This sermon was preached at Asbury United Methodist Church in Livermore, CA on September 6, 2009. The lectionary text I used in the sermon was Mark 7:24-30.
[audio:http://www.pomomusings.com/wp-content/mp3/Rethinking-Church.mp3]
(You can download the audio in mp3 format here)
“What if we rethink church?â€
That’s the question United Methodists around the world are now asking themselves. We saw a promo video last week, maybe you picked up a button to wear or put on your school bag or computer bag? I think it’s a great question – a question we’ve needed to ask for quite awhile. And while I’m sure copyright lawyers would have a field day with this, I wish every denomination would start up a “Rethink Church†marketing campaign. I think every denomination NEEDS to rethink church – because clearly what we’ve always done isn’t quite working anymore.
You merely have to read through some statistics about the church today to see we need to change our ways. As Pastor Kim mentioned last week, mainline denominations are losing members every year. For the most part, young adults just aren’t going to church. And when high school students graduate, almost 80% stop attending church.
We could say: “Well…they just must not be interested anymore – maybe when they’re more mature…?†I mean – isn’t it always easier to pass the buck and not think that it might be our fault? But – perhaps we really do need to ask the questions, “Are we doing something wrong? What if we rethink church?â€
I’m very glad we are beginning the process of rethinking church. It’s an incredibly important conversation – and that’s an important piece to keep in mind I think. This whole process is a conversation. Please don’t expect Pastor Kim or Pastor Chuck or me to stand up here and let you know how Asbury is going to rethink church. We may have ideas – but so do you – and we are all called to be in this conversation together. As mentioned before, next week there will be an opportunity to carry on this conversation about rethinking church at our monthly Theology Pub…and this morning, we’re going to rethink church this morning through a little technology. I know… “Surprise, surprise…Adam’s preaching & he’s using technology…â€
In a few minutes, I’m going to ask you to turn to your neighbor and discuss a question. However, also during that time, I’m hoping that you’ll get out your cell phones and send me a text message with your response, or jot down a note to give me during or after the service. You can also send me a text message during my sermon – a question or comment – and if I can see it I’ll try to address it. I’ve never done this before, so…I can’t make any promises. If you have a cell phone w/text messaging, take it out now and key in my number or write it down, so you have it: xxx-xxx-xxxx. Since I probably don’t have all your cell #s, if you’d like, please put your name at the bottom of the message so I know who sent it. Now – this is an experiment so we’ll see how this works…
To be honest…I wasn’t going to preach on this text. When I flipped to the lectionary for this week and saw that it was the story of the Syrophoenician woman – I started looking around for others. I wanted a text that would fit in well with the sermon series theme: Re-thinking Church. And the Syrophoenician woman just wasn’t going to do it for me – besides there was all the weird stuff about bread crumbs, and…well…the fact that Jesus called the woman a dog…and I just thought I’d rather not touch that. But then I was encouraged by my wife and some readers of my blog to take a second look at this text.
So I read it again – and it actually seemed like a perfect (although slightly troubling) text for a sermon on “rethinking church.†One thing I love about this story is that we truly see the divinity and humanity of Christ – in short, we see a grumpy, irritable Jesus healing a pagan woman’s daughter.
Mark tell us that Jesus entered a house because he “didn’t want anyone to know he was there.†He’d just had a pretty intense few chapters: he was rejected in his hometown, John the Baptist was murdered, he fed 5,000 people, walked on water…healed people everywhere he went, had to get into an argument with Pharisees about the disciple’s handwashing techniques and, let’s be frank here, he had to deal with the disciples all along – and they basically didn’t get what he was talking about most of the time…
So it’s pretty clear why Jesus may have been needing some “Jesus time†– you know, some self-care, a little alone time.
And then in walks this pagan – this Syrophoenician woman…I can almost imagine Jesus seeing her as soon as she walks in and just (BIG SIGH)… “another person…?â€
But she’s desperate…her daughter is demon-possessed and she knows Jesus can help – she’s heard the stories everyone has been telling. He’s the only one. And her request isn’t unreasonable, right? He’s done this before – exorcised demons…healed children when they weren’t present…so she asks. She doesn’t know where else to turn.
And maybe he was having a bad day, we don’t really know, but Jesus replies: “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.â€
There it is. Now there are some who have tried to “tame†it down a bit – to say the type of dogs that Jesus was referring to could have been small house dogs…imagine a cute little Labradoodle puppy…now, that’s not so bad, right?
