THE PULPIT: of dogs and children
Have you ever been in an awkward spot? Have you ever found yourself in a situation that just made you squirm? Have you ever been faced by a predicament when you wish you could have just wiggled your nose and you would have vanished?
Many of you know I grew up in the church. I remember looking forward to being able to vote at church elections as much as I looked forward to driving. One Sunday the pastor called a special election. The issue was this: we had a pastor of Christian Education, and we also had a Sunday School Superintendent. Because the Pastor of Christian Ed. did most of the work required of the Sunday School Superintendent, it was proposed that we do away with the superintendent position all together. I did not think this was a very good idea. I still do not. Just because there is a youth pastor, churches do not get rid of NYI Presidents. In my mind the best case scenario was that the two work together. When all the discussion had taken place, there was a vote. “Everyone in favor say ‘I’.” The entire congregation, except me of course, said “I.” Then, just because it had to be formal, the pastor asked all opposed to say “I.” He barely even paused before declaring the motion carried, but even the briefest of pauses allowed my vote to be cast. When I broke the silence, everyone stopped and stared. I shrunk in my pew!
Have any of you ever had a hero, whose luster was tarnished? Any of you been around someone you looked up to when they fell? Anyone been around a close friend when they did something you knew they should not have done?
Pete Rose was, in my estimation, the greatest hitter of all time. He did not have the power (or the juiced balls, or the smaller parks, or the “supplements”) that today’s superstars have. If you needed a hit in the clutch, there is no one in the history of the game you would rather have at the plate. Pete was my boyhood hero. I still love Pete, and to this day, I refuse to go to Cooperstown, because the greatest…my hero…is not there. Pete has been reduced to camping outside parks selling his autograph. I remember the day the news broke that he was suspended for life for betting on the game. I was crushed.
I bring these feelings up because today’s Gospel lesson brings these feelings up. Would you stand with me for the reading of God’s word: Mark 7:24-30…Hear the word of the Lord.
READ MARK 7:24-30:
The Faith of a Gentile Woman
24Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre.[a] He tried to keep it secret that he was there, but he couldn't. As usual, the news of his arrival spread fast. 25Right away a woman came to him whose little girl was possessed by an evil spirit. She had heard about Jesus, and now she came and fell at his feet. 26She begged him to release her child from the demon's control. Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, 27Jesus told her, "First I should help my own family, the Jews.[b] It isn't right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs."
28She replied, "That's true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are given some crumbs from the children's plates."
29"Good answer!" he said. "And because you have answered so well, I have healed your daughter." 30And when she arrived home, her little girl was lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.
OK, lets recap for just a minute. Basically what happened is this. Jesus and his apostles had a pretty busy day. They were starting to find it difficult to be left alone. The Pharisees were harassing them constantly. There was a crowd around them everywhere they went. They had just finished with one particularly difficult day, and so they tried to escape to find some peace and quite. They found themselves in Tyre. You know this as modern Lebanon.
Now Tyre was not really a place a Jew would want to be. It was outside of Israel, and there were just too many gentiles for this to be a comfortable place to be. Perhaps this is why Jesus and the 12 retreated to here. Surely, the Pharisees and the crowds would not follow them into Tyre. They find a house there where they are welcome and they duck in. Hopefully, they would finally find peace and rest. Hopefully Jesus would be able to find sanctuary from the tumultuous traps that life was springing on them.
But Jesus’ fame had spread more quickly than any of them would have thought. They were not in town long when there was a banging at the door…knock…knock…knock. Before they could answer the door, it came flying open. In rushed a woman who ran straight to Jesus and bowed at his feet. The disciples stood with gaping mouths as they realized whom this woman was. She was no Jew. She was a GENTILE!!! Mark seems to have cleaned the story up quite a bit, but it seems clear that there was no love lost between these Jews and this gentile woman. Not only was she a gentile, but also she was a woman. That is two strikes, and in the disciples eyes that was plenty.
I can imagine their verbal barrage against her…she trying to explain to Jesus that her daughter was possessed…Jesus is sitting there wishing for peace and quite. “Enough,” he said, and everyone was quiet. He had no intentions of granting her wishes. He was a Jew; she was a gentile. He came here to rest; she came for his help. What was Jesus response? A bunch of junk about Jews being better. He even resorted to name-calling (and they weren’t very nice names either).
