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Kingdom Blessings for the 'Wrong Kinds of People' Part 1

Mark 7:24-37

This week, we will be thinking about the value of every human life. Most of us know that the Bible teaches that each human being is made in God’s image. We don’t know everything that “image of God” actually means, do we? But, whether we go to church often or not, we probably know that saying someone “bears God’s image” means that we believe the person is of great value.

So, mark this down: Followers of Jesus believe that there is something sacred about every human life—regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, educational level, religious background, socioeconomic status, or place of birth. This is something that should be a distinguishing mark of the church of Jesus Christ, i.e., that we believe all human beings are of infinite value simply because they are human.

The focus on human life starts in our nation with Martin Luther King Day, a day in which we are called to remember a man who declared that people should respect people simply for being people. In his most famous speech, delivered in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963, the Rev. Dr. King declared:

• I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal
• I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. . I have a dream today! We’ll remember that shared hope this week.

Next weekend, we will conclude with Sanctify of Life weekend, a commemoration that began when many people saw human life in the womb being devalued and destroyed in our nation – but now also calls us to stand against the devaluation of human lives because of what is called people’s lack in “quality of life” – often a euphemism for a person becoming old or having a disability.

Now, we’re not going to be able to deal with all the controversies related to this topic of the value of human life – like abortion, racism, euthanasia, and immigration. But, in this service, we are going to deal with the most basic issue of all, a biblical truth that gives us a rock-solid starting point for all the complexities. MY QUESTION: “When I come across a human creature, what is the most important thing I see?” And what may seem to be a rather strange text in Mark 7:24-37 is going to be our guide.

In this text, we have two stories back to back in which Jesus encounters people who would have been devalued or marginalized among his own people. His politicians and religious leaders would have said he should have nothing to do with these people. In the eyes of his society, these two individuals were certainly, “the wrong kinds of people.” And Jesus turns the perspectives of his world upside down. In doing so, Jesus shows us how he treats all people. And we should learn how we who follow him should treat others. Today, we’ll only look at the first story. Let’s start by remembering the setting in Mark’s Gospel.

Setting in Mark

Throughout the opening six chapters of Mark, Jesus had been doing things only God can do – controlling the winds and waves, casting out demons, forgiving sins, turning a little bit of food into enough to feed thousands and even raising the dead to life. But, in chapter 7, the only thing that the religious leaders noticed was that Jesus and his disciples didn’t wash their hands enough. The rulers thought that what mattered to God was staying away from being defiled by touching sick things, dead things and the wrong kinds of people -- like Gentiles. Strangely, these leaders, who knew the Scriptures well, seemed unable to understand a single story that Jesus told. So, for some inexplicable reason, in v. 24, Jesus heads into Gentile territory.

For a 1^st C reader, everything would have seemed to be wrong about this first story. Like what?

#1: “Wrong” place for Jesus to be (v. 24)Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house…

If the religious leaders were right and God is not pleased when we spend time with “unclean people” like Gentiles, why does Jesus intentionally head right into Gentile territory and go into one of their homes? That’s the question here. The vicinity of Tyre was close to Jesus’ home area and in Mk 3:8, we discover that people from Tyre were among those fascinated by this new Jewish miracle-worker. So, the people there would have known about what Jesus could do – like healing people and casting out demons.

But, the people of Tyre had become the archenemies of the Jews. The Tyrites had fought against the Jews in the most recent wars. There is evidence that the Tyrites benefitted economically by helping keep the people of Israel under the yoke of Roman rule. The 1^st C historian, Josephus, called the people of Tyre, “notoriously Israel’s bitterest enemies.” And note this: the Tyrites were also thoroughgoing pagans in their religion. Bottom line: The religious leaders’ of Jesus day taught that one thing Messiah would do is expel and subdue the Tyrites – not go into their homes and embrace them. But, that’s exactly what Jesus did.

#2: “Wrong” kind of person for Jesus to be speaking to (7:25-26) – In case we might think that Jesus didn’t really come into contact with any of these “unclean Gentiles” there in Tyre, we find that Mark gives us some detail about one of the people who came to him in vv. 25-26: A woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia.

Try to put yourselves in Jesus’ shoes here and think bout how all his family members and all the people he had grown up with would have thought when this woman comes rushing in. This person was everything that those “teachers of the law” in Mk 7:1-23 said he should avoid like the plague. She was a woman and women were thought to be unworthy of a rabbi’s time. She was a Gentile woman – and a Gentile of the worst sort, i.e., a Gentile woman from among those awful Tyrites. She was a Gentile Tyrite woman with a demonized daughter so even her own people would have viewed her with suspicion. This woman was in every conceivable way the kind of person “righteous people’ should avoid at all costs.

