Neighborhood Watch
Matthew 15:[10-20] 21-28, Romans Neighborhood Watch programs started as a cooperative relationship between law enforcement and average citizens. Have you seen the Neighborhood Watch signs? They show a red circle with a line through it over the dark silhouette of someone wearing a trench coat and fedora. Who are we watching out for? The Blues Brothers? Is this what crooks and suspicious characters wear these days? Today, I would like for us to imagine the kind of Neighborhood Watch program God would design. What would God tell us to watch out for? Who would God want us to keep an eye on? Matthew 15:21-28 is problematic. This story paints a picture of Jesus that is almost unrecognizable. This is not the Jesus we know and love. In fact, this Jesus is one I don’t even particularly like. 1 But let me back up for a moment. After walking on the water with Peter, he and the disciples beached the boat at Gennesaret. The crowds catch wind of his return. And in the Message it says, “They sent out word through the neighborhood and rounded up all the sick, who asked for permission to touch the edge of his coat. And whoever touched him was healed.”2 This is what the neighborhood God is building is going to look like – personal ministry among those who need healing the most. Here is what it’s NOT going to look like… While in Gennesaret, as if on Neighborhood Watch, the Pharisees and scribes arrive from Jerusalem questioning Jesus about his disciples who ignore the purity codes and “eat their bread with unwashed hands.” Purity police on patrol. Jesus gives them something to chew on. In so many words, he calls them hypocrites, quotes some Isaiah and condemns them for what David Garland calls, performing lip service but not heart service.3 They make a big show of making sure they say all the right things, but their heart isn’t in any of it. This is really the opposite of who Jesus’ disciples are. They often say the wrong things, but their hearts are in the right place. Jesus turns then to the crowd around him and tries to explain that what goes in your mouth is not the problem, but what comes out. And what comes out of your mouth (he means your words and actions) will reveal what’s in your heart. Peter, who is becoming the spokesperson of the disciples in Matthew’s gospel, wants a better explanation. Jesus tries to explain, but what happens next… This Canaanite woman becomes the explanation. She speaks and out of her mouth comes the overflow of her heart. I can’t help but notice how her request, “Lord, help me,” sounds so much like Peter’s cry to Jesus when he is about to be swallowed by the waves (“Lord, save me!”). And what was true about Peter’s cry is true here. In her persistence, in her confession, “Lord, Son of David,” it’s her faith that is evident. She models, for us (and the disciples), what it looks like when the contents of one’s heart match what comes out of their mouth. She doesn’t doubt that Jesus can set her daughter free of her demons. She knows he can and I think she believes that he will — perhaps even before he does. There is a lot of speculation about Jesus’ responses to her. First, he ignores her. He doesn’t dismiss her as the disciples ask, but he doesn’t acknowledge her either. To the disciples rather than to her, he explains that he has his hands full already with “the lost sheep of Israel.” This is him refusing her request. He has enough to say grace over with his own flock. How many times have we said, or thought the same thing. You’ve got your own family to take care of, the dog, the office, your boss, your patients, your students, your clients. You can’t possibly say yes to one more thing. Perhaps we’ve all felt like Jesus at this moment when the church is asking you to complete a survey saying where would you like to serve this next year. How could you possibly take on one more thing? Like we do when someone on the nominating committee calls. I think Jesus is avoiding making personal contact with her. Then this woman, who is not a member of the tribe of Israel, but the enemies of God’s […]