to return to your place in the text.To read endnotes, click on the the note number, then click on the
He used to tell of Mrs. O'Leary who would hop on the Fifth
Avenue bus on Sunday morning in Manhattan and pass the great
churches along that thoroughfare. As the bus would approach each
church, she would eye the sign in front with the sermon title and
decided, on the basis of what she read, whether to get off the
bus and attend that church. Dr. Macleod's constant refrain was,
"Pick a title that will make Mrs. O'Leary get off the bus."
Mindful of that instruction, one of his aspiring preachers
mounted the pulpit one morning for his first student sermon. Per
protocol before beginning his message, he announced: "The title
of my sermon is...`There's a Bomb on the Bus.'"(1)
Now, I realize that the strange title for the sermon today
may not meet Professor Macleod's standard - Mrs. O'Leary might
keep on riding. But it is a quotation from Jesus that the gospel
writer chooses to leave in the original Aramaic to call attention
to it in a big way, much bigger than normal. EPHPHATHA! It is a
command that probably should be repeated and repeated and
repeated and repeated. But more about that as we go along.
Our lectionary gospel lesson introduces us to a remarkable
woman. She is courageous. She is clever. She is cool. But
most of all she is a loving momma who will do anything to help
her sick baby girl.
The story itself has always been one that I would just as
soon skip over because, at first blush, it makes Jesus come off
like some insensitive jerk. This does not sound like the Jesus I
know. In fact, I wonder why such a story was preserved in the
gospel record anyway. But then the lectionary drops it in our
homiletical lap and says HANDLE IT! Can we "rescue" Jesus here,
find some way of explicating this conversation that will put him
in a bit more flattering light?
The commentators have tried to explain. Some have said that
Jesus was just having a bad day - he and the twelve had gone
north, out of Galilee (the only time the Gospels have Jesus
leaving his native land) for some R & R. But instead of rest and
relaxation, he is discovered and confronted by this insistent
mother, admittedly, a most uppity woman who was violating every
standard of acceptable feminine behavior by publically conversing
with a man who is not even her husband. Instead of reacting to
her as he normally might, Jesus tries to blow her off with an
insult, then finally, wises up and acts decent again. Bad day,
uppity woman or not. Even the Son of God is entitled to one
every so often. That is what some commentators say. I have
trouble with that.
Others suggest that this event was part of the Lord's growth
and development - a learning experience for him. If, as the
account of his boyhood attests, "Jesus grew in wisdom and
stature, and in favor with God and men,"(2) we may presume that his
growth continued as an adult. Being raised a Jew (and being
taught by heritage that Gentiles like this lady are nothing more
than fuel for the fires of Hell), Jesus learns here that divine
love knows no boundaries, racial or otherwise. This was a
"learning experience" for him. Perhaps. But I am still not
comfortable.
Other commentators? Some say that this bantering back and
forth between Jesus and the woman was merely the Lord's way of
teaching something. By his initial reluctance to care for any
Gentile, he was simply giving voice to the not-so-quietly
harbored feelings of his Jewish followers. By finally acceding
to the woman's cry for help, Jesus was demonstrating the
inclusiveness of God's love and thereby taught his disciples that
racism had no place in the Kingdom. This encounter was simply
one more of Jesus' parables, this time, come to life.
Possible. Still a stretch, though. How about the language
of the encounter? At first glance, Jesus sounds awfully rough.
"It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to
their dogs." Mom knew the ill-feeling between Jews and Gentiles.
But calling her a DOG to her face? Umm!
Again, folks explain that away, and they had BETTER! After
all, calling someone a dog, even a pet puppy dog (as the Greek
here suggests) is a term of abuse, if ever there was one. But
this lady was sharp enough to realize that this was only playful
banter, she responded in kind, and it worked - her daughter was
healed.
OK. I can live with that (although still a little
reluctantly). I live with it best when I remember that I am
reading and hearing with WESTERN eyes and ears. One of my
cyberfriends, Susan O'Shea, explained it best for me when she
recalled a similar encounter during her days as a Physician's
Assistant in India more than 30 years ago. She writes,(3)
Speaking what was on everyone's mind, I said to
him loud enough for everyone to hear, "What's a pig's
son (standard form of address) doing here? I thought
only casted people got sick."
"Even pigs bleed red," he replied, holding up a
bloody hand, "like Americans." (Americans like myself
were considered to be outcaste; also 'red-blooded
American' and 'Yankee pig' were phrases that were well
known.)
Conclusion: If folks took caste seriously, why
were the casted people willing to come to an outcaste
[Susan] for treatment? They could jolly well welcome
another outcaste who came for treatment. It was an
absolutely brilliant reply on his part and brought the
house down.
From then on we had no trouble with the Harijans
hanging back from seeking medical care.
Come to think of it, perhaps its placement in the narrative
right next to the healing of the deaf man should have given us a
clue all along. Two things jump out at me from the gospel
account. First, the reference to spit. Indelicate, yes, but in
the ancient world, it was believed that the spittle of a famous
person had magically curative powers. Even today my own children
know (and HAVE known since they were little) that a father's spit
is the most powerful cleaning agent in the world. ("Come 'ere;
let me clean that off for you." Patooey. "No, Daddy, No!")
Necessary for healing this man? I doubt it, but Mark reports it
anyway.
The second thing that grabs me is this untranslated Aramaic
command: "EPHPHATHA...Be opened." As I suggested early on,
perhaps this is the inspired writer's way of lighting it up,
setting it in flashing neon, insuring that no one would ever miss
it. We have just been reminded that the gospel knows no
boundaries - not geographic, not sexual, not racial, not any.
