Ministry

Calendar

Join us this winter season as we work through a justice-focused Advent and Christmas calendar, created by Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager (Prairie Band Potawatomi/mshkodéni bodewadminwen, Kickapoo Nation of Kansas/kiikaapoa, African American/Black).

Together, we’ll learn about the Doctrine of Discovery and the harmful influence and impact it has had and continues to have on our theology and laws in Canada and around the world. We’ll look at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action 45, 46, 47 and how we can respond.

The calendar runs from November 30 to January 5 and features daily actions that we can participate in together. This important work is part of our commitment to putting reconciliation into action.

Advent and Christmas Calendar 2025

As part of the FIRST UNITED Advent and Christmas Calendar, Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager, has prepared a five-part Bible study series. The short Bible studies are to meant offer ways to engage in group or individually.

The Canaanite Woman Said What She Said.

The story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28 offers a rich lens for challenging colonial theology and the doctrine of discovery. What does Jesus’ transformation in this story teach us about listening, humility, and change?

Matthew 15:21-28 (NRSV)
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.

Mark 7:24-30 (NRSV)
From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” And when she went home, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

Kana’an: Canaan was the southeastern side of the Mediterranean coast, the part that joins Africa to Asia. The Indigenous inhabitants of that region were called Canaanites in Biblical Hebrew, or Syrophoenician in Koine Greek. Canaanites were on their land since before 4500 BCE. There were many different cultures and beliefs of the groups of people living in the land of Canaan. Ammonites, Moabites, Israelites who were never exiled, Phoenicians, Philistines (later called Palestinians), and other nomadic groups were all called Canaanites.

A Conversation with the Text

When the Hebrew scriptures refer to “the stranger” or “the foreigner”, most times it means someone who sojourns through the territory where a community of Israelites are living. These strangers or foreigners agree to live in the community of Israelites, and the sacred texts encourage hospitality and kindness to anyone who chooses to live by the values, mores, and rules of the Israelites. The power dynamic tips on the side of the people who are telling the story… the Israelites.

When the story encounters people who lived on the “land of milk and honey” before the Israelites, the power dynamic becomes flipped. The harmony between the stranger (Israelites) and the original inhabitants is incompatible. This is the political context of Matthew 15 and Mark 7.

The story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28 is one of the most striking moments in the Gospels. It is a story of persistence, resistance, and transformation. It is also a story that challenges colonial theology and the Doctrine of Discovery—a doctrine that has justified centuries of land theft, cultural erasure, and spiritual domination.

Jesus, a Jewish teacher and prophet, enters Gentile territory. The woman he meets is not just a foreigner—she is a descendant of the people displaced by Israelite conquest. Her voice disrupts the narrative.

The woman’s plea is urgent: “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” Jesus’ initial silence and the disciples’ dismissal reflect a theology of exclusion. She is not part of the chosen people. She is not supposed to belong.

But she persists. She kneels. She speaks back. And when Jesus calls her a dog, she responds with a truth that cannot be ignored: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” This is not just clever rhetoric. She refuses to accept the boundaries of belonging. She claims her place in the story. The woman is direct with no shame. She firmly believes in a God that took joy and delight in creating all of creation.

This woman leads a theological intervention, when she challenges Jesus’ wrong lens. We see an image of Jesus as fully human, fully experiencing all of what it means to be human and have an embody theology that does not include all that God has created. Until this intervention, Jesus embodied what he had been taught in society, and an Indigenous woman came into his life and retold Genesis 1.

What happens next is extraordinary. “huh… recalibrating…” Jesus says. Jesus listens. He changes. He affirms her faith and heals her daughter.

This moment of transformation is crucial. It shows that even Jesus, shaped by the cultural and theological norms of his time, can be moved by the voice of the marginalized. It shows that divine compassion is not static—it responds to truth, humility, and courage.

The Doctrine of Discovery declared that lands not inhabited by Christians were available to be “discovered,” claimed, and colonized. It denied the humanity and sovereignty of Indigenous peoples. It justified genocide and spiritual domination.

The Canaanite woman’s story stands in stark contrast. She is not discovered—she speaks. She is not conquered—she resists. She is not erased—she is remembered.

Her voice calls us to reject theologies that exclude. Her persistence invites us to listen to those who have been silenced. Her faith reminds us that transformation is possible.

Deeper Reflection Questions

• How do power dynamics shape the way biblical stories are told and interpreted? What happens when we center the voices of those historically labeled as “foreigners” or “outsiders”?
• What does it mean that Jesus entered Gentile territory in this story? How does the woman’s identity as a Canaanite challenge dominant theological narratives?
• What does Jesus’ change of heart teach us about humility and openness to correction? How might this story inform our own spiritual practices of listening to the voices we are taught not to listen to?
• In what ways does this story challenge the assumptions of the Doctrine of Discovery? What does this story invite you to reconsider in your own theology or practice?
• When you have experienced or witnessed a moment where someone’s voice disrupted a harmful narrative, what kind of transformation happened? How did you feel?

Closing Prayer: A Prayer for Listening and Liberation

God of all peoples and all lands,
You walked into Gentile territory.
You listened to the voice of a woman who refused to be silenced.
You changed, and in that change, we saw the fullness of your compassion.

We come to you now,
As people shaped by stories—some that heal, and some that harm.
Help us to hear the voices that disrupt exclusion.
Help us to welcome those who have been cast aside.
Help us to unlearn theologies that justify domination, genocide, and colonization.

May we be like the Canaanite woman—persistent, courageous, and faithful.
May we be like Jesus—willing to listen, willing to change.
May our communities become places of justice,
Where crumbs are no longer enough,
And all are fed with dignity, truth, and love.