It all comes flooding back, doesn’t it? You want to talk about awkward situations. Imaging being a fly on the wall for this encounter. Imagine if you were in the room with them that day. This is just a little too awkward. I asked earlier about being embarrassed by something a hero does. This is a story none of us really like too much because we do not know what to make of Jesus’ comments. How do we handle the name-calling, the disregard for a woman’s hurt? We are embarrassed by Jesus’ response and we try to explain it away. We want everything about Jesus to be shiny and rosy, but how do we handle his moments of obvious humanity…like when he cleanses the temple…like this? It is just a little too much for us.
It is interesting that these moments are often called crisis moments. How we handle these crises, makes a significant statement about our life, our faith and our character. In Chinese, the concept we translate as crisis is composed of two characters, representing two concepts: Danger and opportunity! How true that is. Every crisis is particularly dangerous. Inherent in every danger is the opportunity to overcome, succeed, conquer and grow. How we respond in these crises of life have a significant impact on life.
If you do not think it was a crisis, then just put yourself in His shoes. You are a hard worker. You bust your backside everyday. On top of your regular job, you have several apprentices that you are responsible for training. Now you are not just another worker, you are the best at what you do and everyone knows it. Everyone at the plant wants to learn from you. You seem to know exactly what needs done, and how to do it. Management does not particularly like you because you teach things differently and more efficiently than they want things done. In addition to your work and your teaching, you have all the workers at the plant trying to ask advice and get help, and you have management always looking over your shoulder, questioning you and trying to get you to slip up just enough that they can fire you.
Are you exhausted yet? No, OK then this is what life is like everyday…you get no break from the attention and the pressure. Day after day, week after week, month after month the pressure is building. You finally have had enough, so you plan a vacation. It will be just you and your handful of apprentices. It will be a good time for rest and also an opportunity to teach where you are not bothered or distracted.
Just as you are getting settled in, in barges someone trying to get your attention…trying to ask your advice…seeking your help. This is not just another steel worker needing help, it is someone who is a competitor. It is not just any competitor, they are Asian. They work in a Chinese steel mill where the workers are underpaid and the conditions are less than safe. They want your help, but they are the enemy. They have invaded your space and intruded on your vacation. Would you consider this a crisis?
This crisis in Jesus ministry was perhaps the most important of his life. Until now, Jesus’ entire ministry had been with and for the Jews. Jesus was a Jew. He taught in the synagogues and he fought with the establishment. He grew up following the law. He was a Jew through and through. Jesus was the messiah of the Jews and for the Jews. Now, however, he has a crisis moment, and the fate of the world rests in the balance. He has a choice. He would certainly be justified in turning the woman away. She was a gentile, and she was a she. She was lower than low in the Jewish worldview. She was scum. She was no one. She was filthy and unclean. Helping her could make him unclean! She was a dirty, mangy dog! That is it. That is his choice. After all, it simply would not be fair to give the bread to the dogs, and let the children go hungry. This is Jesus’ decision.
Then she responds. “But master, don’t the dogs at least deserve a few of the children’s crumbs?” Jesus stopped to think. I am sure that his mind raced…straight back to his last encounter with the Pharisees. “Isaiah was right about you hypocrites. You worship me with your mouths, but your hearts are far from me…it is not what goes into the mouth that makes you unclean, but what comes out from the heart.” He began to sweat. And I am glad that he did, because it was my life that hung in the balance. It is our lives that hung in the balance. Would Jesus extend his ministry to those outside of Israel? If not, then what meaning is there in his incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection. If he chooses to turn his back, then there is no hope for you or me. He makes no difference to the people outside of the tribe of Israel. He accomplishes nothing other than to build higher the walls between the chosen people and those not chosen.
Jesus chooses on the side of mercy, love and grace. Despite the apparent impropriety of his actions…despite the possible unpopularity of his actions…despite the difficulty and his tradition and his upbringing…despite what the others Jews might think of him…Jesus chooses to extend the hand of healing to one in need. In so doing, he provided healing to the woman’s child, but he also provided healing to each one of us! Jesus changed the history of the world by being willing to step outside of his personal and cultural comfort zone to heal the hurting.
It is incredibly clear that there is a feeling of crisis among the people of this town and this church. In nearly all of my conversations, both inside and outside of the church, there is a feeling of anxiety. What does the future hold for Toronto? What does the future hold for the Church of the Nazarene in Toronto?
If it is not clear yet, then did any of you read the article in this week’s paper about the great things Toronto used to have? It was quite an interesting article because I am not from here and I do not know our history very well. The author told stories about train stations, hotels and nice restaurants. She told stories of streetcars and busses. There was entertainment at the two theaters, the opera house and the horse track. She told of a time when there were plenty of places to work, and plenty of places to eat, and plenty of places to play. It was an All-American town…a place where the American Dream came true every day.
