Sacred Breeze Ministries - What the World Needs Now
Engaging Mindfulness, Spirituality, and Faith for Liberation and Creative Awakening
A Story of Jezebel and Radical Acceptance
This insight is a sermon shared with Jensen Beach Community Church UCC in Jensen Beach Florida on August 16th 2026 https://jbccucc.org/. The video of the service can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-Uv0KzXDMU.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 15:21-28
21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’[f] table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.
In our Old Testament reading for today, there was a terrible family tragedy behind the story of Joseph reconnecting with his family. Joseph’s brothers, in a fit of jealousy, threw Joseph into a pit and left him to die. One of the brothers, Reuben, wanted to rescue him, but another brother, Judah, suggested they sell him as a slave to traders instead. And that’s how Joseph ended up in Egypt. Many years later, Joseph grew up to be a trusted advisor to the Pharoah in Egypt. When a drought came across Israel, Joseph’s estranged family came to Egypt to buy food, and that’s how the family was reunited.
But Joseph didn’t forgive his brothers immediately. He gave them the food they needed, but he didn’t make it easy for them. Eventually, his love for his family overcame his resentments, and they were reunited.
I can relate to this story, because my own family experienced a longtime separation. After I was born, my parents went to live with my Dad’s family for awhile. My Dad’s family were Indiana Mennonite farmers, and my mom was an outsider of Swedish descent, from the Chicago area. As an outsider in a fairly insular society, from my Mom’s perspective she had trouble gaining acceptance.
It wasn’t just the family circumstances that challenged my mom. She was an Xray technician in the early 1960’s, and my Dad was a lab tech, they met at a training hospital in Elmhurst Illinois where they both worked. When they moved back to Indiana, my mom took a job at the hospital in Kokomo. The hospital she had worked at in Illinois had the latest and safest technology and techniques for performing Xray photography on patients. The hospital in Kokomo Indiana, not so much. And, because she was a young woman, the Kokomo hospital didn’t want to hear what she had to say about making the procedure safer for everyone. Once again, she was faced with being an outsider, and a woman besides, in a place where she had trouble gaining acceptance.
To the Mennonite farm community and the hospital where she worked, it seemed my mom would always be an outsider. Then my sister was born, and acceptance came easier, for awhile anyway. Then, one year later, there was a car accident, and my grandmother who I never really knew passed away. The tragedy divided the family. My parents moved to Wisconsin, and the family didn’t reunite until over 20 years later when I had children. Actually, it was my wife who suggested that we contact my grandfather and re-establish connections. And once we did, my Dad was able to reconnect with his father, his sister, and his 2 brothers, and they remained in contact throughout the years.
Its funny how things like family traditions, tragedies, and prejudices can cause long term separation. Its also hopeful that healing and reconciliation are always possible.
Let’s fast forward, or backward, to Jesus’s time. Women had it pretty rough back then as well. In Jesus’s time, in the Jewish culture, women were considered property. A woman whose husband had divorced her or died, without an adult male child to provide, was left without means to provide for herself or her young children. Survival often meant begging, or meeting basic needs through adultery or prostitution. And then, of course, there were laws against such behaviors, laws that could get a person stoned to death in a public square. Hard times to be a woman.
Jesus, having been born to a mother who was pregnant when her husband married her, would have been keenly aware of these prejudices and how they affected his mother. Knowing how cruel children can be, Jesus himself may have been subjected to derisive name calling and bullying.
If we look at Jesus’s interactions with women through the Gospels, we can see that he understood the challenges they faced.
When I first read today’s Gospel, I wondered to myself, why was Jesus so rough on her? Sure, she was from outside Judea, but I thought Jesus loved everyone. So why the hard time, why did she have to grovel, and associate herself with being a dog who licks crumbs from the ground? Seems pretty harsh.
Anybody remember what ancient nation the towns of Tyre and Sidon are associated with? Phoenicia. And does anyone remember what place Phoenicia has in Judaic history? Ever hear the name Jezebel? She was the wife of an Israeli king, Ahab. And she was Phoenician. And what did she do while she was married to Ahab? She brought in priests and altars from her homeland that worshipped Baal. In the book 1 Kings the story is told of how Elijah the prophet encountered Jezebel and her prophets, and it wasn’t pretty.
To this day, the name Jezebel is used as an insult against women. When you hear someone being called a Jezebel, what do you imagine? Probably adultery, perhaps prostitution, certainly betrayal. And Ahab’s wife Jezebel didn’t mess around with some of those later commandments, she went right to commandment number 1, have no other gods before the God of Israel.
So when Jesus encountered this woman from Tyre and Sidon, there was a lot of historical prejudice connected with her. Not just for being a woman, and an outsider, but for being associated with the memory of Jezebel, as well.
Was it fair? No. Are any prejudices fair? No. So, why do you think Jesus didn’t just ignore the prejudices and heal the woman’s daughter? Why was she required to grovel to gain his favor?
Well, there are two ways to look at this. One way, which is controversial, considers the fact that Jesus was a human being. And remember, Christian orthodox doctrine states that Jesus was and is fully human AND fully Divine. As a human Judean male of his time, Jesus would have carried the same deep cultural prejudices inside him, prejudices that had been present in the stories and traditions he had cherished from his childhood on. As a human, with Divine Empathy guiding his every word and action, how could he not be moved at the sight of a woman begging and groveling on behalf of her child? In this scenario, Jesus was inspired to look past his long term prejudices and extend God’s Grace outside the bounds of people within the Jewish tradition.
