Sermon: Who Are You At the Table? (The story of Syro-pheonician woman), Feb 19th, 2023

Sermon: Who are you at the table? 

Scripture: The story of Syro-pheonician woman (Mark 7: 24-29)

“How do you Cook Chicken, Friends?” was so fun. Thanks to all who offered their answers. 

 

I listened to Paul Douglas Walfall share this story personally, when I attended the 43^rd General Council in Ottawa, in 2018. He was invited to be there as one of the two Intercultural Observers. It was the final day of the week-long United Church national gathering, which many people now recall as “The Friday night.” 

 

Paul later told other people that he made this speech after his time was pushed back, and delayed, delayed, postponed and postponed again on the agenda. He said to the Business Team, “The later you put me, the more no one will hear what I will say.” Finally, the tiny (token) time slot was injected for the Intercultural Observer. 

 

Paul stood at the podium and asked four questions: 

“Who is missing from the table?” 

“Who are you at the table?” 

“What is my place at the table?” 

“What am I doing at this table?” 

 

Here are some stories and excerpts from Paul’s Friday Night speech. 

 

Quote. “One of my white colleagues said to me, ‘You know when I see you, Paul, I do not see the colour of your skin, I just see a person.’” To that, Paul answered, “If what you say is true, then you have rendered me invisible. Invisible because you are not seeing who I am.” 

 

Quote. “I also felt invisible [during GC 43] because, to date, I have yet to hear in the Council an acknowledgement that racism exists in our church and that the experiences of racism felt by every Black person within the United Church of Canada are real.” 

 

For example, “If you had listened [to our story], you would have heard the experience of the Black minister who was told by the congregation that he speak up and take whatever the church gives because it was out of pity that they took him from his poor country to be with them in Canada.” 

 

“You would have heard the story of the female minister who had the experience of members not shaking her hand at the end of the service because they did not want a Black minister in the first place.”

 

“You would have heard the story of the Black female minister told by a search committee that they did not hire her because the congregation was not ready for a female minister, but less than a month afterwards had recommended a White female minister to the congregation.” 

 

“There are so many more stories I could add,” Paul said. 

 

“The third experience occurred in our conference executive meeting October, 2018, and our conference president, Dr. Kathy Yamashita, a woman of Japanese descent, reminded us that we should take note of who is missing from the table. Someone, then, reminded us that we are an intercultural church and therefore that may not be as pressing now as it once was. 

 

But you know, I have been reflecting on the question, “Who is missing from the table?” For in many ways, I now wonder if that is the real question to be asking. 

 

I am now very conscious that simply being at the table may be good, but it is not all that we may want to crack it up to be. The real issue seems to be “Who are you at the table?” 

 

If I am at the table as your guest, then, I am there to take whatever you put before me. I would hope that you will consider my needs but really, you do not have to. I am at this table simply as a guest. If I am at the table because you are taking pity on me, then even more so I take whatever I get. … 

 

If you put me at the children’s table, then, while I am a member of the family, … I might not always get the right to influence the menu. 

 

But if you have me there as an adult and responsible member of the family, then, I have a right to participate not only in the eating of the meal, I would then have the right to participate in the creation of the menu and in the preparation of the meal itself.”

 

“The issue for me is no longer only about who is missing from the table, but it is also about what is my place at the table. If you have accepted me there simply to tell me that I must accept what I get, then simply being at the table is not all that we have made it out to be. So, what am I doing at this table?

 

After Paul’s speech, a tremendously awe-struck, spirit-filled moment arose. Many racialized and Indigenous members and members with disabilities lined up to share their stories, abandoning the rush of the day’s schedule and agenda, for the following two hours. Our dinner was late at 9 pm, but this healing of the Friday Night, just like the Syropheonician woman’s question and challenge, made a turning point in the journey of the United Church, powerful enough to create the wider consensus and momentum necessary to make this church anti-racist. 

 

Now, this is my pitch: Look at racism and patriarchy, racism and sexism together for racialized and Indigenous members who are women. Today’s story of the Syropheonician woman is a great story to tell, even in the 21st century, even in Canada, even in the United Church.

So many times, even now, some people are missing from the table, because they are not just racialized; they are also women. (It IS a REAL question.) The sword of inclusion is an imprecise instrument. When an organization needs racialized members for diversity, often male racialized members are favoured. Meanwhile, it’s not always guaranteed that Racialized women will be invited to join the White female senior leadership of an organization, because they are not White women. Racialized women are often marginalized from the dinner table, cooking table. Being female is one hurdle, something extra to deal with. Being Racialized is another hurdle on top of the first: an extra challenge.

