My Scripture today comes from Mark 7:24-37- You know we humans are a strange breed. Why on earth do we feel as if we have to
discriminate between others based on where the others were born, or where they
live, or what color their skin is, or if they are rich or poor, a Southerner or
a Yankee, blue collar or white collar, English speaking or Spanish
speaking...or if they just have a different accent based on where they have
been raised...? A former student of mine
told me a story about how, on his first day of pre-school, he met his very
first black person...another little kid.
When Jim’s mother came to pick him up from school that day, Jim wanted
to show his mom this neat and fantastic thing he had discovered. "Come here mom. Come here. This is
Johnny. Feel his hair. Isn’t it neat?!"
How wonderfully different our world would be if we were to see the
differences between us as fascinating and neat...as they are seen through a
child’s eyes...instead of threatening or not as good! In our Epistle Lesson for this morning, James the brother of
Jesus tells us "as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show
favoritism...If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ’Love your
neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you
sin." We have the "royal
law," which refers to the whole law in the Old Testament and the New
Testament as it is interpreted by Jesus...the Author of Life. It is summed up in the commandment to love
your neighbor. James then takes it one
step further...to show partiality is to sin.. ...I wonder if this is true of showing partiality to the
poor as well? I think so.
I think this is radical stuff that says: ’show no partiality
toward anyone.’ God does not show favoritism
and neither should we! Everyone we see,
everyone we look at, everyone we meet...is to be Jesus to us...whether they are
dressed in rags, or in the most expensive designer clothes. For all are sinners
in need of God’s love, mercy, kindness and salvation. A pastor was once looking through some old
church records of a Norwegian congregation which listed it’s membership as:
"52 souls and 2 Swedes." And
in a sense, this is the kind of thing Jesus was facing in our Gospel Lesson for
this morning. Remember last week’s
sermon. Jesus was in a discussion about
what is ’clean’ and what is ’unclean.’ Well,
the Jews certainly thought that any foreigners were to be deemed
’unclean.’ And here, again, Jesus shows
us that there is quite a contrast between the "commands of God" and
the "traditions of men" as to what is clean and unclean...
It is "from within"-- what comes "out of
men’s hearts"-- that make a person ’clean’ or ’unclean’. God does not judge people as people judge
people. God looks at the inside...we,
often tend to look at the outside. What
does God see when He looks at the inside of us?
Are we clean or unclean? Anyhow,
Jesus is approached by a woman "whose little daughter was possessed by an
evil spirit." And this woman came and fell at Jesus’ feet. "She begged Jesus to drive the demon out
of her daughter." The Gospel tells
us that this woman was a Greek, born in Syria Phoenicia. She was a Gentile. She was not of the Jewish
race. She was not thought of as one of God’s ’chosen’ people. She was not a natural descendant of Abraham. Now
the Gentiles were sometimes described as ’dogs’ by the Jews. This was quite an insult. We have the equivalent of this insult in our
culture...the meaning of which is a female dog.
Now, Jesus says a very strange thing to this Syrophoenician
woman. He says: "First let the
children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children’s bread
and toss it to their dogs." Israel felt as if they were God’s
children...and that everyone else were dogs.
So, Jesus, in teaching us another lesson about God and His kingdom, says
what He knows the people around Him are thinking. They are thinking that this woman is a dog,
and she has no right to ask for the healing of her daughter...or for anything
for that matter! And by making this
reference...Jesus is making a distinction between the claims of the children of
Israel and what Christ’s ministry is really about.
Jesus was often confronted by the self-righteous, by those
who thought that they were better than everyone else simply because of their
race. For example, in John chapter 8,
Jesus was speaking to a group of Jews...or a group of people who were natural
descendants of Abraham... "Abraham
is our father," the people shouted to Jesus. And Jesus’ reply: "If you were Abraham’s
children then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined
to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. You are doing the things your own father
does.’ ’We are not illegitimate
children,’ they protested. ’The only father we have is God himself.’ Jesus said to them, ’If God were your Father,
you would love me, for I came from God and now am here...You belong to your
father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire.’"
