Dogs?

If the PC Police were around in Jesus' day, their heads would have exploded the day he was approached by the Syrophoenician woman, asking him to cast a demon out of her child, and he put her off saying, “First let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs" (Mk 7:27).

"Dogs?  Did we just hear you call that woman's child a dog?" the spinning heads of the PC Police would be yelling in disbelief!  "Racist, bigot, Syrophoenicianphobe!" and any number of other pejoratives would have been hurled at him as their spinning heads reached overload, replicating Mt St Helen.

They would have done so because they would not have understood where Jesus was coming from or where he was going in his ministry.  PC Police are rarely seeking to understand, just bring people into compliance with their vision of polite and acceptable wording and labels.

Jesus' response was parabolic, meant to draw on word pictures - a simple illustration meant to convey a shared meaning. For those open to learn, parables can be quite revealing.  He talked about the understood priority of taking care of your children before taking care of others.  The term "dog" is to highlight the importance of your responsibility to your children, not to diminish others.

The apostle Paul would later emphasize this familial responsibility in saying, "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Tim 5:8).  Biblically,  there is a strong emphasis on prioritizing family firstt.

That doesn't mean you don't care for or help out others, it simply means you do not neglect your children in helping others, that you see to you own first and then others.  The language is strong for emphasis sake just as when Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters---yes, even their own life---such a person cannot be my disciple" (Lk 14:26).  We are to put Jesus first, which means choosing him over family at times.

The priority of Christ is seen clearly in Acts 1:8 when the disciples are given their marching orders: "...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." So, PC Police, superglue your heads back together, Jesus isn't bigoted, he is prioritized and he calls us to be as well: "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Gal 6:10).  Jus' Say'n.

Turning Point

While teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum, Jesus proclaimed himself to be the bread of life that comes down out from heaven and that it was only those drawn by the Father who would eat this bread, this bread that was his flesh.  His teaching got real to his disciples, that he was laying claim to deity, that he was the Source of life, that embracing him was all consuming - an all or nothing proposition (cf. Jn 6:25ff).

On hearing his words, his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching, who can accept it?" (v. 60).  Some could not or would not and, "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him" (v. 66).  As a side note, I find it interesting that this place in Scripture of disciples turning away from Jesus, John is 6:66 is the same as the mark of the Beast that John reveals in Revelation 13:18.

Getting back to the point, when this turning point was reached by the disciples, Jesus asked the Twelve if they too were turning back, to which Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (v. 68).  At this turning point, some turned away, others tuned in realizing that there was no other way, there was no other option, that Jesus alone was "the holy One of God" (v. 69).

At some point, Jesus' claim on your life will get real, it will blow past all the religious ritual and jargon and list of things to do or not do.  At some point, Jesus' claim will be seen in it's totality, which is total and complete.  His claim on your life is not something you can wear on Sunday or practice at particular times throughout the week.  His claim in on your whole life.  He is not a way, or an assist in our effort to find our way home, Jesus is "the way, the truth and the life.  No man comes to the Father except through [him]" (14:6).

At some point, we come to realize that following Jesus is not something that we do, it is the thing that we do.  Everything else has to be brought into alignment with that walk or left behind entirely.  Unless, we were to decide that following Jesus is more than we bargained for.  In that case, these words of Jesus become our turning point: "...those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples" (Lk 14:33).

Perhaps you've already reached that point and you have decided to follow Jesus no matter what.  Praise God!  Perhaps you've decided to strike out on your own (I hope you will reconsider because, on your own, you will strike out).  Perhaps you are not quite there or are just reaching that point.  If so, I implore you to listen to Peter's words again, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of life."  Jus' Say'n.

Consider How You Listen

Jesus told his disciples that they were like lamps.  Lamps, he reminded them were not placed under cover but placed out where they could be seen. And in this analogy, he was suggesting that, as such, they had been placed so that they would be seen, not that they needed to make themselves seen: "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen..." (Lk 8:17-18).

He was clearly saying that their lives would be seen, that their words and deeds would be witnessed.  Therefore, he warned them to "consider carefully how they listened."  Curious, no?  You will be seen so be careful how you listen instead of what you do or say?  What could this mean?

