Jesus > Religion
Jesus > Religion
For Reference:
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 15:21-28 MSG
“From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, “Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit.”
Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, “Now she’s bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She’s driving us crazy.”
Jesus refused, telling them, “I’ve got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel.”
Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. “Master, help me.”
He said, “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to dogs.”
She was quick: “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master’s table.”
Jesus gave in. “Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!” Right then her daughter became well.”
A QUICK WORD:
We recognize that this is a very difficult passage to discuss. We would need a multi-week Bible study dedicated to evaluating all the cultural, political and sociological frameworks that exist in this story. Know that we acknowledge those pieces exist. Today, we’re focusing on the end of the story. that’s where we see the contrast between what Jesus chooses to do, and what the disciples would have done.
All that being said, contextually this story isn’t that far off from where we are today. This woman was considered the “other” within the Israelite community because of her ethnicity, heritage, gender and religion. And because of those things, the disciples would have chosen to ignore her pleas of mercy.
Where do you see examples of this today?
MAIN TAKE-AWAY:
Within our society, there are systems and structures in place that exist to elevate a particular community while oppressing, marginalizing or silencing another. Every day, we face a society that either causes harm or creates spaces of healing. And while religion, in theory, should be a space of healing, more often than not it’s a culprit of harm. Within the Christian tradition especially, there is a history of harm that it’s important to acknowledge. Church often gets it wrong.
Much like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, at a cross-purpose with Jesus. This intersection happens when we stop aligning ourselves with the compass and teaching of Jesus, and start following the accepted religious practices with which we’ve become all too comfortable.
When thinking about the ministries we lead, or ones you might lead, or the teams you will serve one day, and our personal faith lives, there are at least three ways we can evaluate if we’re aligning with the ministry of Jesus, or defaulting to the comfortable, albeit sometimes negative, aspects of religion.
JESUS CARES ABOUT PEOPLE, NOT RELIGION:
In affirming the woman and healing her child, Jesus is challenging the disciples to move beyond their familiar religious boundaries. In that moment, the religion they followed failed because it was exclusive. The ministry of Jesus is not. Jesus cares about people. To him, all carry infinite worth, dignity and value, even when they doubt it in themselves or when they deny it to others.
Can you think of a time your actions reflected that of Jesus? Of the disciples?
Have you ever experienced a moment where your personal values and religious values were at an odds? How did you handle that? Why?
Why do you think religion and Jesus don’t always line up?
2. “If you’re not healing, you’re hurting.” - Brené Brown:
The pain this woman felt due to her child’s illness wasn’t lessened because she was an outsider. Jesus knew this, but the disciples were behaving as if her pain was irrelevant because it wasn’t their experience. The religion they followed existed within a structure that was created for them. This allowed them the privilege of turning away, of passively handing her objections off to Jesus, and of disconnecting from her experience. Had Jesus not been present, more hurt would have been caused. But, because he was there, the woman found healing.
Brené Brown, in a video series for The Work of the People, says, “A faith community can choose to be a place of hurt or healing. There is no neutrality.” She goes on to explain that a Jesus kind of love is dangerous. It’s dangerous, not to those who receive it, but to the structure that religion often exists within. It wasn’t designed to hold the people Jesus invites in, and it threatens the foundations it stands on.
Jesus is about healing, Jesus is about wholeness, and he recognized that pain and hurt holds no preference. We all experience it, and we’re all capable of causing it. But, when we get to the place where we stop working to end injustice and pain, we then step into a spot where we begin allow it. With Jesus there is no neutrality. We either hurt, or we heal.
How have you seen healing within institutionalized religion? How have you seen harm?
What do you think about the idea that “With Jesus there is no neutrality?” What kind of responsibility does that give you?
What does it look like for you to actively create spaces of healing?
3. He Would Love First:
Over the last few months, there’s been a reboot of the WWJD campaign but with a different slogan - HWLF. Instead of asking what Jesus would do, we lead with the answer. Jesus loves first. When he encounters this woman, he models for us the truth which is that love is to be given and received, lived out and shared without preferential treatment, without exclusions, and without restrictions. Loving this way is hard and risky. It goes against many of the boundaries that religion often lays before us. But, the love Jesus leads with creates space for transformation, and it’s so worth it.