Faith Makes the Difference

Homily for August 20, 2017 (20th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Psalm 67; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28

It’s hard to square the image of Jesus in today’s gospel reading with the one we know.  The Jesus we know is compassionate, especially to those who are suffering.  The Jesus we see in this passage from Matthew 15 seems dismissive and almost callous in the face of a woman who begs him to heal her daughter.  The Jesus we know is open to all and even shares meals with those on the margins of society.  The Jesus we see in this passage seems to be inflicted with the same kinds of prejudices and even racism that we saw on display in Virginia last weekend. What’s going on here?

It’s important to remember that Matthew’s gospel was first addressed to a particular audience:  Jews who had become Christians.  One of Matthew’s central purposes was to affirm God’s election of the people of Israel and the establishment of a covenant with them.   At the same time, Matthew also wanted to demonstrate how Jesus, God’s Son, was the fulfillment of that covenant, including the Law of Moses and the vision of the prophets.

Part of that prophetic vision is on display in our first reading from Isaiah 56.  Most scripture scholars agree that what we have in our Bibles as a single book of Isaiah is actually 3 books.  The passage we hear today is from the third of those books (sometimes called Trito-Isaiah), and it was written as people were returning to Jerusalem in the 6th century BCE following the defeat of the Babylonians by the Persians.  Their exile over, people returned to the land of their ancestors and began the difficult tasks of rebuilding Jerusalem, the Temple and their lives.

Foreigners came with them, and God through Isaiah promises that they would have a place at the Temple and table if they:  (1) joined themselves to God; (2) ministered to God; (3) loved God’s name; (4) served God; (5) kept the Sabbath; and (6) held to the covenant that God made with the people of Israel.  God’s house would then be “a house of prayer for all peoples.”  Centuries later, St. Paul would echo that universal call and election by reminding the church at Rome that God’s grace and mercy have been freely offered to all, Jew and gentile alike.

To remember that God loves other people as much as God loves us and those who look and speak like us isn’t always easy.  As we read in the Acts of the Apostles (especially chapters 14-16), it wasn’t easy for the early church as it sought to integrate its Jewish roots with its emerging Christian identity.  Perhaps, in his humanity, it wasn’t easy for Jesus, either; or maybe he was just testing his disciples and others around him.

What mattered to the Canaanite woman living in the predominantly gentile region of Tyre and Sidon was that she knew that Jesus, whom she recognized as “Lord, Son of David” had the power to free her daughter from the power of the demon that was tormenting her.  Her faith, coupled with her desperation, wouldn’t allow her to take no for an answer.  When ignored, she persisted.  When told by Jesus that she and her kind weren’t part of his mission, she wouldn’t give up.  Even when she was called a dog, she turned the insult into a confirmation that she had a right to a place at the table of the Lord.  What made the difference?  It was her faith.  In these times of great trial for our country when those who are poisoned with the sins of racism, antisemitism and other forms of prejudice that fail to recognize the fundamental human dignity and rights of others, we need a similarly strong faith—and the will to act on it. +