Latest / HBCWestminster / Woman of Faith • Mark 7:24-30

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Woman of Faith • Mark 7:24-30 · HBCWestminster

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  Amen. Thank you to Candice and the worship team. Open, if you would, in your Bibles to Mark
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  chapter 7. Mark chapter 7, our text this morning is verses 24 to 30. Mark chapter 7, beginning in
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  verse 24, I've titled this morning's message, Woman of Great Faith. This past summer, I preached
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  in our men's study over the summer, a series entitled Rise Up, O Men of God. We studied
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  biographies of faithful men, men like Nehemiah, who built the wall, men like Manasseh, who did
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  not start faithful, actually. In fact, he was kind of a scumbag, but then repented, and the Lord, in
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  his grace and mercy, extended him forgiveness. And Nathan, the prophet, who had the courage to
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  confront his friend, who was the king, Ezra, the scribe, Habakkuk, the prophet, Nebuchadnezzar, the
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  evil king, but who eventually bowed the knee in humility before the Lord. And we ended every
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  evening by singing the song, Rise Up, O Men of God. Be done with lesser things. Now, can I talk to the
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  older fellas in the room?
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  For just a minute, are you done with lesser things? Haven't you, like Solomon in his testimony in the
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  book of Ecclesiastes, walked down to the road, down to the end of some of those roads, and just
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  thought, you know what? That just doesn't promise. Sin just doesn't follow through what it promises
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  on. Yeah, I'm done with lesser things. It says, give heart and mind and soul and strength to serve
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  the king of kings. Rise up, O men of God. The church for you doth wait, her strength unequaled
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  to her task. Rise up and make her great.
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  And it was a great summer, honestly, but now here we are. And many of those same men are at the
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  retreat. And if you are here with us this morning and you're a man, then we're glad that you're here.
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  But consider next time going to the retreat, we'd love to have you. We'll make sure that we get a
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  place that's big enough for all of us to go. And because so many of those guys are gone, I am going
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  to direct this morning's message toward the women of Highland Baptist Church primarily. But just
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  like there has been in the past, there will be things for us as men as well. I find myself,
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  now in the unique position this morning to address what is largely a female crowd.
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  And so what I'd like to do is to preach in one sermon, what took nine sermons to do with the men.
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  And that makes sense because women typically learn more quickly. Mark chapter seven and verse 24,
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  we're going to read about a Syrophoenician woman, a Gentile woman, a pagan woman who comes to Jesus
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  with this request on behalf of her demon-possessed daughter. And what's really interesting about her
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  request is really, it's kind of a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a,
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  it's kind of a reflection of prayer. She comes up for the Lord and she bows and she makes this
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  request of the Lord. And I know that she was talking to him in person, but it's the same
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  thing we do when we go into the Lord's presence and pray for those whom we love. She's going to
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  break every social and, uh, and, and cultural barrier. She's going to commit every social
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  faux pas in the book. And honestly, she just doesn't care because she loves her daughter so
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  much and her daughter needs such a desperate help. And then Jesus is going to issue this response,
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  which on face value doesn't make any sense.
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  In fact, it might even be a little bit startling. I'm going to read it in just a minute. It might
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  even be a little bit startling, possibly marginally offensive. Jesus's response.
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  I read one time in a, in a commentary on this text, uh, that here we see a picture of the
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  brutality of Jesus. And can I just respectfully, but wholeheartedly disagree with that commentator?
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  Our Lord is not brutal in his response to this woman, rather his rebuke that we're going to read
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  about in to this woman. Isn't even directed to the woman because she's going to leave and her
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  daughter's going to be healed. He's going to grant her request rather in speaking to the woman.
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  He's addressing everybody else who's in the room, namely his apostles who in their heart of hearts
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  are prejudiced against her, angry at her, annoyed with her.
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  And so when we see his response and you're like, wait a minute, did he just call her a dog?
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  No, he was correct.
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  Correcting what was prejudice in their hearts. The woman is going to have her request granted.
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  He's going to show tremendous compassion to her, but those guys are going to need to leave changed.
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  And he knew that. And so in his, um, conversation, his response to the woman, he's actually correcting
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  and rebuking the hearts of his apostles. And so with that in mind, would you stand in honor of
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  God's word? As I read Mark chapter seven, verses 24 to 30, the word of God says, and from there,
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  he arose and went away to the,
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  region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know yet. He could not
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  be hidden. And immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and
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  came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she
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  begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, let the children be fed first
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  for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. But she answered him.
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  Yes, Lord.
