Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Good morning, church.
[00:00:06] What a joy to be together today. Seriously, you guys are great.
[00:00:14] We are going to be continuing our time in the book of Matthew today. If you have a Bible and you want to open it over to Matthew, chapter 15, we're going to be in Matthew 15 today. If you're visiting with us today or if you don't have a Bible with you, man, we just. I say this every week, but I so mean it. We just really believe in the importance of access to God's word here to manual. And so there are house bibles around the room. You can look under the chairs in front of you. If you don't own a Bible, I'd encourage you to take that home or to talk to one of our pastors. We'll get you a nicer one. But, yeah, we're in Matthew 15 today while you guys turn there. And as I was studying this week, I kept coming back to this idea. I really think most folk love the out of place hero story, right? You know, the kind of the trope I'm talking about, like, someone who has no business ending up in whatever situation they're in, and yet they end up playing a vital role in, like, some important or grand story. You guys get what I'm talking about? Like, man, my personal favorite example of this is the three amigos.
[00:01:16] However, I am a pastor, and pastors apparently are legally required to make Lord of the Rings references every two sermons or they lose their ordination. So this one really does fit, I promise. Lord of the Rings is a perfect hero, out of place story. We got a picture of the fellowship, I think, here for you guys to see if anyone's not seen the Lord of the Rings movies or read the books. This really does get you where you're going, because you see those guys in the back, those big tough guys, the wizard, the elf. They got swords and clubs and all that stuff. And then you've got these four little dudes who really, if you, like, read about it. Their big thing, like, what they're hoping for out of life is to, like, hang out and go fishing and, like, read a book and maybe shoot off fireworks, like once a year. Like, that's their whole stinking vibe. And yet they get sucked up into this story where they're traveling across the world, engaging in battles, riding on horseback against magical creatures, and seeking to destroy, like, ultimate evil nuts, I think. And by the way, what makes the story nuts is not that there's this grand battle of good and evil. That's kind of what you expect when you get into a big, epic book like that. What makes it nuts is the three and a half foot tall guy who at the beginning was like, I just like to read books. And he's like, got his sword running into battle. Like, that's what makes it so nuts. I think we love these kind of stories because on some level we connect to them. We relate to the idea of being in over our heads in difficult situations. Yeah. Whether it's a new job, school, relationship issues like fill in the blank. It seems like human beings, we often find ourselves in a spot in life whether we're ready or not. Right. And it's just, we must face it regardless. We're just stuck there, no matter how in over our head we feel. Anybody relate to that? Right.
[00:03:19] I think our text today speaks to this reality in a really helpful and beautiful way. What we're going to see in our text today in Matthew is that the reality of our sin and God's holiness is actually incredibly overwhelming at a core level. Human beings know we cannot be good enough for the kingdom of God. But praise be to God that our reception of the grace of Jesus has nothing to do with our ability or how we do or don't deserve it. Spoiler alert, we don't deserve it because when it comes to the reality of sin and the gospel, we are in over our heads, pure and simple. But Jesus is full of grace, and the kingdom of God is available to all who come to Jesus in need and in faith. So the main point for today is this, guys, our redemption in Christ comes through faith in Jesus, not our earthly standing, our redemption in Christ. It comes through our faith in Jesus, not what we bring to the table, not our earthly standing, not our skills, not our righteousness, not the works we have done. I don't know about you guys, but this is actually deeply encouraging to me. It's encouraging because I have a pretty consistent awareness of just how much I don't actually live up to the ideal of the kingdom of God. Right? Like, just being confessional, I'm a pretty dreadful sinner. I am selfish and lazy and angry, and I so often live into the desires of my flesh rather than what I know to be holy.
[00:05:02] So if this whole deal were based off my merit, I at least, I'm sure you guys are better people than me, but I at least would be doomed.
[00:05:11] I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I'm not the only one in the room who has that awareness, right?
[00:05:16] So praise be to God that our involvement in the kingdom, because it comes from our faith in Jesus's ability, not the presence of our own ability. We may be in over our heads, we may be the hobbit on the battlefield, but Jesus is nothing.
