Sermon from today's service 08/09/2013 at GMC
Message
08/09/13
Holy Father, let this message be all that you want
to say and none that I want to say. Lay
your Holy Spirit on this place, open our hearts and minds to your Good News,
and stay with us as we go into our own
mission fields, wherever they may be.
Amen
At first reading, the verse from Mark can be
awkward, to say the least. Let’s face
it, Jesus just sounds so rude. There is
no getting around it. Here is a person
who has been telling the temple authorities that they are too exclusive, they
have too many rules on cleanliness and as a result they are excluding people
from society. Jesus has been saying
those on the outside, the tax collectors and sinners are welcome to the Lords table. And then this. Jesus is telling a woman that she is no
better than the dogs. It is so
cringeworthy and embarrassing it just has to be true. What Gospel writer in their right mind would
include it if it wasn’t. So we need to
accept this scene, wrestle with it and try to make sense of what Jesus was
really saying and doing, of what Mark the gospel writer was saying, and of what
God is saying to us today through this piece of scripture.
Let us take Jesus first. What we sometimes forget is that Jesus was a
Jew. His image has been so anglicised
and photoshopped over the years that it is easy to forget that. But we do need to remember that the word
became flesh within the boundaries of a 1st Century Jewish
nation. He spoke Aramaic, not English,
and it was his custom to attend the local Synagogue (Mark 1:21, Luke 4:16), and
he wore a cloak with tassels – traditional male Jewish attire (Matt 9:18-26)
This scene from Mark has Jesus outside of the
influence of the temple authorities. He
has made his way to Tyre. It is a
gentile town. It seems that his fame has
spread even to here, since as soon as her arrives, he is sought out by an
anxious mother. This is Jesus outside of
the borders. What follows makes more sense
if we remember that Jesus was Jewish.
However, the really shocking thing is that he heals the daughter
anyway. It is shocking because this is a
story that cuts to the very heart of the clean/unclean debate that was so
prevalent at the time. In fact, the
story sits towards the end of a chapter in Mark (Ch 7), where Jesus attempts to
clarify what makes people clean or unclean.
He has to use some very basic language with his disciples to get them to
understand. He reminds them in no
uncertain terms in vv 17-18, that what you eat goes in by the mouth and comes
out when you use the toilet. The Greek
word Mark used was “aphedron” which means latrine. Jesus was being just about as clear about
this as it is possible to be. He was
making the point that what goes in passes through and cannot be seen as a
reason for making you unclean, a classification that really meant making
someone unsuitable to be included in worship.
It is other things that defile people, not genetics, or food or disease. These other things Jesus then lists according
to Mark “sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice,
deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All
these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
In the 1st Century being deemed unclean
meant that you were effectively shunned by a significant proportion of
society. It was a big deal. Jesus was trying to cut through what he saw
as nonsense, powerfully dangerous nonsense.
So let us take a look at Mark, he gives us this
vignette. This story of Jesus in Gentile
country, beyond the borders. First of
all, he is in a Gentile country which is by very definition unclean.
He is probably in a Gentile house – which would mean unclean, though
Tyre admittedly is a mixed area so we can’t be sure about that. He is approached by a Greek, Syro-Phonecian
woman. Double unclean. Greek means Gentile, which we already know is
just plain unclean, Syro-Phonecian in 1st
Century Rome actually equates to being possibly a prostitute. Just how unclean can this scenario get. As usual, the Gospel writers are painting
with rich colours; we should really get the hint.
Jesus’ response initially is to quote
tradition. He is Jewish after all, their
faith is for those within their society, not to be shared with anyone and
everyone, certainly not with the unclean.
Her reply, (another example of the shocking way Jesus treats women for 1st
Century norms – normally she wouldn’t have a voice), implicitly states that the
rest of the world is still there, despite Jewish traditions.
So human
tradition has no power here at all.
This enables
us to see the outcome in Mark in a different light. Jesus is the word of God, Mark tells us in
the very first verse that Jesus is the Son of God, that he is the Messiah, and
so God’s command, in an unclean city, in an unclean house (probably), to an
unclean woman is active and powerful in healing her daughter. In other words, Jesus makes clean, the
unclean daughter (she was gentile anyway and demon possessed to boot), of an
unclean Gentile prostitute. Nothing that
is unclean cannot be made clean by the word of God.
This is the power of God’s word as opposed to Man’s.
For the 1st Century, this is really
shocking. And I think you will agree
with me, no longer rude at all. Actually,
I think it remains shocking in the 21st Century.
What is God speaking to us today through this event?
How often do we rely on our own resources, ignoring
what God has to offer? How often do we
get to the end of the day without making time in the day to really listen to
what God is trying to say to us?
In our Old Testament reading this morning, the
Psalmist reminded us not to rely or put our trust in Princes or men for they
cannot save. Only the LORD can truly
save, The power of God’s word against
the power of Man’s word. He is the one
who sets free those who are stuck in ruts, who gives sight to those who are
blind to what is happening in their lives and lifts up those who are dragged
down by circumstance. He forgives our
past and helps us reclaim our future.
This word of God reminds us to lift our eyes to the
LORD, for he can do wonders can’t he? And will do wonders if we just let him.
So what shall I leave you with today?
I think this simple question.
Will you trust God, let him into your lives, and let him act.?
Let us Pray
Father forgive us that we so often forget to let you
in, we keep the door shut and lock you out along with everyone else. Help us open our lives to you, fill us Father,
with your Holy Spirit, open our eyes and our minds so that we may be ready to
listen to your word, feel the power of your word, just like those he worked
with and accept your personal healing within our lives.
In Jesus Name
Amen
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