Lectionary Reflection
Year A, Proper 15
Standard (Episcopal) Lectionary Revised
Common Lectionary
Gospel
|
Matthew 15: 21-28
(Standard) and Matthew 15: (10-20),
21-28 (RCL)
- {Start RCL} [Jesus called the crowd
to him and said to them, "Listen and understand:
it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person,
but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles."
Then the disciples approached and said to him, "Do
you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard
what you said?" He answered, "Every plant
that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.
Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.
And if one blind person guides another, both will fall
into a pit." But Peter said to him, "Explain
this parable to us." Then he said, "Are you
also still without understanding? Do you not see that
whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and
goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth
proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For
out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery,
fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are
what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands
does not defile."]
{Start Standard} Jesus left Gennesaret
and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just
then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and
started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son
of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon."
But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples
came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for
she keeps shouting after us." He answered, "I
was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord,
help me." He answered, "It is not fair to
take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."
She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the
crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then
Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter
was healed instantly. {End both}
|
| New
Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989
by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Church of Christ in the
USA, and used by permission. |
|
|
Reflection
on Matthew 15: 21-28 and
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
by the Rev Wanda Copeland
It is often pointed out that
the poor and the outcasts were the ones who so clearly recognized
and accepted Jesus.If they had less (or nothing) to lose in
the eyes of the marginalized, then Jesus' message of inclusion
and welcome were easier to accept. It has always been true that
those who share in the control of power have more difficulty
in hearing the fullness of Jesus' words.In this passage from
Matthew, Jesus is heard saying that he was sent only for certain
ones. The faith of the Canaanite woman melted that barrier.
And it calls all of us to receive what Jesus has to offer us.
The Episcopal Collect of the Day implores: "Give us grace to
receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to
follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life." As
difficult as it may be to accept the grace of God, and the realization
that Jesus' redeeming work is for us, it is perhaps more difficult
to realize that accepting that awareness means living the rest
of our lives as if that were true.
Daily walking in Jesus' steps
means having the same reverence for that he did. And walking
in his steps means that we live out of that strong sense of
justice that drove Jesus all of his life. It is not enough to
just ask Jesus to come to us and help fix our brokenness. We
are then called to walk as he did and share our healing with
others as he did.
|
|
Copyright
1991-2008, The Environmental Stewardship Commission,
Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota, all rights reserved.
The information on the pages of this website may be
retransmitted for information purposes, but may not
be used in any non-MEESC publication (other than that
of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota) without the written
permission of the Chair of the Commission.
All retransmissions, postings, and publications or this
webpage must include this notice.
|
back
to original
|
|
The
Rev Wanda Copeland has been rector
of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Elk River, MN; assistant rector
at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, Roseville, MN; Chair
of MEESC; and Chair and Acting Chair of the Episcopal
Ecological Network. She originally wrote this
reflection in 1999. Wanda and we welcome your comments.
Please address your comments or additional reflections to
The
Rev Wanda Copeland or any MEESC
member, or mail them to:
| MEESC
c/o C. Morello
4451 Lakeside Drive
Eveleth, MN 55743-4400 USA |
The MEESC assumes that all correspondence
received is for publication on this web site. If your comments
are not for publication, please so note on your correspondence.
The MEESC reserves the right to decide which items are included
on the website.
|
|
.