Dog People

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 27th 2006
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Dog People”
Mark 7:24-37

Despite initial appearances, this passage is not about healing. Instead, the entire passage, its location, movements, and verbal encounters, point to a new social reality found in Jesus. It is a new reality which showed that the practices of the ancient faith community were flawed. And this new reality continues to challenge the very foundation of modern faith communities’ work and ministry.
When Jesus moves to a new location, the mentioning of Tyre is critically important. It is an indicator that Jesus has moved well beyond his homeland and, into gentile territory. This movement into gentile territory is an indication that something unexpected is going to happen.
Once again, Jesus looks to retire from the hectic pace of his days. Upon entering Tyre he attempts to discreetly enter a home. Despite his best attempts Jesus is unsuccessful. A woman comes into the house and interrupts his hoped for rest.
Even though we do not know the name of this woman; we know much about her. She is a gentile. While this could have been assumed from the location, the writer goes out of the way to let us know she is a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. In other words, she is a pagan woman who is not part of the religious community.
When she falls at Jesus feet and begs for your daughter’s healing, she has risked much. Coming to Jesus in this way means she has broken well established social laws and customs. First, she entered into a private home which was not hers. Then, this gentile woman approaches a Jewish male, a religious leader, and speaks directly to him. Her actions demand nothing less than a stern rebuke and dismissal.
What happens next is rather shocking. After begging for help, Jesus responds by calling the woman a dog. The offensiveness of this may be lost to those of us who happen to have a dog as a family pet. However, no matter how much we might love that pet it is still be an insult to call any human being, made in the image of God, a dog. However, in the ancient world, and in ancient Jewish literature, calling someone a dog was never a term of love and affection. It was always used as an insult specifically directed towards the Gentiles. There is no way around the fact that Jesus is using a commonly known insult based on ethnicity. So, if we are not shocked, we have not grasped what has happened.
Jesus says: “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Why does Jesus use this ethnic insult to respond to a cry for help? Is Jesus angry about his rest being interrupted? For just a movement have the prejudices of his day seeped into his speech? Or, is Jesus using this as an opportunity to challenge the prejudice of those around him? There are no easy answers. In fact, any attempt to dismiss these questions ignores the seriousness of the offensive insult.
Undeterred by the insult and dismissal, this unnamed woman responds and radically changes the dynamic of the encounter. The scene began with her bowed before Jesus as one would bow in deference to a person in authority. But now, she engages Jesus on equal footing, acting in ways socially unbecoming for a woman.
No longer bowed before him, she directly challenges his dismissal. “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” This gentile woman has challenged a male authority figure. Not only that, but she uses the derogatory term used against her to plead her case. It is a powerful turn of events. A woman, who society sees as powerless, has found her voice in a powerful way.
Once she has challenged Jesus, it is clear that he knows this is no ordinary encounter. Jesus does not respond by becoming defensive or dismissive of this woman. Instead, Jesus says: “For saying that, you may go--the demon has left your daughter.” Healing and restoration have come to this woman’s home.
The passage is a witness to the persistence and faithfulness of this woman even in the face of societal marginalization. This woman refuses to let the ways others define her control her life. Despite being defined and dismissed as only a woman, a gentile and a dog, she knew that God’s radically inclusive love included her as a full member in the family of faith!
This passage is also important as a witness to those in positions of power. After being opening challenged by this woman, Jesus does not dismiss her but instead engages her as an equal. It is an action which should echo throughout all faith communities who claim the name of Jesus. In other words, faith communities, particularly privileged ones, are called to welcome all people, not as charity cases, but on equal footing.
There is a dual message in this passage. It is a word of empowerment for those who society defines as powerless or dog-like. It says; do not accept the definition that others place upon you, for you are a child of God, not a household pet. It says; do not defer to people in power when they are wrong. And to those in power there is a word of challenge. Jesus’ example shows that people in positions of power must move beyond condescending paternalism and dismissive arrogance. It means that Christians in power can no longer treat anyone like a dog, no matter how nice or how much you might like dogs. This passage is the embodiment of a new social order found in Jesus Christ.
This message is rather strange for the church in North America. Our faith communities seem determined to ignore the implications of this passage. We prefer to worship with people of our own race, our own class and our own political affiliations. We find it easier to create barriers based such arbitrary things like: which high school you attended, where you live, economic status, tenure, age, ability, gender or sexuality. This is the way the churched in North America seem to like it.
Any challenge to our well established order is a real threat. In fact, crossing these boundaries is scary and can even seem ‘unnatural.’ Even Church growth models reinforce the ‘natural’ divisions. So what we, here at Westminster, seek to do here really flies right in the face of our culture. But the good news is that Jesus crossed boundaries and broke down the dividing walls of hostility. Jesus invited all people, including his church, to live out the reality that we are all brothers and sisters. This is the radically new social order to which we have been called. It is not easy and we continue to stumble on the way. However, we are not alone. God is with us and God is not finished with us yet. Amen!