[00:05:34] Christ is king. He's lord. He's in control. And he loves you and me, sinful you and me. So let's jump into this text. We're going to go through this chunk by chunk. And I want to pre warn you that this is actually kind of an offensive text on your first reading. On a cursory reading, this can be kind of upsetting. Jesus demeanor is off putting when you first engage it. But stick with me. There is something in this text that you missed on the cursory reading that we need to go below the surface. So pray with me and we're going to start in verse 21 and begin reading this text. Jesus, thank you so much for this morning. Thank you for the gift of church family, Lord, that we are in this together, that we are not out on our own trying to navigate the life of faith, but that you invite us to come together as brothers and sisters and meet with you and receive your grace. God, this morning I ask that you would be our discipler, Holy Spirit, speak through your word, challenge us, encourage us, remind us, and let us leave here today having spent our day with you. God, we love you and pray these things in your name. Amen.
[00:06:41] Okay, starting in verse 21 of chapter 15 of Matthew, we read this. When Jesus left there, he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon. So remember, guys, we are jumping into the middle of a chunk of narrative. If you've been here the last few weeks, we've gone through Matthew 14 and 15 and we've seen this kind of development. Jesus has been growing his following and displaying his messianic power and authority through miraculous healings and ministry. This is where some of the most famous of Jesus miracles happen. This is where he feeds the 5000. This is where he walks on water during the storm. But at the same time, Jesus has had this increasing tension and conflict and outright rejection with the religious and theological leaders of his day, with the very people who should have recognized Christ's authority, Jesus as Messiah. These are the people who actually begin to reject his ministry. And so it starts with Jesus own family and then it escalates to his neighbors, the people he grew up with. And it escalates to the local religious and theological leaders. And then in Matthew 15 it comes to a head where religious leaders from Jerusalem, kind of the seat of jewish spirituality, show up and they call out Jesus and challenge his authority and guys, man, it's just pretty intense. Our text picks up immediately after this confrontation, this big conflict with the folk from Jerusalem. What we see is that after this, Jesus steps back for some spiritual retreat.
[00:08:19] It's telling that he goes to the region of Tyre and Sidon. I know it's a little boring sometimes to get into the geography, but I think this is helpful. I put up a map every now and then that shows kind of Palestine in this area and Jesus ministry. But I want to zoom in a little bit here. This is the northern part of the map. That's probably in the back of your Bible. And you see that little jelly bean? That's the sea of Galilee. That's where 90% of Jesus ministry happens, in that region on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. His home base is in the city of Capernaum. That's where he kind of camps out and he goes out from there. And usually when he leaves that region, the only place he goes is down south to Jerusalem. But in this text, he heads north. You can see along the coast in the northern part of that map. That's where Tyre and Sidon are. These are ancient cities that represent a region within the roman empire at this point. And here's why it's so important that Matthew notes that Jesus goes there. This is an entirely gentile region of the area. There is no, almost no jewish presence in this region. Tyre and Sidon are considered in jewish culture at this point. Kind of the stereotype of what gentile means. I mean, if you go back to the Old Testament, like the infamous queen Jezebel comes from Sidon, like that's the cultural history here, right? And so Jesus heading up to this region is Jesus stepping away from any identifiable jewish practice, right? This is him stepping away from his active mission of preaching and healing and ministering to the jewish people, people to get some solitude. Stepping away from the weightiness of his mission in his telling of the same story. This story is recorded in more than one gospel. Mark makes this really explicit, that Jesus is avoiding people in this season, that he takes his twelve and they hide away in a house just to get away and have some peace and quiet. He's taking a break because here's the thing, guys, ministry is hard.
