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"Gracious God, throughout the ages you transform sickness into health and death into life. Open us to the power of your presence, and make us a people ready to proclaim your promises to the whole world, through Jesus Christ, our healer and Lord. AMEN.
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 2 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
...14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
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Mark 7:24-30
24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26 Now the woman  was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." 28 But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29 Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go-the demon has left your daughter."30 So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
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Reflection
Carlton was a Korean War veteran, most likely suffering from PTSD. He was a big guy, in his 50's, shy, didn't say a lot. He came to church one Sunday and sat in the back. He was back the next Sunday, and I got his address and made a visit. He said he had been to the church down the street, but he was told he wasn't dressed appropriately (coat and tie were the norm in those days).
At St. Paul's, people didn't seem to notice how he was dressed. Carlton lived alone and survived on a monthly disability check. He certainly could not afford a coat and tie, and still eat and have a place to live.
Whenever I read the second chapter of James, today's second lesson, I think of Carlton. I think of God's gift of love and grace, God welcoming anyone and everyone. All are welcome. Jesus came and died for everyone. Unlike the world where the one with the most money or the best job gets what they want; while the poor, the disabled, the immigrant, those with no voice, get at best, the scraps and leftovers.
The first part of the gospel for today seems to be in conflict with this passage from James. Jesus rejects the Syrophoenician women referring to her as a dog. This is a tough passage, but in the context of the rest of the chapter, Jesus is actually making a radical and liberating statement about women, particularly Gentile women of his day. He is talking to a woman which was forbidden in that culture and time. She is a foreigner which is an even bigger taboo. Jesus uses words that shock us: "It is not fair," he says, "to take the children's food and throw it to the little dogs."
Yet the woman's love for her daughter and her staunch belief that Jesus can heal her daughter empower her to push past the humiliation and ask for Jesus' help. She is breaking all the mores and codes for women in that day. The story brings home the fact that Jesus came for everyone, not just the privileged, not just white Christian Americans, but everyone. Just as Jesus changed the perceived exclusiveness of the message of God's love, so we are invited to recognize our privilege to face our own prejudice. All are welcome in the kingdom!
That means everyone of us is welcome, but also each and every one of us is to welcome everyone. All are welcome, man or woman, black or white, gay or straight and everyone in between. God's love, grace and forgiveness is offered to everyone. It was offered to Jews first, then to everyone, and in today's world that includes Muslims, even atheists. The love and forgiveness are offered, all are welcome.
The writer of James reminds us, that the gift of grace from God to us is undeserved. We do nothing to earn it, but we are to pass it on. For me, as I wrestle with issues of poverty, immigration and health care in our nation, this passage reminds me that the needs of others cannot depend on whether they are people of means or not.
We are saved by Jesus, we are welcome to God's family. It is a gift of grace nothing we earned or deserve, given for all. It is by faith that we trust that promise and if in our faith we begin to get an inkling of what that gift means, our response to the gift, our thanks to God for that gift is active in our love for others.
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