Good Shepherd United Church of Christ

Ephphatha  Be Opened                                             Mark 7:24-37
Sept. 20, 2009
Metairie , LA

One story told right alongside another story with the remarkable word, "Ephphatha", in his native Aramaic language.  The bigger picture, always worth considering, includes a previously described tedious exchange Jesus has just had with the Pharisees, those who get so outraged when Jesus disobeys one of the purity laws.  So, Jesus has just come off one of those extended legal quibbles.  The Pharisees, blinded by their fear that the whole enterprise of the Jewish authorities will topple if the hand washing laws are ignored.  The Pharisees don't get it.

Following the two stories we heard this morning is more to do about Pharisees and then Mark's account of the faithlessness of the disciples who Jesus rebukes when they fail to trust that there will be sufficient bread for the crowds.  I mean he reams them out royally, "Why are you talking about having no bread?  Do you still not perceive or understand?  Are your hearts hardened?  Do you have eyes and fail to see?  Do you have ears and fail to hear?  Do you not remember?  Do you not yet understand?

Actually, no, they do not; apparently, they are as clueless as the Pharisees, though not so well trained as legalists.

The larger framework of these two healing stories of this morning, the Syrophonecian woman's daughter and the man with the speech impediment, pick up tow similar themes.

First, Jesus is entirely human in his tendency to get annoyed, get frustrated, speak harshly at certain occasions.  Mark's gospel provides a strong cautionary note about any notions that our Messiah is wholly divine.   The mysterious truth is that the Jesus of Gospel stories is fully human and fully divine.  All Christians must chew on that mystery.  In today's first story, Jesus loses the argument with the Syrophoenician woman. She changes his mind about the scope of his ministry with her clever retort to his refusal.

He was only going to minister to the children of Israel , he thought - "Oh, no!," she objects, "even the gentiles will eat the crumbs from your table!"  And, of course, her wily comments extend his entire ministry.

The second point from this section of Mark is another cautionary teaching: the insiders - in this case the Pharisees, who are the religious authorities, the PhD’s in theology, - they don't get it!  They do not get what Jesus is about.  Nor do the other insiders - the disciples who are close enough to touch him, laugh with him, commiserate with him - they don't get it!  They don't get what Jesus is about.

With these two points in mind 1.) that Jesus is very human in his earthly ministry; he is not some float-above-it-all dreamy eyed idealist and 2.) the insiders do not get it - rather the outsiders, like that mouthy gentile woman and the fellow with the speech impediment, they get it.

With these two points in mind I have 2 true stories to bring to you.  Story one, a parallel to the Syrophoneciam woman, is about my sister-in-law, Carolyn.  Carolyn grew up in Chinatown in San Francisco of immigrant parents.  She lived in the most densely populated area of the city, where immigrants were squeezed in together - today's 4,000. square foot homes would accommodate whole villages where Carolyn grew up.

Against the stereotype of hard working, law abiding Asians, Carolyn's father was a gambling addict and their income was low even by immigrant standards.  Later Carolyn had a stepfather and a stepbrother.  In this household, typical of many Asian cultures of the day, daughters were less valued than sons.  When dinner came to the table Carolyn got scraps of rabbit food vegetables.  Her dad and brother got meat and full plates.

No one advocated for daughters in that immigrant community in those days because daughters were just not valued, pretty much the same as in Jesus' day, which makes it all the more remarkable that Jesus paid attention to that gentile woman who pleaded for healing for her daughter.

A few weeks ago an entire New York Times Magazine section was devoted to the status of women in various nations.  China and India were exposed as places where daughters are routinely underfed, undereducated, not given healthcare, sold into slavery.  In both countries female fetuses are routinely aborted in favor of production of sons.  The selling of daughters results in horror stories I would not repeat in the pulpit.  The authors have called it "gendercide".

The point is - there is much work to do in regards to daughters.  The news in the U.S. is far better.  In the recent decades all sorts of opportunities have opened to women that were inconceivable 2 generations ago - women in ministry, women running for President and Vice President, women on the Supreme Court.  Our daughters enjoy immense opportunity, but our sisters across the globe still need advocates for basic human rights - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Back to Carolyn.  She has a brilliant school career - attended U. Cal. at Berkeley with financial assistance, earned her master's degree in Classics.  Many honors. Much scholastic achievement.  She overcame enormous hurdles.

What does she do now?  She teaches people how to pass their G.E.D.’s I wish you could see her. She is tiny and still mostly eats rabbit food.  She wears mostly black and grey - jeans, hoodies, t-shirts, a cap.  You might mistake her for a street kid.  My brother claims she mostly speaks Ebonics.

