What Faith Is
Jesus' Word creates faith in a desperate woman
[This is the sermon shared during both worship services at Zion Lutheran Church in St. Marys, Ohio today. The text was Mark 7:24-37.]
In our Gospel lesson for today, we learn what faith in Jesus is.
As the lesson begins, Mark tells us that Jesus has gone with His disciples into Gentile territory to hide.
After a previous confrontation with the teachers and leaders of the Jewish faith, the dye is cast. These leaders will petition the Romans to have Jesus killed. Jesus, despite His sinlessness, will go to the cross and take the condemnation of death for sin that you and I deserve. Jesus won’t hide from His cross. At the time ordained by God, He’ll go to the cross and complete His mission. For now, though, He hides.
But not for long.
Because Jesus has the saving Word of God and because Jesus is the saving Word of God, He can’t stay hidden. The Word about has gotten out, even among Gentiles, non-Jews.
Jesus never intentionally undertook to evangelize Gentiles, of course. His mission as the Messiah, God’s anointed Savior, was first, to go to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” It would only be after Jesus died, rose, and ascended into heaven that He would send His Church to proclaim the gospel–the good news–of new and everlasting life with God for all who repent and believe in Him--into the whole world.
But the saving Gospel Word that in Jesus Christ, all our sins are forgiven and that we are reconciled to God forever–has, by this time, already leaked out. In taverns, trading posts, and village meeting places, Gentiles are overhearing that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that all who believe in Him have eternal life.
And through this overheard Word, Gentiles are coming to believe that the world–the cosmos–for which Jesus came included them.
Mark tells us that a Syrophoenician woman, a Gentile, tracks Jesus down as He hides at a house in the notoriously sinful Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon. She barges right into the house without an invitation and falls at Jesus’ feet. She is desperate. Her daughter “had an unclean spirit,” was possessed by a demon.
Now folks, if you doubt that demons actually possess souls, I invite you to look at the news on your TV or computer. The devil and his demons are clearly active in our world. They’re even in the Church, tempting people into unbelief and unrepentant sin. Many of you have family members or friends you’re sure are presently bagged by the evil one and you’ve prayed desperate prayers for them.
If so, then you know exactly how this woman felt.
She needed Jesus’ help. Only Jesus could help.
Mark says that the woman “begged [Jesus] to cast the demon out of her daughter…” (Mark 7:26)
But Jesus’ initial response isn’t encouraging. “Let the children [that is, God’s people, the Jews] be fed first,” He says, “for it is not right to take the children's bread and [using a derogatory term Jews often used of Gentiles] throw it to the dogs.” (Mark 7:27)
Jesus was stating a simple fact: His earthly mission was to the Jews. To most people, Jesus’ reply would have sounded like the gates of heaven being closed to them finally, definitively.
But not to this woman of faith.
The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God about Jesus and here, even in Jesus’ stern words, the woman hears the Word that creates faith in Christ.
She hears in Jesus’ “No” the seeds of a yes.
She hears that there is a place for her in God’s Kingdom and a chance for her prayers to be heard by almighty God even for her.
Thinking of the eternal feast and welcome that Jesus promises to all who believe, she acknowledges her inborn distance from God and her unworthiness of God’s grace and mercy, just as we do every time we confess to God, “we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.”
She tells Jesus, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” (Mark 7:28)
At our house, there’s a dog named Peanut. It’s an inappropriate name because peanut would seem to describe something small. But Peanut is a mutt that’s part-dachshund and part beer barrel. Peanut eats very well. In addition to his dog food, bones, and chicken treats, he’s a scavenger. Wherever we are when we dine, snack, or prepare our food, there’s Peanut hoovering every available morsel.
In Jesus’ day, people didn’t keep dogs as pets. The animals roamed around, often in packs, scoring food whenever they could. The areas of homes in which people dined were often open to any dog to barge in to scavenge food dropped by families at dinner. In this way, they could eat very well.
So, think of what the Syrophoenician woman is confessing to Jesus.
“Lord,” this believer in Jesus is saying, “I am a dog, a person not descended from Abraham, a sinner who has consorted with false gods. I don’t belong. And I have sinned and fallen short of God’s intentions for me as a human being. But I believe that in the crumbs from Your table, the grace and blessings left unclaimed by Your own people even if every one of them acknowledged You as Lord and God and Savior, there is enough grace to save me from sin and death and enough mercy to set my daughter free from the demon that possesses her. I believe in You!”
As we said, Jesus never took His mission to Gentiles. But when Jesus heard Gentiles confess faith in Him, the gates of heaven were always opened to them.
“For this statement,” Jesus tells the woman, “you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.”
Mark says, “And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.” (Mark 7:30)
You may have come here this morning wondering if God can hear your prayers.
Or if Jesus’ grace can cover your sin though you cave into the same temptations time after time after time.
Or if there is a place in God’s eternal kingdom for you.
The devil, the world, and the disbelieving sinner inside of you will tell you that the good news of Jesus is too good for you.
But, friends, that’s a lie from the pit of hell.
At one of the churches I served, we did a Bible study on prayer. Participants, about a dozen of us, sat around in a circle and as we began the study, people shared their experiences with prayer. We turned to one woman, the last one who hadn’t yet spoken, and she told us, “I never pray. I guess I don’t want to bother God.” Friends, the God we know in Jesus Christ wants you to bother Him. In fact, you could never bother God. He loves you too perfectly to ever be bothered by hearing from you! God wants you.
God’s Word is clear: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
Don’t worry if you’re not good enough. You’re not.
Don’t worry that you’re from the wrong side of the tracks. If you’re a descendant of Adam and Eve, you are from the wrong side.
Don’t worry that you’re imperfect. Jesus is the Savior Who says, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)
There was nothing the Syrophoenician woman could do to merit Jesus’ favor or grace. But when Jesus spoke His Word, He created faith in Jesus within her. She latched onto His Word it like a starving person grasping at food.
Jesus is here for you to latch onto this morning.
He comes to you in His Word and in His Meal.
He wants you to hear His Gospel promise as the desperate woman did.
He wants to hear your prayers.
He wants to be your Savior.
In His Word, He tells you, “This is My Body and this My blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sin.”
And, “Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, [God] will give it to you.” (John 16:23)
And, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
And, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life…” (John 3:36)
Sisters and brothers in Christ, by His cross and resurrection, Jesus has done everything needed to reconcile you to God and erase the power of sin and death over your life.
In Jesus, all your sins are forgiven and in Him, you have life with God that can never be taken from you.
As surely as the woman went home to find her daughter delivered from the demon, you can know that Jesus Christ has delivered and is still delivering you from sin, death, and condemnation, now and forever.
Faith then, is the gift God gives you through His Word that lets you trust the Gospel is true and that Jesus died and rose for you.
Take this gift, friends!
Latch onto Jesus!
He will never let you go.
Amen
