Y’all……..recently there was a congresswoman on television and during her interview she stated proudly that “We have Christian foundations as a nation,”  and she went on to reiterate that “the United States is a Christian nation.”  I don’t know for certain about you, but I, for one, am heartily tired of hearing this blatantly false and hypocritical garbage from people who should know better.  Flat out, our Founding Fathers made quite certain, in writing, more than once, that folks would know that the United States was not “a Christian nation.”  So before we go any further, let’s just get right to THAT point:

The U.S. Constitution is a wholly secular document. It contains no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ. In fact, the Constitution refers to religion only twice in the First Amendment, which, one, bars laws “respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” and two, in Article VI, which prohibits “religious tests” for public office. Both of these provisions are evidence that our country was not founded as officially Christian.

And then there is the Treaty of Tripoli. This Treaty is often cited, in discussions regarding the role of religion in United States government, for a clause in Article 11 of the English language American version which states unequivocally that “the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.

So there’s that.

What, you might ask, has brought this diatribe of mine on?  The scriptures appointed for today.  From the Hebrew Scriptures we hear from the Prophet Isaiah:

Thus says the LORD:  Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed.
The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him,
loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants—all who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant,
them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

And from the Gospel of Matthew, we hear the often problematic and misunderstood episode of Jesus and the Canaanite woman: 

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus’ disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

On the surface of it, it really sounds like Jesus is kind of a jerk, no?  I mean, this Jesus who is all about love ignores this woman, then is calling her a dog, right?  And refusing to help her at first, yes? 

Actually?  No.  And no, no, and no again.  So often in our reading of the scriptures the English language itself is the problem.  What is printed on the page is not exactly what is meant.  You’ll see that in a minute, and things like this are why it is so important to actually STUDY scripture rather than just reading it and taking it at face value, coz the meanings are often misconstrued. 

Jesus is not insulting the woman. When he speaks of the “children” and the “dogs,” he is using a gentle metaphor, not a slur, to show the order of his mission:  God sent him first to Israel, and then the blessings would expand to the rest of the world. The Greek word He uses refers to small household pets, not wild street dogs, showing the tone is not harsh. The exact word Jesus used here, in Greek, was kunarion, meaning “small dog” or “pet dog.” This is a completely different word from the term kuon, used to refer to unspiritual people or to an “unclean” animal.  See?  Ya gotta kinda dig in to it, in order to understand what’s going on here.  Jesus isn’t rejecting her; he is drawing out her faith in front of his disciples. If he intended to belittle her, he would have dismissed her entirely, but instead he engages her, listens to her, and ultimately praises her, saying, “Woman, you have great faith!” he immediately heals her daughter.

Now, a word about the disciples.  How did they feel about the woman?  What did they say?  Note how they don’t wanna be bothered:  “Send her away.”  Kinda sounds like “Deport her” doesn’t it?  But Jesus doesn’t do that.  This story shows that Jesus lifts her up, not tears her down.  It shows that we, like Jesus, should do likewise.  It shows that  God’s love should be shown to all, regardless of background or belief or ethnicity.  It shows that we, like Jesus, should show God’s love and mercy to all.

To wit:  When Jesus talks about him coming for the Jews, he never says that He came only to save the Jews. He came to save the whole world.  Everybody.  No exceptions.  When He says that He came FOR the Jews, he meant that he came to focus his teachings and his ministry on Israel so that they could be better prepared to then turn around and help the rest of the world.  It would be like if your managers at work had a meeting that you tried to barge in on. One of them might say, “This meeting is for managers only, and you need to leave.” Obviously that meeting is only for the managers so that those managers can better lead and guide you.

So what is being said here is that everyone, not just a select group of folks in this, or any country or group of people, who claim to have a monopoly on Christianity, on faith, or on Jesus, but everyone, is welcome at the table.  That Jesus and what he teaches is for us all, and our faith and ACTING in that faith, DEMONSTRATING that faith, are what is important.  We are challenged to welcome all people, to love all people, regardless of background, ethnicity, gender identity, socio-economic status, sexuality, political party, or anything else that would cause us to discriminate.

If we want to boast that the US is a Christian nation, then, in the words of the National Catholic Reporter, we should “work towards feeding the hungry and ensuring that every person has access to basic nutrition and safe housing.  We should practice radical hospitality toward immigrants, refugees, and the marginalized.  We should treat health care as a fundamental human right available to all people and prioritize the poor, orphans, and widows without demanding self-sufficiency as a condition for mercy.  We should seek mercy and rehabilitation and center legal and prison systems on restoration, truth, and healing rather than pure retribution.  We should practice non-violence by rejecting militarism, retaliation, and the urge to use state power to crush political enemies.  We should humble power and, above all else, acknowledge that the core message of the Gospel focuses on transformed individual hearts and spiritual truth rather than enforcing religious conformity via government mandate.” 

After all, God has said that his “house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”  Amen.