"Faith that crosses beyond barriers and regulations" (August 20 2023)
Sermon: Faith that crosses beyond barriers and regulations
Scripture:
Isaiah 56:1-8 and Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
Date: August
20, 2023
Location:
United Church of Hyde Park
0. opening
In the past
several days, the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions held their annual
conference at McCormick Place in Chicago. The theme this year is “Defending
Freedom and Human Rights.”[1]
There were more than 10 thousand participants representing around 200 different
religions. This year is my first time to be at this gathering. Before I
attended the Parliament of the World’s Religions, I always assumed the largest
gathering of multiple religious people was AAR (American Academy of Religion)
or SBL (Society of Biblical Literature). Apparently, I was wrong. I noticed
there are so many differences among people there: their religions, skin color,
cultural background, the way they worship, and food they eat, and the clothes
they wear. I felt I am but a member of a larger group of religious and
spiritual people, who are seeking the wisdom of the divine, working on harmony
among humans, the earth, and the universe.
At the
Conscience Plenary, the third day of the gathering, people from different
religions share their thoughts and ways to inspire people different from them.
There was a Daoist clergyman from Taiwan performing a ceremony of blessing to
all who participated in the meeting. He wore a clergyman’s suit and sang in
Taiwanese Chant, summoning the divines to come down from the sky, to see us the
regular people, to know our struggles, and resolve our problems caused by human
beings, and bless us with the prosperity from the above. As a Christian who
read the Hebrew Bible, it might bring some tension regarding the first command from
the Ten Commandments in the Book of Exodus, “you shall have no other gods
before me” (Exodus 20:3). Will we wonder “that is not our god, is
that a blessing or a curse?” At least for me, when I was a newly born-again
Christian, my church told me that my Buddhist parents were worshipping the
devil and I should cut off any connection with that.
At the same
Conscience Plenary, a Jewish lady from the Ultra-Orthodox community Israel,
spoke to us. She first expressed her appreciation for this opportunity to share
her thoughts in public because every time she spoke in her community, people
started to leave the room. She was also told that her application for any
position in her community would never be considered. The ultra-Orthodox
community is one of the Abrahamic branches that follow the Torah closely and
literally. That lady also pointed out that we/people have made our religion and
ancient wisdom the instrument of abuse, especially to women, queer people, and
those who cannot fit in the same box.
Her story
reminds me of a documentary drama on Netflix, Unorthodox.[2]
This miniseries is based on the book, Unorthodox: The Scandalous
Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman (2012). The primary
narrator is a young woman in the Hasidic community in New York City. This is a
story of how she found her own voice and way of life. She escaped from her
marriage, where she suffered, separated herself from her family and friends,
and started over outside her Hasidic community. Because she was not allowed to
go to regular schools before, so had no diploma, and it became tough for her to
live outside the Hasidic community or continue her study journey in music. She
was once asked by other college students, “is that true that women are
treated like a pig to give babies for the family in your communty?” It is
hard to comprehend how much she must endure in her community before, and now
more stigma and prejudice are put on her.
1. The
outsiders in the Book of Isaiah
The first
scripture we read today is from the Book of Isaiah. The background of the Book
of Isaiah is complex. The northern kingdom, Israel, was conquered by Babylonian
Empire (ended in BCE 722). And the southern kingdom, Judah, was under the
thread from Assyrian Empire (ended in BCE 586). There are three kinds of people
mentioned here. People of God, YHWH, foreigners, and eunuchs.
1.1 Foreigners
After the
fall of the northern kingdom, Jewish people were captured and scattered all
around the place. Life has to go on. Some of the diasporic Jewish people
married other people who are not Jewish or “people of God, YHWH.”
However, these people were not welcomed into the Jewish community in some way.
Such is the Book of Ezra and Nehemiah, Jewish who married non-Jewish people are
not counted as People of God, YHWH, and they are not allowed to join or
stay with the returning exiled Jewish community, when the Jewish people are
finally allowed to go back to Jerusalem under Assyrian Empire. In Ezra chapter
9, Ezra prayed to God, YHWH and said to the people of God, YHWH
that “Now make confession to the Lord the God of your ancestors and do
his will; separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign
wives.” (Ezra 10:11). Non-Jewish people are asked to be sent away and
separated from their family because the “holy seed has mixed” (Ezra 9:2).
In the end of Ezra, the elders of the congregation investigated and wrote down
all those who married foreigners and names of their descendants. Those names
are kept in the holy bible for generations and those people should be separated
from the people of God, YHWH.
