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Stepping Out – 2
Last week I spoke about the evangelist that I met outside Paarl Mall. He wanted to convert me – even after I told him I was a Christian and a minister. What he said to me didn't really make sense.
When I was a teenager we did a 'Holiday Club' with Scripture Union – I must have been about 16. The enthusiastic leaders of the group sent us out to the neighbouring households to invite kids to come and join us… they also told us to ask them if they wanted to know about Jesus.
I wouldn't have done it – but they guilted me into it. Like those e-mails or chain letters you get that say at the bottom: "If you've got time for Jesus you'll send this on…"
And even though it's a silly e-mail you send it – because you're worried that Jesus won't think you love him if you don't.
What is evangelism?
Last week we began to answer the question – "What is evangelism?"
We learnt that an 'evangelist' is a 'gospelist', someone who spreads the good news about Jesus.
Good news could mean that a new system of justice was in place, there were new rules for how people should be treated.
New hope for the future.
And an evangelist is someone who announces this good news.
* * *
We looked at Elijah the Evangelist who announced the news to King Ahab (who did evil and worshipped Baal) that Yahweh was King.
Ahab and his wife Jezebel don't really like it when Yahweh is King because he holds humans accountable for their actions, and dictators don't like accountability.
Yahweh is not popular among those who like to abuse power. But Elijah is encouraged and empowered by God to keep going.
* * *
In Matthew's gospel Jesus walked on water… in response the disciples worshipped him; Jesus power over nature was a sure sign that He was with Yahweh.
Matthew – like Elijah is telling us the gospel news that Yahweh is King and Jesus is what Yahweh looks like in human form.
* * *
So evangelism is proclaiming the good news that Yahweh is King and the powers and principalities of this world are not.
The Kingdom of God has arrived and is arriving. And that is 'good news.'
Why evangelism?
This week we're going to look a bit at the 'why' of evangelism, and next week some of the 'how'.
And hopefully at the end of this we won't be telling people about Jesus because we feel guilty if we don't; but rather because of the hope that this gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ offers us and the world around us. Because we believe that we are blessed to be a blessing.
This Week
Matthew 15:21-28
Jesus' encounter with a Canaanite Woman
Scriptural Context
We are reading a part of Matthew's gospel where Jesus is ministering in the North of Israel in the region of Galilee.
Looking at Israel from the South Idumea is the southern most region, Judea in the middle – alongside the dead Sea –Jerusalem is there. Samaria and then the Galilean region in the North – Jesus is from Nazareth in Galileee and in this Sunday's reading Jesus goes as far north as the region of Tyre and Sidon.
* * *
Between the passage that we read today (Jesus' encounter with the Canaanite woman) and the one we read last week (where Jesus walks on water) Jesus has two separate encounters.
He heals the sick at Gennesaret on the shore of Lake Galilee (14:34-36).
He is then encountered by a delegation of Scribes and Pharisees sent from Jerusalem (15:1-20).
The scribes and Pharisees are concerned about the fact that Jesus and his disciples 'break the tradition of the elders'.
Before all of this Jesus feds the five thousand by the lake.
So in Matthew's gospel – Jesus feeds the 5000, Retires to Pray – Walks on water, Heals the sick at Genasserat and then is encountered by the Scribes and Pharisees asking why he breaks with tradition.
Historical Context
Within the history of the church Matthew is writing at a time when Jews and Gentiles are struggling to work out how to be Christians together.
The Jewish traditionalists demand circumcision and adherence to the dietary and ritual laws of the Jews.
A more liberal group on the other hand feel the Spirit's call to include more people in their community and jettison some of the Old Testament laws and traditions which exclude some people making joining the Christian community difficult if not impossible for foreigners.[1]
Matthew's response
Matthew, probably addressing his gospel to the community at Antioch, a community with lots of Jewish and Gentile Christians[2] carefully shows how Jesus bridges a gap between the two parties and welcomes those 'outside the law'.
* * *
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus proclaims that he has not come to loosen the law, but to fulfil it (5:17)[3]. Jesus completes it.
If the law were a picture it would look like this – a picture that only shows totally black and totally white.
With the help of the Holy Spirit we get a better picture, greyscale – a mixture of black and white.
And with all three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit – we begin to see in full colour what it is all really about.
