A Place At God's Table

Scripture: Mark 7: 24 – 37

‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’

In many ways and for many reasons, what Jesus said to this mother is difficult to hear.

Coming from anyone else, with the intolerance and prejudices that are so common, it would be considered a very mean and demeaning thing to say.

Coming from Jesus, it sounds particularly harsh and jarring, because it is certainly not the sort of response we expect from, nor associate with Jesus.

This was a mother experiencing the worst pain any mother can experience - the pain of seeing her child whom she dearly loved, being destroyed before her eyes, and being helpless to stop it.

This was not a woman, who came arrogantly demanding anything, this was a woman who came, bowing at Jesus’ feet, humbly seeking for help for her child.

In a response that seems to be lacking in the characteristic grace, compassion, and graciousness which we associate with Jesus, Jesus said:  Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’

As we would say: that was cold. But amazingly, the woman did not appear to have been offended by Jesus’ response, in fact she seemed to have been unfazed by what he said.

Take a pause for a moment and put yourself in the place of that woman. How would you feel if someone were to respond to your humble, sincere request for help in that manner? Which one of you would not have been seriously offended to have your child likened to a dog?

You and I know how easy it is for persons to feel offended, even in the church, or maybe I should say especially in the church. We get offended for little things; how much more offended will we not be, if our plea for help were to be rejected in such a cold and callous way?

What prompted Jesus to respond in that way, and why wasn’t the woman outraged by his response? Was she desperate or afraid?

Those are important questions. But the question I want to focus on today is this: Should such a story have a place in the Gospels? Does it not undermine the very love, compassion, and grace of which Jesus himself speaks?

It is, without doubt, a difficult story, but it is an important one for all of us. It is a story that speaks to an unpalatable truth that we often don’t want to acknowledge. It is also a story that points to a blessed assurance that holds out a glorious hope for all.

Both Jesus and that woman were living in a real world, and there were real issues that they both had to face. Issues that defined a person’s existence and determined how they were treated.

Here in this story, the woman was not defined by her humanity, she was defined here ethnicity. The help she deserved was not determined by her need, but by her nationality.

The story says: “She was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin” – she was not a Jew. Hence Jesus’ response to her: “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

I don’t think that Jesus was calling the woman a dog. I don’t think that Jesus was saying that she and her people were of a lower class and status.  

I don’t think that Jesus was practicing or promoting discrimination, racism, sexism or any other ism.

Why then did he say such a mean and demeaning thing?

I think that Jesus was drawing attention to the reality that the woman experienced each day. The reality that she lived in a divided world. A world of them and us. A world divided along the lines of race and ethnicity, gender and class, faith, and ideology.

It was her reality then, and it’s our reality now. Like hers, ours is world where our common humanity is often overlooked, and our superficial differences are inflated and elevated. A world where for some, it does not count for much that we are all human beings, made in the image of God; what matters is the colour of our skin and the texture of our hair - the language we speak and where we were born.

A world where for some it does not matter that all are equal in the sight of God, what matters is the size of our bank account, the position we hold in life and the influence that we wield.

When Jesus said to the woman: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ I don’t think he was expressing a personal dislike for the woman or her child, I think he was merely reflecting the position of the society, one of which the woman, no doubt, would have been fully and painfully aware, because that was her reality.

And that is our reality too.

We see what her response was. Now it’s time for us to examine our response to that same reality. What do we do? Do we throw up our hands in despair and resign ourselves to life as it is – believing that some barriers cannot be removed or overcome?     
Do we walk away in silence because it doesn’t affect us – it’s not our problem?
Do we get angry and allow that anger to consume us?

When Jesus said: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ that mother could have stormed away in anger, vowing never to have anything else to do with Jesus. She could have walked away and never come back as many of us might have been inclined to do.

She could have retreated quietly in shame and return to her home and watch helplessly and in pain as her daughter was destroyed.

But she did not. In a display of tremendous strength and courage, she confidently replied: ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs. What courage! What strength! What determination! What faith!

What she is saying in other words is: I am not asking you to deprive others so that I can gain. I am not asking that others be made poorer so that I and my daughter’s life can be made better. All that I am asking for is that which is there for me. Even the dogs have a place; all I am asking for is my place at the table.

Jesus said to her, "For saying that, you may go--the demon has left your daughter." By setting her daughter free from that which was destroying her, he confirmed that she had got it right, and that she and her daughter, like everyone else, has a place at God’s table.

Mark begins this story by telling us: “A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Jesus, and she came and bowed down at his feet.”

She heard and she went.

As we go through our own stories, our own pain, our own moments of desperation, let us hear that word of grace and compassion that comes to us from God, and having heard, let us turn to God who accepts us with love. There is a place at God’s table for us – all of us, in whatever situation we find ourselves. And let us come knowing that we will not be turned away, whoever we are.

But it does not stop there. We need to hear and receive that assurance, not only for ourselves, but for others as well. We need to hear it and make room for others. We need to hear that and help others to come into that which God offers.

In a world of them and us, God would have us know that there is a place for all at his table, and in God’s kingdom. That is our comfort, and that is our commission. Let’s live into that every day – every moment.