She certainly had the opportunity to be at the top of the social rung - with wealth and prestige.  She could have taught at Stanford.  She certainly could have been a Pharisee, I mean a lawyer.  She doesn't do that.  She teaches G.E.D. prep to the poorest and most illiterate of her city.  And she has the highest success rate with her pupils of any teacher in the state of California .

By the way, she's not perfect - she can be horribly judgmental, she can be caustic in her criticism of those who don't get it and she can be incredibly tough in her advocacy for her children.  She has spent her life's energy and her brilliance, her formidable determination advocating for those who don't have much chance to realize the American dream, except that they do!  Carolyn and others like her dedicate their lives to this enterprise.

Here in New Orleans I would point to Teach for America .  Outsiders from other locales in our nation, kids really, without the experience of long time teachers, but they come with enthusiasm and hope for our children, here in Louisiana where we vie with Mississippi to be in last place for public education results.

Story number two. I have a friend, a really dear friend, Linda, whose first daughter, Miya, was born with Downs Syndrome.  Besides learning challenges, Miya has heart problems and speech difficulties.  Miya does pretty well at school - she is a good reader and not so good at math.  She is friendly and talkative, like many high school girls.  She is a wonderful dancer and enthusiastic performer.

As Miya grew up, Linda and Mark, her parents, sought out all the opportunities they could for Miya and also for her younger sisters, Nikola and Juliana.  Because Linda is an excellent advocate, Miya was offered lots of opportunities so she could fully develop to the best of her ability, like any child.

But Linda encountered some gaps in the social fabric - one was that families who include children with special needs often encounter specific stresses that are hard to manage.  For instance, these families are at higher risk for divorce.  So Linda and her next door neighbor, who has a daughter diagnosed with bi-polar disease, began to address the needs of these families who include special needs children.  They offered seminars which were well received and eventually published a book to support families.

She's my friend so of course I expect the book to be a best seller!  Linda did not set a career course to become an advocate for children with special needs - no more than the Syrophoenician woman set out to get Jesus to include gentiles in his ministry.  Both women became advocates because of their daughters and thereby changed the direction of others as well . . .

An update on Miya's progress - she has been well schooled; she is an active dancer and camper.  But sadly, High School has been a lonely experience for Miya because of her speech impediment.  Miya is difficult to understand, even for a patient and mature person like me, who really is very interested in hearing what Miya has to say.  It's hard work to carry on an extended conversation and her peers just seem not up to the challenge.  In her freshman year at High School Miya ate lunch alone every single day.  And she is a happy, extroverted mostly mainstreamed kid.  Every day she is excluded from lunch room conversation.  Honestly, it makes me weep.

But then I bounced back and started dreaming about new ministries, new movements for kids who are excluded.  "How about . . . ," I say to Linda, "how about we start with churches;  we could set up a buddy system . . . we could just try a program with one church, then if it worked we could duplicate it at another church.  Maybe we could do workshops at Annual UCC Conference meetings.  Yeah, we could do that!"  Linda and I used to design and lead spirituality retreats together - we know there's a good amount of energy and enthusiasm when we get together on a project.  "Yeah, we could do that!  Why not?"  Could be my next ministry when I leave Louisiana for all I know.

One commentator remarked about the Kennedy family at the time of the death of Ted Kennedy said that of all those Kennedy siblings, Eunice, perhaps, will make the greatest contribution to her country because of her mother's daughter Rosemary.  Rosemary, a special needs child with mental disabilities.  In those days we did not recognize what we now know:  75 to 85% of people with mental retardation are capable of becoming integrated and productive citizens with the help of special education and training.

Because of Eunice Shriver and her advocacy that grew out of her experiences with her sister, Rosemary, a world of change has occurred and "as a champion for people with intellectual disabilities, she has taught our nation - and the world - that no physical or mental barrier can restrain the power of the human spirit."  (from a speech by President Obama).

The Special Olympics stand as her accomplishment.  She was a sister and a mother - not a President or a Senator.  Who even remembers if or where she went to college?

I love to celebrate the heroes and sheroes of biblical faith, many of whom we cannot even name, like the Syrophoenician woman.  I love to celebrate the heroes and sheroes of our time, some famous like Eunice Kennedy Shriver, but some just everyday folk like Carolyn and Linda and YOU TOO and ME TOO!

In the Bible stories we hear today the insiders, the high and mighty, just don't get it - the legal experts and the boys on the bus are blind and deaf to the expansive ministry of Jesus.  But those on the sidelines get it!

So may it be with us, Good Shepherd!  Ephphatha!  Be Open!

Let the people say, "Amen".