THE SYROPHOENICIAN WOMAN

August 30, 2015

 

GRACE, MERCY AND PEACE TO YOU FROM GOD OUR HEAVENLY FATHER AND OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.  AMEN

 

As a child, did you ever play the game Statue? One variation had the sculptor take you by the arm, twirl you around as fast as possible and let you go. However you stopped, in whatever position you had to stay just like that, not moving. Each child in turn was twirled and then the object of the game was to “Not Move”. The last one to move got to be the twirler in the next game and that was always the most desired position. A more sanitized version has a sculptor who moves your body into different positions and again to hold that position longer than any of your friends. Fun, but not nearly as exciting.

 

So…why remember this long ago played game? Well…our gospel this morning reminded me of it. Specifically, Jesus’ reaction to the woman’s request to heal her daughter. Listen again…”Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” This is totally uncharacteristic of Jesus. He rebuked demons, Pharisees and other religious leaders who attacked him, but not those coming to him for emergency help. And on top of that, he in essence called her a dog! But then, after she stands up to him by saying, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” He changes his mind, tells her “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” And it was so.

 

He changed his mind! Unlike we “statues” who tried our best not to change, Jesus changed his mind about when to minister to the Gentiles! It is like he had never planned to minister to others than the Israelites, just not now. He, Jesus, the Son of God, listened to a Gentile woman’s logic and changed his mind! Unbelievable! And yet for us, earthshaking! For it expands our God from a rigid unhearing God, a monolithic statue into a caring, loving God who listens to us and yes, changes His mind when it is in our best interest. Remember from Genesis the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? Where God was intent on destroying Sodom and Abraham pleaded for the people who lived there? Abraham bargained with God starting with, if there were 50 righteous people all the way down to 10 of them and each time God said yes, if there were that may righteous people he would not destroy the city. And then in Exodus there was the Golden Calf incident when God was so angry with Aaron and the Israelites for not only building a statue of a calf from gold, but then worshipping it, that he told Moses he was going to incinerate them. Moses pleaded with God to spare them and he did. We are told, “God did think twice.” What about Jonah and Nineveh in the Book of Jonah? God was going to wipe them out too, until he sent Jonah to preach to them and they changed their ways. Jonah wanted them wiped out, but God changed his mind and let them live.

 

Does this mean that God is “wishy- washy”, a wimp, not having any back bone? Absolutely not! Just the opposite…it means that God is involved with us, that his love is so great that he is big enough AND wise enough to change when circumstances demand it. It shows that our God is not like some of the ancient gods we hear about who interacted with humans on a whim and then went back to their own world never to be seen again.

God is definitely not like that. He is here with us, guiding us, protecting us and yes, loving us each and every minute of every day! Remember Jesus telling his disciples that he would be with them always, even to the ends of the earth? That means us too! And so when Jesus healed the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter,  he followed in the footsteps of his Father in heaven…he changed his mind and opened his ministry to the Gentiles…to us. By doing so he opened for all of us too, God’s promise to be with us always no matter where we are or what we may be doing and the promise of eternal life, to be with him in heaven throughout eternity.So then, what do WE do? Just sit back and say well Lord, thank you and we’ll see you in heaven, go on our way and never think about God again? I think not! That would make us statues…just like the statues found in parks. Non- feeling, non- moving, non- thinking just existing. We are instead inter-acting with God everyday through faith. Remember hearing that it is faith that sets us free? Ever think about free from what? Free from sin and eternal death? Free from following the dictates of the world that lead us into trouble? But free to DO what?  Maybe free to do God’s work here on earth? To act like the Children of God which we are?

 

In James this morning we heard, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” Faith is really a verb…an action. Not passive, not  just breathing, but doing. Jesus gave us only TWO commandments…to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves. To love…action. To have faith is another action word…to have faith that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. The two go hand in hand…Love And Faith. So… What do we Do about them? Left to our resources we most likely would all be couch potatoes, willing to let others get out and Do God’s work, to sit on the sidelines and watch the world go by.  But our Faith, guided by the Holy Spirit, kicks us off our couch into a life of service, of caring, indeed a life of doing!  Even sharing the gospel, the good news of salvation with others. This is the life God planned for us. He provides us with opportunities to serve, the courage to step out and the skills necessary for it to happen. And does he stop there? Absolutely not! He continues to love us, even when we are couch potatoes, as his own children. Remember that it is God who has chosen US! His love for us permeates every part of our lives and being. When we hurt, he hurts…when we cry, he cries AND when we jump for joy, he jumps right along with us. He knows we are not able to save ourselves from our own self-destruction…our sinful selves. So he sent his Son, Jesus Christ to save us from all of our sins, from death, and from eternal punishment. It is this same Jesus from our gospel this morning. This same Jesus who, when faced with the logic of the woman, changed his mind and his timetable of salvation for all, even gentiles…who included us in God’s plan to seek and to save the world. Remember that the woman went home and found her daughter free from the demon. It is this kind of faith that sets us free from our demons too. The woman, without question, believed Jesus when he told her the demon had left her daughter. She did not at that moment see her daughter, but believed…just as she had believed in the very beginning that this man Jesus could heal her daughter. It is this kind of faith that leads us too, without physically being there…to the cross on Calvary. To the place where this Jesus from our gospel this morning, gave his life for us. For our sins! And if it were only his death our sins would still be with us, but through his death came his resurrection and all of our sins were left in the empty tomb! And in their stead we have the promise of eternal life. That is truly God’s love for us! Can we but do otherwise with our neighbor? To love, to care, to do? How can we not want to jump for joy and shout from the roof tops that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” !And now may the peace that passes all understanding be in your hearts and minds forever.  

AMEN

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