This Word…

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.”  And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. Mark 7:24-30 ESV

Wow! Did you just see what Jesus said. He just called that woman a dog.  That is not nice and isn’t showing love to her. Yet maybe on the heels of last weeks Gospel where Jesus says we do not need to follow all of the rules. And in doing this statement this week Jesus mirrors what the people would say about this woman who is an outsider. Jesus makes them all think….

And another way to look at this is to say Jesus was testing this woman. Had she heard about Jesus and thought she could get something out if Him. Maybe she heard about His healing others and she wants in on it. But Jesus says that the dogs should not take food from the children. He wanted to see how she would respond. And how would you respond?

Maybe, “why do you call me a dog?”

“What did I do to you for you to insult me?”

“How dare you, all I did was come here for help.”

But she does not respond this way. She responds in Faith! “Yes lord the food belongs to the children but the dogs also get the scraps, are not the people of God blessed to be a blessing.” And Jesus sees her intent is real and her faith in God is leading this. She is driven by faith not selfishness.

And Jesus says “because of this word you can go, your daughter is clean.” This word that she speaks is the Logos. The word that became flesh. She was proclaiming it is about living a life of true faith in God and knowing He will provide all of our needs.

Do you trust the word to speak it boldly in the face of opposition? What is your response to the world, what it wants to hear or a word (Logos) in faith?

Live your life boldly and speak the word (Logos) that lives in you!

Praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD, O my soul!
I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!
(Psalm 146 ESV)

In what do you trust? Now that may seem like an easy question, but it has changed over our lives for most of us.

I am sure there was someone who at some point in time you trusted with some of your deepest darkest secrets, and then they betrayed you by telling someone else those secrets… You trusted them, and they hurt you. I know I have done that to those that I love. We all have, because we are human. We stumble and fall and we sin. We turn our backs on those whom we need and love because of sin.

But if we trust in God, no matter what happens He will never let us down. He will never turn His back or betray our trust. No matter how many times we do it to Him, He will never leave us or forsake us.

So cling not to anyone else, but put your trust in God, and He will see you through.

God judges the secrets of man…

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.(Romans 2:12-16 ESV)

How many of you have secrets?

Skeletons in the closet?

Things you hide from everyone?

Why do we do this? I mean the one thing that is true about a dishonest or person that hides things is they have to have a really good memory. Because you have to remember every lie or thing you said to someone to remind them about it later and not spoil the lie by slipping up. You have to remember everything you have ever said to everyone. So why hide things?

We hide things because we are ashamed of them. Because they are things we believe others will judge us by. But who has the power and ability to really judge us? Only God. And God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. Whether we know the law or not we will be judged, either by the law, or apart from it, but we will be judged. And not for only what is known by other men, but everything. You see there is nothing you can do that God does not see. There is no secret you can keep from God. He already knows all of your worst secrets. He knows all of your scars and warts, and yet He still loves you…

So fling wide the closet doors and let the skeletons and secrets out, and let us all help each other live lives worthy of the Gospel!

For God shows no partiality

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. (Romans 2:1-11 ESV)

Hold on wait a minute. I thought we were saved by grace through faith. But here Paul tells the Romans God will render to each on of us according to our works. We will be judges by our works, and that is every little thing we do. Everything.

So we might as well give it up now because all of us are guilty. We are all guilty of being judgmental. If you are saying that you do not judge, stop for a moment and think.

Have you ever thought some girl’s skirt or shorts were too short? Or a bikini is way to small? Or some guy’s pants are too tight, or too lose and hang down way to far? You just judged them. You saw what they were wearing and it did not conform to your standards. Whether you deemed them any worse for their actions does not matter. You judged them!

Paul says we should not judge because what we judge someone for is something we are selves are guilty of. Now it may not be the exact same thin, but we are guilty of the same sin we are judging someone else for. For instance one could judge someone for being unfaithful in their marriage vow, while not having an affair but flirting with someone else. It is not the same but the sin is the same infidelity.

The underlying thing Paul is getting at. You are not perfect, so worry about yourself. Be patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality and do not judge someone else. Do not make yourself look bigger by tearing others down. Love God and neighbor and do not judge some one for sinning differently or the same way that you do!