Note: You can watch this teaching on CrossWalk’s YouTube channel.

Nature Boy

The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

 Here are some thoughts I have from this week’s texts.

 First, some nerd notes... The story of Jesus going to Tyre and Sidon (on the coast of modern-day Lebanon) is fascinating.  Jesus went there to get some time away from Galilee where he probably couldn’t escape crowds and wound up having someone find him to ask for help!  The exchange he has with the pleading mother is raw.  Jesus displays a typical response from a Jewish Rabbi to a Gentile woman, referring to her people as dogs.  While some try to smooth this over as Jesus referring to Gentiles as beloved house pets (there is no evidence to support it in the text or context), such protection of Jesus’ character does more harm than good.  Let Jesus be a human being, a Jewish man from the region of Galilee which was largely an agricultural area that shipped its goods through the ports of Tyre and Sidon.  Poor peasant farmers in Galilee knew that there were people of wealth that were fed by their labor.  They knew there was inequity, and that there was not much they could do about it. These farmers were friends of Jesus, who was a poor carpenter. This story is built on tension related to ethnicity and socioeconomic disparity.

     The pleading mother engages Jesus, who essentially rebuffs her, only to be countered in a way Jesus would normally speak.  The woman accepts the “dog” slur, but then turns it on its head, suggesting by her turn of phrase that a dog who gets crumbs from the table is welcome to do so – is welcome in that space of the family.  Jesus concedes victory to the woman and grants her request.  This isn’t really a story about exorcizing a demon from a little girl; it’s about extending compassion to someone who represents the “other”, maybe even the enemy.  The story that follows about Jesus healing a man, but given that he is in Sidon, we are to be more impressed with the extension of healing to broader parts beyond Israel more than the miracle itself.  James’ text ties in quite nicely, teaching about how favoritism – which is the way many systems in the world work – is incongruent with the way of Jesus. He moves further, saying that faith without works is dead.

     I find these two texts strangely comforting and hopeful.  The fact that Jesus extended grace to a person representing Israel’s oppressor suggests that God’s grace really is for everybody, including me, a dog waiting for crumbs.  I’ll take it!  I also “like” the fact that Jesus was fully human in this story to the point of being rude, and then being humbled by her argument and eventually conceding defeat.  The fact that James needed to write his instruction book on living out the morality of the way of Jesus means that people like me struggled back then just like we do today.  I guess we could conclude that we’re all a bunch of self-centered, biased losers, but I think the greater message is that we are capable of learning and growing and living more and more into who we are created to be.  We will blow it, but that doesn’t need to be the end of the story. In fact, if we are wise, we will honestly examine our mistakes, learn from them, and become healthier, more mature people making the world a better place for everyone.

     How have you grown in this regard over the course of your life?  What has helped you grow?  What keeps you from growing?  What can you incorporate into your life to foster growth?

 This Week’s Texts:

Mark 7:24-37 (NLT)

     Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret. Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit, and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.

     Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, Jesus told her, “First I should feed the children—my own family, the Jews. It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

     She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.”

     “Good answer!” he said. “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.” And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.

     Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns. A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.

     Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue. Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!” Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!

     Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news. They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”

James 2:1-17 (NLT)

     My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?

     For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?

     Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?

     Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.

     For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.

      So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.

     What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?   

     So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.