Rev. Marlene W. Pomeroy

First CongregationalChurch of Pasadena, UCC

Sept. 6, 2009

Mark 7: 24-37

"Be Open"

Have you ever been weary?  I'm not talking tired or in need of putting your feet up, but actually bone weary? Have you ever found yourself running to get everything done, scrambling to find the time to stuff a meal into your mouth before you run out the door? At those moments, the last thing you want or need to do is to have someone come to you with a request? a need. Yet, it seems, that is precisely the moment when those extra requests come -

• the phone call that comes when your spouse is in the car honking;
• the person who walks into your office when you are packing up your workbag to finally go home;
• the knock on the door when you are sitting down to dinner.

I have had numerous occasions here at this church where I am walking to a meeting, trying to get my thoughts together and someone comes into the church looking for food, some gas money, a listening ear, some kind of help. At those moments we have to figure out how much time we are willing to give this complete stranger, someone who is not on our agenda.

And now, let's be honest, sometimes when people come to my house or my church, I want to stop what I am doing and help them - the neighborhood child who is selling gift wrap for a school trip, the person across the street who needs one more egg to finish a recipe, the friend who needs me to pick up her sick child at school because she can't leave work early, the person who needs directions to a place in Pasadena or a social service agency. I'm happy to show someone how to get to Friends Outside or the Anger Management classes that we have in our building. I'm happy to take the time to look at our AA schedule and let someone know when the next meeting is in our building.  These little "inconveniences" are welcome to us. We feel like we are helping someone; we also know that we will need help sometime so we build a little goodwill with the universe to say yes to their needs.

But, what about the "inconveniences" that aren't for close friends, people we like or at times that we have to spare? I remember once when I was getting a pedicure, one of my indulgences, and the woman finished painting my toes and then asked for help in filling out a form for her electrical bill to be subsidized. She said her English wasn't very good and she wanted to make sure that she had filled the form out correctly. I looked it over as my toenails dried, checking to make sure that it was correct. The form asked for her annual income and she had written down $7,000. I gulped. I wondered if she had a spouse that made any more money than that. I helped here with the form and she thanked me for taking the time to proofread her application. I wasn't bothered by the slight intrusion; in fact, it gave me yet another opportunity to reflect on the divide between those with means and those without. And it only took me 2 minutes to help her.  I did have time on that day to read over her form but if we stopped every single time someone on the street had: a pamphlet for us to read, a petition for us to sign, a need for us to fill, we would never have time to get to the important items on our own list!!!

And yet? one day long ago, a man named Jesus was traveling in a region name Tyre. We are told that he "entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, yet he could not escape notice." (Mark 7:24) The story seems to imply that Jesus was looking for a little down time. He just needed a chance to be away from the crowd, out of the public eye, time to re-charge his batteries. But sure enough, there was one more need that needed to be filled that day. The woman came to him, bowed at his feet, and begged for him to heal her daughter. The story tells us that she was a Gentile and Jesus' initial mission was to his fellow Jews so he said to her in a very curt way, you are not my concern; your daughter is not my priority. Actually he used much more colorful language. Jesus said, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take children's food and throw it to the dogs." Ouch.

But we know this woman. This woman is the face of desperation; someone who has nothing else to lose by being pushy.  Her daughter is sick and she knows that this man can help her. She has heard of the healings that he has performed; she has faith in his power to transform lives, so she persists and confronts him by saying, "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." In that moment, through those words, something shifted inside of Jesus. His mission, in his mind, had been to his fellow Jews, to bring a new understanding of the presence of God to their lives and their traditions. It never occurred to him that he was called to labor outside of those bounds, to address the needs of the Gentiles whom they lived among. Until this woman? who came after hours when he was just trying to get some peace and quiet, stubbornly laid her needs at his feet.

Yet, in his response, Jesus models for us the way we are called to live. He turns to her and responds, "For saying that, you may go - the demon has left your daughter." And the woman went home and found that her daughter had been healed. Initially Jesus says to this woman, "You are not my priority, "but he changes his mind and he changes his priority on that day.

Last week in the New York Times there was a long article profiling a cul-de-sac in the Inland Empire of people who have lost their jobs and their homes over the past few years. Today in the L.A. Times there is a front page article about the many people who gravitated to Las Vegas over the past decade for a better life, affordable housing, and abundant jobs. For many years, Vegas was a booming town, one of the fastest growing cities anywhere. Now, the unemployment lines loom large, social services are upwards of 13 million dollars a year, and the foreclosures of homes is at its highest level. The article profiles a number of people who are able and willing to work and yet cannot find jobs in any capacity in a city that used to be the glittering city of Oz for them. I'm guessing that the people with needs are abundant in a city of excess and glitz. But it is not just in Las Vegas. We all know of folks who are hurting and desperate around us. We might be in that group, juggling our bills or wondering how we will pay our bills.

It is hard to ignore the fact that there are many people in many cities in this country who are hurting. Some folks have jobs that just don't pay enough. Others simply don't have work. Did you know that more than 2 million full time year-round workers live below the poverty line? What is our response in a time like this on a weekend that is designed to honor and recognize the labor of the American worker? Labor Day has been celebrated since Sept. 5, 1882 and its emphasis has changed over the years. At times it celebrated unions; at other times it was characterized by large parades and public speeches honoring the American worker. What a bittersweet experience it will be again this year for all those who have no work or are underemployed. What is the good news for us to hear in the midst of an economy and a time of great despair for so many folks?

I believe the answer is in our scriptural witness. Throughout the Bible we hear witness after witness of people pulling together to help those who are most vulnerable. Things are held in common, people notice when others are in need, and those who are marginalized are pulled in from the fringes and included. Mostly, Jesus helps us notice and care about people who we would normally not see. Does this woman who challenged Jesus also challenge us to look at the world with eyes of faith? I think so. Walking with Jesus means that we will change our priorities. It means we will take the time to attend to another need, we will take the time to volunteer at the soup kitchen, we will educate ourselves on what is happening around us and do our part in helping people find solid ground.  (This is not the sermon on caring for yourself and living a balanced life - that is a different and very important message as well). This is the sermon about noticing and responding to the desperation that is in our midst. The fires in our hills gave us an opportunity to house others, offer a home for a pet for a few days, and pull together as our homes were threatened. Thanks be to God that those local fires are now a memory. But the daily plight for food, medial care, schools and clothing persist for many around us and we are called as followers of Jesus to notice, to care and to respond.

Jesus was transformed by a desperate woman who needed help for her daughter. Who will transform us this Labor Day weekend, this year? May we be open to God's nudge and Jesus' witness. Amen.

Benediction:

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
        It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
        It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
        And all is seared with trade; Bleared, smeared with toil;
        And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. And for all this, nature is never spent;
        There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
        Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs ?
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
        World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

                        - Gerard Manley Hopkins