Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
ministering to him,
loving the name of the LORD,
and becoming his servants—
all who keep the Sabbath free from profanation
and hold to my covenant,
them I will bring to my holy mountain
and make joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on my altar,
for my house shall be called
a house of prayer for all peoples.

Can any nation be foreign to the Lord? Can any person be unlovable before God? The American imagination, grounded in the Enlightenment principle that “all men are created equal,” reels away from such heresy. Of course God loves everyone! Equally!

But the notion, the whisper, remains even in our society. Calvinist doctrine taught the principle of “double election.” It began with the solidly scriptural teaching that God chooses his own, beginning with the Jews and opening to the baptized in Christ. “Inevitably,” reason says, “if some are chosen, others are not.” Those others are despised of God. And, of course, the chosen are blessed. They do well in more ways than one, not only in the world to come but in this world also. They are loved, wise, prosperous and healthy. That optimistic, though limited, prospect seeps more deeply into our consciousness as we wonder, “Who are the chosen?”

They are, obviously, the ones with the happy families, comfortable homes, stable jobs and sophisticated manners. They are the blessed. So if you want to be counted among the blessed, you’d better look the part! It’s called “keeping up appearances.” Your bathroom, when did you last remodel it? Your carpet, it’s so nineties! Your car isn’t the latest model? You want to look successful and you dress in that suit? Nor do we tell family secrets in the neighborhood. There were no horse thieves or grave robbers among our ancestors! Nor are there illegitimates among our grandchildren. The violence and skullduggery common in human history for a thousand years never occurred among our ancestors.

The anxiety of not being among the saved drives people to acquire more and more. Enough is never enough until, finally, Satan reveals his true face and whispers, “Greed is good.” The doctrine of double election was more than a Christian doctrine carried to its logical extreme; it is a way of justifying sinful behavior. It is a way of saving oneself from association with others.

In the readings of this Sunday, we hear of a woman who takes the kingdom of heaven by storm. (Mt 11:12) Double election invites violence. Insulted, humiliated and marginalized people – the poor, disabled, ignorant, illegal and alien – can be barred from admission only so long. In this story a desperate woman focuses her energies upon Jesus, demanding that he cure her daughter. She is irrepressible and Jesus cannot turn her away by ignoring her, by explaining his limited mission to her, or by insulting her. She will be heard and she will be satisfied!

In the end he understands that her persistence expresses her faith, and hers is a faith that rises from the earth itself. She honors his Jewish religion and lineage well enough, calling him “Son of David;” but she knows what he must understand, that the entire earth and all its people must be saved by the Jewish messiah. Whether the Canaanite woman knows that in so many words is irrelevant. He has the power to cure her daughter and a team of mules will not drag her away from Jesus until she has his word of healing.

The reason God became man is so that he might learn how pitiful and desperate we are. It was not sufficient that he should fly over and say, "It's totally wiped out. ... It's devastating, it's got to be doubly devastating on the ground."  He had to be where we are and feel as we feel.

The woman in this story resembles the Virgin Mary. I think of Mary as the girl who prayed to God, “Send us the Messiah!” and God could not resist her prayer. She was so pure, honest, eager, intent and charming that not even God could say no to her. Such was the faith of the Canaanite woman. Such should be our faith in God.