Gateway Church Sermons
Alder Road Site | 28th July 2024 | Matthew Ashton | Even the Dogs
- Good morning, good morning. So good to seeing you here this morning. We're continuing in our series, "God of All Creation" and the title of the morning's message is "Even the Dogs," a lesson on how to approach Jesus, even the dogs. And if you have a Bible, please do turn with me into Mark chapter seven, and we're gonna read from verses 24, and it's on page 1010, if you'd have a Bible. Mark chapter seven, verse 34, page 1010. Excuse me. Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it. Yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, 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 finisher. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 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 the dogs. Lord, she replied, "Even the dogs under the table eats the children's crumbs." Then he told her, "For such a reply," or as Matthew puts it, "Woman of great faith, you may go, the demon has left your daughter." And she went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. Amen. Even the dogs, a story on how, a lesson on how to approach Jesus. In the Friday edition of The Times this week, thank you, you can read about and vote for the winner of The Times and the Royal Humane Society's Award for Bravery. The society which is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year, they narrow down every year, these wonderful, courageous acts into a top 10. Then on the website or through the paper, you can read each of the stories and you can vote. And on the most extraordinary act of courage. To help with the task, The Times give you some questions to ponder, and very helpfully, it has become the outline of the sermon today. Thank you very much. What's the context, how much help did the person have or who was involved, and was there a positive outcome? And did a person put themselves at great risk for the event? Now, if you do get a chance, log online, read the stories, some fantastic stories to read over the last 12 months of what's happened. I would suspect that if Mark chapter seven versus 34 onwards had happened in the last 12 months, we'd be voting for a woman, a woman whose courage took her to act in such a way that was extraordinary. Now you'll be pleased to know the sermon this morning despite having those helpful questions to help us give us an outline. I've just got one point this morning. One point, how do we approach Jesus? What can we learn from this text on how to approach Jesus? So why don't we jump straight into it? And let's see if the end of the sermon, this lady would get your vote. Now, to understand the context, we must understand, first of all, in earlier in Mark chapter seven, Jesus has had this interaction with the Pharisees, calling them hypocrites because they are taking, they are placing human tradition above God's law. The Pharisees were saying that Jesus' disciples were perhaps unclean because they were not washing their hands prior to eating food. You see, a Pharisee wouldn't soil their lips with unclean food eaten by unclean hands. Even more so, a Pharisee would never soil their life by contact with a Gentile. And what is remarkable in this story is it's the first and the only time we see in Jesus' ministry that he gets a stamp on his passport. He crosses the border and he goes into another territory called Tyre, a territory filled with Gentiles, unclean people, right after the moment he's had this interaction with the Pharisees. He does so to get some relief from the crowds, a bit of respite in Tyre. Tyre, the name means rock, and very similar to pool, it was known for its great natural harbor at the earliest time, around the earliest of times. Has anyone had this before? Have you ever gone on holiday, driven five hours away, only to turn up unless someone you know on the table across the room? Has anyone had that? It's so awkward because the inner Christian in you wants to be so friendly. But the real you wants to say ignore them, I never saw them so I can crack on and rest. No one's just me. Friend of mine at work went to Dubai, it's a funny story to get away from everybody, whatever the flight is with his partner. He's not engaged. And literally in the same hotel room, the room next to him was his best friend, with his partner, right? Which was very discouraging. But even more so, his partner proposed to this other woman and he didn't go out to propose to his friend and they bumped into each other and he said it was one of the most awkward holidays he's ever had. Here Jesus tries to leave the nation to come to Tyre to get some respite, to get away from it all into this Gentile territory. A territory that would have been had different governance, different coinage, different kings. It was a Hellenistic society conquered by Alexander the Great. And so it was very, very different customs. Jesus breaks away to a town where he hopes that he might not be known. He gets the passport stamp, crosses the border. Then a Gentile woman, Matthew refers to her in Matthew chapter 15 as a Canaanite woman, literally a Greek speaking woman born in Syrian Phoenicia approaches him and starts to beg. She was begging him on behalf of her daughter. And the word begging here, Jesus sits down to get some respite. This woman comes and starts to beg. It's a continuous, a present participle. She is continually begging. Begging so much to her as we know in the Gospels, Matthew always gives a bit more detail. The disciples want her to be moved away. Should we make her stop, they say to Jesus. She is begging. She is begging on behalf of her daughter. Why is she doing that? Well in verses 25, we hear about her little daughter being possessed by demon. Now the word little there doesn't necessarily mean that