God’s Strength Is Made Perfect In Our Weakness.

This sermon was delivered to Holy Trinity Church in Ayr,

Ayrshire, Scotland on the 8th September 2024

(a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).

“Please join me in my prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen. (Ps. 19:14).

Introduce the problem.

This morning, we read of a gentile mother with a great need; her child had suddenly become possessed by an evil spirit. … Now you will be glad to hear that I am not going into the topic of deliverance, because today I want to concentrate on the process of prayer and how we approach God. … Obviously I am not an expert on this, very few are, but I am not a beginner either and neither are you I am sure … but this is a topic we really need to know, as it is a key element of being a Christian, and I believe this is as good a reading as any to understand its principles.

Desperation.

To set the scene, have you ever noticed that when problems develop in our lives, we instinctively work our way through them, and most of the time we eventually overcome. … However, when our problems or needs overwhelm us, (when they overcome our limitations and resources), that is when desperation sets in, and its where we tend to panic … and make rash decisions, decisions which can be expensive, particularly in the long term.

Desperation therefore … is a place we need to avoid like the plague … but sometimes we cannot help it, especially when we find ourselves in trouble through little or no fault of our own, and it’s dreadful when that happens. …

What is the root of desperation we must ask.

So, we must ask, what is the root therefore of desperation? … and the answer is fear … it’s the fear of what may or will result if the problem is not resolved immediately … and this fear originates from the devil himself. … Desperation therefore is when we realise that we have lost it, or lost control, … allowing our fears to take over, (and multiply), and help make a bad situation worse. … It is certainly not helped by someone saying to you, “don’t worry, it will probably never happen”, “don’t let it get to you”, or “you shouldn’t let your fears get on top of you” … that’s not advice, because when someone is in that state of fear, advice like that is the last thing they need to hear … as the fear has already gotten a grip, it’s gotten a tight hold of them, and I am sure we all here can testify to that at some point in our lives.

But what really gets me about desperation, is that for many of us, what we are really trying to resolve, is usually something noble, or something good, or trying peacefully to overcome a bad situation, yet the consequences of getting it wrong, or doing something rash … can be so severe. … But that is life … and life as we know it can at times be so unfair … and cruel.

This woman was desperate.

This woman in our reading this morning was in a desperate state, the bible tells us that. … One moment her child is a normal healthy little girl, the next, an unclean spirit has come to dwell within her … and there was nothing the woman could do … and we can be sure that she tried everything in her power to do so. Let us now follow her plight, and see what she did, in order to achieve her victory.

The background.

First of all, the background to this story, and we learn from the preceding verses that Jesus had and an encounter with the Scribes and Pharisees from which we can conclude that they came second best … as usual to their awkward questions. … Following that, the disciples had their own questions to ask Jesus, basically asking him to explain what had just happened. … Jesus has now entered the Tyre and Sidon area, and was probably looking for some respite and some peace from these bothersome groups. … However, his peace didn’t last long, because it did not take long for word to spread that He was in the area, and with his reputation proceeding him … he is quickly approached by this mother with a desperate need.

Who then was this woman?

Who then was this mother? … Well, there is little information on this woman herself … other than she was a Greek Syrophoenician … and not from Israel … she was of Canaanite descent and not a Jew … meaning that although the Jews may have tolerated her, she would not have been made welcome.