1.2 Eunuchs
The third
group of people here is the “eunuch”. In different cultures, eunuchs play
different roles from time to time. In Isaiah’s context, the eunuch might refer
to officers who served at the Babylonian court and palace who were castrated to
fulfill their duty. These eunuchs include Jewish and non-Jewish people. We knew
some of their names. Such as the Book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
ordered the palace master to “bring some of the Israelites of the royal
family and of the nobility: young men without physical defect and handsome,
versed in every branch of wisdom, endowed with knowledge and insight, and
competent to serve in the king’s palace” (Daniel 1:3-4). Daniel is one
of the four from the tribe of Judah. And we also know the rest of Daniel’s
story, such as interpreting king’s dream and survival from the fire and lion.
However,
according to Torah, especially in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, eunuchs are
disqualified from priestly service, they cannot join the congregational life, and
they are not allowed to enter the temple to worship God, YHWH. “The
Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and say: No one of your offspring
throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the food
of his God.” (Leviticus 21:17-17) “Those born of an illicit union
shall not come into the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation,
none of their descendants shall come into the assembly of the Lord.”
(Deuteronomy 23:2) Eunuchs are not complete; therefore, they are treated
differently accordingly.
2. the
outsider in the Gospel of Matthew
2.1. the
unknown Canaanite woman and mother
Our second
reading today is from the Gospel of Matthew. For some reason, Jesus and his
disciple retreated from the border of Galilee, where he healed whoever brought
to him, to Tre and Sidon, to the land of gentiles. In the beginning of Matthew
chapter 15, Jesus has just told a parable and condemned the Pharisees and
scribes who are from Jerusalem for their evil intentions from the heart that
defile.
The unknown
Canaanite woman, who is also a mother, came to Jesus and asked him to help her
daughter. However, “the Lord, Son of David”, Jesus, showed no mercy but
kept silent and ignored her when the Canaanite mother first called him. Jesus’
male disciples, according to the Greek texts, yes, they are all male, asked
their teacher to send her away. Jesus said to that Canaanite woman, “I
was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew
15:24). The mother did not give up and continued to beg and knelt before Jesus,
saying, “Lord, help me.” (Matthew 15:25). But Jesus replied, saying, “It
is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
(Matthew 15:26).
MMM.
2.2. “dogs”
Our church made
sandwiches for the night ministry on the third Wednesday of each month. This
Wednesday, I took out the bread, cheese, and turkey from the refrigerator. I
took the zip bags out from the drawer. I cleaned the table with water and
wipes. And I started to assemble the sandwiches: two pieces of bread, one piece
of cheese, and one slice of turkey.
Some of us
knew that Adam and I have two cute Chihuahuas at home. Their names are Coco and
Roxy. And I am sure they were fed well that morning. I noticed one thing when I
started preparing the sandwiches: Coco jumped up to the tiny house and Roxy sat
beside my feet. And they were staring at me with their innocent eyes. When I looked
at them, their tails were wagging, and their eyes kept sending messages
directly to me. They were cute.
κυναρίοις
(Koo-nar’-eeos) “dogs” in some translations, it means “little dogs.” However,
little dogs cannot justify that Jesus – a privileged rabbi, Jewish, man,
“holy seed” - does not treat this unnamed Canaanite monther, non-YHWH
worshipper as a human being like him or not help her sick daughter. The Women’s
Bible Commentary’s chapter author, Amy-Jill Levine, commented
on this story, saying that calling someone ‘dogs’ or ‘little dogs’ or ‘puppies’
makes no difference in humiliating a person, especially if that person is
disadvantaged and in great need of help. It is a standard insult.[3]
Although I was told by some Christians
that whenever I encounter a tough decision to be made, just think about WWJD -
“What Would Jesus Do?,” I wonder how I could benefit from using WWJD here.
3. Eager of
belonging
Last month,
I attended another larger gathering, the United Church of Christ General Synod
in Indianapolis, IN. Our newly elected General Minister and President of the
United Church of Christ, Rev. Dr.
Karen Georgia Thompson, gave us a speech and a series of challenges. I
remembered three of her points for the church today? They are (1) “what does
“baptism” mean in our context? (2) what does “membership” mean in our context,
and (3) what does “church” mean in our context? Traditionally, baptism is the
first thing for a born-again Christian. After someone is baptized, he/she/they
could be called “Christian” and be counted as a member of the local
congregation, are allowed to serve in the church and part of the larger
(capital) ‘C’ Church.
