As we
get ready to bless backpacks for a new school year, I’ve been thinking back to
my elementary school days when we would play kickball during recess.
The two best players got to be captains
and they took turns picking who they wanted to be on their team. Unlike the NFL
draft that goes on for days, our kickball draft took only about three minutes.
We all pretty much knew which
kids were going to be selected first. You either needed to have a strong
kicking leg or you needed to be a best buddy of one of the captains. That
assured you of a first round selection.
Even though we all knew our pecking order,
it was still awkward for everyone when it got down to the remaining two kids. Someone
always felt left out.
It’s not just at school where people can
feel left out. It’s anywhere, really. We live in a world that contains many
boundaries which means that you’re either in or you’re out.
Penny and I traveled to England several
years ago. One of the favorite parts of the trip was when we visited the
Cotswolds, the enchanted land of thatched roofs and William Shakespeare’s
birthplace.
It was a beautiful sunny day during our
visit there. It was around lunch time and we decided to eat at a restaurant
that had outdoor seating that overlooked the lush green grass and the
meandering stream that went through one of the quaint scenic villages.
It was extremely crowded and every table
was taken. Fortunately, a couple got up to leave from a table right where we
had been standing. “Ah, perfect! What
great timing! We sat down and took in the beautiful scenery that was all
around us as we waited for someone to come to take our order. It was one of
those special moments where everything was just perfect; a perfect day, a
perfect location, and a perfect trip.
I’ll never forget what I said to Penny in
that moment. With so much joy and
contentment in my heart, I said, “It
doesn’t get any better than this,” Just then, a waiter interrupted our
special moment to tell us, “Sorry, but you
can’t sit here. This is reserved seating. You’ll have to leave.”
As we walked out of the beautifully
manicured garden where we had been seated, I finally realized why everyone was
dressed nicer than we were. We were mere
tourists who didn’t know any better. We were on the wrong side of the boundary
line.
A non-Jewish woman found herself on the wrong
side of the boundary line when she sought out Jesus. Matthew tells us that she
was a Canaanite woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon.
The Canaanites were the people that the
Jewish people had conquered several centuries earlier in order to take the
Promised Land by force. She decided to cross over that boundary because her
daughter needed to be healed and she knew that Jesus could make her well again.
This non-Jewish woman was willing to do
whatever was necessary to help her daughter find healing. She was even willing
to refer to Jesus by using the Jewish title, “Son of David.”
The disciples, knowing that she is an
intruder, tell Jesus to send her away because she doesn’t belong there. She
needs to be reminded that she is an outsider.
Just like in Jesus’ day, we live in a
world of boundaries that exist on so many levels. We have our own cultural,
national, religious, economic, class, and political boundaries, just to name a
few.
Whenever I visit my brother-in-law’s home
near Baltimore, Maryland, I know to not wear my Steeler’s jersey since they are
big time Baltimore Ravens fans. I know to bite my tongue when I’m tempted to
gloat after a Steeler’s win. There’s a boundary that needs to be respected. I
get that.
Boundaries are just part of life. We live
with them every day. They can serve a purpose as long as they don’t dehumanize
people in the process. That’s the problem with boundaries. They often do more
harm than good.
This woman who crosses the boundary to
meet Jesus respects the Jewish and Gentile boundary, but she’s willing to cross
it anyway because her daughter needed to be healed.
Jesus acknowledges the boundary between
them when he tells this woman that his first priority is to his own people, the
people of Israel. To emphasize this priority, he even used a common expression
that referred to the Gentiles as dogs.
You have to hand it to this remarkable
woman. Even though she is well aware of this cultural and religious boundary,
she pushes back and tells Jesus, “But
even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
This woman was not going to settle to be
the last person picked for the kickball team. She knew that Jesus could heal
her daughter and she was prepared to set aside any boundary to help her to get
well. Jesus, impressed by this woman’s genuine faith, heals her daughter.
