A way to live a mission at work (paid, not paid, or volunteer)
At work, be caring and fair with everyone regardless of their convictions about religion.
Based on Matthew 15:21-28
A way to live a mission at work (paid, not paid, or volunteer) based on Matthew 15:21-28, a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, 8/20/17.
Jesus goes into gentile [non-Jewish people] territory. By their customs, Jews were to have no contact with non-Jews. A gentile woman, a Canaanite, shouts to Jesus, “Heal my daughter.” He does not answer and his disciples ask Jesus to send her away. Jesus says that he was sent only to the members of Israel who were lost. [He may have been questioning the custom of avoiding the gentiles.] The woman kneels before him and pleads for help. Jesus answers that he should not help because it would be like throwing away Jewish teaching [like giving the children’s food—Jewish teaching—to the dogs.] The woman persists saying the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. Jesus praises her persistence—“great is your faith”—and heals her daughter. [In Matthew 8:5-13, Jesus heals a slave, presumably a gentile, of the Roman Centurion, obviously a gentile. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Christians followed Paul’s teaching that gentiles should be included in the church.]
A theme: Include people who are different from you.
