Drawing Circles

The Holy Gospel According to St. Mark, the 7th Chapter

From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Thanks this week to Liz Burgess for sharing her Praying in Color meditation for the picture!

He drew a circle to that shut me out –

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle that took him in.

This short passage by Edwin Markham shares a truth that is also found in our lessons for today.  Both the lesson from James and the Gospel confront us about how we both consciously and unconsciously ALL draw circles.  In many ways, known and unknown, we draw circles that include some and also exclude others.  Male circles and female circles.  Black circles and white circles.  Rich circles and poor circles.  Educated circles and uneducated circles.  Lutheran circles and Episcopal circles.  We all draw circles.  Some we draw knowingly and others we draw unconsciously but we all draw circles.   

Drawing circles is apparently nothing new.  In the lesson from James, those who were well dressed, wore gold rings and designer labels got a personal escort to the good seats, the private boxes, the executive level.  But those who were poorly dressed and looking shabby got hustled out to the cheap seats on the lawn.  I want to believe that those who were the ushers in James’ world really didn’t think about what they were doing.  I’d like to believe that the people THOUGHT they were welcoming to everyone and the circles they drew were not deliberate but “just the way it’s always been done”, but to be honest, I’m not really sure which is worse.  Is it worse to KNOW what you’re doing... to CONSCIOUSLY be including some and CONSCIOUSLY excluding others?  OR is it worse that your prejudice is so deeply seated in your culture, history, family and story that you THINK you’re being welcoming all the time and treating everyone the same when you bring THOSE people out to their separate but equal seats?  Either consciously or unconsciously the message is clear.  YOU are welcome, but YOU are not!  

In the gospel lesson Jesus faces a similar situation.  Who should be the recipient of God’s grace?  Who is worthy of healing?  Who deserves the power of Christ to work in their lives and who should just go without?  Who’s “in” and who’s “out”?  When this GENTILE... WOMAN... from AWAY... asked for help with her DAUGHTER... well, how far OUT of how many circles can one person be?  In that part of the world at that time, she had a QUADRUPLE wammy!  She was a Gentile... OUT!  WOMAN...OUT OUT!  From AWAY...OUT OUT OUT!  And asking about a child?... OUT OUT OUT OUTTIDY OUT!!!!  

Now the great theological debate here for some theologians much smarter than me is whether Jesus SAW her coming, KNEW what was happening, played into the people’s prejudices and stereotypes, fears and hatreds ON PURPOSE in order to draw in the people watching and then spring the lesson on them about the wideness of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness and grace.... OR did God work through this Gentile Woman from Away to enlighten JESUS HIMSELF, as well as all of those disciples who were looking on, that God’s love, healing, mercy, forgiveness, power and salvation has no barriers.  

Now, we could sit here and debate the two natures of Christ and how the completely human or completely divine natures reacted in this situation, but to be honest... IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!!!  Either way, the take home lesson is the same!  God’s love had the wit to win!  God drew a circle and took her in!  God’s grace, love, healing, and salvation is simply boundless.  God’s love is big enough; God draws a big enough circle to include a desperate Gentile woman with a demon possessed daughter... But wait, there’s more!!!  To make sure we get it, we get the lesson a second time, but now it’s a man... an outcast, a deaf and speechless man... probably possessed and at least cursed... what else would leave you deaf and speechless back then?  And once again, God draws a circle big enough for the likes of HIM... and here's the thing... if God can draw a circle to include the likes of HER and HIM, perhaps God could even draw a circle large enough to include the likes of you... or maybe even... the likes of me.  

We all draw circles and every circle includes some and excludes others.  Female and male, white and black, gay and straight.  We draw circles of immigrants, residents, natives and people from away.  We draw circles labeled legal and illegal… Episcopalians and Lutherans... St. Mark’s, St. Matt’s, St. Barnabas, Prince of Peace... Decaf and Regular!  Either consciously or unconsciously we all draw circles, but when Jesus said “Be Opened” he was opening WAY more than just a deaf man’s ears!  When Jesus said “Be Opened!” the circles that had been drawn around that man, labeling him as possessed, cursed, outcast, disabled, broken and unwelcome… all of those circles that had excluded him before were now ripped wide open and all the love, grace, healing, compassion, community and life that had been kept out came flooding in!

But wait there’s even MORE!  On the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished!” and the curtain in the Temple ripped from top to bottom and in that moment Jesus stuck his fingers in the ears of all creation, spit at death and the devil, ripped open every circle that had ever been drawn and to this day keeps ripping circles open even faster than we can draw them!  Our challenge, as ones who have been freed from the circles drawn around our lives by Christ, is to live God’s truth and keep drawing the circles we draw wider and wider and wider each day so that we begin to draw our circles like God draws circles… big enough to include every single one of us and all of creation!

He drew a circle to that shut me out –

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle that took him in.  Amen.