A house of prayer for all people
Matthew 15: 21-28 New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE August 16, 2026 Photo of the Milky Way galaxy. A center cloud of white, gold, pink, and dark purple, surrounded by a ring of blue, indigo, and dark purple clouds against a star-studded midnight blue background. Even though Jesus wasn’t White, in this story he behaves like a privileged White racist, not unlike how some Whites behave on Indian reservations or in other non-White spaces. First of all, Jesus and his disciples went to the district of Tyre and Sidon of their own accord; no one forced them there. Tyre and Sidon are north of Galilee on the Mediterranean coast, where Canaanites had originally been living long before the Israelites came to conquer and live in the land God promised them. So, some history is warranted here, all the way back to Noah. After Noah and his family had survived their long ordeal at sea, after the flood waters had receded, Noah planted a vineyard, made some wine, and after having to...
