Have you been watching the Olympics? There’s something about watching those great struggles that makes us want to do better at things, doesn’t it? If those 16 year old kids can do that, surely I can at least drink more water every day, or something!
Tuesday night, we got to watch as Michael Phelps jumped in the pool to race in the men’s 200m butterfly. It was the 4th time he has been in that Olympic race in the finals. He was definitely a favorite to win. Phelps was ahead of everyone most of the race, followed by South Africa’s Chad Le Clos. By the end, he was half a meter ahead of le Clos, but with three meters to go, he glided into the wall instead of finishing strong, something Olympic swimming bronze medalist Steve Parry says "is a ridiculous error.” Phelps lost the gold by .05 seconds.
Phelps should have known better. In the 100m Butterfly, 4 years before, he won it by .01 of a second against Milorad Cavic of Serbia! (see powerpoint picture) Phelps is the one on the left. He won – 1/100th of a second!
Bob Costas interviewed Phelps, asked what went wrong Tuesday night – just hours after becoming the Olympic athlete with the most medals ever. Phelps said, “Um… It’s probably the finishes I’ve done in workout. It ended up coming out here. There are times I go slow into the wall or touch lazy and it showed.”
Phelps raced a great race, ahead of all the others, but he didn’t race strong to the finish.
In his book Finishing Strong, Steve Farrar starts out by telling the stories of 3 young preachers. All 3 were drawing crowds of multiple thousands in 1945. You’ve heard of Billy Graham. But you probably haven’t heard of Chuck Templeton or Bron Clifford. All 3 were similarly popular. But, by 1950, Templeton had abandoned his belief in Jesus and left the world of ministry. By 1954, Bron Clifford had left his wife and children and turned to alcohol. He died of cirrhosis of the liver in a scrubby motel outside of Amarillo, TX.
Then, he tells the story of another young preacher, John Bisagno. John was over at his fiance’s house one night for supper. After dinner, his father-in-law to be, Dr. Paul Beck, was talking to him out on the porch. Dr. Beck had been a faithful minister for many years.
“John,” he said, “as you get read to enter the ministry, I want to give you some advice. Stay true to Jesus! Make sure that you keep your heart close to Jesus every day. It’s a long way from here to where you’re going to go, and Satan’s in no hurry to get you.” He continued, “It has been my observation that just one out of ten who start out in full-time service for the Lord at 26 are still on track by the age of 65. They’re shot down morally; they’re shot down with discouragement; they’re shot down with liberal theology; they get obsessed with making money…but for one reason or another, 9 out of 10 fall out.”
20 year old Bisagno was shocked. He couldn’t believe it. He tells how he went home and wrote down the name of 24 young men who were his peers and contemporaries – young men in their 20’s who were sold out for Jesus, trained in the ministry, burning in their desire to be used by Him; men committed to make an impact for the Lord in their generation. 33 years later, Bisagno still had that list of names. All but 3 of them were now crossed off.
Farrar goes on to say, “In the Christian life, it’s not how you start that matters. It’s how you finish.” That’s what that whole book is about then. It’s not just about preachers. It’s about followers of Jesus Christ. It’s not how you start that matters. It’s how you finish.
Goals are great for life. They press us ahead. But all of us have a tendency to slow down as the goal approaches. For racers, the way to overcome this is to set a goal that’s somewhere past the line. I suppose that’s harder in a swimming pool, but on the track, that’s how it’s done. The runner focuses on a point somewhere past the goal line. That becomes the goal, so that they remain strong and give their best to the very end.
Sometimes we slow down in our "race." We know the end is near, or else we have just located our goals too short of the end. The result is a slowing down. We slack off. We let Satan's obstacles get us behind. I don't know all of the obstacles that you will face in your life, but I know that many people have, by trust in Jesus, overcome some terrific difficulties.
Mark 7:24-30 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. 25 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. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." 28 "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29 Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter." 30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Another unclean spirit. Another human whose life is completely in Satan’s clutches. This story could be about a woman who just gave up. It could be a story about a person who had a goal, but when she faced some challenges, gave up. Many times, that has been the way stories like this end. But this woman managed to look past the difficulties, to a higher goal, by faith. Jesus told her (in Mt. account) that her faith was great. Her trust in the goodness of Jesus and her faith in His power helped her to overcome some astounding obstacles. Her faith, her trust, her belief that Jesus would really do something for her, helped her to see beyond the hindrances. Today we’ll look at some of the hindrances that she saw past, and we'll consider how real trust in Jesus will do the same for us Because...
Faith sees beyond…
I. What the world calls "proper"
It wasn’t "proper" for a Gentile to approach a Jew. It wasn’t "proper" for a woman to be so bold in addressing a man. It wasn’t "proper" for the woman to follow Jesus into the house when He was actually seeking to be alone. (at this point in His ministry He began to withdraw from the crowds) But she was very bold and persistent to follow Jesus. She wasn’t doing what’s “proper” at all. This was “Mama Bear!” She had a great need! Her daughter was being harmed! Jesus could help her, and she believed it!
-Ill- We spend our whole childhood being reminded of what’s proper: elbows off the table. Napkin in your lap. Don’t talk with food in your mouth. Open the door for ladies. Say please and thank you. Then, we spend our whole adulthood passing what’s proper along to children. That’s fine. However, there are times when “what’s proper” isn’t what’s important.
It’s not "proper" for a man to strip off his clothes and jump in a river in front of a crowd of people, but if his son is out in the middle drowning, who cares what is proper?
John the Baptist was a very "improper" man, yet he faithfully prepared the way for Jesus.
I wonder, in our faith, how often are we kept from doing what’s right by what’s “proper” or “acceptable?” The more recent buzzword for that is “tolerance.”