[00:10:24] It's exhausting. And so Jesus is stepping away from the mission of preaching and healing to get some rest. Read on with me in verse 22. Just then a canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, have mercy on me, Lord, son of David, my daughter is severely tormented by a demon, Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples approached him and urged him, send her away because she's crying out after us. And he replied, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
[00:11:00] So the text tells us this canaanite woman who lived in the region, she hears about Jesus and she seeks him out. Now, there's several things going on in this part of the text that are downright strange. The first one is this term, Canaanite. Guys, this is a racial term that would have been pretty rare by Jesus Day. This refers to the original inhabitants of the promised land. These were the ones who the ancient Israelites conquered and drove out under the leadership of Joshua. They survived that conquest. Right. But they lived in a region that was constantly fluctuating between powers and having people move in and out. And so by Jesus Day, there were very few folk left who would have been able to openly identify as Canaanite. That's pretty strange. It's almost like Matthew is going out of his way to let you know, hey, this lady is the opposite. Whatever you think Jewish is, this woman is the opposite of that, right? Like, this is as far from jewish as you can get.
[00:12:03] And notice that she approaches Jesus as Messiah. She calls him Lord and she calls him son of David. These were messianic titles the first century jews understood were connected not just to leaders and rabbis, but to the promised savior. This is incredibly ironic.
[00:12:26] For a daughter of Canaan to look to the son of David, the king who subjected her ancestors to look to him for help was strange, to say the least.
[00:12:38] And, guys, I think this speaks to the absolute desperation this woman must have had.
[00:12:46] It's important. Guys, remember, this text tells us that her daughter was severely tormented by a demon. Now, there's an important side note here that we don't often talk about in church life, but I think it's actually important to get our heads into this text. You have to remember, ancient near eastern people didn't separate out their mental person from their spiritual person the way modernization westerners do. Although a lot of modern westerners reject the concept of a spiritual person. But. But in general, the mindset we have as westerners is that your physical self, your spiritual self, your mental self, there are separations between these things. And the reality is, the folk of Palestine, the New Testament, they didn't have a category for that. They saw the person as much more unified, which means they didn't have a category for what we call mental illness. Everything was put under the category of either its physical or it's a spiritual ailment. This means that likely many illnesses that folk brought to Jesus fully believing them to be demonic oppression were, in reality, mental illness. Now we know that it can't always be the case, because when you look at Jesus ministry, oftentimes he has conversations with the demons that he is asserting authority over. Right? And he asserts authority over them and sends them away and see, and we believe in the reality of the spiritual realm and spiritual warfare. And so, okay, that's definitely a thing. But we also know that at times when Jesus heals people who've been identified to him as demonically oppressed, he just gives a word of healing. He says things like, they are well and they are right. Now, does this mean that in those cases, Jesus was healing a mental illness rather than demonic possession? I have no idea. That's speculation. We have no way of knowing that. But I think the point I'm making is I think there's room for it. Obviously, Jesus, as God, understood and still understands how the curse affects our brains and our brain chemistry, and he was able to heal those afflictions just like any other affliction he faced. And it doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility that he simply wouldn't correct people's understanding about mental illness around an area they had no concept to understand, would have been introducing a brand new concept they wouldn't have had a category for. So why do I bring this up? Since we can't know for certain? The reason I bring it up is I want us to get a picture in our minds of the desperation of this woman. See, I'm pretty confident that in our setting, not many of us have been involved in a genuine exorcism situation. Right? Like, that's just a little more rare in our context. But many of us have watched as family members suffered from a mental health crisis.
[00:15:21] And the reality is, guys, it's terrible. It's terrible. You feel helpless. It's disconcerting and scary to sit by and watch as someone you know and love seemingly changes so dramatically. And in a day before modern science and behavioral interventions, the folk who were suffering alongside their family were like they. They just had to suffer through it. There wasn't anything there. And so I share that not because I'm saying that's what's happening in this text. We have no way of knowing that. But I think it gives us a perspective to understand this. Mama, her daughter is suffering.
[00:15:59] The text says she is severely tormented. There is an oppression on her that is so awful, it drives this mother to seek out the savior of her enemies on the off chance that his power and authority might be directed at her problem.
[00:16:18] There is ancient generational enmity between her and this man's people. But she is so desperate that she shows up anyway and she just starts yelling.
