the sick, women and children, so not a gathering of acceptability in terms of the purity laws. Jesus feeds them. There was no temple law applied as to who was deserving, there were no special seats, no process other than a miracle of food. God is showing that this is the way for the kingdom community.
The kingdom of heaven now is how the people live without all the trappings of power, how we live compassion. God is showing what is meant by all the words and actions offered by the prophets that the hungry must be fed, that the strangers must be welcomed and fed.
Jesus actions also anticipate a more perfect banquet of abundant blessing, but demonstrates what we are called to emulate right now. God is showing that there is another way to live now, a way so different from the way of power elites.
The second thing to notice is that the language - taking, loaves, all, ate, are resonant with the words of the last supper.
So this miracle of feeding the multitude is a Eucharistic image. Which should alert us to the fact that a eucharist is more than bread and wine - it is about everyone gathered, it is about compassion for others, it is about making sure everyone’s needs are met. So that Eucharist - which means thanksgiving - is about community gathered to thank God.
As Jesus’ banquet fills all with some left over, so his Spirit will fill all with an abundance overflowing.
In that wilderness place Jesus shows a new kind of community to the world, one that seeks the good for the other, a community not bound in religion or habit, a community formed in compassion, a community that takes God’s words to heart that everyone should have an equal place, access to food and shelter, and should be free of prejudicial regulation.
But Jesus also shows that it not ours to take for ourselves, we must play our part and do the feeding as much as receiving. We are called to feed the hungry on every level, but we are equally called to ask why they hungry and poor. Remembering that the way we treat others is the way we treat Jesus.