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  To the table, eat the children's crumbs. And he said to her for this statement, you may go your
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  way. The demon has left your daughter. And she went home and found the child lying in bed and
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  the demon gone. And Lord, we pray a blessing over the preaching and hearing of your word this
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  morning, Lord, would you use it for your glory for the joy of your people and to bring salvation to
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  the lost in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church. You can be seated. The subject of our
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  study this morning is this.
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  Unnamed Gentile. In fact, she remains unnamed. We have no idea who she is. We have no idea where
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  she went. Her daughter also remains unnamed. There is this Syrophoenician woman who on the
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  outside appearance seems to have this chance encounter with the Lord. Maybe she had heard
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  about this Jewish carpenter down in Nazareth who was performing miracles. He was healing the sick.
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  He was casting out demons. And that the last little statement probably
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  opened her ears and pricked her heart because she herself had a daughter who was demon possessed.
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  And so she's hearing about this carpenter or stone Mason down in Nazareth who is doing all
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  of these miracles, but she has no influence that she could reach out to him and request or even
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  compel him to come. She has no money to pay him. She has no means whatsoever, but in a moment of
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  what I'm going to call providential luck. And if you know the definitions of both of those words,
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  you'll know that those two words are the same. And so she's hearing about this carpenter or stone
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  do not go together providence and luck. And yet in a moment of providential luck,
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  he's coming to her town, which is in the wrong country, by the way, he's going to cross into
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  where Jews never go. He's going to go to a Gentile area surrounded by Gentile homes.
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  And he's going to walk into this house where she has access for whatever reason. And again,
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  we have no idea why she has access to this home. And yet she's going to strike upon the opportunity
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  because her kid,
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  needs help. And so let me use that as a platform to launch into our sermon.
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  What would you be willing to do for your kid that needed help?
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  What are you willing to do for a loved one? I know not everyone in the room is a mom,
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  but everyone in the room has been given influence over the souls of others.
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  Everyone in the room is a steward of somebody else's spiritual health.
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  Maybe you're a parent or a grandparent. Then maybe you're a roommate or a classmate.
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  Maybe you've got friends at school. Maybe you've got neighbors and the Lord has providentially put
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  that neighbor there so that you can be a steward of their souls. And so let me ask you, what are
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  you willing to do for the soul of another? When Hallie, my wife was pregnant with Pearson,
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  our oldest, who is 23 years old, I was nervous. And I think everybody's nervous on the first one.
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  I just, honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I was not one of those guys who grew up around
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  babies. I never held babies. I never worked in the church nursery. I never babysat. My sister
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  babysat all the time. She knew what she was doing, but I didn't. I had no interest in babies. In fact,
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  I'm still a little awkward around babies. Once they get to like two or three, I'm like, man,
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  I know what to do. You know, I can do that. But I, babies, I, even if newborns are born here at
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  the church, I'm like, Pastor Danny, you want to hold them? I always say, yes. I wash my hands
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  first. But I always say, yes, I would love to hold your baby. But even then the handoff between mom
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  and Pastor Danny is always kind of awkward. I'm like, I don't really know what to do with them.
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  And I'm still a little bit awkward around babies. I was never around them. So when, when, when Hallie
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  was pregnant with Pearson, I was like, I have no idea what to do. I had never changed the diaper.
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  First diaper I ever changed in my life was Pearson's diaper. I didn't know what to do. I had
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  people coming to me at church and saying, Danny, don't you think you should practice? Like practice?
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  Pretty sure I'm going to get plenty of practice. You're like, wait, what? No, I don't want to
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  practice. How hard could it be? You know, if I put it on backward, I'll figure it out and we'll
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  grow through that together. And no, I'd never done it before. And now here was my wife about
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  to give birth, which by the way, I'd also never seen before. I was not prepared for that. That's
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  a different experience, which we won't go into. I was nervous when the day grew nearer and nearer
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  and eventually time had come and Hallie grabs my arm and says, it's time.
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  E army. We're ready to go. And we go walk into that room, which by the way, was an entire wing
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  of the hospital. I'd never been in before. I didn't, I didn't even know where to go in the
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  hospital. I was completely clueless. And I'm standing in this room and people are running
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  around and there's doctors and nurses and whatever. And they're doing things that I'm just
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  like, I don't know if this is right. You know? And what am I doing here? I thought I was supposed to
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  be in the waiting room, handing out cigars. Like that was more 1950s version is what I thought.