[00:16:33] That's right. The way the text is written is painting a picture of her following them around and yelling at them from the background. Like, imagine a scene like this. You and some friends get an Airbnb cabin for like a getaway over the weekend, right? And one day as you're walking to the corner store, a lady across the street just yells at you to help her. She doesn't approach. She just stands across the street yelling at you for help. And then that evening, as you're lighting up the fire pit, like 1 yd over, you hear the same lady start yelling. She doesn't come, she just yells at you. And then the next morning, like you're taking a walk, and once again, you hear yelling from like somewhere distant, right? Always at a distance, yelling at you for help. And Jesus in our text does something that his disciples, at least the way the text is revealed it to us, have never seen him do before.
[00:17:23] This is something they've not seen in Jesus ministry. And it's this. He ignores her.
[00:17:30] He ignores her. The text tells us he did not say a word to her.
[00:17:35] He's purposefully ignoring her pleas for help. Now, you have to understand on a very simple level, this kind of would have been what his followers expected a jewish rabbi to do, to refuse to minister to a gentile. This kind of plays into what the twelve probably would have seen in other religious leaders. But this is not how they've seen Jesus minister to people. And as this drags on for several days, it gets so annoying that they finally beg Jesus to intervene again. Like, we kind of skip over this in our reading, but the way the twelve speak to Jesus is less about them getting mad at this lady and more about them getting annoyed with Jesus.
[00:18:21] The cry to Jesus, like, their cry to him was more like, hey, will you just give her what she wants so she'll leave us alone? Like, you can do this. Why are we just letting this annoying thing happen over and over and over? They're not used to seeing Jesus not heal folk who ask for healing. And even though this lady is a Canaanite, like, they eventually break down or just go, hey, can we please just like, do something about this? Like, we came here to hang, and this is super not a good space, not having a good time right now.
[00:18:50] And Jesus response seems so cold, doesn't it?
[00:18:56] My mission isn't the Gentiles. I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. Now, in a text, we only get the text, right? We don't know what kind of tone Jesus used or his facial expression. We don't know if he had a smirk or twinkle in his eye. And everyone in the room knew exactly what he was planning there. The text doesn't tell us that. It just gives us these kind of cold words. But what we can know for certain is that Jesus already knew what he was planning here. Right?
[00:19:28] He's coming across as dismissive and rude and even, like, kind of racist to this lady, who is in very real and very desperate need. But stick with us for a second, because you have to remember, Jesus knows the depths of this woman's heart.
[00:19:43] He has every intention of meeting her need, but he also knows her faith, and he's using her faith to draw his followers to something new and deep and necessary for their faith. This may seem like a strange aspect of the text to camp out on, but I guess I actually think there's some real encouragement for us here.
[00:20:03] It is so easy to judge God by way of our perspective. Yeah. Like, often our experience of God can be confusing. We pray about things. We beseech him. He doesn't do things the way we think we would do them if we were in his place. So that relationship we were really banking on doesn't end the way we thought it would. An illness takes someone unexpectedly, a big risk, like a new job or a move, like, doesn't work out well.
[00:20:29] And even in our faith practice, we read the word, and we don't like when we see God's passion for holiness or God's judgment for sin, or when God says something is right or something is wrong, and we start to think, well, if I was God, like, anyone? Anyone been there, right?
[00:20:44] I think one of the beautiful reminders we see in this text is that Jesus is in control, and he has a perspective that we don't have.
[00:20:54] He knows more about the situation than we do. We can trust his character even when we don't fully understand his actions. And, guys, there is power and encouragement in that truth. I've told this story from the pulpit before, but when Millie was, like, two or three, there was one day when she spent, like, a long afternoon out with me doing errands. And so I decided I was going to reward her with a toy that she had mentioned at a store recently. And so I take her to Walmart. And I don't know if you guys have ever been to Walmart with a two or three year old, but it's actually not a good thing. It's actually not a good experience. Right? So I took her there, and we started making our way back to the toy section. But she kept getting her attention caught on various things. A candy bar, a hairbrush, colorful towels, and like every two or three year old ever born on earth, she asked me to buy her each one of these things in turn. And as I turned her down item after item, she grew increasingly frustrated. Right? And the whole time I'm going, hey, kid, there's a toy aisle in the back of the store. You gotta stick with me. And she's going, I want these tic tacs, you know, like, which is like a very two year old thing, because the reality is just in her two year old brain, she didn't have the capacity to understand, dad's got something better for you than a beach towel. Right? Right.
