Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sept. 6, 2015

“Jésus christ et le ‘canaanite’ femme.” Jean Germain Drouais, oil on canvas, 1784.

God feeds the hungry, gives drink to the thirsty, heals the blind and the deaf and takes the side of the oppressed. The call for justice, simple justice, from God to us and from us to our neighbors, resonates through our readings today. The Prophet Isaiah sounds the call, speaking from exile in Babylon, where he tells the people to remain strong and fearless, knowing that God will come to save us, opening our eyes and ears both physically and metaphorically, and bringing us sustenance and joy.

Psalm: Psalm 146

Singing the praise of God who cares for God’s people and loves us deeply, the Psalmist calls us to look beyond earthly rulers, who cannot help us in the long run. Rather, place our hope in God, creator of the earth and all that is in it, who reigns forever. God’s caring justice favors the poor and the oppressed, those most in need: Hungry people, prisoners. those who are blind; the stranger, the widow, the orphan; those weighed down by life’s load. In caring for the least among us, as Jesus would later call on us to do, God cares for us all.

Second Reading: James 2:1-17

James’ rich advice this week should speak as clearly to us today as it did to its first century audience. What if a homeless person showed up this morning, looking for a haircut and a bath? Would we greet that person warmly? Would we greet them at the Peace with a friendly smile? Would we invite them to coffee hour? God calls us to love all our neighbors, both rich and poor, James gently reminds us. Speaking kindly to our poor and hungry neighbors is not enough; we must feed and clothe them too. Faith without such works is dead.

Gospel: Mark 7:24-37

Jesus is traveling in Gentile country when a woman with a sick child approaches him in hope. He responds with a nasty insult! How in Heaven’s name can this be? Is this a true story of the Jesus we worship and love? There’s a lot of theological and scriptural unpacking to be done here, but perhaps we’re seeing Jesus’ fully human side at first. Then, when the woman’s faith empowers her to challenge Jesus, he listens, he learns, and he heals her child, just as he will restore hearing and speech to the deaf Gentile man in the next town down the road.