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.”

At the consecration of the first building of this church, this is part of what was written:  

“We have a building capable of seating one hundred persons and would be glad to see every space filled, whenever services are held.  The seats are FREE, and we assure the inhabitants of this and adjoining towns, that the church was not built simply to accommodate ‘ourselves,’ neither are the services or the Sunday School conducted with any such intention…Our idea was that its use and purpose should be to further the cause of Christianity, believing that one soul in the sight of God and the angels is the peer of any other, whether it be possessed by a person of mean estate, or of high degree; whether he be white or black, artisan, farmer, merchant, priest or king… Each and every one, of whatever faith, or of no faith, will find a generous welcome.”

That’s from OUR 1868 welcome statement! 1868! 1868. It reminds me of that little verse by Edwin Markham:  

He drew a circle 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.

It is the drawing of circles that our lessons challenge us with today. Who should be drawn inside as recipient of God’s grace?  Who is worthy of healing?  Who deserves the power of Christ to work in their lives?  Who’s “in” and who’s “out”?  When that GENTILE…FOREIGN… WOMAN... asked for help with her DAUGHTER..., she should have been out four times over!  She was a Gentile... OUT!  A woman...OUT OUT!  A foreigner...OUT OUT OUT!  And asking about a child?... OUT OUT OUT OUTIDY OUT!!!! 

Now, some would say that Jesus saw this confrontation coming and his ugly response to this woman was just Jesus playing into the cultural, circle-drawing stereotypes of his day on purpose, to prove a point, but I’m not so sure. I think there’s at least an even chance that his internal editor had run out of juice for the day and this woman got a full dose of Jesus’ humanity. He was fully human, after all, and he had just had a fight with the Pharisees. Those sorts of fights take a toll. So Jesus left town and went up North, not just to the Middle Eastern equivalent of Maine but to Middle Eastern Equivalent of Aroostook County Maine! He got WAY away hoping to recover from that very normal human emotional drain, only to be tracked down one more time by this woman! We’ve all said hurtful things when we’re tired and worn. One of the things this lesson reminds me of is that Jesus was fully human and in  that way, a lot like me.

But whether Jesus saw this coming or responded at first out of his less-than-best self, it really doesn’t matter in the end. 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 boundless.  God’s love draws a big enough circle to include a desperate gentile woman with a demon possessed daughter! But wait, there’s more!  

The next little story about the deaf man makes sure we REALLY get the point of this lesson. It was a foreign woman before but now it’s a Jewish man. She had chased Jesus down. He was brought to Jesus by others. She was asking about her daughter. It was he, himself who was deaf and speechless. 

These two stories together make it clear, the who, what, how or when just don’t matter so once again, God draws a circle big enough for the likes of HIM... and here's what these two lessons together pound home... if God can draw a circle to include the likes of HER… and if God can draw a circle to include the likes of HIM, perhaps… just maybe we might begin to believe that God might even draw a circle large enough to include the likes of you... or maybe… just MAYBE… even the likes… of ME.  

The world draws circles. Female and male, white and black, gay and straight, immigrants, refugees, natives and aliens, conservatives and liberals, Episcopalians and Lutherans, Decaf and Regular!  Those circles include some… but also always exclude others. BUT you see, when Jesus stuck his fingers in that deaf man’s ears and said “Be Opened” he was opening WAY more than just a deaf man’s ears!  When Jesus said “Be Opened!” He opened ALL the circles that had been drawn around that man… circles 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, inclusion, and life came flooding in!

Now one woman and one man drawn into God’s grace is great but that isn’t the end of this story. On the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished!” and as the curtain in the Temple ripped from top to bottom… in that moment, Jesus stuck his fingers in the ears of all creation, spit at death and the devil and tore open every circle that had ever been drawn from top to bottom for EVERYONE and all of creation! And to this day, God in Christ keeps ripping wide open the circles the world draws, faster than anyone can draw them, build them or tweet them and God draws them so they include EVERYONE!  Our challenge, as individuals and as a church, to keep drawing the circles we inevitably draw in our more human moments, wider and wider and wider so that each day, even when we’re tired, we draw our circles more and more like God draws circles… until our circles are big enough to include all of creation, just like God’s circles!

Our WALI group (We Already Live It) has been working on just that! They are, right now, crafting a new welcoming statement to expand the circle of our church’s original 1868 welcoming statement around people who were not even on the radar of our foremothers and forefathers in 1868… which we shouldn’t fault them for since there wasn’t even radar in 1868! But working in those founder’s inclusive spirit, who made the most radical welcome they could possibly imagine in their day, our group is now working on a statement to add all the people we’ve grown better able to see over the last 150 years.  

I am so thankful for the amazingly inclusive, founding DNA of our congregation. I’m so thankful that it is still alive and active and at work to this day, calling us with love, to keep breaking open old circles and allowing God’s love and grace to rush right in! May we always draw ever bigger circles so that one day the whole of creation will know and experience the welcome of God’s incredible love through us. Amen.