A sermon preached August 14, 2011 (Proper 15A)

By the Rev. Frances A. Hills, Rector

Before this sermon was preached, Ms. Kelsey Wright, a 17-year-old leader in Gideon’s Garden (St. James’ youth-led community garden at Taft Farms), told the congregation about what her experiences working in the garden and with the younger children mean to her. 

Thank you Kelsey for helping make Gideon’s Garden a place of Grace and Love where all can enter with dignity.

Today’s readings have to do with people being “inside” and “outside”. Think of how Joseph was so “inside” with his dad and so “outside” with his brothers. Then outside as a slave and inside as a trusted leader. Then outside in a jail because someone inside lied. Then inside again because of his gifts and wisdom…Joseph basically becomes the Prime Minister of Egypt.

Years later his starving brothers, the ones who had cast him out, come to Egypt looking for relief from the famine. It never occurred to them that Joseph was still alive…Much less the Prime Minister of Egypt and the very person they have to ask for help! They don’t recognize him, but he recognizes them and doesn’t say so immediately. Can you imagine that moment when he finally tells them who he is! The inside ones are now outside, hungry, begging for mercy from Joseph. Fortunately, in the years since seeing his brothers, Joseph has matured. He’s been on the outside and suffered much, felt resentments. He’s been on the inside and known power and prestige. In all this, he’s become very wise. He is aware of how God has loved him. So Joseph is filled with compassion for his hungry brothers. He tells them not to be afraid. This act of forgiveness and mercy is almost too much for the brothers to take in, but they finally see it is Joseph, their brother, and he has forgiven them. And they see that Joseph, the Prime Minister of Egypt, is willing to help them through the famine, instead of killing them (which he might have easily done).

Now in spite of all this being INSIDE, tempted by wealth and power; and being OUTSIDE, where it’s easy to blame and be resentful; in spite of jealousy, revenge, guilt,  oppression and resentment, God has been able to use evil for good… Joseph mercifully left the door open for his brothers so they could walk through with dignity and find Grace and Love. And so the ancestors of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are indeed in a position once again to be a blessing to all the people of the earth, to let everyone come inside. 

We see this played out again in the Romans passage. Remember in Romans Paul struggles with how most Jews don’t accept Jesus, and he struggles with what is the place of the Jews. (In/Out?) In today’s reading, Paul has come to see the gifts and calling the Jews have received from God are irrevocable. Then Paul reminds the gentile Christians at Rome that before their conversion to Christ, they were on the outs with God. But then when the Jews did not accept Jesus, that opened up the door for the gentile Romans to come inside and believe. So now the Romans are in, and in a sense, the Jews are on the outs. Paul reminds the Romans that because God held the door wide open for them, then it’s still wide open, so the Jews have a way back in. The Message Bible concludes from this section, “God seems to know how to let all of us experience being on the outside, so God can personally open the door and welcome us back in.”

We can walk through the door with dignity and enter a place of Grace and Love! 

THE GOSPEL also works with this theme of who is in and who is out. A Canaanite woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter. Now the Canaanites were anathema to the Jews. They were considered unclean, untouchable, like dogs. So by this definition, the woman is “outside” and Jesus and the disciples are “inside”. Jesus seems to think, or at least he says he thinks, his mission is only for insiders, the Jews. The woman doesn’t seem to care, and she crosses the line that divides inside and out. The woman obviously loves her daughter and fully believes Jesus can heal her. I believe it’s the woman who opens the door this time. She doesn’t care about the differences, the prejudices, the who’s in and who’s out-ness of the situation. And Jesus, full of compassion and respect for the dignity of this woman, finally realizes or admits his mission is wider than just to Israel. Jesus steps through the door and heals the girl.

In all these scriptures today, there’s the theme of needing to be outside sometimes so we will have compassion for others when we’re inside. This takes a lot of spiritual work. We must learn to let go of our prejudices, hurts, and resentments. We must quit blaming others. We must learn to really forgive. When we do that, we can learn to leave a compassionate door open for others, so that they may enter into Grace and Love without fear, and with much dignity.      Amen.