The young man in today’s story is not so different from many of us. Faithful, responsible, desiring of God – and also self-reliant, materially comfortable, practical. He heard Jesus’ invitation as a burden rather than an opportunity; as a price to be paid rather than a path to freedom.
How do you hear it?
Jesus calls for integrity and justice in relationships and rejects treating others as mere objects for one’s self-gratification. This concern connects his teaching on divorce with his welcome of children and offers us a way to interpret the commandment in pastorally meaningful ways for our own time.
The challenge posed by observing these two special days simultaneously comes from something angels are commonly said to do, which is protect people from harm. I am sure that we are all familiar with the idea of ‘guardian angels’, for instance. Indeed, in our Collect of the Day today, we prayed that ‘at [God’s] command,’ the ‘holy angels… may help and defend us here on earth.’
Today’s sermon takes the form of a demonstration – not of a capable wife but of a committed Bible reader wrestling their way through an ancient text in order to hear the Word of God within it. Here we go…
This is the gift we receive from the Syrophoenician woman: to be called out of our comfort zone; challenged on our assumptions about what the Gospel means and who it is for; and pushed to grow in new and exciting ways.
Who people are and what people do, matter to God. Which means we matter to God. Which means we matter, period.
So how do we fulfill our God-given purpose to be in right relationship with our neighbours and with God?
The offense isn’t that Jesus is somehow made present in the bread and wine. The offense is that Jesus is now present in whoever eats him; that they are made of him and by him and live because of him.
It’s not that hard to free people from hunger. All it takes is food – Jesus proved that when he took five loaves and fed the crowd of 5000 – and we have so much more than only five loaves in this world – we have more than enough food to feed every member of the human family.