A sermon preached by the Rev’d Dr Daniel Dries Pentecost 11 Christ Church St Laurence – 20 July 2017 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight: O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen. “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” According to the fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia, ‘Hate speech is speech which attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender.’ Hate speech is terrifyingly topical and controversial in our day and age. However, hate speech was not controversial in the first century. What is defined now as hate speech would have been perfectly acceptable dialogue between people of different races, genders, ethnic origins and religious traditions in Christ’s time and place. Everything about the encounter between Christ and the Canaanite woman makes us rather uncomfortable—at least it should. But it would not have been shocking or repellent to the disciples who witnessed this encounter; it would not have been shocking to the first readers of Matthew’s Gospel either—the most Jewish Gospel. When a desperate foreigner reaches out to this Jewish teacher, no doubt as her final resort, she is initially ignored, then shunned by his disciples. When she finally makes it to the man himself, she throws herself on his mercy, only to be met with a socially acceptable, yet absolutely brutal remark, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” How reassuring that such a thing would never be said in our time and place… if only that were true. During this past week, we have witnessed more than one example of the ugly face of racism, hatred and bigotry. As we reflect on the sins and offences of the past, it is easy to put them down to history. The only problem with this defence, is that we’re supposed to learn from history. The truth is that, no matter hard we may try, we will never completely free ourselves from the restraints of our cultural and religious traditions. This is not always a bad thing. However, when our social or religious traditions seem to condone bigotry and hatred, they are not of God. In the Old Testament Book Joshua, Yahweh commands Joshua to eliminate the Canaanites—men, women and children. This same Old Testament book goes on to claim that Joshua’s divinely inspired genocide was a complete and resounding success—that all of the Canaanites were eliminated. And yet, in Matthew Chapter 15, we learn that this may not have been the case. A desperate Canaanite woman breaks all social and religious conventions when she approaches a young Jewish rabbi. Desperately seeking healing for her sick daughter, she shows absolutely no regard for the social structures of her day. While Christ’s brutal remark to the Canaanite woman would have been socially acceptable, the fact that she approached him most certainly was not. Every so often, the Sunday Lectionary seems to scream at us, with a Gospel passage that the world desperately needs to hear at this precise moment. Today is one such occasion. Biblical commentators attempt to explain Christ’s brutal remarks, often in an attempt to soften what seems to be the most blatant example of hate speech… “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
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One theologian argues that Christ was simply having a very bad day; suggesting that he is really frustrated with the disciples, and takes it out on a desperate mother. Another commentator asserts that the word ‘dogs’ is not really the right translation. A better translation of the Greek would be puppies, making it seem like a term of affection—after all, everyone loves a puppy. Surely, these most uncomfortable words to be uttered from the mouth of Christ serve a very specific purpose. Surely, they are there to show us how every human being is powerfully shaped by their cultural and religious heritage. Even Christ is not able to completely distance himself from the society into which he has been born. It takes an aggravating and uncouth foreigner to remind him that, even if this is socially acceptable behaviour, it is not of God. As we are all confronted with racism, inequality, and bigotry, both in our own nation and abroad, it is so easy to be dragged down by our own social and religious heritage, without stopping to consider that this may not always be of God. In 1902, Australian women won the right to vote in democratic elections. To our shame, indigenous Australians (male and female), had to wait another 60 years for this privilege. Women were not given the vote until 1920 in the United States of America. In the early years of the twentieth century, the National Association Opposed to the Woman Suffrage, publish what seems like a quaint, if not bizarre, little pamphlet outlining very ‘sound’ reasons why voting for American women would be a very bad idea. This little pamphlet also contains some very helpful tips for stain removal. Included in the reasons against the vote for woman are: BECAUSE it means competition of women with men instead of co-operation. BECAUSE 80% of the women eligible to vote are married and can only double or annul their husband's votes. BECAUSE it can be of no benefit commensurate with the additional expense involved. BECAUSE in some States more voting women than voting men will place the Government under petticoat rule. But, perhaps most relevant for our time: BECAUSE it is unwise to risk the good we already have for the evil which may occur. Why upset the status quo that has served us so well for so long? Why bother addressing the inequality and bigotry in this and every society, when we don’t where this could ultimately lead? Change is often frightening and unsettling. Surely choosing to overlook just a little bigotry and inequality is acceptable if it keeps most people happy. So thought the disciples who tried to ignore a desperate and frustrating Canaanite woman. It seemed that even Christ himself was prepared to tolerate just a little bigotry and inequality on account of his own social and religious heritage. But there she is, the victim of hatred, throwing decorum and protocol to the wind; she is the only one who is not prepared to accept this hatred, bigotry and inequality any longer. And a man, who is both human and divine, boldly steps free from the shackles of his own cultural and religious bondage. In an instant, this encounter becomes completely of God; when he simply says, ‘Woman, great is your faith.’ Our world and our society seem to be increasingly dominated by inequality and hatred. If you look around at this hatred, inequality and bigotry, and its sickens you, as it does me, you should rejoice. If it makes you uncomfortable and angry, you should rejoice, because despite your history, your cultural and even your religious traditions, your eyes have been opened, and your faith has made you well. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 2