As fascinating as it was, it was quite troubling to me. The article had no story of redemption. There was no “but.” It offered no hope for a bright future. It was simply remembering the past so we can complain about the present and be pessimistic about the future. Remembering the past is wonderful. It is necessary. It tells us who we are and how we got where we are. It helps us to chart our course for the future. It helps us to learn from both our successes and our failures. But we cannot live in the past.
I do not have a crystal ball, I do not have the gift of telling the future but I do know this: the bigger the need, the bigger the opportunity. The greater the need, the greater the miracle. I was talking with Hedgie at the hospital on Friday. You all should ask her about all the kids in her part of town. Can you imagine a whole trailer park full of kids needing a place to which they can turn? I went to the football game Friday night. There were many people there that need to experience the grace of God. There certainly is no shortage of people needing the love of God. There certainly is no shortage of ministry opportunities. Many things have changed, but despite all the change, there is one thing the same: There is a world full of people knocking at our door, calling to us for help.
The good news of the Gospel this morning is that God’s grace is for all: Jew and Gentile. There is no one too different, too unclean or too sinful to be reached by God’s grace. I have heard it said, and maybe you have too: God never requires us to be successful. God simply requires us to be obedient. God simply requires us to be faithful. God simply requires us to be willing to meet the needs presented to us.
As I said before, I do not have a crystal ball, nor am I a fortuneteller. I have no way of knowing who or what God will send to us. I do not know who will be knocking at our door. I do not know who will be calling to us for help. I do know that there will be many sent into our lives looking for healing. How will we respond? Will we hide behind our traditions? Will we look for excuses? Will we be too busy? Or, will we follow Christ in placing priority on the needs of people? We are each here because Jesus chose to meet the need of the Gentile woman. Will we be known as a church that meets needs? Will we follow Jesus?
Today’s responsive hymn is #490: O to Be Like Thee. As we sing, make the words your own. Let this be the prayer of your heart. As we go forward together, into whatever future God sends our way, may we faithfully follow Jesus, even when it is uncomfortable, even when it is scary, even when it seems dangerous to our normal way of life. The grace that was extended to us, by Jesus’ willingness to step out on faith, must be offered to the world around us by our willingness to step out on faith. To the glory of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen
Many of you know I grew up in the church. I remember looking forward to being able to vote at church elections as much as I looked forward to driving. One Sunday the pastor called a special election. The issue was this: we had a pastor of Christian Education, and we also had a Sunday School Superintendent. Because the Pastor of Christian Ed. did most of the work required of the Sunday School Superintendent, it was proposed that we do away with the superintendent position all together. I did not think this was a very good idea. I still do not. Just because there is a youth pastor, churches do not get rid of NYI Presidents. In my mind the best case scenario was that the two work together. When all the discussion had taken place, there was a vote. “Everyone in favor say ‘I’.” The entire congregation, except me of course, said “I.” Then, just because it had to be formal, the pastor asked all opposed to say “I.” He barely even paused before declaring the motion carried, but even the briefest of pauses allowed my vote to be cast. When I broke the silence, everyone stopped and stared. I shrunk in my pew!
Have any of you ever had a hero, whose luster was tarnished? Any of you been around someone you looked up to when they fell? Anyone been around a close friend when they did something you knew they should not have done?
Pete Rose was, in my estimation, the greatest hitter of all time. He did not have the power (or the juiced balls, or the smaller parks, or the “supplements”) that today’s superstars have. If you needed a hit in the clutch, there is no one in the history of the game you would rather have at the plate. Pete was my boyhood hero. I still love Pete, and to this day, I refuse to go to Cooperstown, because the greatest…my hero…is not there. Pete has been reduced to camping outside parks selling his autograph. I remember the day the news broke that he was suspended for life for betting on the game. I was crushed.
I bring these feelings up because today’s Gospel lesson brings these feelings up. Would you stand with me for the reading of God’s word: Mark 7:24-30…Hear the word of the Lord.
READ MARK 7:24-30:
The Faith of a Gentile Woman
24Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre.[a] He tried to keep it secret that he was there, but he couldn't. As usual, the news of his arrival spread fast. 25Right away a woman came to him whose little girl was possessed by an evil spirit. She had heard about Jesus, and now she came and fell at his feet. 26She begged him to release her child from the demon's control. Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, 27Jesus told her, "First I should help my own family, the Jews.[b] It isn't right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs."
28She replied, "That's true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are given some crumbs from the children's plates."