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  And yet here I am. And they're giving me jobs to do like, hold this. I'm like, I don't,
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  I am not trained for this. You know, I went to seminary. Like I, I don't know what I'm doing
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  here. And the thing, honestly, that made my heart the most nervous, and this is real. I'm confessing
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  this to you guys. The part of it that made me the most nervous was I genuinely wondered
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  if I was going to like him. What if I don't like him? Do parents, I didn't know the answer to this.
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  Do parents just automatically like their kids? Because I've been around some parents
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  who seem like they don't like their kids. Have you noticed that? They're out there.
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  And I've seen some kids where I thought, I don't blame them. I don't like you either.
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  Yeah. You're hard. What if it's like that? I didn't know. Do you just automatically like your kids?
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  And then in the midst of what was seeming chaos to a newcomer, Pearson was born.
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  And they set them on some like tray.
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  Thing in the middle of the room. And there's all these people scurrying around and doctors and
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  nurses and whatever. And there's Hallie who is just wrecked. And there's Pearson sitting on
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  some tray. And I looked at him and I thought, you know what? I love him. There he is.
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  I get to see him. It's the first time I'd ever seen him. I get to hold him. Hallie had been
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  so selfish to that moment. Like, honestly, and not that I'd have it reversed. Nope.
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  Not interested, you know, but I thought, man, I'm going to get to hold him as soon as they clean
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  him up. And I, I, I, man, I thought, you know what? I get it. I would die for him. I would stop a train
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  for him. I would jump in front of a bus for him. You need me to take a bullet for you, buddy. I'm in
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  no problem at all. It's my kid. What are you willing to do for your kids, for your grandkids?
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  What are you willing to do for the people that you love that you've been given influence over?
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  This is a real question. I want to know, what are you willing to do?
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  Because the example we're going to see this morning is a woman whose daughter needed her.
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  And she just thought, you know what? Tell, show me what door I have to kick in
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  to bring my daughter to Jesus. Show me I'm willing to do it. It does not matter to me. What an example
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  of a woman of faith nameless. We still don't know her name. I'm assuming we'll meet her in heaven
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  someday. And we'll figure that one out. This is the only account of this woman and her daughter.
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  And I think it's included.
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  For all of us who have spiritual influence over another. It's an example of a woman who prayed
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  for her daughter, who was willing to just kick through social barriers for her daughter.
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  And it's an example too, of Jesus rebuking the prejudices of his apostle. I love it.
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  Look at verse 24. It says, and from there he arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Now
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  I know we're picking up in the middle of the story. You guys know our next series, which is
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  coming is the gospel of Mark. We're going to spend at least a year and a half. We're going to spend a
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  year in the gospel of Mark. We are going to study every single word of every single verse of the
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  gospel of Mark in the next couple of weeks. We will start. So we're picking up in the middle.
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  When I explained to the pastors who are all at retreat, when I explained to the pastors,
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  this was the text we're going to study. One of them very astutely said, you're preaching from
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  the gospel of Mark. And I said, yeah. And he said, so that probably means in about eight months,
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  one of us is preaching this passage. I said, yep. Yep. It'll be one of you who will preach it next.
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  We'll get to hear his.
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  Perspective on it. But verse 24 says he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon
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  and he entered a house and did not want anyone to know yet. He could not be hidden.
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  The Lord Jesus to this point in his ministry had been teaching and healing in Jerusalem.
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  Jerusalem at the time was a hotbed of religious and political activity. It's nice to know that
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  things have calmed down over there in the last 2000 years. Can you imagine? I know it's hard
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  to imagine Jerusalem being a hotbed of,
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  religious and political activity, but that's what it was like then. If you can imagine such a crazy
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  thing at every single turn, Jesus is preaching to thousands of people. Thronging crowds are coming
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  to him to hear him sometimes into the tens of thousands of men and women and children, but
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  mixed into those crowds were Pharisees, temple authorities. You can imagine them standing in the
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  back with crossed arms, furrowed brows, disapprovingly mumbling to each other,
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  whispering to each other, shaking their heads in disapproval and anger
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  over and over making every effort to trap him in his words. You know how many times read through
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  the gospels, how many times it says they said this to trap him, or they, they questioned him,
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  hoping they could catch him in his words. There were even times you guys,
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  this is how sick they were. There were times when they would find somebody who was disabled
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  and they would parade this guy in front of Jesus on the Sabbath in the hopes that he would violate
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  their Sabbath regulations in healing this guy. Let's see if he'll show compassion on this man
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  who can't walk, on this man who can't see, on this woman who's got this disorder. Let's see,
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  and we'll just parade them in front of Jesus Sabbath after Sabbath after Sabbath,
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  let's see if he'll break the rules again. And guess what Jesus did?