However,
baptism can be quite problematic these days. For LGBTQ people, more than 90% of
the church in the US won’t baptize them unless they have changed themselves.
Baptism has been weaponized against certain people and required people to be
“as same as us,” the chosen and perfect ones. For some denominations, women are
not allowed to preach, have no opportunity to be ordained as clergies like men,
and their voices and congregational life are silenced and limited. And, do
people still want to come to church, a place of worshiping God together?
Also, at the
General Synod, a conference minister reported a new book, Hear Us Out –
Six questions on belonging and belief[4]
(2023), to the whole delegation. This book interviewed 200 people in
Pennsylvania, aged from 18 to 40. They are called the Millennials and
Generation Z/Gen Z. When asked about “current faith tradition”, 56% of them
answered, “yes, they have a faith tradition,” 18% answered “No”, 16% answered
“not anymore” 2% answered "never” and 17% answered "thinking about
it”.[5]
When asked,
“what is your activity level”, 10% answered "very active”, 8% answered
"loosely active” and 12% answered "attend somewhat”, 19% answered
"spiritual/their won religion”, and 10% answered "agnostic” and 18%
answered "atheist”.[6]
What went
wrong with the Christian churches? Nine of ten say the church is “too
judgmental and hypocritical,” 70% say the church is “insensitive to others” and
30% say Christian church is “characterized by moral failures in leadership.” [7]
And 91% say Christian church is “anti-homosexual.”[8]
“According
to the American Psychological Association, APA, resilience is the ability to
bounce back and grow personally after a major life event, conflict, trauma, or
serious health problem.”[9]
And most of the people expressed they have “move[d] forward” and found
contentment and fulfillment in their new situation. Whoever can work with them
through their adversity, they feel they belong to those people. Any place that
can provide space where “people can be authentic and honest about their
challenges and missed opportunities” is the place they feel they belong to.[10]
The General Minister and President of UCC reminds us: “what does ‘church’ mean
in our context?” Do we prepare well enough for it?
3. Purpose
of keeping this story
I am
wondering why the author of Matthew wanted to keep this Canaanite mother’s
story. Maybe, the author would like to reflect on the context of the early
church: yes, most of us are still very Jewish, and our heart is still like
stone. Keeping this story is to admit that we are not perfect at all. This
story should be told for generations about how bad we were, and hopefully,
people after us can learn from our failures.
The
Canaanite mother answered Jesus, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the
crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” (Matthew 15:27) I saw the resilience of faith
in her: she does not belong to Jesus’ community; but she went there not for
herself, but for her daughter; what would her community’s people judge her, or
what Jesus and his disciple would consider her, those are not important
anymore. She has found her way. Jesus replied to her fourth request, saying, “Woman,
great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” (Matthew
15:28) her daughter was healed from that moment. Even Jesus was amazed by this
Canaanite mother’s faith, who did not compromise anything or lose her authentic
identity.
I guess similar
situations were in the Book of Isaiah. The prophet saw those outsiders, the foreigners,
and eunuchs; they hold strong faith and “maintain justice, and do what is
right” (Isaiah 56:1), who were much better than most of the Israelites
did at that time. Our God, YHWH, comments through the prophet, saying, “I
will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than
sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off…. these I will
bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer;…for my
house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (Isaiah
56:5-7)
4. a brief
note
I want to
close in what I learned from the two other workshops I attended at the
Parliament of the World’s Religions. An American Indian gentleman shared with
us that people, we humans, do not have power; only the divine, the thunder,
water, and wind, do. We, humans, can be the instruments of those power. Our
responsibility is to show our influence on others, our love, respect, protection,
and good stewardship of mother earth. A female rabbi shared with us Jewish meditation
by putting one of our hands on our own heart and the other hand on others’, and
saying, “(I) support your heart, no fear.”
May our
church can be the place and people, who say to everyone, wherever they are on
their journey, “We support your heart, no fear.” Amen.
[1] https://parliamentofreligions.org/parliament/2023-chicago/
[2] https://www.netflix.com/title/81019069
[3] The
Women’s Bible Commentary (3rd version, 2012), page 473-474
[4] https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9781506489193/Hear-Us-Out
[5] Hear
Us Out, page 178
[6] Hear
Us Out, page 179
[7] Hear
Us Out – Six questions on belonging and belief, page 31
[8] Hear
Us Out – Six questions on belonging and belief, page 46
[9] Hear
Us Out – Six questions on belonging and belief, page 84
[10] Hear
Us Out – Six questions on belonging and belief, page 97
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