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What Are You Willing To Do?

Matthew 15: 10-28 (MSG)

10-11 He then called the crowd together and said, “Listen, and take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up.” 12 Later his disciples came and told him, “Did you know how upset the Pharisees were when they heard what you said?” 13-14 Jesus shrugged it off. “Every tree that wasn’t planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch.” 15 Peter said, “I don’t get it. Put it in plain language.” 16-20 Jesus replied, “You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.”

21-22 From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, “Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit.” 23 Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, “Now she’s bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She’s driving us crazy.” 24 Jesus refused, telling them, “I’ve got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. “Master, help me.” 26 He said, “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to dogs.” 27 She was quick: “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master’s table.” 28 Jesus gave in. “Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!” Right then her daughter became well.

This week has been a difficult one for our country as White Supremacists descended on Charlottesville, Virginia to spew hate and incite violence. As a person of faith I am clear that there is no place for this in our world, country, community, or faith understandings. I am also deeply saddened by the death of an innocent counter protester who stood up for Jesus’ call to love our neighbors as ourselves.

To be honest, I don't fully understand why racism and hatred continue to bubble up in the year 2017. Just when I think we have made significant progress as a people, we are forced to witness the same old ignorance by a small faction of our country. As I read the gospel lesson above, I am reminded of a movie line that has always stuck with me from Remember The Titans. The line is between to high school football players who don’t see eye to eye during the desegregation of their school and team in the early 70’s. As they argue with one another, one of them challenges the other by saying “attitude reflects leadership.” When we don’t stand up for what is right or choose to be silent out of comfort or convenience, we are providing fuel for the very things that are against our values.

Even Jesus may have been guilty of avoiding his call as he ignored the Canaanite women. She was of the wrong culture and from the wrong side of the tracks. She did not practice the correct religion and probably had a weird accent. Even the disciples were getting fed up with her continued attempts to connect with Jesus. But the Canaanite women persisted and Jesus eventually heard her cries and responded to her needs.

We all have an opportunity to share Christ’s love and stand up for those being oppressed. What are you willing to do?


Peace- John Holt

Director of Youth and Family Ministries

Tags: Weekly Word