06-sep-09

Promises The Rev. Joseph Winston September 6, 2009

Sermon Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1 Reality has a harsh way of striking us hard in the face. In many ways, we have felt the stinging blow from the backside of its hand when we did not make the grade. There is that time when no one wanted us to play on their team and we remained all alone on the sidelines the entire game. Do not forget that our hopes and dreams about a better life were shattered into a million different pieces when that one specific school refused to accept us. The bleak news out of Washington reminds us of something we feel down in our pocketbooks. Meaningful work is basically impossible to find in today’s depressing economic reality. Even our bodies, which brought us to this place, cannot withstand the continuous onslaught that life throws right at us. Time does not heal the broken heart. 1

Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians 1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3.

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The passing of the days only moves us a little bit away from that horrible event we will carry down to our grave. Age brings its own peculiar blessings. Joints no longer move like they should. Now they creak whenever we take even the smallest step. No matter how hard we try to prevent it, our muscles grow weaker by the day and even the lightest load is more than we can bear. Organs no longer perform their assigned tasks. So, we adapt by changing our familiar routine. Just to make it through the day, we take a handful of pills in the morning and in the evening. We do less every day and we hope to hold on just a little bit longer. All of this pain would be bad enough if it were just limited to either you or I. But we all know that this is not the case. Trials and tribulations are part and parcel of our existence here on earth. This means that our loved ones: our children, our spouse, our parents, our family, our friends, and yes everyone, suffers in one-way or another. It is completely natural for us to want to stop the pain we see all around us and we do exactly that. We go out and play with our children and grandchildren in the hope that they become a little bit better in sports. Through taxes, we pay the teachers in this state to educate our sons and daughters because we want everyone to have more opportunities to choose from. Unemployment benefits, training programs, and government stimulus packages are but three different ways we try to provide employment. It is no exaggeration that the Texas Medical Center is the best in all the world. Our health care professionals train there and at other institutions so that we can remain healthy. Now, imagine for just a moment that you live almost two thousand years ago 2

in a rich harbor city named Tyre. In order to get your bearings, this city is located on the east side of the Mediterranean Sea just fifty miles south of Beirut, Lebanon. Even for you, Tyre is an ancient city. It was founded almost three thousand years before the birth of Christ. Your daughter is very ill.2 In fact, she is so sick that all the highly educated doctors, who make a good living taking care of the merchants and sailors, have completely given up hope. They have given you devastating news that breaks your heart. Your daughter cannot be cured. What are you going to do? Just like any other parent, you do not want to believe this diagnosis. Off you go to this friend and that. In their homes, in the market, and in the street, you ask them what they would do, what would they be willing to try, what just might give your daughter another chance at life. Someone, some place, tells you about this Jew they know that just might be able to help your sick child (Mark 3:8).3 Like other residents of Tyre, you cannot even stand the thought of talking to a Jew much less asking any son of Abraham for help.4 But your daughter’s health is so important that you put aside your feelings and ask them to continue their story. They say His name is Jesus. He has 2

In the Christian tradition the woman is remembered as Justa and her daughter is Bernice (Psudo-Clementine Homilies 2.19; 3:73.). John R. Donahue, S.J. and Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.; Idem, editor, The Gospel of Mark, Volume 2, Sacra Pagina, (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002), p. 233. 3 Even in Tyre, people know about Jesus and His work to free slaves. Ibid., p. 232. 4 Tyre and Sidon are the two most important cites in Phoenicia. During the Roman Era, this area was part of the province of Syria hence the title Syrophoenician. Ibid.. Not only is this in Gentile territory but also Josephus (War 2.478) reports that these people hate the Jews. ibid..

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healed ordinary people with the same condition as your child (Mark 3:8-12). Just maybe He will heal your daughter. Armed with a name, you start trying to find this man. You soon learn that this is a difficult task. He is moving from town to town and you do not know where He will go next. One day, the word reaches you that Jesus is once again in Tyre. Given an address you make your way to the house and you enter unannounced.5 Suddenly, the size of the problem strikes you head on. You are a woman and He is a man. You are Greek and He is a Jew. You even forgot to ask if He understands Greek like the rest of the civilized world. There is nothing else to do but to fall on your face at His feet and explain your problem.6 Words and tears start to flow but He says nothing. Finally, He tells you, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs (Mark 7:27).” All your worse fears are realized.7 You have spent some time learning about His background and you know exactly what He is saying. He is insulting you and your family.8 Plainly, your concerns and problems are not His. But you have heard the different stories and now you almost know them by heart. He has healed others that were not like Him. He has helped people from 5

The house in this Gospel is often a site of “healing, teaching, preaching, or controversy.” Donahue and Harrington, Mark, p. 232. It could also reflect the reality that the community was meeting in houses. 6 προςέπεσεν πρὸς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. Literally, threw herself down at his feet. 7 The idea that the children are the people of Israel is frequently used in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 32:20, 43; Psalm 82:6; Isiah 1:1; 17:9; 63:8; Hosea 11:1). Ibid., p. 233. 8 Dogs of all types are derogatory (1 Samuel 17:43; Isaiah 56:10-11; 2 Peter 2:22; Philippians 3:2; Revelation 22:15). Ibid., p. 234.