It isn’t proper to suggest that someone’s ideas about morals are wrong. It’s intolerant to raise a stink against someone else’s freedom of expression. It’s not proper to speak out against the killing of unborn children. It’s not even acceptable to make the Church a priority in your family or in your weekly schedule.
If this Syrophonecian woman stuck just with what’s proper, she wouldn’t have made it to Jesus that day, and her daughter wouldn’t have been saved.
We need to follow her example. We know there are lives at stake. We know that Jesus is the answer. Sometimes, we need to say "phooey" to what’s "proper" and bring problems to Jesus unashamedly.
Faith sees beyond what the world calls "proper," to what’s really important. It also sees beyond…
II. Improbability (her cultural and ethnic obstacles)
It was not likely that this woman would be helped, as far as human thought was concerned. She was a resident of Syrian Phoenicia, a Gentile community on the coast - what is now Lebanon. Unlike the hated Samaritans, she was not even a half -Jew.
Mark seems to include this story here as a contrast to the dispute that Jesus had just before this concerning "clean foods." A "good Jew" would likely have not even been where Jesus was, let alone do anything to help a woman from that area. It was not likely, by human possibility, that Jesus would help her. Jesus even seemed indifferent to her. Mt records that as she was crying out, Jesus did not give her any attention; didn’t even answer her at first.
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." (Didn't He even care?)
Well, sure, He did care. Jesus was doing something here. He was drawing out her faith.
We too often let probability determine our actions instead of our faith in Jesus: "Oh, they probably
wouldn't come to church." "Oh, I probably would just make a fool of myself if I tried to explain Christianity this person; if I tried to teach this class..."
The guy who approaches a girl with the attitude "she probably wouldn't go out with me" makes that into a self -fulfilling prophecy!
-Ill - It wasn’t likely that Esther would be favorably received before king Ahasuerus. He hadn't called for her for some 30 days. If she didn't do something, the whole Jewish race in Persia would be killed. But if she wasn't accepted by the king, the law required that she would be killed. Esther's attitude of faith? "If I perish, I perish."
Have you ever been faced with incredible odds? Keep listening. Maybe the Lord has allowed you to be there. Maybe Jesus is saying "I want to see how far your faith in Me will make you rely on Me. Faith enables us to see past the improbability of life situations.
Faith sees beyond…
III. Insults and Persecution
The disciples weren’t as impressed with this woman's faith as Jesus was. Matt. says they begged Jesus to send her away: (she "kept asking" for Jesus to heal her daughter)
"Please give her what she wants. Just get her out of here. She's an embarrassment."
Then there are these words – words in red ink – words of Jesus: “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.”
The words of Jesus here may shock us, but would shock us even more if we looked at dogs like these people did. “Dogs" weren’t as loved as today. More like jackals or buzzards. Often the bodies of despised criminals would be thrown to the wild dogs. They were unclean. “Dog” was the Jewish name for Gentiles!
And, with a few words, Jesus refers to this woman, this Gentile, as a “Dog.” She could have given up there. But, Jesus knew that she had faith, and that it could be grown to an even greater degree. She didn't give up when she was persecuted and despised, even when it seemed like Jesus was against her.
Ever feel like not only the whole world, but even God is against you? You too, God?
Learn from this woman. God's promises are true, no matter how much it seems like they aren't. The one who seeks after Jesus He will in no way cast out! Let your trust in the goodness of your Lord carry you through persecution and insult. Faith sees beyond those difficulties to the promise that Jesus will comfort you - to the promise that if men revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely on account of Him, you’re blessed.
Faith sees beyond…
IV. Pride (she was not too proud to cast her needs on Him)
Of all the obstacles that tend to stop us in life, this is one of the greatest to overcome.
How many opportunities have been passed by? How many relationships have been ruined? How much service has been withheld? How many discoveries have remained hidden? How much obedience to God’s wishes has been denied? – all because of pride – part of the motive for the very first sin.
It was a pretty humbling situation already, begging Jesus, bowing in front of Him, crying out in desperation. It was already bad enough, we might think. Then there was the dog comment. When is enough enough? Did she turn in anger and disgust.
Remember Naaman the leper in 2Kings 5? He did.
When he traveled to Israel to ask for help, Elisha didn't even come out to him. He just sent a messenger. Naaman was furious.
But this woman’s reply to Jesus’ tough words was actually an agreement – an addition to what Jesus had just said.
We'd best listen to them...They pleased Jesus. “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.”
"Yes, Lord, it is true I'm not much in Your sight, but I know Your grace to be enough to help me. I know that You care even for little of nothing like me. Even Your crumb of help is enough."
What faith she had! After overcoming all other obstacles, she tackled what is, for most of us, the most difficult obstacle of all – our pride.
Are we too proud to cast our anxieties on Him? Are we too proud to say "Yes, all have sinned, and that means me."? Are we too afraid for the rest of the world to see us relying so much on God?
Faith sees beyond that pride. Faith enables people to see themselves as God sees us – as people of great worth in His sight.
Conclusion:
2 Corinthians 5:6-7 (NIV)
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight.
How many times could we easily give up here if all that mattered is what we saw?
There are many obstacles in the way.
There are many reasons, from a human view, to just give up – to give up your faith, to give up on trying to do what’s right, to give up on the idea that Jesus is going to come again, to give up the fight for our children’s faith, to give up reaching someone we know well who is far away from God still.
True faith in Jesus overcomes obstacles. Where will your faith take you? To a foreign country? To Bible College? To your neighbor? Your family?
Let it take you to the feet of Jesus, casting all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you.
Let it take you to accept Jesus as your Lord today, if you really believe in Him...