The good news of the Bible is that God is
about breaking down the boundaries that would keep us from experiencing life in
all of its fullness. God’s love cannot be limited to one group of people. It’s
meant to be shared with others. As one of our hymns says, “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea.” God’s
love is a boundless love. It’s an
overflowing love.
Several years ago, our son played on the
Middle School baseball team. During one of his away games, I noticed that the
parents of the home team were getting ready to grill hot dogs for their
players. They set up a couple of tables and put out ketchup, mustard, and
relish.
I remember thinking to myself what a great
idea this was since the game was being played around dinner time and it would
be a nice treat for their players once the game was over. During the final
three innings of that game, I took in the delicious smell of those hot dogs on
the grill.
When the game finally ended, I was
surprised when the parents of the other team invited the players and the
parents of our team to join them. They had made enough hot dogs for everyone,
including us. It was a wonderful display of sportsmanship and it reminded me of
how God’s love overflows to all people, even people from the opposing team.
Sometimes, we allow existing boundaries to
prevent us from extending God’s love to others, but God’s love cannot be
contained. There’s a wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea.
To all of our students who are here today
for our backpack blessing, I want you to know that God’s boundless love will be
with you as you begin a new year of school. God’s boundless love will be with
you as you get to know your teachers and meet new friends. God’s boundless love
will be with you as you study and work hard in school. God’s boundless love
will be with you as you include others so that they don’t feel left out.
God’s boundless love is meant to be
shared. For this new school year, look for ways to offer God’s boundless love
to those around you.
At one of my previous churches, the
congregation reached out to those who were developmentally challenged in our
community by hosting a dinner party at the church each year. The church
provided hors d’oeuvres, a DJ, and fancy decorations. The night included
dancing, food, and lots of door prizes. Everyone had a great time at this
event, including the people who volunteered from our church.
I’ll never forget one year in particular
when I was watching the DJ announce the door prizes. He would yell out number
and a lucky person at one of the tables would happily claim their prize. This
was probably the highlight of the evening for our guests.
When the DJ yelled out one of the winning prize
numbers, a lady sitting at the table closest to me yelled at the top of her
lungs, “Here’s the winning ticket! Here’s
the winning ticket!” You should have seen the smile and the excitement on
her face as she screamed out those words. She wanted the world to know that she
had won.
I remember thinking to myself, “This is why we went to all of this effort
to host this formal party. Just look at how happy she is that she won a prize.”
When the DJ came to her table to give her
the prize, she pointed to the person who was sitting next to her and with great
joy and happiness, she said, “Not me. Not
me. My friend won the prize. Mary had the winning ticket! Way to go, Mary! You won a prize!”
This woman was more excited that her
friend won the prize than if she had won the prize. She was teaching me and all
of us the true meaning of God’s boundless love. God’s love isn’t meant to be
kept to ourselves. It is meant to be shared with those around us.
The Canaanite woman who crossed a
religious and cultural boundary to ask Jesus to heal her daughter, also teaches
us a thing or two about God’s boundless love. She knows that by the world’s
definition, she has no business interacting with Jesus and his disciples. She
knows that she is in unchartered waters. She knows that she has crossed the
boundary line.
There are very few people who would have
done what she did. She took a risk because she knew that Jesus would be able to
heal her daughter. She knew that there was a chance that Jesus would have
compassion on her and her daughter.
She was willing to take whatever crumbs
were left under the table. And instead of leftovers, she ended up getting a
four-course meal. Jesus even told her, “Great
is your faith!”
Jesus didn’t say this kind of thing to
very many people but he said it to this woman, this outsider who knew that
God’s boundless love was at work through him, something that the religious
leaders and the insiders didn’t seem to understand.
For those of us who may feel like we are
on the outside looking in, I invite us to remember this remarkable woman. She teaches us the true meaning of God’s
boundless love.
It’s a love that reaches out to all people.
It’s a love that crosses all boundaries. It’s a love that never ends.
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like
the wideness of the sea.
Thanks be to God!