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  He said, no problem. Be healed. In fact, you know what? Thanks for setting them up. I would have
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  been looking for this guy who knows how long I heard he was in town. Thanks for bringing him
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  and just over and over and over stripping them of these man-made self-righteous regulations. He
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  hated that stuff and just went,
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  crashing through those walls like the Kool-Aid man. No problem. Healed again on the Sabbath.
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  He loved doing that. And you can imagine them at the backs of these crowds, just in their
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  disapproval, in their anger, trying to trap him. The crowds were enormous, but they weren't always
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  friendly. He would teach all day and then try to retreat to solitude in the evenings,
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  only his apostles. But remember, even then his job wasn't done because after all,
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  all of that preaching, then his apostles would come to him and say, Hey, listen, now there's just
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  us. What in the world were you talking about? And he'd have to explain it all again. Are you so
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  dull of hearing? Man, really? You don't get it either. Okay. Let me explain it again. And so
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  by the time we get to Mark chapter seven, Jesus was in a word, Jesus was exhausted.
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  And so he's seeking rest, withdrew to Tyre and Sidon. The Tyre and Sidon are a Gentile province.
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  Filled with Gentile people in a Gentile country. It's North of Galilee. They had to cross a border
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  and over to get there. This would be modern day Lebanon. That's where he is, where everybody's
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  pages explode. All right. That's where that's a little inside deal. But even there, he couldn't
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  find a moment's quiet notice. First, we just see here in verse 25, the power of a praying mom.
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  Look what this mom does. Verse 25. But immediately,
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  a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him
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  and came and fell down at his feet. His mom was in dire straits. She was what JC Ryle in his
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  commentary calls in deep affliction. Like, yeah, that makes sense. You moms in the room. Can you
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  imagine if your child was demon possessed? There have been times where I've thought my boys were
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  demon possessed, but not for real, right? They just needed a little correction.
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  And the demons flee. What if your child, honestly, what if your child was demon possessed and, and
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  her mind can't be corrected? No teaching, no counsel could penetrate. No medicine could heal
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  her body. This mom had heard about Jesus. She heard the stories of this guy who could not only
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  heal the sick of body could heal the soul. And so she goes to him to pray for the one who couldn't
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  pray for herself. By that prayer, she obtained what only prayer could cure.
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  It take special note. I think in the text that the daughter never prays for herself.
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  The daughter never even meets Jesus in the text. It was through the prayer of the mother that the
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  daughter was healed and on her own behalf, she couldn't speak. And so her mother spoke for her
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  again, JC Ryle words it this way, hopeless and desperate as her case appeared. She had a praying
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  mom and where there's a praying mom, there is always hope Highland ladies. Can I just encourage
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  you?
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  And I know not all of you are mothers. And for some of you, that's a painful fact, but can I
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  encourage all of you? Do not neglect praying for the people, the souls that God has made you
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  stewards of pray faithfully for the souls, which have been entrusted to your care, pray, and don't
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  stop praying. Don't neglect the influence that you ladies have over the souls of others.
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  You know, when it was time for the apostle Paul to hand off the reins of that first generation
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  church, the apostle Paul was the man. I mean, he was the, you call him the father of modern
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  missions. He was the guy who broke the gospel out of the middle East and into Europe. He wrote 13
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  of our new Testament books, the apostle Paul. And in second Timothy, he says, the time of my
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  departure has come. I'm out of here. He knew he was about to have his head cut off. And indeed,
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  that is what happened. And he was looking for the next generation,
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  pastor to hand the reins of this early church to the church was still in its infancy.
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  It could have, apart from the sovereignty of God, be been easily snuffed out.
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  It was vulnerable. And so he's looking around. Who am I going to hand the reins of the church
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  off to? Who did he choose? It was Timothy. Remember young, timid. Those are the two words
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  that Paul used of Timothy. And he says, here you go, buddy.
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  Yours. Do you guys remember who Timothy was even more specifically that do you remember
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  how Timothy was saved? Paul says it in second Timothy, second Timothy chapter one.
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  He says, and in verse five, I'm reminded of your sincere faith, Timothy,
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  a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother, Lois, and then in your mother, Eunice.
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  And now I am sure dwells in you. Where did Timothy hear the gospel?
