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.
How bad was her daughter.
Next, we must also ask, how ill was her daughter? … Well, the mother being so desperate … suggests the spirit within her daughter was a bad one. Her daughter could be turning her head through 360 degrees for all we know, but … it must have been on that level for her, a gentile woman, to approach Jesus in the manner she did. … She certainly did not stand on ceremony … she did not politely wait for an opportunity to speak … no, she went straight for Jesus and fell at his feet … and hell mend anyone who got in her way.
The ”A ha” Moment.
Now … at some point, in trying to resolve the situation herself, she must have given up, and realised that she could do no more … and then … she must have had a revelation that Jesus could heal or deliver her child …and that was her big “a ha” moment, or revelation that put her directly on a path to Jesus.
And that moment, must have happened. … She must have heard that Jesus possessed great power, and cared about the people’s needs, and how he healed them. There was only one problem … the people who approached Jesus, were Jews, in fact, Jesus himself was a Jew … and she was a gentile of some kind, and possibly an outcast.
The Mother’s Petition.
Next, Mark 7, verse 25, “For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:” … notice, “she fell at his feet” … and by falling at his feet, she was proclaiming her faith in him, even though she was a gentile. … This was an act of total submission and worship, and notice that it was a difficult thing for her to do … but she humbled herself completely before the Lord.
Humility
And this is very important to remember, because God is not sitting there waiting on us to make a prayer request … like rubbing the magic lamp and commanding a genie. … No … God is waiting on us to acknowledge him as God … and worship him in humility … because that is how Jesus responded to his father … he always showed his father the greatest honour and respect … because God is not there to serve us … rather we are here to serve him … and many people forget that, at times.
But it is only by serving him, and recognising that he is Lord, (and not us), that he will help us. … You may have heard this before, but the “smaller we become within ourselves, the more he can, and will, shine through us”. … And that is the power of submission … and that is why we should not become too full of ourselves, as Proverbs 16 verse 8 says, and you know this … “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”. … But yes, we should all have a good and healthy feeling about ourselves and our abilities despite ourselves … but … the more we believe in ourselves to do the impossible, (while disregarding the Lord), the more we will fail … and we will choke Gods ability to work in us, and through us.
… Every prayer we make of Him, should be preceded by a time of self-renunciation … while acknowledging him as Lord of all, lord of everything.
She was doing many things right.
Next … for all that was going wrong for the woman and her daughter, she was doing many things right, and Jesus acknowledged this. … She believed Jesus could help her … she went straight for him despite many difficulties, … she acknowledged him as her Lord … she made herself as nothing in front of him, and then … she pleaded with him for his help.
… And I am sure Jesus loved every second of this, because he could see her faith in action. … She was following divine procedures as written in the New Testament, she was demonstrating more faith than the disciples, and she wasn’t even a Jew. … This is not a horrible reading as many people make out, it’s a beautiful picture of faith in action … giving Jesus the opportunity to demonstrate his grace.
Many people focus on verse 27, and being offended, they cannot see past verse 27 which says, “Jesus said unto her, “Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs”” … Jesus is not calling her a dog or making her beg … he is using the analogy of a dog to demonstrate that you only need a tiny piece of faith … his faith … in order to overcome. … and BTW, Jesus refers to the tiny crumbs on the table in exactly the same way as he referred to the mustard seed, and mustard see faith, where only a small amount was required. … This then highlights the principles of our faith whether we are a Jew or Gentile or whatever, … and all that matters is a tiny piece of faith in him, and our ability to acknowledge him in our humility.
This woman was brought up to belief that salvation was for the Jews, and only the Jews … and because of that … she was content with any blessing that was left over, that is, the crumbs of the table … the children's crumbs, the Jewish children’s crumbs … but the crumbs were all that was needed. …
Now, remember this was written over 2000 years ago to a completely different audience but this was still not a statement of rejection from Jesus, but rather a statement of conviction and revelation of faith … which Jesus needed to draw from this woman … to enable her to receive her blessing … yes a tiny blessing … but a blessing that was more than enough to free her daughter … and by the way, that blessing that also secured her own salvation.
So, from this reading alone, we see that Jesus did not come to this earth to save the Jews and only the Jews, he came to save anyone who acknowledges him as Lord as we know, and this woman did that. … Verse 28, “And he said unto her, for this saying, go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter”.
