The Silence Of God Series

GOSPEL OF MARK: GOD’S SERVANT IN ACTION

THE SILENCE OF GOD

9/1/19 – Garfield

A. There is a cliché that says, “Silence is golden.”

1. This is especially true when we find ourselves wanting to speak DEROGATORILY about someone,

yet we have the good sense to keep our MOUTHS shut.

2. It is also true when you come home EXHAUSTED from a HARD DAY’S WORK and all you want is

some PEACE and QUIET.

3. However, there are times when SILENCE makes us UNCOMFORTABLE.

ILLUSTRATION:

When I was a kid my Dad was giving a DEVOTIONAL TALK one Wednesday night at church. It was obvious that he was NERVOUS, but he was doing fairly well. But as he was DRAWING his

CONCLUSION, he went blank. He just stood there SPEECHLESS with a puzzling look on his face.

My little brother and I were DUCKING down behind the PEW trying to HIDE, because we felt both EMBARRASSMENT and SYMPATHY for Dad. He was SILENT for no more than a minute, but to us, and I’m sure to him, it seemed like an ETERNITY. He then collected his THOUGHTS and concluded his LESSON.

B. Silence, at times, is difficult to bear, but what is even more difficult to UNDERSTAND is the SILENCE

of God- Mark 7:24-30 (READ) and Matthew 15:21-28 (READ).

1. Matthew said that this is a “Canaanite woman”, a Gentile, who comes to Jesus. This is significant!

Jews had nothing to do with Gentiles because they were not part of the “covenant children of God”.

COMMENT:

But this is a concerned MOTHER who has a daughter who is demon-possessed. Undoubtedly,

she had heard about the COMPASSION and LOVE that Jesus had shown people in DIRE NEED.

So, although she is a Gentile and Jesus is a Jew, she comes to Him begging, “Lord have mercy on me. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession”- Matthew 15:22. She waits for Jesus to HELP her in some way, but what she gets from Him is SILENCE. Jesus IGNORED her.

2. Have you ever felt IGNORED by God?

ILLUSTRATION:

Have you ever PRAYED for a JOB PROMOTION, but instead was LAID OFF?

Have you ever PRAYED for the HEALING of a LOVED ONE critically ILL or INJURED in a CAR ACCIDENT, only to have that person DIE?

3. When TRAGEDY strikes or when our DESPERATE PRAYERS go seemingly UNANSWERED, we sometimes feel that God doesn’t CARE or that he simply IGNORES us.

C. Our text presents us with a difficult story about Jesus.

1. Jesus’ RESPONSE or lack thereof is confusing, given the DESPERATE condition of this poor Mother

who has come on behalf of her DEMONIZED daughter.

COMMENT:

Here she is BEGGING Jesus to HELP her little girl and He responded only in SILENCE. And

to top it off the APOSTLES are saying, “Send her away, she’s bothering us!”

Can you imagine how this woman must have felt? She’s heard about Jesus’ LOVE and COMPASSION for HURTING people, and all she gets from Him is first, SILENCE, and then is BELITTLED by His followers!

MESSAGE:

COMMENT:

Why is Jesus SILENT? I believe Jesus is teaching a LESSON, not only to this woman but also to His apostles. This is the only RECORD we have of Jesus ever leaving the borders of Israel. Why is He there? I believe He’s there for this woman’s SAKE, because as soon as He HEALS her daughter He returns to the Sea of Galilee. (Let’s look at three possibilities for the silence of God.)

I. TO SHOW US WHO WE ARE

A. No person can come to Christ unless he or she first recognizes a DESPERATE need.

1. One thing we know about the Canaanite woman is that she RECOGNIZED her NEED.

COMMENT:

She had a CHILD who was DEMON-POSSESSED and knew the only person who could help was Jesus. So, she SOUGHT Jesus for HELP.

2. Sadly, many DO NOT come to Christ because they don’t SEE a NEED.

a. There are those who hear the GOSPEL preached week after week and still not OBEY it because they don’t SEE the NEED!

b. The person who finally reaches a point of DESPERATION, who has nowhere else to turn, is

usually the one who is READY to SEEK Christ.

ILLUSTRATION:

When a CHILD is severely ILL, a MARRIAGE is FALLING apart, one is on the verge of BANKRUPTCY, a DAUGHTER runs AWAY from HOME, the DRUG or ALCOHOL PROBLEM escalates, you are DISGUSTED with the PORNOGRAPHY that once brought you PLEASURE—that’s when people out of DESPERATION often RUN to God.

B. After the mother PLEADS a second time for Jesus to HELP her, He says something to her that seems

so unlike our Lord.

1. Jesus- “…it’s not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs”- Mark 7:27b.