Unpacking Cultural Baggage

Devotional Reflection, Monday, March 11, 2024

The week of the fourth Sunday in Lent

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:

26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ 28But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ 29Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ 30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

You will find the full text of today’s Gospel at the end of this reflection.

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 955)

AM Psalm 89:1-18; PM Psalm 89:19-52

Gen. 49:1-28; 1 Cor. 10:14-11:1; Mark 7:24-37

David's Reflections

This story always has fascinated me.  If we believe that Jesus was fully human, then his freedom and openness to outcasts, women, and nonJews we cannot take as automatic.  Jesus, like any other person growing up in a particular culture, would have learned traditional ways of thinking and the accompanying biases.  In this story, he does allude to the woman as a "dog," a racial slur Jews threw out against nonJews.

Having grown up in the old South, I learned by osmosis many cultural biases and values regarding blacks that did not square with Jesus’ teaching and example.   The journey to greater freedom proved painful and disillusioning;  perhaps that's why I identify with Jesus in this story.

It appears that Jesus found this woman's faith remarkable and surprising! Perhaps encounters like this with nonJews who were so open and full of faith was part of his own learning, part of his journey into a larger and less biased space about women and nonJews.  You will find Jesus having a similar “aha” moment with a Roman Centurion in Matthew 8:5-13 regarding the healing of his servant. Would it be heretical to suggest that Jesus' remarkable freedom from his religious background grew from experiences and encounters like these?

Macrina Wiederkehr, who was a Benedictine nun, in her outstanding book on contemplative prayer, seems to take a similar view of Jesus’ encounter with the woman in today’s Gospel.  Consider her reflective poem on this story. *

GATHER UP THE CRUMBS AND LIVE

O Most-Nourishing-One, if I asked you for bread,

   would you hand m a stone?

I'd believe in the stone,

   if it came from you!

Oh, God, where is the bread?

I've sat with open hands for hours.

Is my heart as open as my hands?

Or is this just an empty symbol,

   devoid of meaning

   devoid of reality?

Is my closed heart laughing at my open hands?

I hear the songs they sing in churches:

You satisfy the hungry with gift of finest wheat . . .

And I wonder, where is this gift of finest wheat?

Have I become the Canaanite woman to you, Lord?

Are you afraid to throw your bread to dogs,

   to the unworthy

the blind

    the outsiders?

Well, then, I'll put on her mind instead of   

   yours.

I'll wear her faith instead of your arrogance.

Even the dogs get the crumbs, Lord.

God, you cannot hide from me.

You cannot scare me with your face of

   absence.

I scare myself with this hunger for your

   presence.

I would break all rules to possess you.

To be nourished by you,

   I would go to every table in the world.

I would leave no stone unturned to find you

   lest when I turned it over

   it be changed to bread.

I come looking for bread,

but if you're saving it for your children,

   don't worry.

I'll gather up the crumbs if you insist.

I'll make a meal on leftovers

   and rejoice that I have been so blessed.

O Most-Powerful-One

I feel so powerless

   so little and so poor

   so vulnerable

   so terribly wide open

   so seen.

It hurts to be so hungry

   so dependent on your bits of grace.

Even the dogs get the crumbs, Lord

I'll gather up the crumbs

   and live.

* Macrina Wiederkehr, A Tree Full of Angels:  Seeing the Holy in the Ordinary (New York:  HarperCollins, 1988), pp. 47-48. (Note: Macrina died of brain cancer in 2020.)

Collect of the Day, The Fourth Sunday in Lent

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world:  Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (BCP, 219)

Collect for Monday of the Fourth Week in Lent

O Lord our God, in your holy Sacraments you have given us a foretaste of the good things of your kingdom: Direct us, we pray, in the way that leads to eternal life, that we may come to appear before you in that place of light where you dwell for ever with your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.   (Lesser Feasts and Fasts, p. 50).

A Collect for the Renewal of Life

O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (BCP, 99)

For a Birthday

Watch over your child, O Lord, as her/his days increase; bless and guide her/him wherever she/he may be. Strengthen her/him when she/he stands; comfort her/him when discouraged or sorrowful; raise her/him up if she/he falls; and in her/his heart may your peace which passes understanding abide all the days of her/his life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen  (BCP, 830)

A Collect for the Presence of Christ

Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in Scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake of your love. Amen. (BCP, 124)

A Collect for Mission

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100, 257)

Daily Office Gospel, Mark 7:24-37

24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ 28But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ 29Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ 30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’ 35And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’

Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer

Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer

Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer