Sermon: “Crossing Boundaries”
Delivered at ARK Community Church, Dalton MA
9th Sunday after Pentecost: August 17, 2014.
Scripture readings:
Isaiah 56:1-8 (NRSV)
Matthew 15:21-28 (NRSV)
Podcast:
Please join me in prayer…
Lord, let it be your voice that speaks through my mouth, and let our hearts be open and receptive to the Word you have for us here, today. Amen.
The story of the “Canaanite Woman” in this morning’s reading from Matthew 15, and also in Mark 7, is a narrative that crosses all sorts of boundaries.
To begin with, the setting isn’t located near any of our other stories about Jesus. Matthew tells us that Jesus has journeyed with his disciples to “Tyre and Sidon.” Doing so means he has left behind the familiar comforts and safety of his native land, moving across Israel’s frontier into the Gentile lands to the North. He’s in a new and strange place. But, is it strange for him, or strange for us?
The Here and the Hereafter 