Jesus, the Canaanite Woman, and Ferguson

This week as part of my program in the Academy for Missional Wisdom, I was invited to reflect on Matthew 15: 21-28: 

A Canaanite woman from those territories came out and shouted, “Show me mercy, Son of David. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.” But he didn’t respond to her at all. His disciples came and urged him, “Send her away; she keeps shouting out after us.” Jesus replied, “I’ve been sent only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.”But she knelt before him and said, “Lord, help me.”He replied, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and toss it to dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall off their masters’ table.”Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith. It will be just as you wish.” And right then her daughter was healed.

This is one of those biblical passages, that doesn't fit comfortably in people's theology.  

I remember a while back a conservative publication in our denomination decried the fact that a Pastor dared to suggest that in this passage Jesus is challenged to put aside his bias. "How can the holy and perfect Lord have been wrong?" they asked. "How dare you even suggest such a thing of sinless Jesus," they said. Still, it does seem to be the case and so we need to wrestle with it and what it might mean for us as those who seek to follow in the Way of Jesus .

As I read this passage this week, I couldn't help but read it with the context of Ferguson MO in mind. The situation is just awful and heart wrenching. For me it hits close to home, especially following the not-in-the-so-distant-past verdict from the Zimmerman trial. It hits home primarily due to the fact that I am raising a young black boy in a racist society.

And yet, I also need to confess that if it wasn't for the very circumstance of raising my wonderful boy, I would more than likely have ignored these things or very quickly brushed them away. In fact, I hate to admit it, but I think I would like - in the end - to have it undoubtedly confirmed that Mike Brown did charge and beat that officer prior to the shoot down that occurred on that street in broad daylight. 

It might make things simpler, at least for me, but probably not for those who have been gathered on the street for these many days.  

What's so heartbreaking is that when we all should be coming together, whites and blacks are even further divided. As a majority we shake our head and say things like "We'll he asked for it." "The police are just doing their job." "There's no such thing as racism, they just keep bringing it up," and so on, and so forth. When for the minority an encounter with the police quickly escalates up to a matter of life and death and systemic racism is quite literally destroying precious lives. But no one is listening to their cries for freedom, for liberation, for justice. 

I take from this passage that we are called to take the time to listen and to honor the stories of those around us who rightfully cry out against the oppression they face. We are not to judge but to listen. We are not to assume but to seek to understand. We are not to dismiss away but to care and carry the burden. We are to put aside our assumptions about who is in and who is out and whose life is valuable and whose life is not.

We are to do this so that all might be blessed with the gift of life and healing. And I do mean all, for Jesus too was truly blessed with the gift presented before him in the form of the Canaanite woman. 

That Missional Program Thingy

Occasionally, someone will ask, "How is that missional program thingy you're doing?" Usually when asked, I kind of hem and haw. I am unsure how to answer. I'm not sure why it's so difficult to put into words what it is the program means to me and what I hope to see as a result of it, but for some reason it is.  

Recently, I decided to try to put into words what the missional program is about and the direction it is taking me. I did this for a group of folks interested in and considering ways it might partner with me and this work. So, I thought I'd share it here, in this space as well.  

First, this is a discernment process. While I have some vague notions and hopes regarding what the end result might look like I can't specifically say or commit to any one thing at this point. I think it is important to trust the work of the Spirit to lead and to guide. Part of the process of discernment is to ask where God is at work in our community and how we might join in with that work. So, I am trying to set aside any preconceived notions about what this all might look like when we're done.

Second, people often wonder what the word “missional” means. Here is a good way to think about it: to be missional is to trust that the future of the people of God is among the people of God (where the "people of God" is defined as EVERYONE, in the church or not.) This is a different orientation than we are used to because the focus is no longer on preserving or maintaining the institutional church rather the focus is on being the church “out there” in the world, among the people in our community.

Third, there is a corollary which follows: a missional identity comes from outside of the missional community. Typically a church develops a new mission or outreach program from within. It identifies what the church needs or desires (say to bring in young adults or families) and develops programs it hopes will bring those folks into the fold. In contrast, a missional orientation asks what the community needs. It then works from there to build a community of faith and practice that impacts the larger community.

The sum of all this is best put into words by Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, who offers a great example of a missional mindset even though he was talking about the best way to operate his business. Bezos said, 

Rather than ask what are we good at and what else can we do with that skill, you ask, who are our customers? What do they need? And then you say we’re going to give that to them regardless of whether we currently have the skills to do so, and we will learn those skills no matter how long it takes.”