The lectionary's epistle lesson adds even more to the
inclusiveness of the gospel. Economic and social boundaries?
AIN'T NONE! "...if you show favoritism, you sin and are
convicted by the law as lawbreakers."
Admittedly, the church does not handle that instruction very
well - we have been shaped by our society rather than the other
way around. In reflecting on the passage, one of my colleagues
once wondered about arranging a children's sermon during which
someone unknown to the congregation (and rather unkempt - a
street-person perhaps) would come in to the service on cue to be
"greeted" by ushers; then a moment later, someone MUCH better
dressed would arrive. Presumably, the youngsters would get a
visual lesson from the different kind of greeting the two would
get. My friend realized how unfair that would be to "set up" his
ushers like that, and finally thought better of the idea.
Still...someday...
There is an old Peanuts comic strip that has Charlie Brown
and Linus coming across Snoopy who is shivering in the snow.
Charlie says, "Snoopy looks kind of cold, doesn't he?"
"I'll say," replies Linus, "maybe we'd better go over and
comfort him."
They walk over to the dog, pat his head and say, "Be of good
cheer, Snoopy."
"Yes, be of good cheer."
In the final frame, the boys are walking away, still bundled
up in the winter coats. Snoopy is still shivering, and over his
head is a big "?".(4)
"EPHPHATHA...Be opened!" Can the good news be limited by
race? The story of a certain Gentile who sought healing for her
daughter says no. "EPHPHATHA...Be opened!" Can it be limited by
geography? Not in Jesus' day, and certainly not in ours.
"EPHPHATHA...Be opened!" What about sex? Sorry. Not even sex.
"EPHPHATHA...Be opened!" At least let us pick and choose whom to
have in our church. Nope. "EPHPHATHA...Be opened!"
To be honest, it is a command...not a suggestion, a
command...that the church desperately needs to hear. In recent
years, we who are Presbyterians have seen our church torn apart
as liberals and conservatives have taken their arguments public.
Verbal potshots and bombast have been hurled back and forth
arguing about abortion or gays and lesbians or language about God
or whatever happens to be the debate du jour. Meanwhile, those
in the embarrassed middle have been left to despair whether
anything good will ever come out of all the controversy. And it
is not just Presbyterians - the Methodists, the Lutherans, the
Episcopalians, the Baptists have all gone through the same thing.
As of a few days ago, the Catholics have their own fuss going as
the Vatican announced that THEY are the only REAL church - the
rest of us do not quite "get it." Lots of American Catholics
involved in ecumenical activities about choked on their oatmeal
on that one. Yes, we can be pretty CLOSED...especially CLOSED
MINDED...in the church.
But then there is this word from Jesus: "EPHPHATHA!" BE
OPENED! And, miracle of miracles, some are actually hearing him.
This week I read an article from the Presbyterian News Service(5)
noting that some of the most vocal proponents of the left and
right in our denomination have actually been sitting down
together. Ten Presbyterians from opposite ends of the
theological spectrum gathered in a church parlor outside Chicago
for the purpose of "speaking the truth in love"(6) to each other
while studying passages from the New Testament book of Ephesians.
Michael Adee, an openly gay elder from Santa Fe, New Mexico, sat
with Bible and commentary in his lap within spitting distance of
the Rev. Parker Williamson, executive editor of The Presbyterian
Layman, an independent publication known for its strident
critiques of anything liberal. Pam Byers, an elder at Old First
Presbyterian Church in San Francisco and executive director of
the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, a group that supports the
ordination of gays and lesbians, shared a sofa with the Rev.
Jerry Andrews, a co-moderator of the Presbyterian Coalition,
which opposes gay ordination. Amazing! Instead of talking ABOUT
each other, they were actually talking WITH each other!
Wonderful. Good start. Keep it up!
The word of Jesus to the church is loud and clear:
"EPHPHATHA!" BE OPENED! The gospel is not the exclusive
province of one group or another, one denomination or another.
If we would ever hope to heal the divisions that separate us, we
will remember and obey the command, "EPHPHATHA!"
But the word is not just for the healing of the church.
Remember, it came first to a man who needed help. The Spirit of
Jesus is speaking again this morning and saying to us who need
help,
"EPHPHATHA...Be opened!" No, as a sermon title, that might
not get Mrs. O'Leary off the bus. But it is a word we need to
hear...over and over and over again. "EPHPHATHA...Be opened!"
Amen!
1. Mark Sprowl, Meadowview Presbyterian Church, Louisville, KY, via PresbyNet, "Eculaugh"
#3160, 7/17/96 2. Luke 2:52 3. Susan O'Shea, via PresbyNet, "SERMONSHOP 1996 08 18," #124, 8/16/96 4. Doug Behm, via Ecunet, "Illustrations for This Week," #435, 9/4/97 5. Via PresbyNet, "Presbynews," #6187, 9/12/00 6. Ephesians 4:15
We had been trying mightily for a long time to
encourage the Harijan (the outcastes) to come to the
clinic, as they (being toilet sweepers) were at high
risk for disease. [Despite terrible reluctance caused
by their status as the lowliest in the caste system,]
one day a Harijan finally did come to the clinic. The
very fact that he appeared there, among the 280 casted
persons in the waiting room, told us that he was
unusual. His good grooming, his body stance, and his
speech told us that he was a man of dignity, self-
respect, and appropriate entitlement.
BINGO!!! There is our true explanation of this story. We
must read this text through the culture of the Middle East or
even the Orient. Otherwise, we are victimized by our ethnic
blinders. It was a truly wonderful encounter that used the
playful banter of the day (which is unfortunately lost on modern
readers). The gospel writer understood it (even if we do not),
and that is why it is with us still today.
click and send us mail