Well, it's been a while since I've done my theology blog--mission trips and moving tend to purge my creativity for some reason.
But, I'm back with just a short musing on this week's text. I didn't have to preach this Sunday, but I suppose the theologian in me can't help but think about such things when I look at the weekly readings. This week's reading was from Matthew 15, about the Canaanite woman who begged Jesus to heal her demon-possessed child. "And how does this relate to the Olympics?" you may be asking if you read the title of my blog. No, the athletes are not demon possessed (though one has to wonder if China didn't sell their souls to the dark prince for a few of their victories!) :-)
Several things, however, have struck me as I've watched these Olympics: First, the men's gymnastics team, and how exuberant they were to win the bronze medal. The next, the women's gymnastics team and watching the tears and disappointment on their faces as they "settled" for a silver. And then there was the Swedish wrestler who left his bronze medal lying on the mat in protest (resulting in him getting kicked out of Beijing). And of course, there's Michael Phelps...'nuff said about that! This idea of "perfection" that the Olympics creates is both fascinating and thrilling to watch, but also bothersome on many levels. (Nothing more bothersome than the girl that sang at the opening ceremonies that they wouldn't show because they didn't feel she was "cute" enough!) Now, don't get me wrong, I love cheering these athletes on, and I feel all warm and fuzzy inside when the Americans do well. I confess--I'm guilty of some of the Olympic hype. I was jumping up and down with excitement that first night with the men's 4x100 relay win over France.
However, in the midst of watching all this, I read the scripture reading for this week, and couldn't help but think how similar the two situations were.
The Olympics are all about expectation and living up to this ideal of perfection. There are the 'preferred' athletes that are expected to win. For those who expect to win, and do--it's a feeling of accomplishment. But for those who are expected to win...and DON'T... you can see the devastation on their faces. It's not that they're not winners... it's that they didn't win the GOLD. They still won a medal, but it wasn't the medal they were expecting or hoping for. Though nothing tears at our heartstrings more than when some underdog who wasn't supposed to do anything at all winds up surprising everyone and winning an Olympic medal. (Anyone remember Tara Lipinski in the winter Olympics for figure skating back in 1998?)
Well, in a similar fashion, the Israelites were the "preferred" race of people, the people God had chosen to be His holy nation. They were the expected recipients of God's grace and favor. You would have expected them to be the "gold medalists" if you will. The top dogs--the ones upon whom God's face would shine and the world would revere--the Michael Phelps of holiness, or something like that. Ironically--the "gold medal" they were hoping for wasn't what they expected. They wanted a militaristic savior that would redeem all of Israel, set their nation atop all others and tear their enemies down. Instead--they got a carpenter who went around spouting things off like 'love your neighbor' and challenged their traditions and scriptural interpretations. Not quite what they expected. Jesus was, in their view, a disappointment as far as messiahs go.
Yet, here is this Canaanite woman--a woman who was unclean, a woman who was not an Israelite. A pagan. Someone to be despised and sent away. She ate pork, didn't wash her hands properly, and of course, worshipped idols. She was like...well, the Jamaican bobsled team. Yet, when Jesus points out her status as being something no higher than that of a dog, she seems content with that status and begs for whatever left-overs there might be from this "chosen" and preferred "holy" people of God. She'll take what she can get and will be grateful for whatever those "crumbs" from this "disappointing" messiah might be. Whatever healing or comfort that can be tossed her way--she'll take it.
The Olympics and society as a whole would seem to rail against what happens here. Begging for scraps? Hoping for whatever you can get? It seems to desperate. It seems so... lame. It seems so--imperfect. Yet... Jesus' response is that her faith is GREAT! Her willingness to humble herself and eat crumbs and scraps, and not be disappointed that she won't get the "full meal" so to speak, is rewarded!!
So I started then thinking of all those Olympic athletes that don't win medals. All those athletes that fall "short" of Olympic perfection. The ones that can smile and say, "I'm just happy to be competing in the Olympics," knowing they probably will never stand on that medal podium, compared to those who throw their medals down in disgust because it wasn't what they expected. It wasn't what their idea of perfection should be--they should have gotten gold, not silver or bronze.
Then you see the men's gymnastic team--ecstatic over... bronze? Well, they were like the Canaanite woman. They'll take what they can get. It was more than they expected and were happy to be bronze medalists.
We are all like that, too... recipients of the "crumbs" of God's grace. Bronze medalists. The expectation was that salvation would be for Israel and Israel alone--yet, this wasn't the case. Salvation wound up being for even the Canaanites, the "dogs" of society. Maybe we aren't all "gold medalists" when it comes to our Christian lives, but we certainly are humble recipients of a few crumbs and can be grateful for what we do actually receive by the mercy of God. It may not always be what we expect, or even sometimes what we want--but like those Olympians that state how happy they are to just be at the Olympics--no matter how the experience goes--we, too, should be grateful for what we receive from God--no matter how the experience goes. It sometimes may seem trite, and certainly seems like a hollow statement in the face of adversity, yet... perhaps we need to simply be searching for moments like the men who won the bronze medal--being excited and ecstatic over something wonderful and unexpected rather than wallowing when we have high expectations and are disappointed when we fall short.
I would have to say my life did not turn out the way I expected it to... it certainly wasn't the "gold medal performance" I had once hoped it would be. But something surprising and unusual has happened instead. Perhaps it wasn't what my idea of the "perfect" life would have been, but it has its own "golden" moments and like those Olympians who are happy just to be there, I'm happy just to be a part of this "life" experience--especially the unexpected parts. Because by being content with the "crumbs" of life, we ultimately get the "golden" prize of eternal life in communion with God.
