God's Preferences

James 2:1-10 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

Mark 7:24-37 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

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When our kids were younger Kim used to say to them, “You’re my favorite 9-year-old son” or “You’re my favorite 13-year-old daughter.”  It was his humorous attempt to make each one of our children feel uniquely loved without showing favoritism.  I always thought it was very clever and sweet.

I think most siblings spend a substantial amount of time trying to figure out who is Mom’s favorite and who is Dad’s favorite – even when they are grown up and getting old and Mom and Dad are long gone.  And most parents, if they are aware of having a favorite, spend a substantial amount of energy trying to mask that, trying to treat all their children equally.  Because they love all their children and they don’t mean to have a favorite.

We definitely play favorites when it comes to the question of how we treat members of our family compared to those outside our family.  And when it is a choice between members of our community and those outside our community.  We usually favor those with whom we have a connection, because we feel some responsibility for them but also because there is a give and take in those relationships. 

The question of favoritism comes up in the James passage, and in this case it is a matter of favoring those who are favored. 

Go to the check out line in the grocery store and look at the magazine covers: Us, Star, People magazine – they are all plastered with photos of the beautiful rich and famous, whom we love to look at and hear about.  Pick one up and read through it – it will only take a few minutes, because there’s nothing to read.  It’s all photos of beautiful people wearing beautiful clothes.  These are the people we favor with our attention and our money.  Why?  Because they look fine. They have been favored by God and nature – and that’s attractive to us.

Go to a high school – in the cafeterias and other places where students congregate freely see how they group themselves.  For those of us who graduated high school a long time ago, try to remember:  where did you sit; whose team were you on; whose team did you want to be on?  And if you weren’t included among the beautiful people, I’ll bet you were still very aware of them and what they were doing.  Those who are favored get our attention.

Apparently it wasn’t any different in the early church, and James has some stern words for these people.  He flat out tells them, “You must not be Christians, judging by the way you show favoritism." 

We reflected on this matter at the roundtable this week.  We tried to take an honest inventory of the ways we favor some people over others.  Those who are able to give a lot of money to the church might be favored.  I don't think those who give generously to the church expect special treatment.  Nonetheless, we worry about keeping them happy.

Families are sometimes favored over single people or empty-nesters.  And I have been the recipient of this kind of favoritism.  Years ago when we walked into a new church in a new community with a bunch of young children they practically rolled out the red carpet for us.  I was really impressed with their hospitality.  But not everyone who came in received that kind of treatment.

To put it bluntly, we tend to favor those who can give us something we want.  More children for our Sunday school program, more money for our checking account, or just be the pleasure of being near someone who is spectacularly successful.  We play favorites, and James says, “Stop doing it, because that is not what Jesus is about.”  So in this context, it is very interesting to see how Jesus treats the Syrophoenician woman in Tyre.

She is bold to approach him in the first place, for more than one reason:  She is a woman, and women did not approach strange men in public.  And furthermore, she was a gentile.  Jews did not like to interact with gentiles, because of the purity issue that we discussed last week.  This was the same basic issue that led to the dispute about handwashing: certain things and people are considered unclean.  If you interact with a person who is unclean you must follow it with a ritual of purification, which was kind of a hassle.  For practical reasons then, many Jews avoided having contact with those who were labeled unclean.  And it wouldn’t be at all unusual for Jesus to want nothing to do with her.

Nonetheless, this woman approached Jesus to beg his favor – a bold thing to do.  She would have risked anything, because her child’s life was at risk. She knew Jesus by reputation to be a man of power and compassion, so he might be the one to help her. 

We, too, know Jesus to be a man of strength and compassion, and that is why his words to her are shocking.  “I need to feed the children, not throw their food to the dogs,” meaning the children of Israel are his first priority. The children of Israel will be favored – not a dog like this Syrophoenician woman. 

It’s hard to accept such unkind words coming from Jesus, even if it was the conventional wisdom of the day.  But the story doesn’t end here, for the woman’s response is brilliant:  “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table.”  To which Jesus says, according to the Common English translation, “Good answer!”  Because it was a good answer; one that you would expect Jesus himself would give.

The woman’s daughter is healed, and immediately we go on to another encounter with another gentile, whom Jesus heals without question or prevarication, using some mysterious concoction of spit and strange words.  In the end, Jesus shows favor to these men and women who need it most.  But his words to the Syrophoenician woman are not without meaning.  In his way he is telling Israel and all the world that God still favors God’s chosen people, but just as much, God favors anyone who stands in need.

God favors anyone who stands in need.  This is not inconsistent with the Law of Moses, as it is written in the Old Testament.  Israel is again and again commanded to show mercy to those who need it, those within the family of Israel and those outside.  God’s favor is with the needy.

In Catholic Liberation Theology this is called God’s preferential option for the poor.  It sounds as though God is playing favorites – the very thing we are cautioned against doing.  But there is an important difference. 

We are not living in an equal world, to state the obvious.  It is undeniably true that some people have been favored with material wealth of all kinds.  You might have a theory about how or why this is so.  Some people see it as a sign of God’s favor, and there are biblical grounds for that.  But, even so, you can’t erase the biblical mandate to share generously and care for those in need.  I think there are a whole host of reasons why some people have so much more than others.  But the reasons aren’t important when you know that God wants us to care for those in need.  Period.  God has a preference for this: that we share the love and the wealth with those who are in need.

God favors all who stand in need – those who sit at the table and those who are under the table waiting for crumbs to fall – and there will always be crumbs that fall.  In fact, if we are doing it right, there will be more crumbs than are needed!

As we turn our hearts to the sacrament at the table of Christ, we might remember that this is something he shared with us when we were the outcasts, the ones who stood in need, the ones who waited for the crumbs to fall.  This is the feast he set for us, the needy ones.

As we go into our week – our work, our socializing, our school – let us consider the ways we have been favored, and consider the ways God is asking us – expecting us – to share the favor with others; the favor of our attention, our time, our love, as well as our goods.  Do the unexpected – share with someone who really needs it.