she was young or small, but that she was well loved. She was well loved. And she had an impure spirit possessing her. And just to say on this point, if you're visiting or you have questions about demonic spirits and things, we won't address it in this sermon. Do come and chat to us afterwards. But we do sing in Jesus' ministry, moments where he casts out impure spirits out of people or persons. What we do know is this daughter is not with the mother in the room. She's in another location. This woman approaches Jesus begging him, desperation. And she is not going to take no for an answer. Now in the first instance, this might not seem so strange to us, is there anything more assertive, aggressive I guess in a positive sense than a mother's love for their child. A mother sees their child running for the cliff about to fall over or in a tricky situation. The mother zones in right, nothing else matters. I'm going to look after my child. So there's something here that shouldn't be strange to us about this. That's what any loving mother would do on behalf of a child. She falls at Jesus' feet. She knew nothing of him other than his reputation and stories. You see, she would never have dead cross the border to go to see Jesus in the Israelite nation. But as soon as Jesus comes onto her patch, she's ready. In fact, it says, as soon as she heard about him, without delay, she begs him, "Jesus, please drive this demon out of my daughter." Now, what is striking about this, hopefully that sets the context. Maybe there's a moment for you. Maybe this is real for you in the moment now. There's a moment of desperation. You're crying out. You need, maybe if it's not for you, maybe to someone you know, you're just begging. Maybe you're crying out. Maybe this meets you right where you are in this moment. Consider Jesus' response to this woman and how it may approach you, how it may apply to you. She sees Jesus' response to her with a combination of two things. Challenge and offer. First, let the children eat all they want for taking the children's bread and tossing it to the dogs is not right. You see, during this time, there's a natural order of things, as I guess there would be in today's culture. First, the fathers would eat, then the kids, and then anything that falls on the floor, the dogs would eat. Anybody here have dogs? Do you let them clean the floor after you? Yeah, that's what happens, isn't it? And the secret to understanding Jesus' response is to understand that he is responding by way of a parable, a metaphor, picture language, or a picture story. Jesus is saying here in this mini parable, I have first come to Israel to bring the bread of life. I am the bread of life. Then I come to the Gentiles and then to the ends of the earth. And this is picked up in by Paul in Romans 1 and by Luke in Acts 1. There's this kind of order of things on how the gospel is going to be spread. But wait a second here, if you're listening to that parable intently though, there's still a problem. Because what is Jesus comparing the woman to? Did you hear it right? The dog, some have said of this particular text that Jesus is insulting the woman. Others have gone to this text to perhaps suggest Jesus is sinning here. But we must refute this. And I'll help you to understand why. Because we've got to understand the language of dog. Generally, a dog during this time was not a well-loved animal, the sort of animal we think of today. It was usually a symbol of dishonor. To the Greeks, a dog is synonymous with shameless and an audacious person. To the Jews, a dog would have been a word of contempt. Do not give to the dogs what is holy references in Matthew. And sometimes it would have been a word used to show contempt to the Gentiles. But either way we look at it, the word dog, to be called a dog in this way would have been an insult. Think about it. We don't use the word dog anymore. We replace it with another term in our common vernacular. But to be referred to as a dog in our society, it's not really a get-up-and-go encouragement, is it? Think about, has anyone had those ice breakers at work or around the campfire? The most ridiculous ones, everyone entertains it, but deep down, no one really enjoys. If you were a dog, who would you be? I'm always a golden retriever. I never find that is. There's never a chihuahua in the room, is there? Never a chihuahua. Technically, they're not sure they are a dog. They're too small, right? Anyway, talking about dogs, not chihuahuas. No one likes being called a dog. But we must understand here, actually, that the phrase dog that Jesus uses here is different, and it's very unique to this part of scripture. It's not used anywhere else in scripture. Jesus versus referring here to a small dog or a puppy dog, not this kind of scavenger wild, unruly dog that would have been at the time, but more of a puppy dog. By using this word, Jesus does take the sting out of the word. But also by responding in this way, within the parable, Jesus is not shutting the door on this woman, neither on you if you do come to him, since by the way of parable, he's offering a challenge and an offer. And the woman gets this. It's remarkable, actually. The woman responds to Jesus of challenge and of being called a puppy dog without pushing back. It's not the full insult of sting of being called a kind of a wild, unruly dog, but she doesn't push back. She doesn't yell at him, how dare you call me a puppy dog? How dare you do that? She doesn't say he's wrong. You should never call me that, that's not right. She does not justify in any way that she is not this sort of word used in the parable by way of any of her rights, human or otherwise. It's almost like she connects with the King David in Psalm 22 that says, "But I am a worm, not a man." You see, when