 

That has been my pitch in recent years, since I was awakened to realize this simple intersection: racism and patriarchy; racism and sexism; racism and misogyny. It’s an intersection, because when you are hit by implicit bias, stereotypes, exclusion or marginalization, it’s difficult, in the moment, to know what just happened — was it racism? Was it sexism? Was it patriarchy? Was it disability? Or all of that?

 

Let’s listen to the story of the Syropheonician woman. This person is a Phoenician from Syria. There’s no other marker of social status other than being a Gentile and the mother of a daughter. In the previous chapter, when Jairus, the Jewish Synagogue leader, asked Jesus to heal his family member, Jesus immediately went with him to his house. Then, later, Jesus, of his own initiative, healed the Gentile man who called himself Legion. (This Gentile man did not even ask for Jesus’ healing.) The only different social status marker between the Gerasene man and the Syropheonician woman (both are Gentiles) is that this Syropheonician person is a woman making an unconventional request.

 

Stereotyped, disempowered, met with prejudice. 

 

The Syropheonician woman’s experience is the experience of racialized and Indigenous women. 

 

Now, let’s think about racialized women who are immigrants — racialized women who speak English as a second or third language. Now it is a triple hurdle. 

 

I would not want to say it is a language “barrier”. Instead, I would emphasize that it is a “hurdle”. Hear me out. What do we really need to make genuine, safe, warm human connection and communication between two people? 

 

A barrier looks like this (Show the pictures of a barrier). 

Impenetrable. The image of a barrier already presumes the challenge is unmovable, prohibitive, frustrating. It’s often used by the culturally dominant to excuse themselves for not trying to understand others.  

 

In my faith, language is a hurdle. (Show the pictures of a hurdle). A hurdle is not like a barrier or wall. 

You can overcome it. “You” means both sides.

 

There are three ways. First, the runner will overcome the hurdle by strengthening their skills and muscles, through lots of practice. Second, allies can assist the runner to jump higher than the hurdle, by sharing personal training and mentoring, language courses, etc. Third, you, both the runner and the allies, can simply realize that what is essential, necessary and important in order for true human communication to happen is remove the hurdles. Realize that language should never be a hurdle or barrier in the first place. Language is a tool. It must serve us, not measure our worth. 

 

Choose the Right, Perfect Meaning, over the Right, Perfect Word. (Show it in PowerPoint: Right, Perfect meaning vs Right, Perfect word.)

 

Increase non-verbal communication. Joy, trust, belonging. 

 

In order to create an inclusive kitchen table, we need to ensure that 

no one is under the kitchen table (like “dogs”), 

no one is outside the kitchen table (exclusion), 

Everyone feels they are given an equal share in creating the Dinner menu and preparing the meal itself. 

 

To do this, there are three tasks: 

1) The circle of safety (no micro-aggression, based on racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism…  

The most important task that must precede anything else in this intercultural work is creating “The circle of safety” in church (or in any organization). 

Everyone needs to feel safe. Period.

 

2) Governance and policy must meet the high standards to encourage “equity” (not just equality.) 

(Show the images of equity and equality.) Equity looks like this. It’s about looking at the potential leadership in people, and centering the voices of the traditionally marginalized to listen and to learn from their stories.

3) Practice… Practice… Practice. Please assist the runner to jump higher than the hurdles,  whenever you can. AND whenever possible, be intentional in removing hurdles in the first place.

As I conclude this reflection, today, I would invite you to meet both the Syropheonician person’s experience of racism and sexism as a racialized woman, and learn with Jesus. At the end of today’s story, Jesus removes the hurdles of racial hierarchy in healing. Policy is changed to acknowledge that there is no boundary in God’s inclusive love. Jesus throws the gates of God’s mission wide open: the hurdles of patriarchy hold no ground in God’s transformative love. 

Sermon: Circle vs. Box (Reading the Syro-Pheonician woman story with a Rain Stick), Feb 5th, 2023

Introduction: 

Starting this week, over three Sundays, we will engage with the story of the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-29). Though we don’t know her name, today’s story speaks of her cultural/racial identity. Then, she asks Jesus a question powerful enough to inspire change… 

 

THE FIRST READING 

²⁴From there Jesus 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, ²⁵but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. ²⁶Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷He 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.” ²⁸But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹Then Jesus said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.”