For one thing, he is affirming that we will be receiving conflicting messages, some messages will resonate with the truth our our place as lamps and some messages denying that truth.  Along with the Lord's encouragement that we are made to shine as lights in the world, the enemy comes along saying that we are dim bulbs that no one pays attention to, that our light is not going to make a difference - what we do won't really matter.  Have you heard that voice?

The voices will  continue, either affirming or denying our purpose and our worth.  The Voice of Truth will affirm our role as a light in darkness, while the voice of the enemy will deny that and insist that our life is our own, that we can do and say what we want.  "It's my life, I can do what I want.  I'm not hurting anyone else."  Really?  No one depends on you for direction or support or encouragement?

The Voice of Truth tells us that we live legacies, that everything we do or say registers somewhere, with someone.  The Lord warns us to be careful how we listen.  Do not listen to the false voices that suggest our life is something of individual concern, no one will be observing, no one will depend on the light you were meant to provide.  Those voices lie!  Be careful how you listen.  Lean in and listen to the Voice of Truth, understand how important your example is.  Jus' Say'n.

Unmarked Graves

Years ago, my brother and I went out to our family cemetery, where my mother and another brother were buried.  When we got there, it took some doing to find their graves as the weeds and saplings had grown up and obscured all the markers.  Years later, a new owner of the land encompassing our cemetery, cleared off that spot, removing all the grave markers.  The result was the same, one could not tell where a grave was or was not.

If you went out to that site, you could just as easily be walking on top of a grave as not.  Without the markers in place and clearly visible, all the land looks the same.  Responding to some Pharisees, he knew to by hypocrites, Jesus said, "Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it" (Lk 11:44).

The thing about a hypocrite is that he/she is intentionally not clearly marked to be an unbeliever.  He/she might look and act like a responsible religious leader but on the inside a scheming, conniving sinner, filled with self-pride and disregard for others.  They/we could appear to have a living faith but in reality be filled with a decayed corpse of a faith.

In our small group meeting last night, we talked about the need of truly following James' instructions "confess your sins one to another so that you might be healed..." (5:16a).  Although we didn't use this imagery last night, we were talking about clearing away the weeds and setting up clear markers of the sins each of us struggles with, being able to open up to each other, fully self-revealing so that we can pray for and encourage each other to overcome not be overcome by our sins.

We would all agree that those old Pharisees had problems with openness and honesty.  They were hypocrites.  But I wonder if we don't bear a resemblance, if we aren't, in some ways, like unmarked graves?  I'm not judging, just inquiring.  You don't need to attempt to clear the weeds and set up marker in other's lives either.  What we all need to do is to take some moral and spiritual inventory of ourselves, particularly in a small group setting so that we can confess to and pray for each other, "...for the prayers of a righteous man (one who opens his/her heart before the Lord and others) avails much" (Js 5:16b).  Jus' Say'n.

Bright Eyes

When someone is depressed, it is normally projected by what is called a "sad affect."  There face looks sad and, in particular, their eyes look dull.  I have never encountered a depressed person with bright eyes, eye upon which light dances.

The dullness comes from a diminished feeling of hope, a loss of the adventurous spirit, an inability to see wonder and excitement.  The eyes are dimmed by the darkness they see in the world around them, in their personal circumstances, in their daily grind.  Light cannot dance as it is absorbed in the black hole of the depressed spirit.

Too often the patients I see have these dull eyes, framed by a sad affect.  My hope is to help bring some light into them, to inspire a feeling of hope, to awaken the spirit of adventure, pointing out a reason for wonder.

I try to share with each of my patients the vision of Christ - a vision that dismisses the darkness and embraces the light:"Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you" (Lk 11:34-36).

Our Lord tells us that light and darkness abound in the world around us.  We get to choose which we focus our eyes on.  If we focus on the good (light) things, our whole being is brightened.  If we focus on the dark (bad) things, our whole being is dampened.  We get to choose what we fill our spirit with and therefore whether we have bright eyes or a sad affect, whether we have a spirit that rejoices or retreats.

My mother used to say, "If you think you have it bad, just look around.  You'll find others who have it so much worse."  She was trying to help us internalize the message of the hymn "Count Your Many Blessings."  There are always blessings to count, just as there are losses to tally.  Which we choose to focus on and thereby set the tone of our lives, is up to us.