But…there isn’t really a lot of evidence for that interpretation, other than a strong desire not to make it sound like Jesus – loving and grace-filled Jesus – was just being kind of jerky.
Jesus’ response – that the children should be fed first – is in reference to the fact that the Gospel was first for the Jews – but he doesn’t say she’ll “never†get the Gospel, that she’ll never have the chance for salvation: it’s more like “first things first.â€
But yet she still challenges him on that – she challenges his mission. Even though Mark tells us that Jesus entered the Gentile territory to be alone – not to engage in mission – it is the woman who pushes back, who engages in a sparring match with Jesus…and wins.
Now whether Jesus initially made his statement because he really was trying to get rid of her — or because it was a roundabout way of teaching the disciples something — we’ll never know. But the woman wins their argument. Her reply back to Jesus points toward the future when the Gentiles – when ALL people – will be included in God’s plan of salvation. And Jesus knows she’s right…
And he knows he was wrong…to be there, whether he was looking for ministry opportunities or not, and to ignore this pagan woman of faith, was wrong. The Syrophoenician woman challenges the assumption that the Gospel was only for the Jews at the beginning…she challenges the assumption that God had favorites or that God would neglect her daughter in a time of great need. The Gospel was for all – no matter the person’s ethnicity, gender or social status…
And so this Syrophoenician pagan woman joins the ranks of those who have challenged God – and won. Abraham and God argued back and forth over how many people it would take for God to spare Sodom. Jacob wrestled with God – and wouldn’t let God go until God blessed him – and God did. Somehow, we have picked up this idea of God that God doesn’t change…and if God does, it’s certainly not because of us. Yet, we have biblical examples of God being changed because of humanity calling God into question.
The Syrophoenician woman challenges not only what Jesus says to her – but the way things have been done. The assumptions about who the Good News was for. She comes as an outsider who has a real, deep insight into the way things SHOULD be.
And so he admits he was wrong. She won the argument. Her daughter was healed. And by challenging Jesus, she was able to point him back on track and help him rethink his ministry…
So. As I was thinking about rethinking church this week…and as I read this story in which it seems that Jesus was wrong…I found myself thinking that if Jesus can be wrong, then certainly I can be wrong. I can be wrong about what I think youth ministry should look like. I can be wrong about the institutional church. I can be wrong about the ways I think God works and doesn’t work in this world.
I found myself thinking that if Jesus can be wrong, then certainly we – as the church, in all our various denominations – can be wrong. We can be wrong about who we say can and can’t be married in our churches and who can and can’t be ordained to serve God. We can be wrong about the way in which we’ve tried to reach out to young adults. We can be wrong about our theologies and our ministries. We can be wrong about how we’ve “done church.â€
I want to take just a moment now – and I know that this is always an awkward request…well, it’s easy for me because I get to just stand up here and ask that you do it – but I’d love it if you would just take a minute to think and talk to some people around you about this question:
What is one thing you think we may be wrong about when it comes to church? What is one thing you think we may need to rethink?
Get out a slip of paper, and get out your cell phones and text me your responses as well.
What is one thing you think we may be wrong about when it comes to church? What is one thing you think we may need to rethink?
And while you’re talking, we’ll also be listening to a song by Sheryl Crow: Out of Our Heads. We’ll take just a few minutes for this.
BREAK FOR CONVERSATION: READ SOME RESPONSES
It’s seems pretty clear we need to rethink some things. And clearly, if our savior – Jesus the Christ – can be wrong just once, we can certainly be wrong as well, many times over. I love that Sheryl Crow song because of the chorus:
If we could only get out of our heads
Out of our heads and into our hearts
Children of Abraham lay down your fears
Swallow your tears, and look to your heart.
If we’re really going to rethink church…if we’re going to join in that conversation, we’re going to need to get out of our heads. For in our heads exist the rational voices, the voices that say, “Well…we’ve never done it THAT way before†or “Why change…? Things seem to be fine just the way they are.†But when we can get into our hearts…that is hopefully the space where we are listening for God’s heart and God’s hopes and dreams. Hopefully that is where we can look to find the power and strength to imagine a different church.
And we ARE going to have to lay down our fears…and OUR ideas of what church has always been…and be open to the Spirit’s nudgings…be open to where our imagination might take us. We are going to have to look to Jesus as our example, and realize there may have been ways we’ve thought about church and ways we’ve been a part of church that are just wrong…and we have to acknowledge that and be open to new ways, no matter WHO is challenging us, even if it’s one of the dogs…
What if we rethink church?
AMEN