The Readings
Genesis 45:1-15
Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
[Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”]
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
The Sermon
There is a lot going on in these
readings. Lets look first at the reading from Genesis and the
continuing saga of Joseph. Joseph has been through a lot and he has
every reason to be bitter with his brothers. After all, they sold
him into slavery which prompted a continuing downward spiral until he
rightly interprets the king of Egypt's dream. He wins the king's
favor and becomes CEO of all of Egypt. His brothers had no idea he
was even alive and now they realize he has the power of life or death
over them.
Joseph not only forgives them, he
embraces them and tells them that his being sold into slavery set off
a series of events that eventually led to the saving of many lives
during the ongoing famine in Egypt. Joseph is a true model for all
of us. He chooses to forgive rather than punish his brothers.
Joseph sees the big picture. He believes that God guided him on this
journey so that he could be at the right place at the right time.
A few weeks ago I share with you a book
I was reading called When God Winks. God was winking at
Joseph in this story. God winks at us as well, maybe not in the
dramatic way He did with Joseph but I believe we are being guided.
In the gospel reading Jesus is making a
very profound and challenging statement when he says to be more
concerned with what comes out of the mouth than what goes into it.
The Jews had lots of rules about cleanliness and many things were
considered unclean. I believe he was saying more than you do not
need to wash your hands before you eat. Jesus was speaking to the
soul. He was telling his followers that the things you do and say in
life are of much greater concern for God than all of the cleanliness
rule of the Jews.
The Canaanite women is always an
uncomfortable reading for me. Was Jesus just grumpy that day? I
don't think so. I think he wanted to let his disciples see how
persistence and the absolute faith of the Canaanite woman ended in
her daughters healing. He was using her as an example of what can
happen if your faith is strong and you do not give up.
As I said earlier, there is a lot going
on with these readings. The message for us is that even when things
are going badly God is with us and we are an important part of God's
divine drama. We need to be more concerned with what is in our
hearts and how we treat each other than outward appearances and
rituals. We also need to know that Jesus is the Christ for all of us
regardless of where we were born or what family we came from.
Truly, love your God and love your
neighbor. That is all you need to know. That is all you need to do.
Amen
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