Blessings for All

Old Mystic, September 6, 2009
Mark 7:27-30

Summary

As we look into the casting out of the demon from the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter, we are challenged to trust in God’s physical, emotional, and spiritual healing, which is a precious gift from God and it is a gift for all.

Sermon

I grew up in a Baptist church singing most of the hymns we sing today, many of which had already been around for many years in those days. One that particularly goes back to my earliest days and as far back as I can remember is the familiar “Count your Blessings.” Even at an early age, the admonition of those words was very instructional and the message, a simple and honest appeal to trust in God’s providence.

“When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings—name them on by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” (Johnson Oatman Jr., 1897)

Needless to say, and after having seen so much suffering in this world, the simplicity of the lyrics of that hymn may be perhaps a bit difficult to take. Sickness and disease are rampant in this world. And when we suffer physical, emotional, and even spiritual ailments, we may be so much blinded by our condition not to be able to count our blessings—if we can reckon any.

But faith in Christ does sustain us and I believe we can always count blessings. Personally, if you hear me complain, shame on me! I have many: family, friends, a church, a roof, food on the table and… to a great degree fairly good health. Health? There is no question, as we age and advance in life, we realize how much we cherish our health.

The health of her daughter was the concern of the Syrophoenician woman of our story. In her days there was no health care whether private, or universal, in the single payer form, with public option or not, or run by the government. She could only depend on her faith and on a miracle. Her daughter had an unclean spirit and she needed that demon to be cast out, and Jesus, uninvited, seeking a respite, and not wanting to be noticed, happened to be around.

Hopeful, she came to Jesus only to hear a statement that is hard to take when it is put in Jesus’ lips. “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Was Jesus just testing her? She was not a Jew and therefore she was not entitled to the blessings from a God that it were understood to be exclusive. But she insisted. Her faith was perhaps stronger and her understanding wider than that of most of the religious people then. “Even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs,” she replied. She appealed to the universal grace of God, who offers healing to all. Whether Jesus was testing her to teach her a lesson or he was simply unwilling to offer healing to a non Jew and changed his mind seem to me of secondary importance. The gift of healing was available for the woman’s daughter.

Healing is a gift from God. Our bodies can be treated with all the advances of modern scientific medicine, with the most effective drugs, and the most aggressive intervention by specialists, but who can explain the miracle of wounds healed, of cells regenerated, of broken bones solidified? Someone may even suggest, from a non religious perspective, that it is the body that has the capacity of self-healing. But, can we fail to see God’s hand in human healing? Don’t we pray every Sunday for the sick—sometimes a long list—because we know that healing is a gift from God?

Yet, we all know the importance of human intervention and how God does act through human agents. We are all aware we need doctors, nurses, aides, hospitals, and yes… some sort of administration to manage what is God’s gift. We all need healthcare to reach physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Unfortunately, it seems that in this world healthcare is a commodity—human action to broker a gift from God, but action that is costly. It can be sold and bought and at a very high price tag. We all know how many in America go bankrupt in their golden years because they are stuck with a huge medical bill. Again,let’s not be mistaken, medical care is very costly. The training of good professionals, the technology applied, and the research required to offer good healthcare cost a lot of money. Yet, for us, as Christians, reflecting upon the love of God and Jesus’ works, it is still a gift from God; the gift of our intelligence, our minds, and our creativity to offer God’s gift of healing.

Jesus response to the Syrophoenician woman was simply that her daughter, under the oppression of an unclean spirit, did not qualify for healing according the standards of the Jewish cultural and religious standards of the day. Nonetheless, he healed the girl upon the plea and the insistence of her mother. As she put it, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And her statement points to a profound theological reality, the truth that God is not an exclusive God.

Healing, health, and healthcare are not an exclusive benefit. They are not just the privilege of some who believe they are entitled to it. They are a gift for all from a God that is inclusive! Unfortunately, in this world we all love to dwell on privilege and entitlement (Nozick). Justice means for many that possessing goods or services is a right of those who can acquire or inherit them. What about the less fortunate? What about those who Jesus called the least, those who, because of the many injustices we witness day by day in this world cannot afford some of the most basic goods and services including health care? Jesus’ statement on Matthew 25 makes us al responsible for all. And that may mean relinquishing some of our deeply entrenched sense of entitlement.

It is painful for me to witness the ongoing national discussion on healthcare. But my disappointment has not so much to do with the acceptance or not of the current bill on the legislative table; nor with the heated discussions in town meetings, after all there have been probably more civilized conversations than those highly publicized by the media. What is painful for me, is the feet-dragging, the fear mongering, and the systematic attempts to debunk any efforts to provide healthcare for all. I believe we should use the language of human rights: healthcare is not a commodity it is a basic human right—and I call it a gift from God Almighty.

Jesus could not, would not, and did not deny care to the foreigner, poor, and religiously undeserving person. His final words were, “you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” Of course, he is Jesus! Nobody better than him to know that what he had to offer was –and is—a gift from God and a gift for all.

Unfortunately, very often swept by the cultural and political trends, we Christians tend to forget our prophetic role. We are interpreters of the Scriptures and bearers of the message of the gospel; messengers of good news. And the good news is that God cares for all and God wants us to care for all. We are stewards of God’s gifts, including whatever means are necessary in bringing healing to this world. We must acknowledge the complexities involved in attaining some of the goals of God’s kingdom here and now. Yet, we cannot ignore God’s love, compassion, and the free gift of healing for all human beings. And foremost, we have to trust God! And based upon that trust work hard to make sure that God’s blessings reach all.