29"Good answer!" he said. "And because you have answered so well, I have healed your daughter." 30And when she arrived home, her little girl was lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.
OK, lets recap for just a minute. Basically what happened is this. Jesus and his apostles had a pretty busy day. They were starting to find it difficult to be left alone. The Pharisees were harassing them constantly. There was a crowd around them everywhere they went. They had just finished with one particularly difficult day, and so they tried to escape to find some peace and quite. They found themselves in Tyre. You know this as modern Lebanon.
Now Tyre was not really a place a Jew would want to be. It was outside of Israel, and there were just too many gentiles for this to be a comfortable place to be. Perhaps this is why Jesus and the 12 retreated to here. Surely, the Pharisees and the crowds would not follow them into Tyre. They find a house there where they are welcome and they duck in. Hopefully, they would finally find peace and rest. Hopefully Jesus would be able to find sanctuary from the tumultuous traps that life was springing on them.
But Jesus’ fame had spread more quickly than any of them would have thought. They were not in town long when there was a banging at the door…knock…knock…knock. Before they could answer the door, it came flying open. In rushed a woman who ran straight to Jesus and bowed at his feet. The disciples stood with gaping mouths as they realized whom this woman was. She was no Jew. She was a GENTILE!!! Mark seems to have cleaned the story up quite a bit, but it seems clear that there was no love lost between these Jews and this gentile woman. Not only was she a gentile, but also she was a woman. That is two strikes, and in the disciples eyes that was plenty.
I can imagine their verbal barrage against her…she trying to explain to Jesus that her daughter was possessed…Jesus is sitting there wishing for peace and quite. “Enough,” he said, and everyone was quiet. He had no intentions of granting her wishes. He was a Jew; she was a gentile. He came here to rest; she came for his help. What was Jesus response? A bunch of junk about Jews being better. He even resorted to name-calling (and they weren’t very nice names either).
It all comes flooding back, doesn’t it? You want to talk about awkward situations. Imaging being a fly on the wall for this encounter. Imagine if you were in the room with them that day. This is just a little too awkward. I asked earlier about being embarrassed by something a hero does. This is a story none of us really like too much because we do not know what to make of Jesus’ comments. How do we handle the name-calling, the disregard for a woman’s hurt? We are embarrassed by Jesus’ response and we try to explain it away. We want everything about Jesus to be shiny and rosy, but how do we handle his moments of obvious humanity…like when he cleanses the temple…like this? It is just a little too much for us.
It is interesting that these moments are often called crisis moments. How we handle these crises, makes a significant statement about our life, our faith and our character. In Chinese, the concept we translate as crisis is composed of two characters, representing two concepts: Danger and opportunity! How true that is. Every crisis is particularly dangerous. Inherent in every danger is the opportunity to overcome, succeed, conquer and grow. How we respond in these crises of life have a significant impact on life.
If you do not think it was a crisis, then just put yourself in His shoes. You are a hard worker. You bust your backside everyday. On top of your regular job, you have several apprentices that you are responsible for training. Now you are not just another worker, you are the best at what you do and everyone knows it. Everyone at the plant wants to learn from you. You seem to know exactly what needs done, and how to do it. Management does not particularly like you because you teach things differently and more efficiently than they want things done. In addition to your work and your teaching, you have all the workers at the plant trying to ask advice and get help, and you have management always looking over your shoulder, questioning you and trying to get you to slip up just enough that they can fire you.
Are you exhausted yet? No, OK then this is what life is like everyday…you get no break from the attention and the pressure. Day after day, week after week, month after month the pressure is building. You finally have had enough, so you plan a vacation. It will be just you and your handful of apprentices. It will be a good time for rest and also an opportunity to teach where you are not bothered or distracted.
Just as you are getting settled in, in barges someone trying to get your attention…trying to ask your advice…seeking your help. This is not just another steel worker needing help, it is someone who is a competitor. It is not just any competitor, they are Asian. They work in a Chinese steel mill where the workers are underpaid and the conditions are less than safe. They want your help, but they are the enemy. They have invaded your space and intruded on your vacation. Would you consider this a crisis?
This crisis in Jesus ministry was perhaps the most important of his life. Until now, Jesus’ entire ministry had been with and for the Jews. Jesus was a Jew. He taught in the synagogues and he fought with the establishment. He grew up following the law. He was a Jew through and through. Jesus was the messiah of the Jews and for the Jews. Now, however, he has a crisis moment, and the fate of the world rests in the balance. He has a choice. He would certainly be justified in turning the woman away. She was a gentile, and she was a she. She was lower than low in the Jewish worldview. She was scum. She was no one. She was filthy and unclean. Helping her could make him unclean! She was a dirty, mangy dog! That is it. That is his choice. After all, it simply would not be fair to give the bread to the dogs, and let the children go hungry. This is Jesus’ decision.