she approaches Jesus, she doesn't do so based upon her own rights. She approaches Jesus based upon her lack of rights and lack of authority. She understands who she is before Jesus as shown by her lack of pushing back when he uses that term in the parable. And our Western culture today knows nothing of this kind of assertiveness because we only have assertion today based upon our presence of our rights, human rights, equality. We do not know how to be content unless we are standing up for our rights based upon our own sense of dignity and our own sense of goodness and worthiness. This is what I mode. This is what I'm entitled to. That is not fair. It should have gone this way, but this woman isn't doing that at all. This is rightless assertiveness. Something that you and I know very little about in our culture today. It's like the woman is saying, "Okay, I get it. "I'm not from Israel, Jesus. "And I do not worship the God of the Israelites. "Therefore, I don't have a place at the table. "I accept that. "I get it, but she doesn't stop there, does she? "But the puppies eat from the tables, too. "And I'm here for mine. "I understand the children get it first, Jesus. "I get that. "I get the parable. "But even the dogs eat the crumbs. "Jesus, one crumb of mercy is all I need "for my daughter to be healed. "Isn't that powerful? "Jesus, don't heal my daughter based upon my goodness. "But heal and savor based upon your goodness "and righteousness. "I just need one crumb. "Are you here begging for something today? "Lord, don't answer my prayer based upon "the fervency of my prayer, "but on how great you are, please, Lord, "because I'm gonna go very far based upon that, "or put it another way. "Give to me what I don't deserve "based upon your goodness alone, Lord. "And please, would you do it now? "She knows there's enough mercy on the table "that if she could just get a crumb for her daughter, "that would be enough. "A crumb is all she needs. "You see, she's wrestling with Jesus here. "It kind of invokes that picture of Jacob "and the Old Testament wrestling with God. "It's respectfully done. "This woman is not going to take no for an answer. "Hey, when's the last time I prayed with that sense of, "Lord, I'm not leaving this place "until you do something, till you break through?" James Edwards, a biblical scholar, says of the passage, "Listen to this. "The woman appears to understand the purpose "of Israel's Messiah before Israel does, "or better than her pluck and persistence, "testify to her trust in the sufficiency "and surplus of Jesus. "His provision for the disciples and Israel "will be abundant enough to provide "for one such as herself. "What an irony. "Jesus sinks desperately to teach his chosen disciples, "yet they are dull and uncomprehending. "Jesus is reluctant to even speak to a walk on pagan woman, "and after one sentence, she understands his mission "and receives his unambiguous commendation. "How is this possible?" The answer is that the woman is the first person in Mark to understand, to hear and understand, a parable of Jesus, that she answers from within the parable, that is, in the terms by which Jesus addressed her indicates that she is the first person in the gospel to hear the word of Jesus to her. In other words, what the commentator is saying, she understood the gospel, which is what? Church, you are far more wicked than you could ever imagine, but simultaneously far more loved and accepted than you could ever dream of. This woman is neither too proud nor too discouraged to accept that Jesus is challenged of her unworthiness or her lack of rights. But she also does not insult God by being too discouraged to take him up on his offer. You see, there are two ways to fail. There are two ways that you can fail to let Jesus be your savior this morning. You can be too proud, having a superiority complex, not accepting his trust fundages. You can feel you're too good for that. I don't need Jesus, I'm okay. Bills are paid, kids are in the right schools, careers looking all right, weekends are good. I don't need a savior. I actually feel that I am good. The second way, though, in our culture today, whereas perhaps it's more common, but more subtle, bit more carbon monoxide-y, is being too proud in having an inferiority complex. You see, you accept Jesus' challenge. You know that you are dead in your trespasses. You know you're not good enough. But you are so self-absorbed by it, you say that I'm just so awful that God couldn't love me, which is not to accept his offer. Do you think too highly of yourself or do you think too lowly of God's promise? John Newton, a minister once wrote a letter to a man who is very depressed. Listen to this carefully. You say you feel overwhelmed with guilt and a sense of unworthiness? Well, indeed, you cannot be too aware of the evils inside of yourself, but you may be, indeed you are, improperly controlled and affected by them. You say it is hard to understand how a holy God could accept such an awful person as yourself. You then express a low opinion of yourself, which is not only right, but also too low an opinion of the work, promises and person of the Redeemer, which is wrong. You complain about sin, but when I look at your complaints, they are so full of self-righteousness, unbelief and pride and impatience that they are little better than the worst evils you complain of. What is John Newton saying? You've diagnosed yourself correctly, but you've misdiagnosed the power and authority in person of Jesus. So you are stuck in your self-absorption. You see what Jesus is offering to you this morning. It is a rejection of God's love to his offer when you refuse to seek him and come after his mercy, as to say I'm too good for it because I might believe in something else. This woman's