Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 Psalm 125 James 2:1-10, [11-13], 14-17 Mark 7:24-37

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but stands fast for ever.
[Psalm 125:1 NRSV]

It’s not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs – we, the Gentiles, being the “dogs.” This is not a despicable political tweet; this is Jesus, our Lord, speaking these words.

Before we move to the Gospel message in today’s lesson; let’s first grapple with these words spoken by Jesus to the Syrophoenician mother of a demon-possessed child. She was not only a non-Jew – a Gentile, categorized as a non-believer; she was a woman and, even worse, a foreigner in a pagan land. Culture sanctioned the cruel discriminatory response to her plea for help that Jesus appears to deem appropriate.

Why would Jesus express himself in this exclusionist attitude as revealed to us in Mark’s Gospel? I don’t know for sure. Certainly, there have been tomes of commentary written on this encounter with the Syrophoenician woman suggesting a variety of explanations for these harsh words. But, I do know that these stark words and this brave woman’s audacity make this point far better than if Jesus had merely quietly answered her request to heal her daughter as we would expect. Had Jesus not responded in such a remarkable way, we would read the sweet healing account as we read other healing accounts, and move on. Yet, rather than quietly passing off another example of Jesus’ compassionate healing, we find ourselves coming up off our seats to say, “Hey, wait a minute! You can’t talk to this woman this way. Her daughter deserves healing just like anyone else.” Jesus quite successfully get our attention.

I can imagine standing here before you and suggesting we need to give up on trying to feed the hungry in our community. “It just takes too much effort,” I might argue. My hope is that you again would come up off your seat and shout, “What are you saying; why are we here if we are not willing to dig deeper and work harder each day to meet the needs of those less fortunate? Of course, we have to continue that effort. Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.’” Perhaps Jesus is using similar psychology to rally the troops toward their true cause without having to use words in an effort to encourage and to explain the evolution of their ministry.

Some followers would turn away after this episode of reaching outside Jewish boundaries. Whether this was a turning point in Jesus’ own understanding of his mission, remains for each of us to discern. Without doubt, it is the turning point for the mission itself and those who continue to follow. The mission would no longer be perceived as excluding those beyond the Jewish faith.

It would be this brave Syrophoenician woman who becomes the focus of this turning point. This brave Syrophoenician woman stands her ground – though a Gentile female, she recognized that there is no stronger ground than faith in Jesus Christ. Not even Jesus himself could dissuade her. Regardless of her diminished value as a woman and as a Gentile, she had heard the Gospel message. She believed and she was not turning back. She was a mother, desperate to find healing for her child; and she was a follower of Jesus Christ who did not doubt his power to heal. She was bold in her faith; through that faith, her daughter was healed.

Like the deaf mute of the second portion of our lesson, even Jesus’ closest followers could not hear and speak this essential aspect of their mission. Jesus’ actions opened their ears and voices to this reality much as he opened the ears of the deaf man – much as the boldness of this determined mother opens our ears to the reality of our call to believe in the healing power of Jesus Christ, and boldly, to speak and carry that message to all. What earthly image can better define boldness than a mother’s desperate plea for her child’s healing?

Never again would Jesus contradict the message of God’s redemption for all. Boldly, Jesus would carry out this earthly mission to which he had been called.

As I conclude the sermon, Omar’s family will come forward to present him for Holy Baptism into the healing grace of the Body of Christ; Omar will be marked as Christ’s own forever. We, boldly, will stand with Omar and his family; we, boldly, will pledge before God to support Omar in his life in Christ. We, boldly, will renew our own baptismal covenant to continue in the teaching, the breaking of bread, and the prayers. We, boldly, will pledge to resist evil and, as necessary, repent and return to the Lord. We, boldly, will commit to proclaim the words of the healing grace of Jesus Christ, serving all persons, and striving for justice and peace.

Then, together, boldly, we will gather to share the Body of Christ, and to go from this place renewed in our commitment for which we are marked forever. Carry with you the bold commitment of this family who presents this child to life in Christ; carry with you the boldness of this desperate first century gentile mother, filled with the power of faith in Jesus Christ, who pushed through all the restraints of tradition and discrimination to find everlasting healing and salvation. Be bold; push through the barriers; believe in the healing power of the love of Jesus Christ.

Baptism of Omar Emilio Betancourt Jordan