The world belongs to God
The earth and all its people
How good and lovely it is
To live together in unity
Love and faith come together
Justice and peace join hands
Song “Morning has broken”
Let us in silence remember our faults and failings
Christ have mercy on us, and deliver us from our sins and may we amend our lives
Amen.
The Lords Prayer in our own language
Song “Hallelujah Sings”
Reading Mark 7v24-37
Reflection
The story begins with the statement that Jesus went to the area of Tyre and did not want anyone to know it. What was going on? Maybe he was exhausted. So Jesus left the Jewish provinces and went into a Gentile territory, Tyre, in order to get some rest.
But a woman hears of his arrival and makes her way to Jesus. Though she’s a Syrophoenician, because of Tyre’s proximity to Judea she would have known the Jewish customs. She knows that she has none of the religious, moral, and cultural credentials necessary to approach a Jewish rabbi—she is a Phoenician, a Gentile, a pagan, a woman, and her daughter has an unclean spirit. She knows that in every way, according to the standards of the day, she is unclean and therefore disqualified to approach any devout Jew, let alone a rabbi. But she enters the house without an invitation, falls down and begins begging Jesus to exorcise a demon from her daughter. The verb beg here is a present progressive—she keeps on begging. In Matthew’s Gospel chapter 15, the parallel account, the disciples urge Jesus to send her away. But she’s pleading with Jesus—she won’t take no for an answer. Because she is a mother. Because if your child is in trouble you do what it takes. “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” This appears like an insult. Who are you calling dogs?! Dogs were scavengers and to call someone a dog was an insult. The Jews called the Gentiles dogs because they were “unclean.” The word Jesus uses for “dogs” here is a diminutive like “puppies.” Jesus is saying to her, “You know how families eat: First the children eat at the table, and afterward their pets eat too. What he’s saying to the Syrophoenician woman is, “Please understand, there’s an order here. I’m going to Israel first, then the Gentiles (the other nations) later.” However, this mother comes back at him with an astounding reply: “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” In other words the puppies eat from that table too, and I’m here for mine. Okay, I am not from Israel, I do not worship the God that the Israelites worship. Therefore, I don’t have a place at the table. I accept that.”
Isn’t this amazing? She doesn’t take offense; she doesn’t stand on her rights. She says, “All right. I may not have a place at the table—but there’s more than enough on that table for everyone in the world, and I need mine now.”
To be ethnically Gentile (not Jewish) was to be inherently outside of right standing with God. Ethnicity, then, was an important factor for your status before God.
In addition, women were also regarded as social outsiders–in society and also in the religious spheres.. To be a woman meant social inferiority, religious marginality, and political inequality. Yet, this woman is the first one to hear and understand Jesus’ parables in the entire gospel of Mark. Jesus welcomes salvation/healing for all people. She got this. Her daughter was healed.
Song “There is a hope”
We pray for people and situations we are concerned about including Afghanistan, Belarus, Syria, Ethiopia, dealing with climate change, people in lockdown, for the people crossing the sea in dinghies, continuing deaths from Covid 19, unrest in many other countries, protection for key workers, for people on low or no incomes, for those who are vulnerable in any way,for those who are alone and those suffering with depression. May we not fail you. Amen
Song “Be thou my vision”
The blessing of God be upon you
On those you love and those you meet
This day and forevermore. Amen
Song “My dwelling place”
Song “Daughters of Zion”
Song “Who you say I am”
Song “No longer slaves”