So here we are brought back again to the distinction between
what is ’clean’ and what is ’unclean.’ The natural descendents of Abraham
thought that they were ’clean’...but Jesus is telling those who do not believe
in Him...natural descendants or not...that they are ’unclean’...that they are
in fact children of the devil...for from within their hearts come the desires
of the devil...not the desires that come from God. They just didn’t get it. Abraham was justified by faith when God
tested him by asking him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. And the Lord declared to Abraham: "I
will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the
sky and as the sand on the seashore."
This was because Abraham believed God.
Faith is the key for God...not our flesh, not the color of
our skin, not where we were born. The
real descendants of Abraham are those who believe! It is a spiritual ancestry...not a natural
one.
In the first chapter of John we are told that all who
receive Jesus Christ, to those who believe in His name He gives the right to
become children of God-children born not of natural descent (as the natural
descendents of Abraham felt), nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but
born of God." Everyone who is born
of God, or born again through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are
Abraham’s descendants. "Consider
Abraham:", Paul tells the Galatians, "He believed God and it was
credited to him as righteousness. Understand, then, that those who believe are
children of Abraham...
...You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for
you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are
Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise." Wow! How radical is that. Our God is truly an awesome God! He is big, really big! Much too big to put in
a box! Much too big to keep for
ourselves and ourselves only!!! "For
God so loved the world..."...not just the white man, not just the black
man, not just the red man, not just the rich man, not just the poor man...the
whole world!!! The Syrophoenician woman
wanted Jesus to cast the demon out of her daughter...and she wasn’t about to
let the prejudices of those around her get in her way! She had a persistence and ingenuity brought
about by her love for her daughter. She
was not about to let anything stop her. She
had a love that would not let her child go!
Suppose that all Christian parents and all churches had the same
persistence and ingenuity in bringing their children the saving influence of Christ! If parents had something of this woman’s
relentless determination to bring into their homes Jesus’ power, His power to
heal, His power to save...how much smaller would the number be of children who
drift away? If a church felt the same
way about bringing Jesus’ influence into the lives of all its children, all the
children in the community...what a changed church and community there would
be!!! I’m talking about the love that
never gives up! "First let the
children eat all they want," Jesus told her, "for it is not right to
take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs. Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ’but even the dogs
under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’
Then he told her, ’for such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your
daughter.’ She went home and found her
child lying on the bed, and the demon gone." It would be an awkward name
for a church-"The Syrophoenician Woman United Methodist Church"! But
a church marked by her spirit would be a joy to God and a saving power in the
world! The woman clearly understood
where Jesus was coming from... ...and
she neatly turned the discrimination of the Jews for the Gentiles to her
advantage... ...the crumbs dropped by
the children, after all, are intended for the dogs! If the dogs eat the crumbs under the table,
they are fed at the same time as the children!!!
Jesus did not just come to save the children of Israel...the
natural descendants of Abraham...He came to save anyone who would
believe!!! The woman’s interpretation of
Jesus’ statement delighted Him! It bore
witness both to her humility and her faith in His love for all humankind...and
His power to overcome evil!...even the evil of prejudice! There are no foreigners in God’s sight. God
has compassion for all who are in need of Him...and all are! We are to see Jesus in the face of every man,
woman and child...for God created every human being in His image...to love and
be loved. We must continually pray to God that we too, like Jesus, will be able
to look past the prejudices of our culture and love everyone equally---just
because God loves them and died for them!
Everyone of every race, sex, nationality, and class is in need of the
saving grace of Jesus Christ...and let’s face it...we live in a very diverse
community! We must find a way to
overcome any and all racial barriers... ...we must find ways, as a
congregation, to reach out with the gospel of Jesus Christ to others around us
whether they look like us or not!!! We
all must call on the name of Jesus Christ in order to be saved!!! As humans, we are a strange breed...because
we live in an evil and fallen world. As
Christians, we are a strange breed...because we live in an evil and fallen
world... ...but we are not to live as part of this evil and fallen world! We are in this world...but through faith in
Jesus Christ...we are no longer of this world… ...we are of the kingdom of
God...and in God’s Kingdom...there are no foreigners!
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