A Mother's Faith

Title: "A Mother’s Faith"

Text: Mark 7:24-30, (Matthew 15:21-28)

Date: May 13, 2007 (Mother’s Day)

Location: Sulphur Spring Baptist Church

Today is Mother’s Day, the day we set aside each year to recognize and honor our Mothers. Now since I’m obviously not a mother, I don’t know what kind of a special bond you have with your children. With that in mind I want to share the following with you that was written by a mother by the name of Erma Bombeck.

She writes: Every mother has a favorite child. She cannot help it. She is only human. I have mine--the child for whom I feel a special closeness, with whom I share a love that no one else could possibly understand. My favorite child is the one who was too sick to eat ice cream at his birthday party -- who had measles at Christmas -- who wore leg braces to bed because he toed in -- who had a fever in the middle of the night, the asthma attack, the child in my arms at the emergency ward.

My favorite child spent Christmas alone away from the family, was stranded after the game with a gas tank on E, lost the money for his class ring.

My favorite child is the one who messed up the piano recital, misspelled committee in a spelling bee, ran the wrong way with the football, and had his bike stolen because he was careless.

My favorite child is the one I punished for lying, grounded for insensitivity to other people’s feelings, and informed he was a royal pain to the entire family.

My favorite child slammed doors in frustration, cried when she didn’t think I saw her, withdrew and said she could not talk to me.

My favorite child always needed a haircut, had hair that wouldn’t curl, had no date for Saturday night, and a car that cost $600 to fix. My favorite child was selfish, immature, bad-tempered and self-centered. He was vulnerable, lonely, unsure of what he was doing in this world--and quite wonderful.

All mothers have their favorite child. It is always the same one: the one who needs you at the moment. Who needs you for whatever reason--to cling to, to shout at, to hurt, to hug, to flatter, to reverse charges to, to unload on--but mostly just to be there.

This morning we are going to read about a child who needed her mother desperately. Not only was her mother there for her, but she did everything within her power to help her child through a situation that seemed hopeless.

Read Text: Mark 7:24

“Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.”

The text itself doesn’t identify “what place” Jesus was leaving but most Biblical Scholars believe Jesus had left Capernaum which was in Northern Galilee, and traveled approximately 30 miles Northwest to the Vicinity of the city of Tyre which was a flourishing seaport located on the Mediterranean Sea.

We aren’t told why Jesus left Galilee, but we do know that he had faced some opposition from the Pharisee’s and some of the other Religious leaders in that region.

Verse 24 told us that Jesus entered a house and didn’t want anybody to know it. So, apparently Jesus didn’t go to Tyre to minister to the people, or to call on them to Repent of their sins. Instead it seems that Jesus went there to get away from the crowds of people who had been following him, and to put some distance between Him and the religious leaders who were opposing Him in Galilee. Perhaps He needed to just get away from everything and everybody for a few days. I think we could all say we’ve felt that way from time to time, and Jesus did too. He needed to spend some time alone with His Heavenly Father and renew His Spiritual Strength.

There are several times in the New Testament where Jesus does this. He was the Son of God, yet there were times where even He felt the need to renew His strength.

A Second reason that Jesus may have gone to this particular area was so that He could spend more time with His Disciples, teaching them the things of God without having to worry about being interrupted or challenged by the Pharisees. But it didn’t take long for the word to get around that Jesus, the Jewish prophet who had been doing some amazing things in Galilee was in town.

Look with me at verses 25-26.

In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. MK 7:25