The Canaanite Woman Wants In

In light of today's Gospel - from Matthew 15 - in which the pagan woman with a demon-possessed daughter seeks the healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ, and doesn't take 'no' for an answer - I invite your response to the following pamphlet from Integrity. There is a compelling short piece in this pamphlet by the Rev. Michael Hopkins, whose sermons I have often appreciated. It seems that the thing being requested here falls short of something that would go in the Book of Common Prayer - or would be in any way 'required' or even 'fully accepted' by the Episcopal Church. Of course it goes beyond the kind of moratorium asked for at the recent Lambeth Conference.

In light of today's reading from Matthew, the valid question, though, apart from Lambeth, and Communion issues, is still worth asking and exploring - and listening to people on different sides about. That question is this: 'If Jesus Christ accepted the Canaanite woman, If Jesus Christ revealed himself as Messiah to the Samaritan woman, If God showed Peter a blanket filled with all sorts of things formerly abominable and called the newly clean ... Is there nothing new we can do? Can we still not include people into the full life of the Church -- people who are seeking nothing more than the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ and to affirm their lives of faithful commitment? Is it not possible that people given to a certain affectional ordering are being regarded as thusly abominable based on interpretations of a few passages of Scripture which rightfully do not apply in their case? Is it not possible that we can recognize them as part of the house of Israel - in which we all find our gracious home by virtue of the power of invitation which Jesus the Christ himself has to give?

Here's the pamphlet - it's challenging to many, I know, but in light of Lambeth 1998: 1.10 (which called for the listening process), give it a read.