(Leaders of the Moravian Medical Clinic in Ahuas, Honduras)
How Big Are Your Boundaries?
by Bishop Chris Giesler
Assigned Text: Mark 7:24-37
Facebook is an interesting world to explore…some days. While I enjoy seeing pictures of my family and friends and catching up on the news they have to share, I have learned that most people share only the best of what is going on in their lives, leaving out the places where they are struggling. I have also come to learn that there are a handful of people on Facebook who actually seem to think their posts can change people’s minds on things like politics or moral issues that face us today. But I have yet to hear of anybody changing their mind based on what they see on Facebook.
On a grander scale, if we are honest with ourselves, by the time we hit our late teen or young adult years, we have our minds made up about things. This is a sad assumption because we limit God’s creative intent by seeking only to have our preconceived notions confirmed regarding matters of faith. We should actively seek to expand our personal boundaries and understanding. We should engage with scripture in a way that challenges us and makes us question and seek a deeper understanding of our faith. This is where actual growth and inspiration lie.
I have always been fascinated by Galileo and his attempts to convince the church leaders of his day that the earth was not at the center of the universe. All he got for his efforts was being condemned as a heretic. Dava Sobel, the author of Galileo’s Daughter, writes that Galileo was honest when he said that the Bible was the true word of God, but he didn’t think it was accurate in terms of the cosmos. Galileo’s works were banned by the Church for centuries, and not until our own time would his rift with the church be healed. The Church of Galileo’s day latched on to a handful of scripture passages that made it clear that the earth stood still at the center of the universe and that the sun and moon simply rotated around us. Today, it seems unthinkable to assume such a thing and to believe that we are living undeath a dome of blue above which sits God watching over us from some throne. The Bible is a wonderful book about God’s abiding love for us, but, as Galileo pointed out, its authors did not understand the order of the universe. I would also add that the authors did not understand the complexity of human sexuality, but that is another topic for another day.
Some of the most significant faith discoveries come from unexpected challenges to our preconceived notions about God and the created order around us. But we have to leave open the possibility that, over time, we might just arrive at new possibilities. In our Gospel text, Jesus entered this foreign territory with the idea of getting away from the stress and strain of constant attention and a never-ending demand for his time. His vacation, however, was interrupted by this woman asking for Jesus to heal her daughter.
Jesus’ response to her is jarring to our ears as he seems to dismiss her out of hand, even calling her a “dog.” I believe that Jesus’ first reaction to her was his head – the side that says: “I’m overworked, I’ve got enough to do trying to bring my people to a fuller understanding of God, I need some rest, please get out of my way.” Jesus’ first reaction is one that we can all understand – it came from his human side. The woman has faith enough to push back and ask Jesus to reconsider. What came next was his heart speaking louder than his head. It was the love of God pouring out of him to meet this woman at just the place where she needed him. It is hard to miss the author’s mission here to get the followers of Jesus to expand their boundaries and see that all people belong in God’s kingdom.
On August 21, 1732, the first missionaries left Herrnhut bound for St. Thomas to do work among the enslaved souls of this Danish colony. While we now understand that these white Europeans supported the institution of slavery because of its economic benefits, they still took a gigantic leap forward in seeing the enslaved Africans as children of God who deserved to know the grace extended to them through Jesus Christ. Many of the subsequent Moravian missionaries who journeyed to the Caribbean islands to share the love of God died in their efforts to share this grace. The Moravian Church’s boundaries were greatly expanded due to their efforts. Unfortunately, many of us still keep the borders of our hearts closed.
If your faith does not receive a surprise every now and then, then yours is not a living faith. How big is your kingdom? How big is your mission? I suspect God’s kingdom is far bigger than we think it is.