Then she responds. “But master, don’t the dogs at least deserve a few of the children’s crumbs?” Jesus stopped to think. I am sure that his mind raced…straight back to his last encounter with the Pharisees. “Isaiah was right about you hypocrites. You worship me with your mouths, but your hearts are far from me…it is not what goes into the mouth that makes you unclean, but what comes out from the heart.” He began to sweat. And I am glad that he did, because it was my life that hung in the balance. It is our lives that hung in the balance. Would Jesus extend his ministry to those outside of Israel? If not, then what meaning is there in his incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection. If he chooses to turn his back, then there is no hope for you or me. He makes no difference to the people outside of the tribe of Israel. He accomplishes nothing other than to build higher the walls between the chosen people and those not chosen.
Jesus chooses on the side of mercy, love and grace. Despite the apparent impropriety of his actions…despite the possible unpopularity of his actions…despite the difficulty and his tradition and his upbringing…despite what the others Jews might think of him…Jesus chooses to extend the hand of healing to one in need. In so doing, he provided healing to the woman’s child, but he also provided healing to each one of us! Jesus changed the history of the world by being willing to step outside of his personal and cultural comfort zone to heal the hurting.
It is incredibly clear that there is a feeling of crisis among the people of this town and this church. In nearly all of my conversations, both inside and outside of the church, there is a feeling of anxiety. What does the future hold for Toronto? What does the future hold for the Church of the Nazarene in Toronto?
If it is not clear yet, then did any of you read the article in this week’s paper about the great things Toronto used to have? It was quite an interesting article because I am not from here and I do not know our history very well. The author told stories about train stations, hotels and nice restaurants. She told stories of streetcars and busses. There was entertainment at the two theaters, the opera house and the horse track. She told of a time when there were plenty of places to work, and plenty of places to eat, and plenty of places to play. It was an All-American town…a place where the American Dream came true every day.
As fascinating as it was, it was quite troubling to me. The article had no story of redemption. There was no “but.” It offered no hope for a bright future. It was simply remembering the past so we can complain about the present and be pessimistic about the future. Remembering the past is wonderful. It is necessary. It tells us who we are and how we got where we are. It helps us to chart our course for the future. It helps us to learn from both our successes and our failures. But we cannot live in the past.
I do not have a crystal ball, I do not have the gift of telling the future but I do know this: the bigger the need, the bigger the opportunity. The greater the need, the greater the miracle. I was talking with Hedgie at the hospital on Friday. You all should ask her about all the kids in her part of town. Can you imagine a whole trailer park full of kids needing a place to which they can turn? I went to the football game Friday night. There were many people there that need to experience the grace of God. There certainly is no shortage of people needing the love of God. There certainly is no shortage of ministry opportunities. Many things have changed, but despite all the change, there is one thing the same: There is a world full of people knocking at our door, calling to us for help.
The good news of the Gospel this morning is that God’s grace is for all: Jew and Gentile. There is no one too different, too unclean or too sinful to be reached by God’s grace. I have heard it said, and maybe you have too: God never requires us to be successful. God simply requires us to be obedient. God simply requires us to be faithful. God simply requires us to be willing to meet the needs presented to us.
As I said before, I do not have a crystal ball, nor am I a fortuneteller. I have no way of knowing who or what God will send to us. I do not know who will be knocking at our door. I do not know who will be calling to us for help. I do know that there will be many sent into our lives looking for healing. How will we respond? Will we hide behind our traditions? Will we look for excuses? Will we be too busy? Or, will we follow Christ in placing priority on the needs of people? We are each here because Jesus chose to meet the need of the Gentile woman. Will we be known as a church that meets needs? Will we follow Jesus?
Today’s responsive hymn is #490: O to Be Like Thee. As we sing, make the words your own. Let this be the prayer of your heart. As we go forward together, into whatever future God sends our way, may we faithfully follow Jesus, even when it is uncomfortable, even when it is scary, even when it seems dangerous to our normal way of life. The grace that was extended to us, by Jesus’ willingness to step out on faith, must be offered to the world around us by our willingness to step out on faith. To the glory of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen
posted by EF + at 2:28 PM
1 Comments:
That's not the Pete Rose I thought you were talking about :-)
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