Do you remember Jesus’ words in v. 18? ”Are you so dull? Don’t you see that nothing enters our lives from the outside defiles us?” But, the question is: Does Jesus really believe his own words? The traditions of his society said the when we touch defiled things, that we become defiled. And now, in this story, the most defiled person we could ever imagine (from the perspective of his culture) rushes up to Jesus and begs him to drive the demon out of her daughter.

#3: “Wrong” kind of response for Jesus to be making (7:27)

I ask you to try to imagine being a part of this scene. Other rabbis would almost certainly have lashed out at her, “You dog, you – get out of this house now! What on earth or in heaven makes you think that a person like me would anything to do with a person like you?” And he would have yelled at his followers, “Get this unclean person out of my presence and do it now!”

But then, Jesus wasn’t like other religious leaders. Other rabbis wouldn’t have been in Tyre in the first place – and not in a home in Tyre for sure. I am quite sure this woman also knew that Jesus did many things that other religious people in her day did not do –like going to a tax collectors home, and like picking grain on the Sabbath, and like talking to a demon possessed Gentile man, and like blessing a defiled woman who had an untreatable uterine hemorrhage – and even letting her touch him.

With that in mind, look at Jesus’ response in v. 27. He used a parable, a riddle, as he so often did: First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.

Keep looking at that verse and let me open up this parable for you just a bit with a few observations:

• The word Jesus used for “children” was “teknon”, a word for biological children. It was the word used for Israel being the children of God. The woman will use the word “paidion” in v.28, a word for the entire household, including those who are adopted and those who serve in the home.
• Jesus speaks of food coming “first” to the biological members of the household. The Jewish people were the “teknon” of God. They were the people who had been set apart by God to be the ones through whom a Messiah and savior would be born. According to the Scriptures, when the Messiah would come, he would first bring God’s kingdom blessings to the children of Israel. However, from the earliest days on, from the first promises made to Abraham, the kingdoms blessing that would come first to the Jews, would spill over and bring blessings to all the peoples of the world.
• In his parable, Jesus did not use the word people usually used for the wild and filthy scavenger dogs that roamed in packs in his day. That word was kyon. Jesus used the word kynarion, a word that referred to a household pet that belonged to the family. The word that religious leaders used for Gentiles was the word for the wild mongrel. Jesus, in his parable, is speaking about the kind of household pet that is a part of the home and that is cared for in the home.

So, Jesus’ response was not the kind anyone would have expected. Jesus is saying, “Don’t you know that the bread of God’s kingdom blessing that I bring must first go to the biological family members who have been persecuted so long and through whose lineage I have been born. Surely it’s not right for me to take what must first come to my people and toss it to the pets in the household. As Paul put it in Romans, “God’s gospel is to come first to the Jew and then to the rest of the world.”

This was a rather shocking response. Still, Jesus’ response was in a parable and, up until now, no person in Israel had ever understood any of his parables. Surely, this woman won’t get it. Right?

#4: The “wrong kind of person” receives the blessing of the King (7:28-30).

This woman almost certainly knew that Jesus had often cast out demons in his ministry. And, she certainly knew that this was an unusual kind of rabbi – intentionally entering Tyre and staying in a home. I even imagine she had often heard Jewish people say something like, “If this miracle worker is the Messiah, he’s come for us and not for you.” So, consider her words in v 28: “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Pastor Carol Kenyon has helped me to understand a little bit of this from this woman’s perspective. This woman was desperate. Can you imagine a home in which your daughter is obviously demon possessed – and everyone in the neighborhood knows it? And, she knows this Jesus has power over evil spirits. So, hearing that he’s in her area, she rushes into the home before anyone can stop her and blurts out, “Lord, set my daughter from evil!” She would normally expect a man like this to have her incarcerated. Instead, she hears words like, “first” and household language like children and pets. Carol said, “If I had been that woman and I saw any opening at all, I would have grabbed it. Any attention is good attention when you’re desperate. And, I would do whatever I could to stay in that conversation. I’d have nothing to lose – except a little more of my pride and sense of dignity. And, with my child in danger, I’d go for broke.”

So that’s what this woman does. She makes herself a part of Jesus’ parable. She wrestles with Jesus like Jacob of old wrestled with God until God blessed him. She said, “There are always crumbs that fall from the table. When the pets eat the crumbs, they aren’t stealing from the children.” Since Mk 6, Jesus has been using the illustration of bread to speak of the blessing God is ready to give when we follow him. And she gets it. She says to Jesus, “Even the crumbs of God’s blessing will be enough for us. Even if the bread must first go to the children of Israel, crumbs of what you bring will be enough.”