 

In today’s story, Jesus has come into the region of Tyre, a Gentile region. The author doesn’t tell us whose house is being entered, but in typical Mark fashion, Jesus wanted his presence to be a secret. Yet a woman somehow got inside the house and bowed down at Jesus’ feet. Though we don’t know her name, her cultural identity is not a secret: “Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin.” (V 26). Should Jesus be surprised to encounter a Gentile woman in a Gentile region? After all, Jesus was the outsider inside the house. 

 

This unnamed woman was a desperate mother, willing to do anything to find a cure for her daughter. She bowed down at Jesus’ feet and begged — just as Jairus, the leader of the synagogue in the previous chapter, had done. We know that Jesus went with Jairus without asking any questions. But here, Jesus’ response is different: “Let the children be fed first (the Jewish people), for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs (the Gentiles).” Because the word “dog” here is derogatory, it is worth noting that Jewish people in antiquity typically spoke respectfully of Gentiles, and indeed, many Jewish people anticipated that God would save the Gentiles. While some Christians think that Jewish people commonly referred to Gentiles as “dogs”, that was not so. 

 

Then, why? Why was Jesus so disrespectful and even name-calling, when he responded to the woman’s request?

 

Was Jesus exhausted? Was Jesus upset that his presence inside the house had been discovered, or even disturbed? Jesus had already healed a Gentile — the “Gerasene demoniac” the wounded healer of the story we read and engaged with, last month at BVU. The Gerasene man didn’t even ask for healing! What makes Jesus so unjust, so unkind to this pleading mother?

 

Why? What is going on? 

 

We need a Rain Stick at this point! Thank you, Cheryl, for allowing me to use this wonderful instrument you received from your dad. 

Imagine if this story was a report of an actual event that happened recently and the news post is circulated widely on social media, … I see such posts often come with a trigger warning. Trigger or content warnings assist survivors of traumatic events to be mentally prepared; it gives them a choice of what they want to see or read. Not only calling the woman and her people “dogs” but there are more occasions in today’s story that the Rain Stick Warning could help us to pause in silence and hold the moments of grief and pain in reflection and remembering women, Indigenous members, Black and Persons of Colour, Queer and Transgender people, people with disabilities and mental health challenges. As family, friends or allies, we remember those who have been shunned, ostracized, excluded, misunderstood and marginalized for who they are, their skin colour, their racial and cultural identity, sexual and gender identity, disability, mental health, economic circumstances… Those who have been racialized, enslaved, institutionalized, stigmatized and stereotyped, treated differently and labeled as "less than human", as “something else” like a dog. We know it has happened, too many times; we know it is still happening. 

From today’s trauma-informed perspective, Jesus’ statement and racial “slur” — calling the Syrophoenician woman and her people “dogs” — have caused harm. “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 

 

Let me read the story again with the support of the cooling sound of this beautiful Rain Stick, holding the pain as lamentation; holding the righteous anger and grief as prayer… 

 

Sermon: Mark 7: 24-29 

READING AGAIN WITH THE RAIN STICK (on the highlights) 

²⁴From there Jesus 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, ²⁵but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. ²⁶Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷He 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.” ²⁸But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹Then Jesus said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.”

 

In 2018, I attended the Two Spirit and Queer People of Colour Call to Conversation With Allies Conference, hosted by the queer people of colour scholars and leaders at the University of Winnipeg, on the land of Treaty One. I had an unforgettable, spiritually reshaping three days of immersive learning. Every day began with a welcome and the words of Two-Spirit Indigenous Elders and the rituals they led — dancing or a pipe ceremony — and each day ended with smudging and prayers by the Elders in English, Ojibway or Cree languages. Between the beginning and the ending, I was immersed in an incredible learning experience with more than a hundred participants from all over Canada.

One speaker who impressed me deeply was OmiSoor Dryden. She/they started her keynote speech with acknowledging their collective ancestors — Indigenous, BIPOC, the queer and genderqueer and trans communities… After she touched on misogyny and classism, she said “Blackness in Canada is the impossible image. Imagining Canada as the Black Canada (instead of White Canada) is an impossible image.” She meant not only Black people who were forcibly brought here, but those Black people who continue to come here. “Society says,” she continued, “Our life will continue to be devalued.” Incarceration, impoverishment as the result of colonization; invisibility or hyper-visibility that make Black people’s existence in Canada a perpetual exercise in inequality — the impossibility of belonging.