The other way to view this situation, which is less controversial, is to be reminded that the things Jesus did were not just for the people he cared for and healed. The things Jesus said and did were to serve as examples for all of humanity, for all time. Had he not acknowledged the depth of the prejudice against this woman, he wouldn’t have conveyed the depth of Grace required to get past those deep, long standing prejudices.
Notice what didn’t happen in today’s Gospel. Notice Jesus didn’t demand a pledge of loyalty, he didn’t ask her to renounce Baal and accept him as her Lord and Savior. He didn’t even ask her to become Jewish. He didn’t ask about her income, her citizenship status, and he didn’t ask if she had a substance abuse problem. This woman openly admitted she was “Other,” by saying she only sought the crumbs from the table, not a place at the table.
By opening his ministry to her, and healing her daughter, Jesus invited her to the table. She was no longer other. That doesn’t mean she met all the Orthodox checkboxes that would make her a “Good Jewish” or “Good Christian person.” It just means she was accepted for who she was, where she was, and with that she was worthy to receive the gift of God’s Grace.
Jesus extended that gift of inclusion toward all the women he encountered. And not only women, but Romans as well, and through his Disciples, Cyrenes, Greeks, Ethiopians, Egyptians, and many others. All this in addition to his love for the people of Judea. Jesus demonstrated a love that transcended boundaries, cultures, and prejudices. And by doing so, yes he gained followers, but he also provided an example for the world that accepts and includes people of all faiths and cultures.
I have this little chart at home that describes how every religion in the world expresses love of neighbor and Jesus’s Golden rule, to treat others as we wish to be treated. I will say this about Christianity, whereas other cultures may need to do a little digging to find these inclusive, unconditionally loving sentiments in their sacred traditions, I believe that Jesus said these things first and foremost, outright and in plain language, for all the world to hear. And he demonstrated unconditional inclusive and even self-sacrificing love as well, throughout his teachings, his ministry, and in his life, his death, and his resurrection.
In today’s gospel, Jesus acknowledged his culture’s deep-seated prejudices against women in general, and against women who others might label as Jezebel. I wonder, what kind of deep-seated prejudices do we harbor? As Americans, as Christians, and as human beings?
Society, of course, holds major prejudices against LGBTQ people, prejudices against women are still there, and against people of color and immigrants. There are prejudices against Muslim people, Jewish people, Hindus and Buddhists, against Catholics and liberal and conservative Christians. Ironically, and I think shamefully, there are strong prejudices against vulnerable people, whether undocumented, homeless, or just struggling to make ends meet.
Within the last decade, prejudices have been rising against people who wear red hats and against people who wear blue hats, of all things. It sounds kind of like a Dr. Seuss story, doesn’t it? “Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars.”
And if we want to be honest with ourselves, some of these prejudices resonate with us, myself included, and within this church community.
Now let’s turn the table a little and ask what kinds of prejudices people hold against churches, and people who attend churches? Anything come to mind?
I have heard people say churches can be judgmental and controlling, trying to tell people what they “should” think and believe. That’s a big word there, should. If we want to become mindful of each our own prejudices and resentments, just think about circumstances where we use the word should. I’ve heard people say churches are only in it for the money, which is kind of funny because there are a lot better ways to make money than in ministry. You might be better off investing in crypto currency these days. I’ve also heard people say churches are not Christian enough, and everyone has their own idea about what it means to be “Christian enough.”
Honestly, I have to say when it comes to acknowledging prejudices and extending unconditional inclusive love, Jensen Beach Community Church does pretty well. Meeting the needs of the community to the best of our ability without testing for faith, income, sobriety, immigration status, or anything else demonstrates hearts inclined toward Grace. Being open and affirming toward LGBTQ persons, and sharing an open communion without any “Purity tests” also demonstrates open and welcoming hearts.
Let me ask this as a challenge. If a Baal worshiping Phoenician woman joined us in our worship service, would she be welcome? I’m not saying we need to accept Baal in our worship, but would she meet a community, and through us meet a Jesus, who loves her just as she is, and where she is? How about a Muslim family? How about a curious child from a Jewish family? How about a group of robed Buddhist monks? How about a Wicken person? How about a red hatted conservative person seeking a sense of order in a diverse and confusing world?
Let’s go one step further, I think most of us can say yes, all these people are welcome, to visit, but would they be accepted, for who they are, and where they are? Would they feel accepted enough to come back, week after week? Would they be able to tell their families how we and the Jesus we worship welcome and accept them for who they are, where they are, regardless of their faith, ethnicity, color of skin, culture, background, political persuasion, citizenship status, or sexual orientation? Its kind of like asking, if this person married one of our children or grand children, would we welcome them into our family?
Because, I believe, at its heart, that’s what a church is. A family. And that’s what everyone in this world needs, honestly. A place where they can feel accepted. Not just welcome, but accepted, as a part of the community, and as part of the family. Not for who they could be or might be or even who they want to be, but for who they are. Welcomed, accepted, and loved by us, our community, and through us knowing that they are loved by Jesus.
I believe that if we can do that, if we can transform our welcome into acceptance, the pews will fill, even in the middle of summer. I believe we would stand out compared to other churches in the community, and word would spread. Jensen Beach Community Church is a place where you are not only welcome, but accepted, and loved, unconditionally. I believe that if we practice radical Acceptance and Grace, we could expand to multiple services to meet multiple needs, traditional, contemporary, and my favorite, a quiet, contemplative and Spiritual service. I believe this is possible. As I believe that through Christ, all things are possible.
Now, as I close this sermon, let’s take a moment and silently contemplate what that would mean. Let’s consider our own prejudices, let’s consider the needs of those who carry prejudice against us, and let us imagine what this church might be if we could find it in our hearts to practice radical acceptance and unconditional love.