And, Jesus says, “Such an answer.” In Matthew, we’re told he added, “Woman, you have great faith!” And he said, “You may go. The demon has left your daughter.”

Do you see it? This woman did not come on the basis of her own goodness, her rights, or her merits but only on the basis of who Jesus was. She did not say, “Give me what I deserve on the basis of who I am or what I’ve done or what rights I have.” She said, “Give me what I deeply long for but do not deserve – but I know you must give it on the basis of who you are.”

Think about it: This woman fully accepted that Jesus had to fulfill the Messiah’s obligation to bring the gospel first to Israel. But she also knew that there was to be grace available through this Messiah to those outside biological Israel. She knew that the superabundance of God’s blessing that was to come through the Messiah would spill over and include people like her and her daughter. What an irony! Jesus had been seeking desperately to teach his own people and his chosen Jewish male disciples about who he is and why he had come. But they had, every time, been dull and uncomprehending. This Gentile woman, this “wrong kind of person” is the first person in the Gospel of Mark to hear and understand a parable of Jesus. And faith in Jesus is expressed in her practical response.

Tim Keller summarizes the gospel in this way: “We’re more wicked than we ever dare imagine and more loved than we ever dare to hope.” There are two sides to our response to the gospel. The first is acknowledging our need. This woman owned her own unworthiness to receive God’s blessing. What if she had said, “How dare this man say such things? I don’t have to stand for this!” She would have missed the blessing of God.

But, the opposite would have been for her to fail to understand the kind of person Jesus is. She could have said, “I am so awful that I don’t think you can really do anything for me.” Sometimes, we revel in our own unworthiness to the extent that we become self-centered -- and we miss wrestling with God and waiting until we see his greatness. This woman approached Jesus with humility but also with the kind of faith that wrestles with the kind of God she knew he was -- until she understood and received his blessing.

Thomas Cranmer, the 16^th C Archbishop of Canterbury, loved this story and based his “prayer of humble access” in the 1^stBook of Common Prayer " on it. He said it calls us to focus on God's grace, not on our unworthiness:

We do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord,
trusting in our own righteousness,but in your manifold and great mercies.
We are not worthyso much as to gather up the crumbsunder your table.
But you are the same Lord whose nature is always to have mercy.

Her Story and Our Stories

Let me ask you a question now that you have heard the story: When you hear this woman’s story, do you think 1) I’m like her in a fundamental way so I need to respond to Jesus as she did, or 2) I need to see and treat people like these the way Jesus saw and treated her? I believe that each one of us needs first to respond to #1 and then to go out and live by applying #2.

#1: I call us all to respond as she did – Do you feel overwhelmed by the fact that God has shown you grace? That the perfect and holy God blesses you and allows you to be in his family? Do you say, as Jesus-followers throughout history and all over the world have said, “I know who I am and that I don’t deserve your grace? But, I also know who you are and that you are gracious. So, Lord, I’m ready to follow you and hold onto you in spite of who I am and because of who you are. Here is my life, Lord. Take me and bless me. I’ll take whatever crumbs you are ready to give and I know they will be more than enough.”

From that position of honest self-evaluation and faith in the God who forgives, sets free and blesses even people like us, we are ready to go out into the world and represent him – which is #2.

#2: I call us to see and treat others with the eyes and heart of Christ – MY SUMMARY: This gratitude for God’s grace changes all our relationships and makes Martin Luther King and Sanctity of Life weeks practical. We don’t show respect to all simply out of political correctness or out of laws requiring us to do it. We do so because we are grateful people humbly reflecting the ways of Jesus to all who cross our paths. We are beggars who have found bread through Jesus wanting to tell others where to find the bread of life. We see all people as being human. They are made in God’s image and are potential recipients God’s salvation and his blessing too. If God is willing and able to forgive and bless me, then there’s hope for anyone?

And that realization is the starting point for how we engage in all these thorny discussions related to human life in our world. We say, “If that person is human, then how do I engage in a relationship with that person. That doesn’t mean that, out of guilt, we give things to everyone who asks us. That often does more harm than good. But we begin a relationship and we listen and we ask God to give us wisdom to know how we might represent the kind of Jesus we see in this week’s text in our world.

We’ll ask God to give us wisdom to know how this applies to issues like racism and immigration and abortion, and euthanasia. But our actions must start with seeing ourselves as God sees us and then taking his eyes and heart into every relationship. For what Jesus came to do was to make everything right. He’s doing his work in all who trust him – and furthering his work through all who follow him. So, I have a dream!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low…" and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together… This is our hope!”

To His glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor