SOMETIMES SETTLE FOR SCRAPS

 

A meditation by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk

Harundale Presbyterian Church

Glen Burnie, Maryland

 

September 7, 2003

 

Text: “even the dogs…eat the children’s crumbs.” (Mark 7:28)

 

First Reading: Proverbs 22:1-1-2, 8-9,22-23

Second Reading: James 2:1-10, 14-17

 

            It was last Saturday when she went to the doctor that she got the news.  She did indeed have breast cancer and it had spread to the lymph nodes.  They would schedule the surgery for September 17th and after that arrange for her chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  She would undoubtedly lose her hair in the process.  Of course the news stunned both her and her husband.  However, when she got home she noticed something.  All of her African violets were in bloom.  They had never bloomed before, just a bunch of green leaves.  Yet, there they were all of them showing off their various colorful flowers.  She took it as a sign that she was going to survive her cancer.

 

            That afternoon, her brother-in-law came over to see her.  He was all excited!  Two years ago he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but it hadn’t gotten any worse in the meantime and now he was there to announce that he was going to start dating after the death of his wife a few years earlier.  Again, she took his announcement as a sign.  In the midst of the negatives she’d heard in the morning she immediately saw two signs of hope.  Things were going to be all right!

 

            When Dr. Carroll came in to put Barney to sleep she said something very profound.  She told us how God brings pets into our lives for a specific reason.  We may be grieving over a loss, are in need of companionship, or have just gotten married and a pet is a precursor to having children.  Whatever the reason, pets give us unconditional love and, in return, we are to treat them as the gifts they are from God.  When the time comes it’s time to give them back to God in thanksgiving for all the good they gave us. As the bumper sticker says, “feel the love of a cold nose!”  And with that Barney was gone.

 

            Our text today shows us a very tenacious woman.  Her daughter is ill and she has come seeking a cure.  Her tenacity shines through, since she’s Greek and probably a pagan.  Jesus tells her plainly that his ministry is first to the Jews, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”  It would be like someone coming to Harundale asking for assistance and we would ask them first if they were a member of the church.  They would answer “no.”  We would then ask them if they were a Christian.  They would answer “no” again.  We would then tell them that we were very sorry but we couldn’t do anything for them.

 

            But Jesus leaves a loophole in his talking to this pagan Gentile.  “Dogs” in English is too strong a word.  It sounds pejorative.  The word in Greek is “puppy” or “lapdog.” What Jesus does by using the word in that way is to imply that she may still be in the family.  On hearing this, the woman loses no time, but comes right back at him, “Sir, even the puppies under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”  In other words, sometimes it’s better to settle for scraps.  With that Jesus sends her on her way, the demon has left her daughter.

 

            Before the surgery on the 17th she was told that she would need to have a MRI.  That way they could detect the extent of the cancer and the MRI would tell them exactly what they needed to excise.  She didn’t greet the MRI with much enthusiasm either, since she was terribly claustrophobic and was afraid of being in a confined space.  At any rate she knew it had to be done and scheduled it for last Thursday to get it over with.

 

            She had to lay on her stomach with her head resting on a pillow.  The procedure would take twenty minutes and she had to lie perfectly still.  When she entered the tube she felt some pangs of panic, but just then a voice spoke to her.  “Tell me about your trip to Europe!”  She could see no face, no lips were moving, but it was the soft voice of a woman.  Two years ago she and her husband had taken a trip to Europe.  Suddenly all the things they had done became crystal clear in her mind.  She told the voice about the cafes in Paris.  The voice wanted to hear next about Rome and so she told her about the catacombs.  The voice knew she hadn’t visited the Coliseum and wanted her to explain why.  The voice said not to leave her yet, but rather to tell her about the Swiss Alps and why she liked the valley so much.  Again, don’t leave yet, what about London, tell me about London.  The whole time in the tube was taken in the company of this voice who seemed to know quite a bit about her and certainly was a calming influence.  Soon she heard the voice of the technician telling her that the procedure was over and out she came.

 

            She knew she had to tell me about her experience, for somehow I would understand and help her to know that the cancer wasn’t playing tricks with her brain.  I told her about the woman in Mark’s gospel and how she stood up to Jesus and in turn her daughter was healed.  I told her how at certain times in our lives God knows of our need and may send signs of God’s presence to comfort us.  What she’d experienced during the MRI was one of those signs.  What she saw with her African violets when she got home from the doctors last Saturday was one of those signs.  Her brother-in-law’s visit was one of those signs.

 

            Sometimes we have to settle for scraps.  God doesn’t always act in some cataclysmic way, causing the earth to change and the mountains to swell in the heart of the sea.  More often than not God acts in those quiet ways, those morsels children drop to their pets waiting patiently under the table.  She knew she would have to deal with her cancer, but she also knows that in the end God would make her well.  And so God will do!

Thanks to be God,

Amen