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  From his mom who heard it from her grandma, from her mom. Can you imagine? Nothing has ever said
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  of his dad. We know that his mom was married. His dad never comes up. How'd you hear the gospel,
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  Timothy? My mom was faithful. Where'd she hear the gospel? My grandma. And by the way,
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  anytime my mom was out of the house and I needed to be left with somebody,
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  I remember going to my grandma's house and praise God for praying grandmas.
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  All of you grandmas who are still in the church, I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to pray for you.
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  You're still watching babies because your daughters and their husbands and whatever are
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  out working because we live in a place where it's too expensive to live. And so they got to go to
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  work. And now grandmas, you're in the room and you're the ones changing diapers again. You're
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  like, man, I just jumped back a generation. What am I doing? You know what you're doing?
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  You're grandma Lois and you get influence over those little babies, sing to them and pray for
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  them and don't waste time with them. Man, that's how Timothy was saved. Can you imagine?
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  It's awesome that just a couple of chapters later, second Timothy chapter three continue. Paul says
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  in what you have learned and have firmly believed knowing from whom you learned it.
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  Who did he learn it from? Grandma, how from childhood you have been acquainted with the
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  sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation. They started early. Timothy grew
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  up hearing the gospel. In fact, we can assume that Timothy, like many of us who had Christian
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  parents, heard the gospel before they could even understand the gospel. There was never a time in
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  Timothy's life where he didn't believe in God. There was a time where he had to bow the knee
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  and repent of his sin and be saved. But he knew the truth earlier than he knew anything else.
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  Timothy's path had almost been chosen for him by the godly women in his life. Can you imagine if
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  he had come to grandma Lois and said, I think I'm going to bail on the whole Christian thing.
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  Ask your grandmas, is that an option for those babies? No, I hope not. No way. Not while I'm
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  around. Right? No, grandma Lois had this influence. His mother Eunice had this influence over him.
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  Again, you know, when Pearson was still in utero,
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  Hallie's pregnant or pregnant with him. And I don't know, five months maybe. And we went to this
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  ultrasound appointment. And again, I had never, I'd never been around any of this equipment. I have
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  no idea. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't
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  know. I have no idea what is even going on, what to expect. And you know, that, that sound,
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  which now just makes my heart leap with a joy, that little sound, you know, Hallie's laying there
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  on the thing and they're squeezing the goo and, uh, you know, doing the thing, whatever they do
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  with that. And I don't even know. And you hear that little thing. Like, what is that? Like,
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  Hallie, what did you eat? You know, like what, what's going on in there? You know? And then
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  the ultrasound lady says, no, that's, that's your son's heartbeat. Okay. I mean, it's a
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  little emotional. Wow. Okay. And then she said this, can I give you guys some advice? Ultrasound
• 24:31
  tech. I thought in the moment, I thought, man, there's some old lady here. She was like, I'm
• 24:36
  going to say in her late thirties. All right. Some old lady here. And she's given us advice
• 24:40
  and a man. I am all ears. I am all ears for advice on parenting. Yes. Can I give you some
• 24:44
  advice? Yes. I have no idea what I'm doing. So yes, give me some advice. And Hallie's laying
• 24:50
  there and you got the little sound going on. And, and she just says, can I just give you some
• 24:54
  advice? She says, you're having a son. And I said, that's great news. And she says, can I just
• 24:58
  encourage you not to have him circumcised? And I was like, what is this medical advice? Like what?
• 25:03
  Okay. Weird. Haven't heard that word in a while. That's weird. And then she says, I just really
• 25:08
  believe strongly that that's a decision that every person should make for themselves. And she said,
• 25:13
  and I really believe that parents are just too pushy with spiritual things on their kids,
• 25:18
  telling them what God to believe in, telling them what to think, pushing their beliefs on their kids.
• 25:23
  And I really think that kids should be allowed to grow in order to believe those same things.
• 25:27
  They get to believe for themselves. They should make their own choice choices. And I was like,
• 25:32
  oh, wait, you're preaching at me. This is agenda coming at me. And I'm looking at Hallie and Hallie's
• 25:41
  just doing whatever it was. What is going on? Can I just put my clothes back on? You know,
• 25:45
  and I, and I looked at this lady and I said, listen, I know you don't know us.
• 25:50
  You have no idea how pushy we're going to be with these kids.
• 25:54
  You have no idea. I'm going to make every decision for him, all of them. And I will do it without
• 26:02
  apology and without prejudice. I am going to hammer the gospel into this kid. I'm going to tell him
• 26:08
  what God to believe in. I'm going to tell him what friends to choose. He's going to think he gets to
• 26:12
  choose his own friends. He's going to think he's choosing, but I am going to surround him with the
• 26:17
  kids I already know will be his friends. And so he's going to think I met a new kid at school.
