Sermonstudio

The United States has historically been called a "melting pot" society where peoples from all lands, ethnicities, creeds, and religions have been "melted" or assimilated into one people. While the words of Emma Lazarus' famous poem etched into the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore," have been the solace of many immigrants, the unfortunate yet more accurate picture of American history has been one of intolerance. Ethnic origin, religion, and political affiliation have been the sources of great divisions. In the explosive last decades of the nineteenth and first two decades of the twentieth centuries, intolerance toward immigrants and other "fringe groups" in America reached its apex. Through the cloud of intolerance, however, shining lights emerged which stood against the tide of prejudice and called for greater inclusivity in American life. One such person was Jane Addams.

Addams was born in 1860 and raised in Illinois. After graduating from Rockland College in 1881 she entered medical school, but failing health kept her from achieving her goal of being a physician. In the 1880s she traveled extensively through Europe and visited the Toynbee Hall settlement house in London, a home for the dispossessed in English society. She was highly impressed with the attitude of workers and the visible benefit the home provided for many who found themselves on the margins of day-to-day society. Returning to Illinois she observed the plight of many of America's dispossessed, including immigrants and children. Her Quaker background helped her to develop a belief in the burgeoning Social Gospel movement with its emphasis on seeking solutions to society's problems in the person and message of Jesus. Addams and her friend Ellen Gates Starr, with whom she had toured Europe, were determined to reach out to the marginalized in American society by creating an institution like Toynbee Hall. In 1889 the pair obtained a large vacant residence, built in 1882 for the wealthy Chicago real estate executive Charles Hull, in a Chicago working-class neighborhood. Appropriately, the name Hull House was given to the foundation. Staffed by trained social workers, the facility expanded rapidly, providing a day nursery, gymnasium, community kitchen, and a boarding club for working women. Hull House foundations spread throughout the country in efforts to aid immigrants, women, children, and others whom society had labeled unfit.

Jane Addams continually strove to promote justice for immigrants and blacks and advanced research aimed at determining the causes of poverty and crime. In 1910 she became the first woman president of the National Conference of Social Work. An avowed pacifist, in 1931 she was the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Jane Addams took seriously her Christian vocation to service through meeting the needs of many of society's outcasts.

The world of intolerance against which Jane Addams dedicated her life has been part of human society from the beginning. Jesus encountered prejudice in the heritage of the Jewish people. The Jews, as we know from Scripture, were chosen specifically by God to be a people unique to the Lord. They were favored by God who gave them a law to follow and judges, kings, and prophets to lead them and proclaim God's message. It would be natural for the Hebrews to build walls to isolate themselves from other peoples and the "harmful" influences which diverted attention away from God. Yet, their desire to keep a pure faith led to an attitude of intolerance of others.

As we hear in today's Gospel Jesus encounters a Canaanite woman, who simply because of her heritage was considered to be an outsider by the Hebrews. The woman requests that Jesus cure her sick daughter, but the Lord responds that his message is only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The woman, however, is persistent and demonstrates great faith. Presumably the woman had no schooling in the concept of the Messiah who would come to restore the Davidic kingdom and save his people. She had none of the advantages of her Hebrew contemporaries, who, if they paid attention to the message of the prophets, were well aware of God's message of hope and the future coming of the Messiah. Nevertheless, she exhibits rare faith which is rewarded by the Lord.

Jesus, our brother, friend, and Lord, broke through the barriers which society imposed on his relationship with others. It did not matter to the Lord who the woman was or what her origins or beliefs were. Rather, he was impressed with the woman's faith that told her he had the ability to cure her daughter. Jesus broke through prejudice and reached out to one who was considered an outsider, even an untouchable in Hebrew society. Jesus' action shows that his mission has now been extended to all people for all time. It is now clear that Jesus' message of salvation applies to all.

Sadly, our contemporary world seems to have learned little from the example of Jesus. Jane Addams and other more well-known contemporary figures, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, stand as models of those who heard Jesus' message of love and inclusivity for all people and practiced it in various ways as directed by the Lord. Today's society continues to preach and at times glorify intolerance and exclusivity to the detriment of our world. Groups of people and individuals are ostracized without a hearing. Stereotyped minorities, whether from race, religion, physical or mental handicap, age, or sex, are placed on the outside and labeled as untouchables, one might say "contemporary lepers" in our world. When we as a society or as individuals participate in such activity, we miss the opportunities which a group or person can provide. If we choose to be exclusive, to live our lives without the possibilities which others bring, then we are the losers and become poorer because of the experience. Jesus' message in today's Gospel shows our need to reach out to all, especially those whom society has rejected.

Jane Addams possessed the courage of her convictions and was able to reach out to the peoples marginalized by the exclusive prejudice of society. She was not concerned with society's dictates and refused to be stymied by the roadblocks and obstacles thrown in her way. Rather, she chose to follow her Christian call to holiness and demonstrate an example of how to apply Jesus' message of love, tolerance, and inclusivity in our world. Jesus demonstrates in today's Gospel that it is not one's credentials in background, religion, or race that are important, but rather one's response to the call for faith in God is what is recognized. Let us give others a chance; let us break down barriers which divide us. Let us seek the way of Jesus in being more inclusive as we work to further God's kingdom, today and to eternal life.