intercessory prayers, what do you mean by that? Her prayers for something or someone else for her daughter in this parable or in this story were powerful and they were answered through her bold approach and persistence in not giving up. Again, it almost invokes that parable of the persistent widower, doesn't it? Never giving up. And her prayers were answered on the basis of how good Jesus is. She could have stuck in her self-absorption. You know what? I am a dog. Come back to the room to her daughter. Sorry, honey. Jesus diagnosed me right. That would have only got to half of the picture. She didn't. And symbolically, this woman stands for the gentle world, which so eagerly seizes on the bread of life for you and for me, sees on him, feasts on him. At this moment, it has said the gospel doors, they just swing open on their hinges and the gospel just comes forth, bursts out like a ray of light to all of us, signaling the gospel advance to all the nations, to all people. Do you think there's something you've done this morning that withholds you back from intimacy with God? That's destroyed by the love of Christ. And I know this from my own story. I have believed too much in my self-absorption on difficult things going on in my life. And I have failed to see the mercy and goodness of God's character. Jesus says to her, "For such a reply, or good answer, "or woman of great faith is so encouraged by her boldness." You may go, Jesus says to her, "The demon has left your daughter." No mumbo jumbo, abracadabra, incantations, pippity, pobity, boop, right? None of that at all. Go, because the logos, the word become flesh, this authoritative voice that put the start in this guy says, she is healed, done, just like that. The daughter's not even in the room. What a blessing. Again, he invokes that imagery of their friends layering their mates down through the ceiling, praying for him. How many people are here this morning because of the prayers of other people? How many people have been healed because of that? What a powerful thing to come to the table for a crumb. And to experience the power of the authoritative word of Jesus Christ. That can say X and it will happen. What would you love Jesus to say over your situation this morning? Lord, if you could only, please would you? That person's not even in the room. Do you think that dilutes his power? Not at all. No mumbo jumbo. Let me conclude on this in Mark seven. So we have this context of this thing with the Pharisees, this interaction with the woman and the daughter's healed and her boldness to approaching. But then further on in Mark chapter seven, Jesus heals a definite mute person. What's interesting about that towards the end of the chapter is that Mark deliberately uses a word that is only found in one other place in the scriptures which is in Isaiah 35 verses five. It's this really rare Greek word. I'm not gonna say it because I would sound like a fool. But just, it's Greek, okay? So I sound smart, that's all the counts. Okay, thank you. It's this rare Greek word, right? But it points the reader intentionally back to go and explore Isaiah 35 verse five which says this verses four through six. Be strong Isaiah says and do not fear. Your God will come. He will come with vengeance, with divine retribution. He will come to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf and stopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer in the mute tongue shout for joy. Isaiah says here that Messiah will come to save us with divine retribution. But when we look at Jesus' story, we don't see him with a sword, you know, hurting people. We don't see him smiting people. So what is he saying here? Well, one commentator says this, that Jesus didn't come to bring divine retribution, but to bear it. You see, on the cross, Jesus will identify with us fully. On the cross, the child of God was thrown away, cast away from the table so that the dogs could be adopted and brought up to the table. We put it another way. The child capital C must fall from the table and become a dog so that the dogs can be brought up and be transformed into a son or a daughter. Or put it another way. The true son of God would go without crumbs and be cast off away from the father so that we could feast at the table forever. Isn't it powerful? Because Jesus identifies with us like that. Now we can approach the table with confidence, like the woman did. The son became a dog so that dogs could become sons and daughters. Don't be isolated and think you'll be on healing this morning, Church. Don't be too proud to accept the gospel's challenge, but not the offer. Don't be too despondent to understand the challenge and not press into the offer. That is love for you, swallows up and absorbs any hint smell scent of unworthiness because his love covers over a multitude. Let's learn from this woman this morning and approach Jesus with boldness. Who knows that might save and heal yourself and someone that you love. Folks, every time you look at a dog, not a chihuahua, that's not a dog, a proper dog. When you're down at the beach and you see a dog running, someone playing with their dog, when you see creation like that, forevermore from this day on, remember the grace of God over you, that he became like a dog so he could become a son or a daughter. Let's have that boldness that the women had. Let's approach him this morning. And I conclude with this. From the Book of Common Prayer, Thomas Cranmer says, "We do not presume or pray this together. "Lord, we do not presume to come to this "your table merciful God, trusting in our own righteousness, "but in your manifold and great mercies, "we are not worthy so much as to gather up "the crumbs under your table, "but you are the same Lord whose property "is always to have mercy."