• 26:21
  You don't say, and they go to Highland. Uh-huh.
• 26:24
  And daddy, I think, I think you're already friends with their parents. I know.
• 26:31
  Enjoy your new buddy. You're like, I'm going to do everything for this kid.
• 26:35
  Of course, because we love them. I mean, parents who love their kids are going to tell their kids
• 26:41
  the truth. Amen. And that's what Timothy had, man. Never, ever, ever, ever stop Highland ladies
• 26:49
  praying for your kids, having that influence over them. Notice second, look at the obstacles that
• 26:53
  she overcame.
• 26:54
  Verse 26 continues. The woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to
• 27:01
  cast the demon out of her daughter. I know that different people do things different ways. Cultural
• 27:07
  differences I think are so cool. I like going to new places and trying new things and eating new
• 27:12
  foods, but cultural differences are also kind of funny because what might be perfectly acceptable
• 27:17
  in one place can be horribly offensive in another. It was in 1992.
• 27:24
  You guys who are old enough to remember this might remember it was an international incident
• 27:29
  when George H.W. Bush, the dad, went to Australia. And as he was climbing back up the steps to Air
• 27:37
  Force One, turned around to give the peace sign to all of the Australians. Do you guys remember this?
• 27:43
  And instead of doing this, which means peace, did this, which here means nothing.
• 27:49
  But in Australia is the same as the middle finger. And in fact, we have a family from our church.
• 27:54
  You guys remember this? We have a family from our church. We have a family from our church.
• 27:54
  Some of you guys know the Dodies. They're from Australia. They were here for service.
• 27:57
  And when I did this, they went, oh, they were sitting right over there for service.
• 28:03
  They're like, whoa, that means something different. It's the same as flying the bird
• 28:09
  in Australia. He thought he was given his peace. He flipped off the entire country
• 28:15
  on our behalf. Then his son, George W. Bush, given a press conference in 2008,
• 28:21
  updating on the war in Iraq.
• 28:23
  When an Iraqi reporter stood up, maybe you remember this, took off his shoe and threw it at
• 28:30
  him. Do you remember this? Secret service comes in. He's attacking him. He wasn't attacking him.
• 28:35
  It's not a good idea. Secret service tackles that guy. They jump on the president. I mean,
• 28:39
  they're hauling the guy out of there. He's, he's, he's being threatened. You're like, man, why his
• 28:44
  shoe? You know, in Arab cultures, the bottom of your shoe is the most offensive thing you can show
• 28:50
  to somebody. So in America, men,
• 28:53
  men sit down and then cross their legs and they do it just like this. We don't think anything of
• 28:56
  it. Half the guys in here are sitting just like this, but in Arab countries, you got to be careful
• 29:00
  where the bottom of your shoe is pointed. Because if I'm sitting down and I cross my, my legs like
• 29:05
  this and the bottom of my shoe is pointed at you, that is very intentional. And I've been in some
• 29:11
  of these countries. I've been in Bedouin tents, talking to Bedouin guys who are moving their
• 29:14
  goats and whatever. And I sit down in that tent. And I was told before you go in there, you be
• 29:19
  careful where you're pointing the bottom of your shoe. When eventually that Iraqi,
• 29:23
  the war ended. And remember the big giant statue in honor of Saddam Hussein fell. Do you remember
• 29:29
  that? They grabbed a Sherman tank or whatever the thing was. And they pulled the thing down.
• 29:32
  Probably not a Sherman tank from world war two, probably newer than that in Abrams. My guess is,
• 29:36
  but topples that thing, pulls the statue down. Do you remember what the people did?
• 29:41
  Do you remember this? They surrounded the statue. They took off their shoes and they were smacking
• 29:46
  it with their shoes. And from our perspective, we're like, what a dumb thing to do. No, it was,
• 29:51
  it was very intentional. They were smacking that thing with their shoes and that's what they were
• 29:56
  doing. It's weird. You know, in America, when we go to pray, when we come inside or we're praying,
• 30:04
  we, we remove our hats. Men remove their hats. We go inside out of a sign of respect. We remove
• 30:10
  our hats. You know, in Jewish culture, they do it exactly the opposite. Men never wear hats
• 30:15
  except to pray. And then they cover their heads out of a sign of respect. I'm under something
• 30:21
  as I pray. I'm under something as I pray. I'm under something as I pray. I'm under something as I pray.
