The Genius of Bread Crumbs

“The Genius of Bread Crumbs”

Matthew 15:21–28

Perhaps you saw the most recent Tina Fey segment on Saturday Night Live? As with much of her work, Fey uses some course language to say some smart things and make insightful points. I’ll not quote her except for one of her concluding remarks: advising Americans on how to respond to future Neo-Nazi, KKK, and white supremacist marches, Fey said Treat these rallies like the opening of a thoughtful movie with two female leads—don’t show up. She added,

Let these morons scream into the empty air.

Speaking of foul language, what about what Jesus said in this morning’s scripture? In

English, we have a word that refers to a woman as a dog, don’t we? How then do we make sense of such a slur on the lips of our loving Lord?

In fairness, the Israelite envisioned themselves as sheep. And what do wild dogs do to those defenseless creatures? Jesus was marching, too, on His way to help the lost sheep of Israel.

One could interpret Jesus as applying Tina Fey’s advice to this Canaanite woman: let her go.

Don’t cause a scene.

On the one hand, I completely agree with Tina Fey. Let those morons scream into the empty air. Hate group thrive on attention. They want violence. In their words, the Alt-Right is ready for war. According to them, many more people have to die. We have a group of white men who are committed to violence and brutality.

It is also true that there are a growing number of people who are equally committed to violence against these white supremacists. Perhaps you have heard of the black clad Anti- fascists, many of whom believe the best way to stop a Nazi march is to punch a Nazi. My friend, who was in Charlottesville, described a group known as the Redneck Revolt. They are a group of armed and trained white men who are committed to fighting against the armed and trained white nationalists. It is easy to envision street brawls, if not much worse. We certainly don’t need to throw fuel on the fire. But what if our house is already burning and our loved ones are inside?

This is the case of Canaanite woman.

I would argue that desperate need of the Canaanite woman on behalf of her child entails her genius response to Jesus. She re-imagines the metaphor from one of scarcity (only enough food for certain people) to one of abundance—the Lord’s Table is so lavishly supplied that food falls to the floor! She bears witnesses to a God of abundance, rich in mercy, who supplies bread for all. In so doing, she bests Jesus! She turns his words against him. She puts out the fire, not with violence, but with her brains.

I was reading this week about a town in Germany that has been beset by the plague of

Neo-Nazi marchers. The people of this town came up with a genius plan: for every step the Nazis took, private and public donations were pledged to be given to organizations that are devoted to combating Nazi ideology! As the Nazis marched, they were greeted by cheering fans—not because they supported the Nazis—but because those Nazis were actually marching to fundraise against the Nazis! Citizens put out water and bananas so that these hate mongers would have strength to take more steps and thereby support organizations that worked against them! Those citizens bested the Nazis by turning their very actions against them with each step.

David LaMotte has written a children’s book about a KKK march in Knoxville,

Tennessee. Those men showed up in their white hoods and found that dozens of clowns were waiting for them! Floppy shoes and make-up and big red noses and all! As the KKK shouted

White Power, the clowns scratched their heads and pretended to be confused. As planned, they “concluded” those KKK clowns were saying White Flour. Then the clowns joyfully through bags of white flour into the air! Not to be outdone, the KKK insisted White Power again. And, once again premeditated, the clowns cried White Flowers and threw petals into the air! My personal favorite, the clowns shouted Wife Power!

The creative power of those clowns outwitted the violence; the planned march of hate turned into a street party of laughter with ordinary citizens, including children, joining the clowns in their fun as the KKK quietly left, utterly defeated, their own words re-imagined and used against them.

As Jesus was amazed by the Canaanite’s woman’s genius, I think He would also say that the faith of such peaceful protestors is great. After all, Jesus Himself taught such creative nonviolence: if someone slaps you, turn the other cheek; if a soldier forces you to carry his equipment one mile, go ahead and march another one. Such actions deescalate potentially violent situations.

Behind such creative tactics of resistance is a robust theology—a great faith in God’s abundance. Might doesn’t have to be counteracted with might. Force doesn’t have to be met with force. As in the miraculous feeding stories that are also found in the Gospel of Matthew, God can do unimaginably more with only a little—a little bit of bread crumbs, a turn of the cheek, a change of the heart.

Lisa Sharon Harper is a black woman who stared down the white supremacists in

Charlottesville last Saturday. When those Nazis and Klansmen shouted hate slogans and brandished weapons, she was among those who sang This Little Light of Mine. Like the

Canaanite woman, Harper was persistent—she stood for hours in front of a Confederate flag waving guy armed to the hilt. When it was time to leave, Harper addressed the man one last time: “I just want you to know, we love you,” she said. And the man’s face, grizzled and tired from the day and the weight he was carrying and the demons that preyed upon him, suddenly softened.

And he replied, “I love you, too.” Perhaps not the feeding of five thousand, but a sharing of bread crumbs.

Though it pains me to say, this horror of white supremacy is not going away any time soon. It may be tempting to tell ourselves that we need not get involved. But here’s the truth: we are most like the Canaanite woman in the sense that, if we do not find ways to creatively counter and ultimately overcome white supremacy with love, it will be our children who suffer from these demons.

I think of my grandfather who fought to ensure that Nazis would never march in this country. And yet, like so many veterans of the Second World War, he refused to glorify violence.

These veterans understood that violence is the result of a stunted imagination. True, we humans are capable of savagery; but we are also endowed with extraordinary minds. We can harness all of our creativity and all of our chutzpah on behalf of nonviolent solutions. We can outwit violence. Like the Canaanite woman, we can re-imagine the divides between “this and that” as something more complex, more inclusive, more loving, and more faithful—a sharing of bread crumbs, which just might create the beloved community, one person at a time.

Andrew Taylor-Troutman

New Dublin Presbyterian Church

August 20th, 2017