[00:22:15] She just didn't have, like, she couldn't understand my good plan for her in that moment, so she gets mad. Beloved. The same is often true in our relationship with God.
[00:22:26] If you're here today and there's something about your relationship with God that makes you doubt his good character, if you're resonating with those challenges, those. I just don't get this, God. And it's really frustrating. I wouldn't do it this way. God, I don't get why you allowed this to happen. God, I want to encourage you. I want to encourage you to come back to him and consider trust.
[00:22:46] Consider his character. Consider his track record.
[00:22:51] He is good.
[00:22:52] And the reality is he has a perspective that you are unable to engage.
[00:22:58] His perspective is above yours. His thoughts are not your thoughts. His ways are not your ways. But he is good, and you can trust him. Okay, let's keep reading. In verse 25.
[00:23:10] But she came and knelt before him and said, lord, help me.
[00:23:16] He answered, it isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. Yes, lord, she said, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.
[00:23:27] Then Jesus replied to her, woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want. And from that very moment, her daughter was healed.
[00:23:37] And that's the word of the Lord.
[00:23:39] Now, isn't it interesting? This text seems to get kind of worse when you keep reading. Right? Like, this woman hears Jesus's response to his disciples. She hears him being like, nah, I didn't come for these people. And rather than give up or rather than take offense, she takes the offensive. And now she crosses the street, and she approaches Jesus. She falls on her knees. She repeats her plea in desperation. Lord, help me. I don't know about you guys, but, like, that is a prayer I can relate to.
[00:24:09] How often in life do we fall at the feet of Jesus in a place of desperation? You tried everything you could try, and you were so over your head, nothing is working. You've gone as. As far as you can on your own ability, and it's fallen extremely short. We're insufficient to solve the real problems of our life and our heart. And like this woman, oftentimes the only prayer we have left in the tank is just help me. Right?
[00:24:34] This verse would be beautiful if that was it, right? Cause you're like, dang. Wow, what faith. This woman's so desperate to help her child, she approached Jesus, the only one who can help, and she calls out for help. She's at his feet. It's, like, so beautiful. And what's his response? It isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.
[00:24:53] Wow.
[00:24:55] Woof. Wow.
[00:24:58] This woman is at the end of her rope, and Jesus response is to call her a dog. That feels like salt in the wound. Yeah.
[00:25:06] And honestly, if we were to engage this story in a vacuum, it probably would be. But you have to remember, this story isn't in a vacuum. Remember the progression of chapter 15 that we already talked about? Jesus was approached by pious religious leaders from Jerusalem who challenged Jesus spiritual authority because of his failure to follow man made jewish rules about what ritual purity.
[00:25:29] He and his followers didn't eat with washed hands, so they were ritually impure, according to these leaders. So Jesus turns this on its head and says, they are the fools. Their rules cause folk to break the commandments of scripture. And he takes it a step beyond that and says that what causes impurity is not about what you eat or what you touched, but rather what is in your heart, what comes out of you in your words and your actions. That's what makes you pure or impure. And in saying this, Jesus is putting all sinners on the same level. We're all affected by the curse. We all have impurity within us, and it comes pouring out of us in our words and our actions. We're all in the same terrible space of needing the intervention of God to purify our selfish and sinful hearts. These pious jewish religious from Jerusalem are no better than the backwoods jewish believers from Galilee. But here, this church, they are no better than the Canaanites.
[00:26:24] Because after this, Jesus retreats and spends time in the stereotypically gentile unclean area. And here they just so happen to meet the stereotypical unclean Gentile who was able to overcome generations of cultural conflict and asked this man, Jesus, to help her with a problem she can't solve. See, as this is where the trick of this text comes out, Jesus is in complete control of his ministry.