• 30:21
  Different people do things different ways. And those cultural expectations create like this sense
• 30:29
  of do's and don'ts unwritten rules, which you've got to follow. If you're going to avoid accidentally
• 30:34
  disrespecting the people you're addressing. Now, again, we don't know anything about this woman
• 30:39
  other than what's revealed here. She is nameless identity lists. There's no backstory provided.
• 30:46
  There's no history given. The only thing the text reveals is that she's a Gentile.
• 30:51
  She is Syrophoenician. Matthew's gospel calls her a Canaanite. You guys remember the Canaanites?
• 30:59
  Arch enemies of Israel all the time. She could have traced her lineage back thousands of years
• 31:05
  to the first people who ever inhabited that region. When Joshua was going into the promised
• 31:10
  land and he came to Jericho, Canaanites. When the people of Israel were routed at Ai, Canaanites.
• 31:18
  I mean, the Canaanites were who?
• 31:21
  They were supposed to depose. They failed to do that. It was the Canaanites who were allowed to
• 31:26
  stay in the promised land and became an idol worshiping snare to God's people. And now a
• 31:36
  Canaanite woman, which in the Jewish mindset, which was horribly chauvinistic toward women.
• 31:49
  I mean, being born a woman was already half cursed.
• 31:53
  In the apostle's minds, a Canaanite woman, a pagan who, by the way, not only a pagan whose
• 32:01
  daughter we discover is demon possessed. There's the other half of the curse. You guys remember
• 32:09
  John nine, blind guy comes to Jesus begging to be healed. The people standing around him,
• 32:18
  including his own guys, ask Jesus this question, Rabbi, who sinned?
• 32:24
  This man or his parents that he was born blind. Do you remember that question? And Jesus just says,
• 32:34
  neither one. You don't know anything. That's not how it works at all. He's not cursed. And so
• 32:42
  born blind. You want to know why he was born blind? It's so that I could do this.
• 32:49
  Open up your eyes and see it was for the glory of God for your sake.
• 32:54
  That's why this man was born blind. He's been enduring this so that you can see the glory and
• 32:58
  power of God. So have your eyes opened and see. And he opened up his eyes and saw for the first
• 33:02
  time in his life. Then he went around glorifying God and giving thanks, man. And so that prejudice
• 33:10
  is still ringing around in his apostles ears as they're all sitting around this table. And this
• 33:14
  woman, a Canaanite woman with a demon possessed daughter, all three strikes there. They are
• 33:20
  come slithering in, in their minds.
• 33:25
  Traveling, interrupting the rabbi on his day off. He's already tired woman. What are you doing here?
• 33:32
  Get away. And he reading their minds is like, what are you doing? Who sinned rabbi,
• 33:39
  the daughter or this woman that she was born with a demon? Neither one, neither one. You don't,
• 33:45
  you don't understand this at all. And so this, this is the woman that is now coming in.
• 33:50
  She is breaking through every single social,
• 33:54
  barrier, everything that we should have kept her out. She now had the faith to break through.
• 34:02
  She could have cared less. Why? Because she was a mom whose child needed help.
• 34:08
  It was Timothy Keller who said there are cowards. Then there are regular people.
• 34:13
  Then there are heroes. And then there are moms.
• 34:19
  And he says, moms aren't really on the spectrum from cowardice to courage
• 34:23
  because of her child.
• 34:24
  And he says, the world is in jeopardy. A mom simply does what it takes to save them.
• 34:28
  Her normal personality is irrelevant. She'll do whatever it takes. You know, I'm married to a mom.
• 34:37
  I cannot believe the self-sacrifice beginning with childbirth, because let's be honest, you guys,
• 34:43
  if it were up to us, our species would have died out a long time ago, right? Probably pretty close
• 34:51
  to Genesis four is my guess. Maybe, maybe the first one or two guys were like, they'll try it.
• 34:55
  You're like never doing that again. Maybe they were naive enough, curious enough.
• 35:01
  But after that, I mean, there would have been eight humans born and then that was it.
• 35:06
  Right. And then even the next few years after childbirth, because you may think, well,
• 35:11
  childbirth is the hardest part. The next few years, my wife's body was basically a jungle gym.
• 35:18
  I mean, it's crazy to watch how boys treat the bodies of their moms.
• 35:26
  I mean, my wife exists for the survival of others. Honestly, I don't even like hugging people.
