First Church of Christ, UCC, Woodbridge, CT
September 9, 2012
For
many years now this urban legend has been circulating via email and word of
mouth. On a British Airways flight out
of Johannesburg, not long after apartheid was abolished in South Africa, a
middle-aged, well-off white woman was seated next to a native South
African. The woman called for a flight
attendant to complain about her seating.
“What
seems to be the problem, madam?” asked the attendant. In an angry huff the woman replied, “Can’t
you see? You’ve seated me next to a kaffir.
I can’t possibly sit next to this disgusting creature. Find me another seat!”
“Please
calm down, madam,” the attendant replied.
“The flight is very full today, but I’ll tell you what I’ll do: I’ll go check to see if there are any seats
available in club or in first class.”
The
woman turned and gave a snooty look at her affronted seatmate, as well as to all
the other surrounding passengers. Presently,
the attendant returned, presumably with good news that her seat would be
changed. With a smug grin and an air of
satisfaction the woman could not help but look at the people around her as the
attendant spoke to her.
“Madam,
unfortunately as I suspected, the economy cabin is completely full, as is also
the club cabin. However, there is one
seat available in first class.” Before
the woman had a chance to answer the flight attendant continued, “It is most
extraordinary to make this kind of upgrade, however, and I did have to attain
special permission from the captain.
But, given the circumstances, the captain felt that it was outrageous
that someone should have to sit next to such an obnoxious person.”
Having
said that the flight attendant turned toward the black South African man seated
next to the woman and said, “So if you’d like to collect your belongings, sir,
I have your seat ready for you.” As the
man followed the attendant to the front of the plane, the woman’s jaw dropped
while the other passengers gave a round of applause.
We’d
like to believe that virtue will be rewarded and the patient among us will
eventually get the level of service we think we deserve. However, most of the time, the story goes the
other way. It’s the squeaky wheel that
gets the grease, the obnoxious complainer who gets satisfaction, not us who
quietly wait our turn. Jesus said that
the meek will inherit the earth but sometimes it seems it will only come to us
after the bold and arrogant have finished with it.
Stories
like this one and the one of Jesus and the Syro-Phoenician woman help to set
the world to rights. Even if neither of
these stories actually happened, they give us a measure of comfort; that even
if it is only in our imaginations, someone is standing up to those who feel
entitled to special treatment over those against whom they harbor prejudices or
regard as their social inferiors.
Most
of us would profess that everyone should be treated impartially and equally,
but truthfully we really do appreciate those times when we are treated
preferentially, when the powers that be are partial to us. It can be as random as winning a prize or
finding a parking space or a stranger paying us a compliment or getting bumped
up to first class. It can be as big as getting
a promotion or a raise or recognition of our hard work. It can be as small as when we’ve been
standing in line and another teller window or cash register opens, beckoning us
to come forward, and we feel not only relief but that somehow the universe is
bending toward us. Our egos are
flattered, our ruffled feathers are smoothed, and for a time we are pleased.
It
all goes back to when we were children, to our siblings and parents, to the
classroom, the team, the playground, the backyard. As soon as we could form the words we were
complaining about the lack of fairness, that an older or younger sibling or
classmate or friend got more than we did.
We are biologically geared to clamor for the goodies: for food, protection, respect, affection, favors,
privileges, power, anything to ensure that we will survive. Rivalry, competition, survival of the
fittest—this is how we evolved. When
push comes to shove, we are on our own side or the side with the most
advantages.
Perhaps
Paul was not referring to this but it could easily apply, when he said, “When I
was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a
child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.” And he ended his thoughts with the words,
“and the greatest of these is love.” No
longer do we need to always seek out our own advantage because the greatest
thing we can possess is love: love that
seeks the good of others.
Love
that seeks the good of others was a huge shift in consciousness in the time of
Jesus. If you weren’t a Roman citizen
you were a bug to be crushed. If you
weren’t Jewish you weren’t one of God’s chosen people and you lived outside of
the covenant. If you were poor or a
woman alone or both, you were at the bottom and at risk for a variety of evils. If your child had a demon, no one went near
you. Jesus encounters just such a woman
in the region of Tyre, where he had gone to get away from it all. But since there isn’t any place where people
don’t need God’s help, Jesus is pulled into an earthy debate with a scrappy woman
in need of divine grace.
Jesus
had left the borders of Israel, not for the purpose to extend the reach of
God’s grace, but to give himself some preferential treatment for a change. Instead, Jesus finds that God’s call is
relentless because God’s grace is persistent.
Jesus came face to face with a truth he desired to teach others, that
the gospel demands more of human nature than we are willing to give.
It
is not entirely clear whether Jesus was testing the woman or his own heart needed
opening or maybe he was just feeling tired and cranky. After all, he called her a dog. However, what is clear is that while we may
think God’s grace is impartial, in truth God is very partial: to the poor, the
outcast, and the oppressed, no matter who they are. And here we see how our hearts are to incline
and where our focus ought to be.
The
gospel in seven words or less is this:
Love God, love neighbor, love self, and in that order. More often than not, as followers of Jesus we
have not been faithful to this seemingly simple six-word creed. And even though faith without works is dead,
we cannot earn our way into God’s grace.
The goodies of love, acceptance and forgiveness come to us and surround
us wherever we are, no matter what we’ve done.
But it is up to us to pick them up and share them with everyone.
How
has partiality hurt this community of faith?
Are there any old resentments that need to be let go of and
forgiven? Where you place your focus
determines your reality. How is God
pulling the focus off of you and onto those who suffer from the injustices of
this world? What might be the next step
this congregation could take as an Open and Affirming church?
When
human beings disagree, God does not take sides for God is not a box: one side fits all. It is in Christ that the universe bends
toward us, not to favor us, but to show us the way of compassion and self-gift. Through the Holy Spirit we are made whole,
that we may be on the side of the poor, the hungry, the sick, the homeless, those
who are imprisoned and forgotten. Let
that be our partiality, let that be our witness. Amen.
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