And the opposite is also true
And the opposite is also so very true, verse 27 again “for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs” which also means that it would not be right to take the bread of the Gospel and carelessly cast it out to those who had no desire to serve the Lord, or embrace Him as the Christ. … Such people were … those Scribes and Pharisees, who had no intensions of recognising or honouring Jesus, no, rather they tried to belittle him at every opportunity.
Do you honestly think Jesus wanted to impart … or give … or enable his faith or his power unto them? Or people like them, No … but we do know that he did impart his blessings on a certain Pharisee named Nicodemus, who did eventually acknowledge Jesus as his Lord … but he acknowledged Jesus as Lord first … before being blessed or saved.
A Miracle of Healing, a recap.
Next … verse 30 “And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed”. … Jesus had answered her plight. Faith had brought her to Jesus; and faith in him … changed their lives.
And this same process happens through the whole of the New Testament. … The second part of our reading tells a similar situation of a deaf man with a speech impediment, whom they begged Jesus to help. … Notice the word beg is use in exactly the same context of acknowledging Jesus as Lord, (that they could do nothing in themselves), and (probably spent all they had in trying) … but again, they bowed down and asked Jesus in humility for help … and then, we read of Jesus restoring both this man’s hearing and his speech.
To go deeper in our relationship with him:
We all have needs … and mostly we try and resolve these needs by ourselves, and that is good … but sometimes our needs go well beyond our abilities and resources. … That is when we need to know our place before the Lord. Now, I am not saying for one second that we do not pray without honour and respect … but to go deeper in our relationship with him, we need to make ourselves as nothing, in order to allow God to work through us.
How do we know this? … well, we read in Philippians chapter 2 that Jesus did just that … that is exactly how Jesus approached his life. … Philippians 2 verse 7 says, “Jesus made himself of no reputation, (he became nothing), and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: … And being found in fashion as a man, (meaning he went even lower) he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. …
And what was his reward for this?
And what was his reward for doing this, verse 9 says: Wherefore God highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: … That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; … And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”.
What a reward, but that reward only came as a result of emptying himself, (or removing his ego to give it another expression) … before his father. … And remember … the devil did the exact opposite; he was all puffed up … he had a very high opinion of himself … and in his arrogance he challenged God … he even thought he was greater than God … and he and his angels rebelled against God … but he was then subsequently … thrown out of heaven.
So, if we want to get closer to God, that is, have a better relation with him, we also need to become as nothing before him, helpless as a babe … humble ourselves, and acknowledge him as everything. … That way, we are allowing him to work in, and through us.
Now before I go, there
Now before I go, there is one other question I must answer … and this is what I really want to get at this morning … … sometimes life knocks us for a six, in fact it knocks 7 bells right out of us, whether we deserve it or not … and that result in us being becoming beyond desperate … we become totally deflated, and almost dead to the world and to ourselves. … It’s when we have been hurt the most … and we feel as if we have been gutted … it’s when all hope seems to have gone. … and it’s brought on by things like:
• The death of someone close to us …
• or a persecution of some kind which leaves us weak and helpless …
• it’s when we feel alone, and troubled as the world seems to be headed in wrong the direction …
• it could even be because we are receiving vicious attacks … being the target of a rejection of some kind. … or being involved in an injustice of some kind …
• or its just when we feel so helpless, wanting to help at some good and noble cause, knowing that what is happening, is so very wrong …
My question then is … when we pray under these circumstances … does this then count as being dead before the Lord? … … Well yes it does. … Why, because in these situations when we are so low … we are totally helpless in ourselves … and there is nothing further we can do … we can only … but ask for his help. … … So, is there anything in the bible to help us with this? … Did Jesus say anything about this? … Well again yes, he does, and to appreciate his answer, … we must first recognise that he can only work through us, in our weakness.
Listen, Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 … from the sermon on the mount no less … Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: and their reward for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: why … for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: why … for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. … And it continues as you know:
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven … and
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake: to rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.
I see nothing but victory here, particularly when we are down. … Yes, the bad is bad and very bad at that, but with a little bit of the Lord’s help, from the crumbs of his table … he turns it all around into something that is so good. … Every single victory here … is as a result of a weakness or inability. … So, if you are clever or wise … this is the time to approach the lord in faith … this is the time to guarantee answers …. because the lord likes to bless … he wants to bless us … but we have to allow him to bless us by become nothing within ourselves at his feet … … in order for him to shine through us. The apostle Paul no less said in 2 Corinthians 12 after his trials and ordeals, and they were horrendous, that “God’s strength is made perfect in our weaknesses” … “for when I am weak, I am (by god’s grace), strong”. Amen, and may God bless us all, thank you.