• 35:32
  I've confessed that to you guys. I'm a germaphobe. I wash my hands constantly. I do. I hope I'm not
• 35:37
  obsessive compulsive, but I'm just not a hugger. I'm barely a shaker. All right. So if I give you
• 35:42
  a hug, it's because I love you and I love Jesus. Okay. I'm barely that guy. And yet there are
• 35:47
  kids just sneezing all over, hugging her boogers and whatever. Like, man, it's disgusting.
• 35:55
  It's disgusting. And yet she does it. Why? Because moms are willing to do whatever it takes.
• 36:02
  It does not matter. Normal personality out the window. If the daughter needs help,
• 36:06
  she's willing to go and break those social barriers. The verse 26 says she begged him.
• 36:11
  Do you see that word? She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. It's in the present
• 36:16
  progressive tense. What that means is she begged and then she kept begging, kept on begging. Please,
• 36:25
  please.
• 36:26
  Matthew's account in verse 22 says she cried out saying, have mercy on me. Oh Lord, son of David,
• 36:31
  my daddy or my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. She begged and begged and begged.
• 36:41
  Hi ladies. If I can encourage you, whatever it takes, whatever it takes to bring your kids to
• 36:47
  Jesus, grandparents, whatever it takes roommates, whatever it takes, uh, coworkers, whatever,
• 36:56
  it takes classmates, whatever it takes teammates, whatever it takes, whatever it takes to bring them
• 37:03
  to the Lord. That's what we see. I noticed finally, and this will end the compassionate
• 37:07
  savior's response, what is kind of an odd response. And again, don't forget, he's not
• 37:12
  talking to the woman. He's talking to the woman, but the audience is his apostles all standing
• 37:18
  around. Don't forget about the other guys that are all sitting in there angry about this woman
• 37:22
  breaking in the verse 27 says, and he said to her, let the children be fed first.
• 37:26
  It's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. And then she answers. Well,
• 37:33
  yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table, eat the children's crumbs. Don't forget Lord
• 37:37
  that a good man takes care of his animals too. I know the gospel is going to go first to the Jews.
• 37:43
  And in fact, the Romans chapter one even says that first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles,
• 37:47
  praise God. It made it to the Gentiles. Amen. Gentiles. Here we are. Praise God.
• 37:54
  She says, I understand that it will be first to the Jews,
• 37:57
  but don't forget that it will be first to the Jews. And then to the Gentiles. Praise God.
• 37:58
  Forget the dogs. She understands in humility that she doesn't deserve to be there. And honestly,
• 38:06
  friends, none of us do. We don't deserve the grace of God toward us. God is gracious despite us.
• 38:15
  And he lavishes his love upon us, even who are his enemies. And she says, she just says, yeah,
• 38:23
  I know, but don't forget me, Lord. And he says, you know what? Verse 29 for this statement,
• 38:27
  you may go your way.
• 38:28
  The demon has left your daughter and she went home and found the child lying in bed
• 38:31
  and the demon gone. He sensed the thoughts, the anger, the annoyance of those apostles.
• 38:38
  And so he makes this statement to her with them in mind. He's rebuking that prejudice.
• 38:43
  He knows he's going to heal the daughter. Of course he is. He'll have compassion on this
• 38:48
  woman. Of course he will, but he's also not going to let them get away with it.
• 38:53
  My wife recently told me it's actually, I think it was this week.
• 38:58
  She said, you know, Danny annoyance is not a fruit of the spirit. I said, yeah, that's annoying.
• 39:09
  You imagine them just in their anger, forgetting about the fact that this woman and her daughter
• 39:14
  have souls and who were in desperate need of the savior. Just like they were, they forgot
• 39:20
  that they also needed the savior. I think Jesus was going to ensure that not only would this woman
• 39:26
  leave blessed, but his own disciples were going to leave with an understanding that he came to
• 39:31
  bless the whole world. And so he said, you know, Danny, annoyance is not a fruit of the spirit.
• 39:32
  The whole world. And so if I can leave us with this thought, beloved family, pray for your loved
• 39:36
  ones, pray and pray and pray and pray and do whatever it takes to bring him to Jesus.
• 39:44
  And when you come into his presence, come with humility and glorify his name when he does mighty
• 39:49
  and great gracious things in our lives. And Lord, that is our prayer this morning.
• 39:55
  I pray God that you would give us opportunity to share the gospel with those that we have
• 40:01
  influence over that.
• 40:02
  And that we would do whatever it takes to bring them to Jesus. Jesus, I pray, Lord, that we would
• 40:07
  pray and pray and pray and pray for those whom we love and for their spiritual success.
• 40:16
  And Lord, may we not forget that we are in need of a savior,
• 40:20
  just like everyone else. And it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.