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Tyre. Fine you think to yourself. I will be a dog if that heals my child.9 I will take what is given to me. And so you say, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs (Mark 7:28).” Silence fills the room.10 No one can believe what you have said. All you can hear is your heartbeat echoing in your ears. Jesus looks down at you and says, “For that Word you may go – the demon has left your daughter (Mark 7:29).”11 Amazed, you pull yourself off the floor and mumble a word of thanks as you rush out the door and head down the streets toward your house. As you run into her room, you see something has already happened (Mark 7:30). You have your little girl back. If you take a close look at the Gospel Lesson from Mark, you will see that the word faith never appears anywhere in today’s account. Additionally, the woman from Tyre never makes a confession of faith. She does not say that Jesus is the Son of God. These obvious omissions in the text often lead us to the incorrect conclusion that the Syrophoenician woman was literally without faith. This is not the case. From her actions, it is clear she actually trusts that Jesus will grant her requests. Lutherans need to remember this fact. We frequently confuse faith with knowl9

David Rhoads, ‘Jesus and the Syrophoenician Woman in Mark’, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, LXII (1994):2, p. 357. 10 This is the only place in the Bible where anyone, much less a woman, has a retort that Jesus does not answer. Donahue and Harrington, Mark, p. 232. 11 The Word, λόγος in the text, is the Word of the Gospel. Rhoads, ‘Journal of the American Academy of Religion LXII [1994]’, p. 360.

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edge. It is in our nature to do this. As a young adult, we learn by rote the Ten Commandments along with the answers to Luther’s questions, “What does this mean?” We commit to memory every line of the Apostle’s Creed and once again, we provide our teachers with letter-perfect solutions to all the “What does this mean?” questions that Martin Luther asks us. This pattern continues throughout the Small Catechism. We memorize the Lord’s Prayer and Luther’s explanation. We learn the meaning of baptism, confession and absolution, along with all the important details that describe what happens in the Lord’s Supper. These lessons are important to the life of the mature Christian but these mental exercises are not faith. Faith is something completely different. It is simply living in the hope that we are already set free by Christ’s death on the Cross.12 Of course, a life of trust includes learning the basics of what we believe. That is why Lutherans are so proud of our educational system. We teach our children that God loves them, the difference between right and wrong, and the mission of the Church here on earth. As we grow older, these lessons continue to provide us with more information about how God acts in the world. However, if we limit our definition of faith to what we can learn in the classroom, then we are certainly leaving out a huge portion of what it means to be faithful. The author of James reminds us of this fact by bluntly telling us faith without works is dead (James 2:17). 12

Eric W. Gritsch and Robert W. Jenson, Lutheranism The Theologic Movement and Its Confessional Writings, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1976), p. 42.

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We already know this to be true. As we have previously seen, we want to ease the suffering we find in the world. That is why we help our children, provide education to all, assist the unemployed, and spend so much money on health care. These actions, which we normally do without a second thought, show everyone how a Christian lives. We take help others without wanting anything in return. There is only one reason why we can live this type of life that gives aid to our neighbors. It is not because we can make any promises (Psalm 146:3-4). We cannot.13 The reason is this. A promise is nothing more than a statement that something will happen sometime in the future. That is the dictionary’s definition. For example, I can say that I promise to help my children since I love them. Implicitly implied in these words of assurance is that I will be around in the coming days, weeks, months, and years. As we all know, I have absolutely no control over what the future might bring. My words of promise are conditional on what happens to me. I will die someday and not be able to hold up my end of the bargain. Therefore, I lack the ability to make promises. To put it in the words of the psalm: Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. (Psalm 146:3-4 NRSV) Who will we turn to? Who can we trust? Who will help us? We already know of a Man who can keep every promise He makes since the future is firmly in His control. There is One who has already tasted death and lives 13

Gritsch and Jenson, Lutheranism, p. 44.

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today. We are familiar with the person who died so He could be the One who keeps His last will and testament from being endlessly contested in probate court.14 His name is Jesus Christ. On the tree at Calvary, God died for you. That is the scandal of the cross. It also is the best news you will ever hear. If it has not already happened to you, all too soon reality comes crashing down on us. This occurs when we finally realize what we actually have in our grasp. We do not own the future. We cannot give life. We even lack the ability to remove anyone’s suffering. Jesus comes during these times and says to you, “Because the Crucified lives, your future is good.”15 He has already given you the future. You are saved. He has already given you life. Though you die, you will live. He has already helped countless people like the Syrophoenician woman’s child. He will help you too. The future is not our to give. That is why we cannot live up to the many promises that we make in this life. That hurts us and we all deeply feel its pain. Our faith, the one we heard boldly proclaimed in today’s lessons is simply this. We live everyday with the unconditional promise that the Crucified Lord lives here among us. “The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”16 14

Gritsch and Jenson, Lutheranism, p. 41. Ibid., p. 42. 16 Philippians 4:7.

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References Donahue, S.J., John R. and Harrington, S.J., Daniel J.; Idem, editor, The Gospel of Mark, Volume 2, Sacra Pagina, (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002). Gritsch, Eric W. and Jenson, Robert W., Lutheranism The Theologic Movement and Its Confessional Writings, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1976). Rhoads, David, ‘Jesus and the Syrophoenician Woman in Mark’, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, LXII (1994):2, pp. 343–375.

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