Omisoor Dryden continued, “We are the afterthought.” 

At this point I remembered that a United Church queer Black clergy based on Toronto expressed some years ago: “In the United Church of Canada, being Black is harder than being queer.” 

“Celebrating ‘diversity as a strategy’ is good, but ultimately it does not disrupt the system. Inclusion policy is good, but it often better serves White people, White women, White queer folk,” as long as Whiteness is unquestioned and positioned as the standard, as the norm. “My commitment and interest lies in a disruption of the Canadian project — anti-Blackness. I don’t say belonging is bad … It is beautiful. It is important. We need to think about something other than belonging in order to disrupt the colonial education.” 

After she shared these words, an incredible movement was made in front of my eyes and the 200 eyes of the audience. She held a bowl of water, and showed it to us with explanation. She brought the water from the Atlantic Ocean and kept it in her bottle. Then, she stepped down from the stage and poured the water on the audience’s floor. She said "it’s Black water”, remembering her ancestors of Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade — , and let the water flow.

There, the impossibility of belonging / flew / and created the possibility of impossible belonging. 

(Pour the water into the baptismal basin.) 

In today’s story, Jesus says to the Syrophoenician woman. “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Is Jesus modelling colonial education? 

Jann Derrick, Indigenous scholar, when teaching Decolonizing Conflict Resolution and Indigenous Peacebuilding, teaches that there are two systems in the world. The Circle and the Box. I enjoyed learning from her in Manitoba. Lifting up a few interesting contrasts, the Circle System (Indigenous) is child-centred, honours the female gifts of intuition and emotion: all living beings are equal in value. On the other hand, the Box system (Colonial education, for example) is conceptualized as a ladder of hierarchy, of power and control; children traditionally were to be seen and not heard. This system judges and excludes in order to protect. The hierarchy of importance and value is applied to people and other living creatures. Shaming communication is often used in order to exert power and control; differences are disturbing, as are grey areas. 

The Circle system can also be called The Indigenous Worldview

The Box system can also be called the Colonizing Worldview

Today’s story is where two worldviews, two models collide… and transform. Colonized social hierarchy is a reversal of the Indigenous social roles.

 

Males of dominant culture. 

Females of dominant culture. 

Children of dominant culture. 

Indigenous men. 

Indigenous women. 

Indigenous children. 

Dogs/the living creatures.

 

(Use the Rain Stick here again.)

This is interesting and so emotionally moving to me: Today’s story’s of the Syrophoenician woman’s “writing back” (to Jesus), “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” is a Circle View! 

Let’s go back to the “Dog” or “dogs.” She plainly explains and speaks the truth of her experience in her Gentile household, where dogs have a place and eat the crumbs children let fall beneath the table. Children are at the centre of the Circle, which includes dogs in it. The woman’s description is aligned with the Indigenous worldview.

She asks a question powerful enough to inspire change… in Jesus. 

She asks a question, and that helps Jesus, her spiritual partner in this dialogue, to realize where and what his assumptions are. 

In many Korean translations, her response is in the question form: “Isn’t it true that even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs?” She’s asking that the inclusion policy would permanently shift and transform Jesus’ mission, which is, up until this startling point quite colonial. The Syrophoenician woman’s Indigenous worldview, the Circle Model, challenges the Box (or the Ladder) of the traditional mission of reaching out, listening to, and helping primarily those who share the same worldview. The Syrophoenician woman, her daughter, the children and the dogs in the Indigenous/Gentile household in the Circle invite Jesus to sit and heal (or be healed) by breaking out from the harmful restrictions of the Box. 

 

I remember, in 2018, when the three day conference, Two Spirit and Queer People of Colour Call to Conversation with Allies, ended, after this powerful, transformative immersive spiritual experience, I walked out of the campus and continued to walk through Winnipeg’s downtown. I was dizzy. For the first time, I experienced the oppression of the grey, concrete buildings. For the first time I felt the grief of this world, colonized in boxes. It was like the whole world was upside down… I saw that the truth is under the ground - the buildings that looked to me like boxes of different heights and shapes - grew (instead of trees), and suppressed/outweighed the life on the ground and the Circle’s Light under the ground. That day, I decided to commit myself to the decolonizing path, and wrote back. “I would not go back to the point that I did not know the Circle’s Light in the path.” Thank you, Syrophoenician woman. Miigwetch.