[00:26:55] He traveled here on purpose.
[00:26:57] He traveled here to meet this woman. He traveled here to stoke her faith into a fire. He traveled here to meet her need. He traveled here to invite her into the kingdom. He knew all of this the whole time.
[00:27:11] He knows her desperation, and he knows the faith that is under the surface of her actions.
[00:27:17] He also knows his own followers prejudice and weaknesses. He knows how much they need to grow.
[00:27:25] So he creates an opportunity for this woman's faith to challenge and teach his followers lack of faith.
[00:27:33] If that seems cruel to you, and I get why it would, but when you hear this, if that seems cruel to you, I'm actually missing Jesus in this. Remember, he knows this woman better than she knows herself. His words are intentional. They aren't just teaching his twelve, although they're doing that, they're also stoking her faith into a fire.
[00:27:54] He's drawing her radical faith out into the open. And he does so by playing the part of the prejudiced religious leaders he just rebuked five verses earlier.
[00:28:06] He plays into the stereotype of jewish rabbis to illustrate the point he just made about how we're all equal in our uncleanliness and our need of spiritual intervention. He responds to this woman in her vulnerability and desperation by basically saying, you don't deserve what I have to offer you.
[00:28:24] He says his ministry is to the lost sheep of Israel. And by the way, jesus does almost exclusively minister to the jewish population in Galilee. But we know he doesn't exclusively do so. He's already made it known that he is seeking those who will come to him in faith, not those who come to him with the right genealogy. He praised the faith of the Gentile centurion as greater of all of Israel. He also already knows that he's going to send his twelve to make disciples of all nations. He knows that these men in front of him who are begging him to get rid of this canaanite woman in just a few years time will die, scattered all over the world, surrounded by gentiles whom they gave their life to preach the gospel to. He knows where this thing is going.
[00:29:12] So he makes a comment that's technically true, but purposely provokes this woman. My ministry isn't to gentiles. It would be wrong to give to you what is set aside for someone else. And look at her response. See, this woman isn't just desperate. She is wise. She is shrewd.
[00:29:28] Jesus challenge to her doesn't defeat her, it pushes her to further boldness.
[00:29:34] If Jesus's line could be summarized as, what makes you think you deserve access to my ministry?
[00:29:40] Her answer could be summarized because you have enough to go around, because there are leftovers aplenty for me and that is enough for what I need today.
[00:29:51] This woman understands something about the kingdom of God that Jesus is actively teaching but his followers haven't figured out yet. And it's this beloved, there is enough gospel to go around for every sinner.
[00:30:05] She is not an israelite. She is not a part of the chosen race. By every jewish standard, she has no seat at that table.
[00:30:15] But Jesus has already shown us genetics don't make us clean or unclean. Our sinful hearts unify us all in uncleanliness. We are all equal in our need of God's intervention. She not only knows this, she trusts the heart of Jesus is to minister to those who need him, and she needs him. And with Jesus, even the crumbs are enough.
[00:30:41] Although next week, by the way, Jesus will further illustrate this point and show us that gentiles don't get the crumbs, they get full servings here.
[00:30:48] That's a little advertisement for next week here.
[00:30:53] He's bringing his twelve into this amazing gospel truth. This woman is preaching an amazing gospel truth. Any amount of gospel is enough for us desperate sinners. There's enough of Jesus to go around. Beloved, I hope you're already jumping ahead with me here, but the same thing that is true for this woman is true for us.
[00:31:16] Beloved, there is enough gospel for you, regardless of who you are, regardless of what you've done, regardless of what you do or don't bring to the table. There is enough of the gospel for you today.
[00:31:33] In the beginning of his letter to the corinthian church, Paul reminds those believers that they didn't bring anything to the table either. It says, brothers and sisters, consider your own calling. Not many of you were wise by human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. And God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. And God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world, what is viewed as nothing to bring to nothing. What is viewed as something so that no. 1 may boast in his presence.