The apostle Paul urged us, "Rejoice always and again, I will say rejoice!" (Phil 4:4).  Abraham Lincoln, in agreement with Paul said, "A man will be just about as happy as he determines to be."  Jesus said to open our eyes to the wonder of God about us - choose to have bright eyes.  He reminds us that truly "This is the day the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it!" (Ps 118:24).  Jus' Say'n.

Sins vs Symptoms

The brother of Jesus instructs and encourages us saying, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective" (Js 5:16).

The instruction is to confess our sins and pray for each other.  The encouragement is that we will be healed and that we, sinners, are therefore righteous.  Not righteous because we have walked sinlessly but because we have sought the healing of the Sinless One: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn 1:9).

The power we find in confession is indeed great and the ensuing cleansing is amazing.  It is moving to hear someone confess, seeking the healing of the Lord.  But when we witness a Christian, confessing from their heart something they have done, they are rarely revealing a sin, but only a symptom.

I'm not suggesting that the individual is not sincere or that God is not touched by the outpouring of the disciple's heart.  What I am saying is that I wonder if that child of God received healing from a sin for which there was not full awareness.  I am not judging, just wondering.

Let me explain.  If one were to confess taking an extra piece of pie, knowing that each person was only to take one - what was confessed?  In that confession, what would be exposed to be healed?  Nothing!  A symptom was revealed and that could be treated by paying for the extra piece or replacing it.  But, the sin that was only hinted at may continue unabated.

Think with me: Was the piece taken because the individual as greedy?  Was it gluttony?  Was it a faith issue, not trusting God to provide later?  Beneath the obvious symptom, what was the brokenness needing mending so that healing could occur?

If one has headaches, that is not his/her illness - that is the symptom.  Treating the headaches brings some temporary relief but the sickness, the tumor or the ruptured blood vessel or the infection continues to work beneath the surface.  The headaches will return and, in time, death may occur because only the symptom was relieved while the sickness remained.

This is the value of not just confessing, but of confessing "one to another."  If we just own up to what we did, that is good but not particularly healing.  If we confess in a relational way, where we can talk about what is going on, where the struggle is coming from and why it has such a hold on us - then we can begin to focus and pray for the deeper need, the foundation upon which the symptom arises.  Then, healing can happen as we lay this inner, unseen struggle before the Great Physician.  Jus' Say'n.

The Son and The Sabbath

In Jesus' days on earth, the religious leadership had taken the fourth commandment to rest on the Sabbath and created extreme restrictions that would not allow a paralytic, who had just been healed to carry his mat home: "Then Jesus said to him, 'Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.'  At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, 'It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat'" (Jn 5:8-10).

In their extra-biblical code of laws, they put restrictions on even how far you could go for a walk on the Sabbath.  The limit was 1,000 feet.  If your elderly parents lived 1,001 feet away, you'd have to pass on checking on them that day.  If you felt like going to a favorite spot down by the creek, which was a 1/4 mile away in order to pray and commune with God by yourself, forget about it - not allowed!

The religious leadership was very serious about these rules.  Jesus, on the other hand, didn't seem to buy in to them: "One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, 'Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?'" (Mk 2:23-24).

Jesus and his disciples were disregarding one and maybe two of their rules.  I can't say for sure they were walking more than 1,000 ft but the context of "going through the grain fields" seems to indicate they were.  But, when they took the picked the heads of grain, they were harvesting, according to the rules.  And if they rolled the heads to release the chaff before eating, they were winnowing.  They were working on the Sabbath, according to the religious leaders.

After giving them a history lesson on how King David and his men ate the consecrated bread when they were hungry, Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mk 2:27).  In other words, God made the Sabbath to provide a time of rest and devotion, not a time of restriction and denial.  Man was not made to observe the Sabbath, the Sabbath was made to serve man.  And, their rules enslaved man instead of enriching him as God intended.

As we interpret God's Word and decide how to apply it, one sure step in the process is to consider how God intended it to benefit man.  If our rule only binds and restricts us, we probably should take another look, for the Bible plainly says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Gal 5:1).  Jus' Say'n.