Dogs

DOGS

Mt 15:21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
Mt 15:22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.”
Mt 15:23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
Mt 15:24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
Mt 15:25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
Mt 15:26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”
Mt 15:27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Mt 15:28 Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Jesus ha s purposefully gone to Tyre and Sidon. These were two non Jewish cities. In fact in the Old Testament these two cities were known for their ungodliness and paganism. They were poster children for the judgment of God. The Israelites did not associate with such people…this carried on into the culture in which Jesus is in.

This woman approaches Jesus in all the right ways. She approaches him in a Jewish manner…Son of David. She is loud enough and the implications are that she was persistent and passionate in her approach. She seems to be the ideal person for Jesus to help. She knows the right way to approach Him or the right thing to say..she has the right mix of humility and faith. Don’t we think that is the formula for approaching Jesus? Isn’t that what we teach our kids? Surely Jesus is going to help her, right?

How does Jesus answer this woman who has come to him in all the right ways? First of all (v23) he ignores her. This pleased the disciples. They were ready to go home and kick it back. They had no time to deal with the unclean pagan woman. Jesus does what the disciples wanted him to do..it seems. Then he tells her that he was sent for Israel only. The woman is still persistent (25) with her request. Jesus then says something we would never think he would say. He tells her that he can’t take the goodness that is for Israel and give it to dogs (26). So not only does Jesus ignore the woman but he also insults her by calling her a dog.

What was really going on in this encounter? What was Jesus really saying? You have to look Matthew 15:1-20. In these verses Jesus had a show down with the Pharisees about what is clean and unclean. Should I eat with dirty hands or wash my hands.. He moves from that show down to this context of taking his disciples to the most unclean places in that area (Tyre and Sidon). Maybe Jesus is not ignoring or insulting the woman but maybe he is about to give the disciples a lesson on real purity.

The woman just seems to play a long with it (v27). She is basically saying that she may as well be a dog because that is how much she needed him in her life.

NOW if this is a lesson on purity then we might ought to look at our own lives in this story. Do we spend most of our Christian life trying to look the part and trying to say the part and deep down our hearts are far from God? Do we try to accomplish things in our power or do we depend on Jesus?

In his wanting to teach his disciples about purity he goes to the dirtiest places around and finds a very unworthy woman. In that dirtiness and in that unworthiness he finds something clean. What could be clean about a woman willing to be called a dog? She was a Gentile and according to the Jews, she was not any better than a dog. Dogs were not pets in this culture. Do you know what it was that made Jesus pay attention to her? It is called desperation. She was desperate and in need and went to the person who could fill that need, even if it meant being called a dog. You see, we go to worship and to small group and we move into the week thinking we can handle the world and we never turn to the one who created the world. When was the last time you entered a worship setting really desperate for God. I am not talking about wanting to meet with God, or hear from God, or sing to God. When was the last time you entered a worship setting wanting God?

When we come in need we are lowering ourselves and exalting Jesus Christ. When we come in desperation we are saying to God that we believe that he is All Powerful and Almighty and that he is the only source we need to fill all of our needs.

This woman was looked down on and even compared to a dog. She still humbled herself and went to the only source that could help her. She went out of desperation and humility. When we prepare for worship, we need to drop the pride and arrogance and approach Him with desperation and humility.

I think it will change our lives if we do.

In Him
CW

Tensions

I had the privilege to go to one day of the Leadership Summit that was done by Willow Creek Church. Had to miss the second day due to some ministry duties. That in itself was a leadership tension. The tension was- do I go and take care of the needs of a family in the church, or do I go and listen (and hopefully learn) how to be a good leader. I know that going to meet the needs of this family and serving them in their time of need was being a good leader and shepherd to them, but what about the two young men that God has put in my life to serve with and to do ministry with at Pearson? Those guys gave up two days of their time to be at this conference.... and I left them hanging. The question that caused me tension is "Did I let them down by leaving to minister to a family in need?" If I hadn't gone to serve this family, would I have let the family down.



Andy Stanley talked about this very thing Thursday evening. He said that there are tensions that will always be in the life of the leader and the church leader especially. The one thing that he said that really took a lot of pressure off of me was that some tensions need to be left alone and used for the good of the organization.


Lk 12:49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
Lk 12:50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!
Lk 12:51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.
Lk 12:52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.
Lk 12:53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Mt 10:34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Mt 10:35 For I have come to turn “ ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
Mt 10:36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

Mt 10:37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
Mt 10:38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Mt 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Talk about tension….God placed supreme importance on the family in both the Old and New Testaments. In fact, half of the crimes in the OT were family related. We see the importance of family structure in the NT in the teachings of Jesus and Paul.

Now, these words were mainly given to people of Jewish faith. This had to be a really big tension for the disciples. They grew up in a tradition built on family. This tradition said that if you were born into a fisherman’s family, you became a fisherman. Divorce was a life and death matter, and the community shunned those who broke that bond. These people believed in family.

Understanding this, we can see the tension that Jesus just brought in the picture. He was instigating a transition, a shift in spiritual understanding that they had never seen and that we haven’t seen the end of yet.

Look at the first disciples….they actually left their nets to follow him..that was more than giving up a job..that was giving up family business. That was their identity and their family's source of life and income.

When we think about these kinds of words from Jesus, we have to wonder how that fits into his mission. The truth that Jesus was teaching was that, if we press hard into God, we might find ourselves at odds with the people we love. That doesn’t mean that Jesus is set out to make you at odds with your family. It means that, as His child, you will look at the world with from a new vantage point, even your family. Following God wholeheartedly changes the way you relate to family. His teaching is not about abandoning your family but abandoning your cross daily. Abandoning your cross means it will cost you everything.

It is easier for us to think of what we will gain when we enter the Christian life. He wants us to think in terms of what we will lose. It is easier to think about the abundance promised to the follower, and not the sacrifice required to follow. It is easier to think about the Prince of Peace and not the prophetic warrior that we see in these verses.

There is a knot that forms in our stomach when we are faced with the sacrifices we are called to make in following Jesus. Lose your selfishness, your bad habits, your girlfriend, your ambitions, your freedom to live like you want, your bad attitude, your hate, your anger….Jesus was clear if you want to walk with Him you have to walk against the flow.

Mt 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Jesus is not saying he wants you to lose your life..end of story. He is saying he wants you to find your life. He wants to bring new life but you have to let go of your old one. He wants your relationships to go where only they can go if you are truly following Him. You want a great family life..then be willing to follow me wherever I want you to go.

Jesus’ words to His followers were all about losing the value that they placed on their earthly attachments…..even their families. Perhaps the tension was not so much about family as it was about calling us to a higher purpose than to drift through life validating ourselves to any one set of relationships. He has called us to lose our lives, to live separate from all attachments so we could find real life. When we do that we have the chance reclaim the whole reason we are here in the first place. We have a chance to step away from the things that we think make up our life to hear from the One who has made life.

We have a chance to listen to the Holy Spirit tell who we really are to God. It is not a tension after all.... it is an opportunity of gain not loss. It is an opportunity lead our families by giving it all to God. Maybe, just maybe, Jesus was giving us a principle and not a tension.

The principle is that, if we are willing to give it up, He is willing to make it new.

Maybe if we are willing to follow at all costs then our families may actually be a gain and not a loss. They may gain a new perspective about who we are.


Are You following at all costs?
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