[00:32:05] If you are in this room and you are in Christ, I urge you right now, as we sit here, remember your own testimony.
[00:32:12] Remember what it was for you to move from death to life, to move from. Away from Christ into his family. You didn't do it.
[00:32:19] I guarantee it. You didn't scrape up enough go get it ness, enough grit, enough hard work to scrape yourself far enough out of your sin that you could reach up and grab ahold of Jesus hand.
[00:32:35] You didn't crawl out of your mire to meet him halfway.
[00:32:39] You didn't seek him out and show him your spiritual credentials so you could get your heavenly Costco card and get in. No.
[00:32:46] You came as a beggar.
[00:32:49] You and I, both beloved.
[00:32:51] We are the wild dog hiding outside the home, hoping to steal some scraps from the garbage.
[00:32:57] And we were met with not only love, but inclusion and adoption.
[00:33:03] We were drawn into the family and elevated above our station, and we became sons and daughters of the king. Amen.
[00:33:10] If you were in Christ, this is your story. This is your testimony. So, what does this mean for us today? What do we do with a text like this?
[00:33:19] I think there are two truths worth remembering that I want to bring out of this today for us to consider as we land down. The first one is this because everyone you meet is equal in their need of Jesus?
[00:33:32] Every single person you interact with, no matter how holy or religious or awful they may seem to you, we are all equal in our need of Christ.
[00:33:41] It is so easy, is it not, to be like the jewish leaders of Jesus day and decide our own man made spiritual hierarchy and to flesh out in our own minds which sins are worse than others so we can feel good about our own piety? Right?
[00:34:00] It's very easy to do. I mean, haven't you done that just, like being honest? Little truth among friends?
[00:34:08] Haven't you decided which people are the worst people?
[00:34:11] Don't you have standards that you use to measure your own relative righteousness? I mean, I may struggle with anger, but I'm not a violent person, you know? I mean, I may gossip, but I've never, like, betrayed a close friend. You know? I mean, like, yeah, I've struggled with lust. I'm not like, a pedophile or something.
[00:34:28] Because it isn't that easy. It isn't that easy.
[00:34:32] You need to know something. Your heart condemns you just as much as the most vile person you can think of. Right now, you're equal in your need. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, he quotes the preacher from ecclesiastes, and he says, there is no one who understands. There is no one who is righteous, not even one, no one who seeks God. All have turned away. All alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, even one.
[00:35:00] We are all in the same boat with the same need.
[00:35:04] This is why Jesus sets up this whole scene instead of just helping this lady.
[00:35:10] Because we're all missionaries and we're all called to take the gospel to all. Every person you will ever interact with is equal in their need of Christ. Everyone, whether you think that person is great or you think that person is a human horror, they need Jesus just like you need Jesus.
[00:35:31] And by the way, that's a beautiful thing.
[00:35:34] That's a beautiful thing. Because just like the problem is the same for all of us, the solution is the same for all of us.
[00:35:43] For every person you've ever met, the truth is this. And this is the second thing I want us to remember today. Faith is what matters.
[00:35:51] And this brings us back to where we started today. Jesus is the only one who can fix what sin is broken in your life. You cannot fix it yourself. You must trust his power. You must trust his heart for you. Paul says it like this to the Ephesians. We read it this morning already. For you are saved by grace through faith. This is not from yourselves. It is God's gift, beloved, God's grace, God's love. Jesus accomplished work on your behalf. That is what saves you.
[00:36:19] But you get there through your faith in you have to surrender your attempts to fix your own life. And hear this. This is the key word when we're talking about faith in the Bible. Beloved, you have to trust Jesus.
[00:36:35] You have to consider the trinity, Father, son and spirit. Consider their track record, consider their character, and decide whether or not you will trust Jesus.
[00:36:47] He says, my offer is there for you. The work is already accomplished. Your sins can be forgiven in my blood. Do you trust me?
[00:36:55] That is what faith means. It means to go. I can't do this on my own, but I know you can. So I trust you to accomplish it on my behalf. Beloved, it is our faith in Jesus. It is in our faith in Jesus that something wild happens. This random canaanite woman experienced it. And in Christ, we all experience it. Paul said it like this to the galatian church.
