The Response

You might have heard or read in the news about the Texas prayer rally hosted by Governor Rick Perry, held in Houston over the weekend, that attracted 22,000 people to pray for our nation and for all those “who had lost hope.” Our own Governor Brownback attended this rally, called “The Response,” and he quoted the Beatitudes to the people gathered there. An estimated 80,000 other people joined the rally via live-streaming on the Internet.

Read the Scripture from Psalm 133 and Matthew 15:21-28.

Now, you might be thinking, what an awesome display of Christian faith – all gathering together to pray! But the underreported story is that of the bigger event just a couple miles down the street at the Houston Convention Center, where 100,000 people gathered: “Some families camped out for hours to gain admittance into Houston’s first-ever, citywide back-to-school event at George R. Brown Convention Center, where free backpacks, school supplies, uniforms, haircut vouchers, immunizations, and fresh produce were provided.” (Read more here.)

Just miles between the two groups: one group proudly proclaiming their faith, as outside, thousands of people gathered to get basic needs for their family. Where do you think the church should be? With what group would Jesus be hanging out? There’s definitely a boundary in between the two.

With the Scripture today, we also have two groups: the Jewish men and the Canaanite woman. The Canaanite woman would probably be lining up at the Convention Center for basic needs. She was a triple outsider to the Jewish men because of her sex, ethnicity, and religious-cultural background. She wasn’t like them. She was different. And she crosses all those boundaries because of her faith and her love for her daughter. She doesn’t care about the social norms because she is in need of mercy. I imagine thousands of those getting school supplies and food in Houston were the same type of parents – willing to humble themselves by admitting their need in order to care for their children.

Does Jesus immediately reach out, offer healing, admire her boldness and her faith, heal her daughter, show her the mercy that she pleads for? She cries out as Peter did last week – “Lord, help me!” Jesus first ignores her. Then he calls her a dog. And then he praises her faith and declares her daughter freed from the demon.

Have you ever been called a dog? Have you ever, through your actions or thoughts, dehumanized someone and metaphorically called them a dog? Have you ever excluded someone from God’s love or God’s church? Have you ever been excluded?

As Psalm 133 exclaims, “How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along!” Let’s unify thoughts and actions, prayer rallys and meeting people's real physical needs today. Let’s reach out to our sisters and brothers, no matter what social, racial, political, or socioeconomic boundaries we have to cross.