We pray in the name of the One who crossed boundaries,
Who healed with compassion,
And who calls us to do the same.
Amen.

As part of the FIRST UNITED Advent and Christmas Calendar, Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager, has prepared a five-part Bible study series. The short Bible studies are to meant offer ways to engage in group or individually.

David’s Land Conquests

The stories of King David’s military victories in the Hebrew Bible have long been celebrated as signs of divine favor and fulfillment of covenantal promises. But what happens when we read these texts not from the perspective of the conqueror, but from the viewpoint of the conquered? What truths emerge when we listen to the cries beneath the triumphalism?

2 Samuel 5:1-10 (NRSV)
Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Look, we are your bone and flesh. For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it in. The Lord said to you, ‘It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel.’ ” So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here; even the blind and the lame will turn you back,” thinking, “David cannot come in here.” Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, which is now the city of David. David had said on that day, “Whoever would strike down the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, those whom David hates.” Therefore it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.” David occupied the stronghold and named it the city of David. David built the city all around from the Millo inward. And David became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him.

2 Samuel 8: 1a, 2-6, 13b-14
Some time afterward, David attacked the Philistines and subdued them… He also defeated the Moabites and, making them lie down on the ground, measured them off with a cord; he measured two lengths of cord for those who were to be put to death and one length for those who were to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.
David also struck down the king of Zobah, Hadadezer son of Rehob, as he went to restore his monument at the River Euphrates. David took from him one thousand seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers. David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for a hundred chariots. When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand men of the Arameans. Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and the Arameans became servants to David and brought tribute. The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
David won a name for himself. When he returned, he killed eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

2 Samuel 12:1-12 (NRSV)
and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare and drink from his cup and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your bosom and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah, and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in broad daylight. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and in broad daylight.”

A Conversation with the Text

David was the second King of Israel (Saul being the first) to have built a small kingdom, defeated the Philistines, killed their Goliath, and expanded the borders westward. King David’s conquests and military victories in the ancient land of Canaan were seen as fulfilling the promises made to Abraham regarding the land. These verses about David’s conquests have historically been interpreted through lenses that align with colonial ideologies, particularly the Doctrine of Discovery, which has justified the seizure of Indigenous lands under the guise of divine mandate.

These verses describe a sweeping expansion of territory, marked by violence, subjugation, and the installation of garrisons. The Moabites are measured with cords to determine who lives and who dies. The Edomites and Arameans are slaughtered and made to serve David. The theological refrain—“The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went”—echoes through the text, suggesting divine endorsement of conquest. The idea that God grants land to a chosen people, and that conquest is divinely sanctioned, has undergirded centuries of colonial violence.

In this framework, David’s victories are not just historical events; they become archetypes for Christian imperialism. The “promised land” becomes a template for settler entitlement. The “other”—the Moabite, the Edomite, the Jebusite—is rendered disposable, voiceless, and cursed.

When read through a decolonizing lens, these texts become more than historical accounts—they become theological battlegrounds. The idea that God grants land to a chosen people and sanctions conquest has undergirded centuries of colonial violence. But this interpretation is not inevitable. It is shaped by the lenses we choose to wear.

If we decolonize revisionist lenses of King David, we find a charismatic and popular King who is deeply flawed. And yet, God loved David. The “monarch” system that the Israelites asked for was not God’s intention, but the people of God begged. And yet, God loved the people. From God’s steadfast love while the people turn away from God we learn that David’s victories are not divine endorsements but cautionary tales. They reveal the dangers of conflating divine will with political power.

In this framework, the “promised land” is not a blank canvas for settler entitlement—it is a living, breathing relative, already inhabited by peoples with stories, relationships, and sacred responsibilities. The “other”—the Moabite, the Edomite, the Jebusite—is not cursed, but colonized. Their silenced voices call us to repentance, to reparation, and to theological renewal. Just as the prophet Nathan corrected King David, we are also rebuked.

Deeper Reflection Questions

• How have you traditionally understood King David’s military victories? How has your spiritual formation been shaped by narratives of conquest or divine favor? What changes when you read these stories as cautionary sacred texts?
• How does the theological refrain “The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went” challenge or affirm your understanding of divine justice?
• What do we learn from the absence of the voices of the Moabites, Edomites, and Jebusites in these texts? How can we honor the stories of those who are silenced in scripture and in society?
• How does the prophet Nathan’s rebuke of David (2 Samuel 12) model spiritual accountability? In what ways are we, as faith communities, being called to prophetic truth-telling today?
• How can your congregation or community participate in reparative action and theological renewal?

Closing Prayer: A Prayer for Decolonizing Faith

Creator of Land and Life,
You who breathed spirit into soil,
Who called forth peoples to dwell in sacred relationship with Earth and one another—
We come before You, humbled by the weight of history and the hope of healing.

We have read stories of conquest and kings,
Of lands taken and peoples silenced.
We confess the ways our traditions have too often blessed violence for greed,
Mistaking domination for divine will,
And forgetting that Your covenant is rooted in justice, mercy, and love.

Teach us to hear the cries beneath the triumph,
To listen for the voices of the Moabite, the Edomite, the Jebusite—
And all those whose stories were erased.

May we become communities of prophetic courage,
Where Nathan’s rebuke is welcomed,
And David’s repentance becomes our own.

Lead us, O God, not in the path of empire,
But in the way of the One who chose humility over power,
Healing over conquest, and love over fear.
Let our theology be a balm, not a blade.
Let our worship be a witness to justice.
Let our lives be a living prayer of restoration.

In the name of the One who liberates,
Who reconciles,
Who walks with the wounded and the wise—
Amen.