[00:37:19] You know then that those who have faith, these are Abraham's true sons that the scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaim the gospel ahead of time to Abraham saying, all the nations will be blessed through you. Consequently, all those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith. This canaanite woman is not a jew by genetics, but by faith. She is the chosen daughter of God because that is what your faith gets you. It is your faith, your trust of Jesus that moves you from being an unclean broken heart, unable to fix yourself into being the very son of Abraham, the child of the promise, the recipient of God's blessing. And hear this, beloved. Your faith is a daily practice.
[00:38:04] Yes, it is a part of your salvation. It is a huge part of your salvation that moves you from lost to save, that moves you from outside the family to adopted. But you must return to your faith day by day and moment by moment.
[00:38:16] Consider this church. Jesus was enough to save you then.
[00:38:20] Is he enough to save you today?
[00:38:23] Is he enough to sanctify you today? Is he enough to finally free you from that sin pattern that you run back to that addiction? Is he enough to trust with your fear and your anxiety?
[00:38:38] Is he enough for you to trust with your loved ones in their future?
[00:38:42] Beloved, do you trust him today? I think many of us, many of us, myself included, need a moment to stop and remember our own testimony, to remember the trust that we put to Jesus and then come back to him and remember he is just as trustworthy today as he was then. So I'm going to invite us, Chris, if you want to come back up, I'm going to invite us to take a minute and pray and consider. We're just going to sit in the quiet for a second.
[00:39:11] I want to give some space for you to pray and connect with God. If you can do that in your seat, that's awesome. If you want to get on your knees or come to the altar, that's awesome. If you want to grab one of the pastors or fill out one of the prayer cards so we can pray for you later and meet with you later. That's awesome. Whatever you need to do to connect with the Lord for a couple minutes, I want to invite you to do it.
[00:39:28] What I would like for you to do church, is this. For those of you who are in Christ, I would like for you to take a minute to actually reflect on your own testimony.
[00:39:37] Remember what it meant for you to move from death to life.
[00:39:41] Consider the faith that Jesus gave you to trust him, to engage him.
[00:39:48] And then I want you to think about your world right now, the things that burden you right now.
[00:39:54] What does faith in Jesus look. Like for you today, for those of you who are not yet in Christ, for our adults in the room, for kiddos in the room who are still thinking about faith, I want you to think about the invitation Jesus has for you.
[00:40:07] You can try whatever you want to try, but I promise, you cannot fix what is broken in your heart on your own. You need help, and Christ delights to help you.
[00:40:18] You know? I really do. Do you love Lord of the Rings?
[00:40:20] I really do. I make fun of it, but I love it.
[00:40:23] But there is a narrative bit in those books that drives me nuts, and it's this every time the story gets absolutely hopeless in Lord of the rings, it seems like a magical solution just drops out of the heavens and fixes everything, right? Like, they're caught up in the trees and there's fire and there's wolves, and then all of a sudden, magic eagles show up and fly them away. Like, well, we didn't know anything about the eagles till just now, right? That's just kind of how that story goes pretty much every. I mean, you know, it gets really bad. Milk, Gandalf, resurrection, whatever it is. You guys know what I'm talking about. And by sometimes that kind of deus ex mankind, like, it can be cheesy. But here's the thing.
[00:40:57] It shouldn't be surprising.
[00:41:00] It shouldn't surprise us to read that story and find that stuff. And I'll tell you why. Because even though these hobbits are way over their head in the big, scary world, they aren't really.
[00:41:11] They're going to be fine, because of all the people on their team, who matters most is they've got J. R. R. Tolkien on their team, right?
[00:41:21] The author of the book is writing the dangerous scene they're in, and he's got their back.
[00:41:28] So he writes the scene and he rescues them, because the authors on their side, they don't really have to worry about being over their head. Beloved, the same is true for you today.
[00:41:39] Let's take a few minutes to pray, and then we'll continue in response.
