Genesis 45: 4,5; Matthew 15: 22-28

An outsider’s view

Cabdrivers in Washington DC see often drive from National airport along to Potomac and the Iwo Jima memorial to Arlington.  They drive along the George Washington Parkway.  When a Washington foreign born cabdriver (they all seem foreign born) was taking his citizenship exam, they asked him: “Who was the first president of the US. His answer: “George Washington Parkway.” An outsider’s view of Us history from the roadmap. It seems there is a new collection out about the marx brothers, Groucho, Harpo and Chico. Will Friedwald reviews (WSJ, August 12, 2014). He writes:” There was always something “other,” something “outsider” about the Marx brothers-they seemed to belong to an entirely different universe, not only from the other actors in the movies, but from each other.. The member sof other comedy teams, ……. were so similar you often couldn’t tell them apart. Others may have had physical contrats-Laurel and Hardy say- or Abbott and Costello-but those seemed to be half of a whole. The Marxes, on the other hand, could have been members of three different teams: one visual, on verbal and the other ethnic and musical. But what ultimately united Harpo, Groucho and Chico was a shared sense of (subversive) realism-each was, in his own way-(anarchically absurdist).  Friends, the Marx brothers in a way did not fit in, but by doing so gave us a new perspective.  They were outsiders looking in.

In Matthew Jesus goes into Tyre and Sidon, out of his land, for a respite, a mental vacation.  A woman comes up to him and asks Him to heal her daughter. Jesus says that He serves His own people and she rebukes Him. It is one of the only instances where Jesus is caught speechless and flatfooted.  The woman embarrasses Him by comparing herself to dogs who get crumbs from under the table.  Jesus is jolted into a new perspective by an outsider at the moment he himself wants to be an outsider, an invisible celebrity.

Friends, Americans have been preoccupied this last week with the passing of Robin Williams.  It is hard to see someone lose heart when so many are counting on him to cheer the up and take life a bit more lightly, for we all take it so seriously sometimes. We are always seeing or hearing about people suffering and hating and being hated.  He was one of those people who took us out of that.  Robin Williams seemed to always try to keep the world at bay with his frantic humor.  But what he was publicly was different from the quiet, unconfident man he was in private.  It was as if he was a stranger, an outsider to the world that he was so embraced by.   People have been sharing Robin Williams insider-outsider view of his Episcopalian church on facebook.   This is what he said:” 10. No snake handling. 9. You can believe in dinosaurs (meaning evolution is not a problem). 8. Male and female God created them; male and female we ordain them. 7. You don’t have to check your brains at the door. 6. Pew aerobics (Episcopalians kneel a lot). 5. Church year is color-coded (they take the colors of the church year much more seriously). 4. Free wine on Sunday (they take communion every week).3. All of the pageantry – none of the guilt. 2. You don’t have to know how to swim to get baptized (meaning baptism with sprinkling not dunking 1. No matter what you believe, there’s bound to be at least one other Episcopalian who agrees with you.” (Ebb and Flow, St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church News, Santa Monica CA, September 2002).

Friends, in Genesis Joseph is the consummate outsider who becomes the consummate insider.  The Hebrew sold as a slave becomes the right hand man to the Pharaoh and saves his people from famine.  The outsider-insider theme is central to the story as his brothers beg for food aid without knowing who Joseph is.  They who made him the outsider, now they are the empoverished outsiders in this rich, abundant land.

Sometimes we find ourselves outsiders. Maybe it’s at a party.  Maybe it’s at work.  Maybe it’s on the street.  Maybe even in our own family.  Even Jesus found Himself an outsider in his own country, a Prophet not accepted in His own land.

Sometimes we are the insiders.  Sometimes outsiders come to us with huge insight that jolts us and stuns us.  It unsettles us.  We need to be aware of this, for when we are outside of our comfort zone that is when wisdom comes and insight.  The Christian faith is all about being outsiders, looking at the world with a special, unique lens of hope and salvation. It is when the Church becomes the insider that we must be careful. That is when we get complacent and arrogant and we no longer pay attention to  the voice of the outsider and we stop learning.  May God speak in ways we least expect.