All Are Welcome!

After the sermon today we’ll sing the fairly new but beloved hymn, All Are Welcome, the refrain of which cries out, "All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.”

The song is a wonderful accompaniment, by the way, to our brand-new church website which also proclaims boldly and clearly right on our home page: ALL ARE WELCOME! NO EXCEPTIONS!

That, clearly, is the correct interpretation of the true meaning and message of Christianity. "All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.” 

And it’s also certainly the right mission for our congregation. Jesus is for all. Good Shepherd Church is for all. All are welcome. No exceptions!

But, I have to ask, was that always the case?

Now, I could be asking whether that was always the case here at Good Shepherd Church; a question worth pursuing. But that’s not what I’m asking. Instead, based on what happens in today’s gospel story, I’m going right to the source. 

Was Jesus’ understanding of who and what he was always in synch with that message? Did Jesus always know—and believe—that he was sent by God to all people? 

Or—as today’s gospel story suggests—was that understanding of himself and his mission something that came about as a result of a difficult encounter with a Canaanite woman? …

Now, you might think that, because I’m a pastor, all of my conversations and discussions—especially with family and friends—are always and only about religious topics, interpretations of the Bible, and questions about faith. 

You might think that? But, of course, you would be wrong! 

Most of my conversations with family and friends are pretty much about the same things you talk about with your family and friends. Recipes. TV shows. Good movies to watch.

Nonetheless, as God as my witness, twice in the last week, friends and/or family have asked me about today’s reading! And it wasn’t because they—or I—knew that it would be today’s reading.

No! Twice in recent weeks friends and/or family members asked about this reading because it disturbed or shocked them!

Why was Jesus so nasty? Why was he so impolite? 

A woman comes to Jesus asking for help. At first, Jesus says nothing at all to her. Then, when his disciples complain about the fuss she’s making and ask Jesus to send her away, he replies, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

Even though other gospels tell a version of this encounter—fortunately—only Matthew includes this puzzling statement of Jesus’. Unfortunately for us, however, it’s Matthew’s account we’re reading this year!

“I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel,” he says. By which Jesus seems to mean, “Case closed! She can cry and yell all she wants but I can—and will—do nothing for her! I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel!”

You can see why, whenever someone’s family or friends come across something like this from Jesus, it raises serious question! What’s going on? How can Jesus ever say or mean something like that?

The really remarkable thing, however, is what happens next!

Matthew’s term for this woman is that she’s a Canaanite. A Canaanite? While Canaanites were the historic enemies of God’s people long ago, that identity had disappeared in Israel long, long ago!

Matthew uses it, however, to make a point! We are to see in this woman the embodiment—the literal embodiment—of those, historically, who have been opposed to God and God’s people.

In other words, if she were one of the patches of ground on which the sower of God’s Word scatters his seed, the clear assumption is that she would be ground on which the seed never sprouts, takes root, and grows. The seed is snatched from her.

Yet look at what happens next! “But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’”

The Gospel of Matthew is funny this way. Whoever accepts who and what Jesus is calls him, “Lord.” Whoever does not accept who and what Jesus is calls him, “Rabbi,” or Teacher.

You can check it out for yourself. This is a clear and consistent rule in the Gospel of Matthew. Yet notice again, this woman; this so-called “Canaanite” enemy of God! Not only does she call Jesus “Lord,” but she kneels at his feet, the posture of worship and submission!

Somehow, the Word of God is taking root where it “shouldn’t” take root! Somehow it’s growing where it “shouldn’t” grow!

Jesus responds with what Peter will later call a “parable.” He says, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

There’s no way you can sugarcoat this. These are offensive words. And they are words that are attributed to Jesus, our Savior.

Beyond the offense, however, seems to be a sincere belief on Jesus’ part that God had called and sent him solely to God’s people, the Jews! He was, after all, the Jewish messiah sent by the God revealed in the Jewish scriptures, to seek and save the lost of Israel!

And so, Jesus evidently believed, that it was not fair to take the children’s food—food for the children of Israel—and throw it to the dogs—to those like the Canaanites who rejected and spurned God.

We’ve already seen, however, that—Canaanite or not—this woman is someone who, like seed on good soil, has received, embraced, and taken in the good seed of God’s Word. And so, clinging to that Word, she rebuts Jesus!

Accepting the words that Jesus has just used against her, she counters, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 

And that does it! Despite whatever Jesus’ understanding of himself and his mission had been, he now sees that anyone—and everyone—who is receptive can receive and give growth to the seed of the Word of God! The Jewish messiah is the messiah of all!

And so, both the song and our new website are right! All are welcome! All are welcome! All are welcome in this place!

One of the things that most delights me is in how so many in our congregation have joined in the effort to donate food to the Jesus Focus Food Pantry. Hundreds of pounds of provisions have been give, picked up, and delivered so that the hungry and needy might be fed. (By the way, I see that the mission has suffered damage in the recent storm. Financial contributions might also be helpful!)

As sheep of the Good Shepherd, this congregation does not exist for itself. Nor is our mission only for ourselves. Whether you attribute this perspective to a remarkable encounter to someone labeled as a Canaanite or not, All are welcome. All are welcome! All are welcome in this place!

In Jesus' name. Amen.