Opening Fort Apache (Reflections on Pentecost 16, Year B)

Henry Fonda and John Wayne in Fort Apache, RKO 1948

“This place is like Fort Apache,” says Wayne, the faithful sexton of my congregation in Northeast Philadelphia. “Why,” he asks, “are we doing a ‘Neighborhood Day?’ The neighbors don’t give a crap about this place!”

He might be right. I think Wayne sees our little parish as the besieged garrison in the 1948 classic John Ford western Fort Apache. I began to find this allusion weirdly coincidental when I saw the movie again and noted that the colonel in command (played by Henry Fonda) is named Owen, his faithful adjutent is played by John Wayne, and Shirley Temple plays the colonel’s daughter whose first name is Philadelphia. And yes, we do seem to be a little Lutheran island in a vast Roman sea, but I’m not entirely sure the neighbors are bloodthirsty savages! True, many of them probably view the church property as little more than the local soccer field, free parking lot, trash dump, and doggie toilet. I still refuse, however, to believe that they’re actually hostile.

But sometimes we just don’t want to have anything to do with the folks around us. A lot of little churches, I guess, get set in their ways and want to be protected from their neighbors and have much less of a desire to reach out to them. I’ve even had some push-back from more traditional parishioners at times over stuff like outdoor worship services, our annual Neighborhood Day, or our “Church Has Left the Building” service day.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, God’s people are supposed to be set apart from the tribes around them.[i] I guess that’s why Jesus makes the wisecrack he does in the Gospel lesson appointed in the RCL for Pentecost 16 (Mark 7:24-37). Suggesting the Syro-phoenician lady and her daughter are “dogs” isn’t exactly what we look for in a Savior. Maybe Jesus is just being a good Jewish boy and keeping away from outside influences like his mother probably taught him to do.  

But then he does an extraordinary thing. He breaks with the tradition of religious and national insularity and shows mercy to this foreign neighbor. This must’ve been disappointing to some of his followers who were really hoping they could still have a class of people to look down on. Yet Jesus sees that God’s love isn’t reserved only for those who pass some kind of theological litmus test. He doesn’t care what pews they sit in or if they sit in any at all. In Jesus, there is no class of people whom it is okay to despise.

Jesus’ radical inclusivity demonstrated in this action of healing is why churches reach out to neighborhoods. It’s why ecumenical organizations exist and why my congregation tries to reach out to our foreign neighbors be they the Haitians of our “tenant” Seventh Day Adventist congregation or the South Asian Muslim community around the corner.

There’s a second healing story in the appointed lesson. It’s the story of a deaf man with a speech impediment who is healed by the touch of Jesus (Verses 31-37). There are two ways we can look at this story. It can be seen as prophecy fulfilled, or we could look at it allegorically. Since we have time (I’m not doing anything, are you?), let’s look at it both ways.

The RCL marries this Gospel lesson with a reading from Isaiah 35:4-7a. The context here is a passage in which the prophet says that when the Hebrew people are restored from exile to Zion, lots of cool stuff will happen. Verse 5 reads:

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
   and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 

then the lame shall leap like a deer,
   and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

The folks who saw Jesus heal this man must’ve thought of this passage from Isaiah and thought it was a sign of the coming to pass of the prophecy. Israel was about to be restored and returned to her former greatness and glory. But Jesus knows that his purpose in this healing has nothing to do with national pride or a sense of communal identity. He’s not passing out any “Make Israel Great Again” ball caps, because his work of mercy and compassion is an end in itself. This is why he tells the crowds not to go around talking about the healing (v. 36). He knows they’re going to misinterpret it. Why? Because that’s what we do. We interpret God’s blessings through the lens of our own desires and opinions.[ii]

There might also be a cool allegorical lesson here too. The deaf guy has a speech impediment because he can’t hear himself speak. I get this because I have a wonderful young parishioner who’s profoundly deaf. Her mom tells me that sometimes when the young lady doesn’t wear her hearing aids she speaks a lot louder than normal because she can’t judge her own volume. It’s kind of a common issue for folks in the DHH community.[iii] It’s really hard to speak plainly for others when you don’t hear.

Jesus once again ignores tradition and comes into physical contact with a culturally despised disabled person. He touches the guy and tells him to “be opened.”

“Be opened.” That’s a great exhortation, isn’t it? As you might’ve guessed, there’s an awful lot going on in American politics and American Christianity these days which makes  me angry enough to foam at the mouth and bark like a rabid Chihuahua. But maybe, if I’m opened to hear the thoughts and feelings of those with whom I disagree, my ears and heart might learn where they’re coming from and my tongue may be loosened to speak words more pleasing to the ears of God. After all, we can’t really speak unless we’ve first really listened.

Be opened. As people and as church. And be healed. Here we have two examples of Jesus as healer. Maybe a good question to ponder or discuss this week would be: How is Jesus (and your faith) a healing power in your life? And how does Jesus make you an open-eared healer for your neighbor?

Think about it and get back to me, will you? And thanks again for visiting.

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[i] See Leviticus 20:26 and Deuteronomy 26:18-19

[ii] In verse 37 the people say “He has done everything well.” The word “well” in Greek is kalos. This word can mean “good,” “right,” “honorable,” or “beautiful,” but it also means “proper” or “fitting.” This suggests to me that they see this action as “fitting” with the prophecies and things they expected the Messiah who would restore Israel to do.

[iii] That’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing, but you probably know that already.