What a week it’s been, huh? Just last Sunday, I was preaching to you about the Neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia that ended so tragically in murder and countless fights.
Throughout the week, the tensions mounted with questions of what should be said about it and what constitutes free speech, and are Nazis really such bad guys anyway?
Then, yesterday, in Boston, the white supremacists were to have another rally in Boston. If the Boston Globe is to be believed, they counted about fifty white supremacists and roughly 40,000 counter-protesters - just to show what this country really thinks of them.
The bad guys - and it is fair to say from the pulpit that there is nothing good in Nazi or white supremacist ideology - were sent packing. So, that takes care of that, right? All’s well that ends well, right?
Um… I think you know the answer to that.
If you don’t, maybe our scriptures can help. Let's look at Joseph in Genesis. Remember from last week how his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt because they were afraid their positions of privilege were threatened by Jospeh?
Well, after a series of events in which Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh’s dreams, the Pharaoh promoted Joseph from slave to number 2 in the country. Which would be a nice ending to the story. And it gets better when famine drives Joseph's brothers down to Egypt to beg for assistance.
This is where Joseph chooses mercy and forgiveness over vengeance. Joseph's family moves down to be with him - and yes! - All’s well that ends well! Except that we know what happens next. Joseph eventually dies, and his people end up in slavery for 400 years.
The Gospel tells a similar tale. Jesus, who has just taught his disciple that it's the words that come out of our mouth that defile us (not the food that goes in), next proves the point. When a Canaanite woman begs him to heal her daughter, he refuses, and in the process insults her. He says it would be wrong for him to throw the children's food to the dogs.
Nevertheless, she persisted, saying that even dogs get the scraps that fall from the table. And in an instantaneous change of attitude - a change so fast that in anyone else it would be a miracle - Jesus says “Great is your faith!” Then he heals her daughter. All’s well that ends well!
Only, it doesn't.
Because even if Jesus and this foreign woman actually collaborated to prove Jesus’ point about our words being what corrupt us - even if he called her a dog knowing she would shame him with her response - that has not stopped people from demeaning others by calling them names - and of course, much worse.
It has never stopped. In this country, the Civil War officially ended slavery, and we thought, well that's over! All’s well that ends well. Until Jim Crow, and Segregation, and Sundowner laws and red lining and targeted mass incarceration and the rise - again - of the KKK.
World War II ended in absolute victory, until we discovered that there are Nazis who live among us to this day.
But that’s okay. We had rallies across the country this week to condemn hatred and to support justice really, and we showed those Nazis and Klansmen that they don't have a chance - not in America. Yesterday should've been the knockout punch.
But of course, the fight is not over. It's never been over - and it never will be. There will always be those who want power over others, to dominate them, to squash them. Racial or religious minorities are easier, of course, but even in homogeneous cultures, cruelty always tries to take over.
It is a constant battle.
And here's the worst part. The main battle is not with them. It's within us. Because much of the time, the hurtful words and more hurtful actions come from us good folks who would never spew hatred.
Which may have been Jesus’ point exactly. With regard to race in America, it's often the quiet stuff that does the most damage. For example, do you know what two of the most segregated cities in the country are? Boston and - you guessed it - New York.
How could that be? By quiet and systematic exclusion of different groups. Real estate agents direct clients of color to certain areas, police harass people of color more in some neighborhoods than others, banks don't give loans, polling stations are closed in neighborhoods where people of color live. Sometimes we call this gentrification. Just this week it was reported that the City of Poughkeepsie is contemplating reducing service in a largely black neighborhood and increasing it in a white neighborhood that depends on the bus less. I don't know if that's really what's happening here, but it is something that has taken place across the country.
So yes, what comes out of us is often what defiles - even when we can't believe it.
Now, I don't know if this will encourage or discourage you, but this isn't just a racial thing; it's true in every aspect of life. When I was young naive, I asked a friend who attends AA meetings how much longer he would have to go. He gave me a funny look, so I said, “Well, you're not drinking anymore. When can you stop going? When are you healed?”
He said, “Never.”
And I, in my foolishness, said, “Well what good is it if you're never better?”
The answer, of course, is that getting better, being healed, is a lifelong process. Whether as individuals in our souls or as a society, there is no such thing as having a permanent fix. We can only work to improve things.
This should never lead to despair or complacency. We don't give up simply because we can't make everything perfect. Because we can make things better. Even though relations between Jews and Canaanites continued to be tense, the woman whose daughter Jesus healed would forever be thankful - and those Jews who were present would see Canaanites just a little differently.
In the same way, we can't say, “Oh well. It’ll always be this way - no point in trying.” That is not the way of Jesus who asks us to constantly look within.
So no, all’s not well that ends well because it never ends - not in this earth, anyway. But our struggle for God's love in this world will see its completion in the Kingdom of God. And then yes, all will be well. Amen.
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