There are not many stories in the Bible in which a human outshines Jesus, commanding the stage in Jesus’ presence. In fact, the story we just heard may be the only one in the New Testament where the woman is the inspirer and Jesus is the inspired. This is all the more astounding since the story takes place in a region that some people would call “un-churched” today. It took place across the boundary lines of the Jewish state, in the not-so religious region of Samaria. That’s where Jesus and his disciples went and found – faith.
Let me compare Samaria to Luther’s hometown of Wittenberg that we visited this summer on our big Europe trip. Forty years of an oppressive communist regime, followed by 30 years of capitalism, combined with general skepticism, have left their mark in eastern Germany, and Wittenberg is no exception. Today this region has maybe 15% Christians, if not less. Before you gasp too much, remember that there are places like that in our country. The northwestern US is known not only for Boeing, Starbucks and Microsoft, but also for its secular culture. Two years ago when I went to a seminar in Louisville, there were two pastors from the Seattle area who talked about how awkward it can be when someone in their community asks them: “So, what are you doing for a living?” They described it this way… Upon answering the question truthfully, eyes stared at them that seemed to say, “You are doing what? I thought you were a normal person…”
The region into which Jesus ventured in today’s gospel was unchurched like that, at least from a 1st century Jewish perspective. And yet, it was there, outside of Jesus’ comfort zone, in unfamiliar territory, among people without a strong religious tradition, where he found – faith. It is a story that should give all of us hope and courage, – courage to venture out of our institutional walls and into a community where we might find people who haven’t seen a church in 20 years, who may have been hurt by religious experiences in the past, who may have digested a steady diet of skepticism, or have signed off to worship the gods of money, sports or general busy-ness. Yet, in every community, no matter how churched or unchurched people may be, we will find descendants of the same creator, capable of the same faith that we might assume to find elsewhere. Just give them a chance!
I was startled when I learned from folks in Wittenberg, Germany that a number of non-Christians are singing in their gospel choir – remember, the same choir that came and visited us and sang here five years ago. In fact, I talked to one man, a choir member, on our trip to Potsdam and he said, “I am not a Christian, I just sing in the choir… I also do a number of other things in this place, in fact, I am pretty busy in the church…” It was kind of cute. “I am not a Christian,” he said, but he participated in all these Christian activities. This paradox came to a peak for me when I heard the choir sing the chorus of the modern Andre Crouch piece. It goes like this: “Jesus is the answer for the world today. Above him there’s no other, Jesus is the way.” The choir director sang in the mic, “If you have some questions in the corners of your mind, traces of discouragement, the peace you cannot find, reflections of your past, seem to face you every day, but this one thing I do know, that Jesus is the way.”
And then you hear the entire choir sing the chorus with passion and power “Jesus is the answer for the world today,” and you wonder how can people say “I am not a Christian,” and yet sing this with conviction – and they do sing it with a passion, trust me. It’s kind of cute. They are eating the bread crumbs of the Christian faith and yet they wonder, “Do I belong here?” They connect to the music and the message on some intuitive level, and yet they are not sure they can fully trust that instinct. After all is said and done and sung, those bread crumbs of the Christian faith must be nutritious. Very nutritious.
Now, the gospel story we heard this morning is all about bread crumbs and finding faith in a non-traditional environment. And at that, it’s a notch or two above our Wittenberg experience. I mean, Jesus makes no attempt to even be friendly to this woman, let alone to invite her into a faith community. He’s downright hostile, and that’s not too strong a word. He is telling her that the bread he has to offer is for other people. It’s like someone going to Manna on Main Street to get food and they are told “This is only for Lansdale folk. You are from North Wales. We can’t give you food!”
Yet in this case, it’s the woman’s motherly instinct that saves the day. Her motherly instinct says, “This man can help my daughter!” – I will do what it takes, and she inspires Jesus! Go to a place where people look persistently for help on behalf of their children and whom will you find? You will find lots of women there, mostly mothers. There are many organizations called, ”Mothers in charge”; “Mothers against drunk driving”; “Mother’s finding the cure”; etc. It’s what women bring to the table. They are willing to sacrifice something on behalf of their children, more so than men. And so is this woman. She looks past the insults and employs a great deal of humility and wittiness. She looks Jesus straight in the eyes and counters his initial rejection, “Yes Lord, but even the dogs eat from the crumbs that fall from the children’s table.” And you tell me: how could Jesus look this woman in the eyes and deny her? How could he reject someone with such simple and powerful faith? Found in an unchurched community. Found basically on the street. He could not… deny her!
The truth is: there are crumbs all around us that keep falling into our lives. Do we notice them? There are crumbs from mission trips and summer travels brought back as we still digest the experiences; crumbs from encounters with other people, some of them not the religious type; there are crumbs from a book that you recently read; leftover pieces from a conversation you had or a support group you attended. I tell you, there is no lack of food for faith in our midst! But sometimes we think we need to chew on a big steak when those bread crumbs will do. Let us remember that Jesus clearly preferred smaller metaphors when he talked about faith: mustard seeds, grains of salt, crumbs that fall from the master’s table, a little yeast that penetrates the dough, a pearl. Faith, in Jesus’ interpretation never seemed to be about big things, but small, powerful moments.
Mother Theresa, once asked how she could sustain such great faith under such challenging circumstances in one of the world’s poorest cities, answered, “I don’t have great faith, I just believe in a great God.” So let us find the crumbs of faith that fall into our lives – and let us trust that these crumbs are nutritious and life-sustaining – the small glimpses of hope, the little insights, the unexpected joys, the people that startle you with their trust! Yes, this woman inspired Jesus with her faith, and he took her strength home to his people, and it became one of the little things that sustained him on the way to the cross. What bread crumbs might fall into your lap this week? Stay curious, my friends! Amen.