Jesus 'fulfils' the law – he adds something to it that helps us to see all that went before him in a new light and it begins to make sense.
Encounter with the Pharisees
So, when the Pharisees and scribes come and criticise Jesus about not sticking to the traditions Jesus points out their hypocrisy, their take on the law is two dimensional – Jesus quotes from Isaiah:
"These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote…"
- Isaiah 29:13
They are all law – and not enough heart. In their interpretation they don't factor in the merciful nature of Yahweh revealed to us in Christ crucified.
* * *
Jesus teaches with words, and he underlines his words with dramatic action.
Encounter with the Canaanite
Straight away Jesus travels 50-80 km N out of his way to Syro-Phonoecia, the region of Tyre and Sidon.
As Jesus is travelling a Canaanite women comes out and cries – desperately; "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon."
He ignores her.
The disciples want to send her away – she's being a nuisance.
Jesus says – arrogantly I imagine, speaking in the tone of a self-righteous Pharisee: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
In other words: 'That is not in my job description'.
Jesus – who with a word can heal – doesn't… because law and tradition prohibit it.
She gets more desperate, she kneels in front of him – imagine it all: "Lord help me…"
Forget the prayer of Jabez, this is the prayer parents say when they're desperate and don't know how to stop their children crying or help them get better: "Lord help me…"
Anything to stop the yelling and the torment.
He insults her: "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." (Still, I believe, mimicking the attitude of Pharisees and Scribes.)
But the woman (a Canaanite) shows herself to be a greater Theologian than we thought, showing incredible insight into the grace and mercy of Israel's generous God:
"Yet even the dogs eat crumbs from under their master's table."
* * *
Immediately Jesus answers: "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish."
Crumbs for Dogs
"Even dogs eat crumbs from under their master's table."
If we rewind a bit in Matthew's gospel – thinking of crumbs – we go back to 14:13-21 – where 5000 men (not counting women and children) are hungry and there are only five loaves and two fish.
Does Jesus carefully discern who in the crowd is sufficiently holy or worthy and righteous and divide the food among them while the rest go hungry?
No – that would just be mean.
Instead, he miraculously feeds all of them and the disciples collect 12 baskets of leftovers.
In the Kingdom of God there is enough grace for everybody.
"Even the dogs eat crumbs…"
The Canaanite woman gets it.
Pharisees, scribes, disciples, and many of us simply don't.
There is enough grace in the Kingdom of God for everybody.
* * *
To doubly emphasise Jesus inclusion of people who don't know or keep the rules and regulations of the Jews Jesus then heals many gentiles (15:29-31), has compassion on and feeds four thousand 'outsiders' by the lake (Still in foreign territory; 15:32-39).
And we read in 15:31: "And they praised the God of Israel".
Conclusion
A simple answer to the question: Why do we evangelize (share the gospel of the Kingdom of God)?
Simply because there is enough room at God's table – and if we run out of space we will be fed even if we sit under the table like dogs and snap for scraps.
Conclusion
The Psalm we read this morning speaks of how God's grace and love spread to all the nations brings joy and singing – it is good news. Yahweh the one God – blesses all people.
In Isaiah we read of how we ought to treat the strangers among us, how God is adding to his community all sorts of people – and it is for us to enjoy his grace with them.
In the gospel we read how Jesus reaches out beyond the boundaries of custom and law to offer grace and mercy to a Canaanite woman… There are enough crumbs for all god's people at the Lord's table.
I invite you to share the good news because it is good news, the good news of God's grace and mercy. I invite you to do that in the way you treat other people, in the way you regard them, and in the way you speak to them in the way that you recognise God's love for them that goes before you.
Then I believe we will begin to see the Kingdom of God in this place.
Amen
[1] In Acts and Galatians we read that Paul goes to Antioch (the probable location of this gospel's authorship) and enters into a heated debate with Peter over whether gentiles converting to Christianity ought to be circumcised in accordance with Jewish law (Gal 2:11-14; see also Acts 11).
[2] JP Meier, "Gospel of Matthew," in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. DN Freedman, vol. 4 (New york: Doubleday, 1996), 624.
[3] πληρῶσαι – The Greek word pleroosai (translated as fulfil) is part of the same word group that one would use when speaking about filling a bucket or a fishing net. (JP Louw and EA Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains, 2nd ed. (New York: United Bible societies, 1996), 199-200)
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