Sun Kwak, “Sitting Around the High Chair”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLodVOZSkXI

TEXT: Mark 7:24-30

[24] 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. [25] But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. [26] Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. [27] 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.” [28] But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” [29] And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” [30] And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

SERMON: “Sitting Around the High Chair”

Something about Cleo, the Wong family’s dog. Whenever our family would go over their home, she knows our family. And so, she would spot the smallest creature among us. And this would work better with Rowe, because Cohen, for a while, was deathly afraid of dogs. But she knew that being seated around Rowe would earn her a few scraps guaranteed because of Rowe’s mistakes and toddler unawareness. We get an interesting statement today directed toward Jesus by this Syropheonician woman, which we’re going to unpack — Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs. And in the words of Tom Wright, this is actually an incredibly witty thing to say. Because unlike Cleowith Rowe, this woman wasn’t looking at Jesus, thinking that it was his carelessness that would bring some deep soul nourishment. But it was his meticulous care and his perfect plan. And that’s what we’re going to unpack today.

Now, before we get into the meat of the passage, some groundwork that needs to be laid. We’re told of these regions Tyre and Sidon in our passage today. And these might just sound like arbitrary places to us. But these definitely weren’t unfamiliar to the Jews of Jesus’ time. In the course of the story for the Old Testament Jews, these were ancient enemies. And here, in the only place in the Gospel where Jesus is shown to leave the country, he heads to Tyre and Sidon. And the Jews knew God as the God who would come in retribution. That’s what we read in Isaiah 35:4, a chapter that our passage next week actually directs us to. But one of the ways that God would show his retributive justice and vengeance was by crushing the wicked. And there are these prophetic words that are directed toward those of Tyre and Sidon — that they were to be the target of the retributive justice of God. And so, you could imagine the initial reaction. What is Jesus doing here? Because early church historian Josephus notes that the people of Tyre were considered to be the most bitter enemies to the Jews. It was Tyre who had engaged in trade with Solomon, in order to bring the cedar wood to bring the material to build the Temple. But it was through these trades that their culture was also introduced to Israel — this pagan idol worship. And so, Tyre and Sidon are not thought well of by the Israelites. They were targeted regions where the wrath of God was to pour out upon. But when we’re told here through this story that the gospel reached Tyre and Sidon, it’s a moment when you realize as the hearer, as the reader, that the tides are changing. It’s that moment that’s come. And what you start seeing is the changing of the course of the story. There is something new that Jesus is bringing to the attention of the people. Where before it was the culture of the land that had come and contaminated the worship of the people of God, it’s now working in the reverse. It’s now the gospel of Jesus that’s spreading to the land to cleanse the land and its people.

And here, it’s proper to ask the question — Who is this woman? And why is it her story that’s highlighted here? Well, something about her is that she doesn’t even get a name — she’s just called the Syrophoenician woman. And before getting into who she is, I want for us to consider for a moment why she’s there. She has a child at home, who’s in need of help. And for those of you who have parented children who have gotten really sick or hurt, you know the feeling of desperation. You’ll do anything to make them well. And for this woman, her child at home is a demon-possessed daughter. And I know many, if not most, of us in here aren’t into horror movies. But in the late 60’s and early 70’s, the craze with demon possession and exorcism really took the film industry by storm. We had Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, just to name a couple. And these were known for the horrifying images of these young children. And here’s the thing about these who were demon-possessed. It wasn’t them, but it kind of was — do you know what I mean? It’s fully known that these little children are just hosts to the horrifying presence of a demon that’s inside them. But it’s hard to divorce the image of the demonized face and gashes and wounds and all from the child. And she must have been a terror to witness for everyone else she was exposed to. And yet, for this mother, it’s her little girl. And here, she’s coming to Jesus, begging him to cast this demon out.

And in the Greek, her begging is not a one-time occasion but it reads as persistent begging. She’s continuously on her knees here asking for Jesus’ attention. And what the text tells us is that he’s trying to have some time to himself. Verse 24 literally says that he didn’t want anyone to know where he was at the moment. And so, maybe he escaped Judea, because the demands were getting too frequent. But he’s here having some time to himself, and here is this woman persistently begging. She’s heard of him, she’s heard about him. And so, she had to come and meet Jesus. And the conversation that the two of them have is fascinating. Jesus says something to her in verse 27 that almost seems like a grumpy response. He tells her — Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. And here’s what I think Jesus is saying here. What I think is important to note first is that Jesus is mentioning an order — Let the children be fed first.

I’m reminded here of a time when I was in the van with my four kids. We’d spent some time together while Mom was working. And we had spent the morning at the farm together. It was a good time, but Rowe had been asking for food for what seemed like at least an hour. But I’d taken them to the farm that day, without snacks, of course. So, he was left in his hunger for the majority of our time there. And so, he’s really looking forward to In N Out. And while we’re in line, all of a sudden, I hear this eruption from Jones all of a sudden about how his stomach hurt and how he’s all of a sudden dying of hunger. And so, I get their food, and they eat the same meal, for the most part. And Judy is a lot faster at distributing the food at In N Out, but I take my time to make the boxes, put the foods in each box and give them to the kids. I did not feel bad one bit for making the first box for Rowe and not for Jones. Because he’d been waiting for at least an hour for this meal. I don’t think it was unreasonable to give the first of the meals to him who’s been asking for food out of his hunger for a couple hours as opposed to his big brother who suddenly decided to announce to the world that he’s now hungry. And the Gospels tell us of how the Jews had been waiting and longing for a Savior, for the Messiah. We get pictures of Simeon and Anna, who were praying ceaselessly everyday for years. And as we’re going to see with the first story of chapter 8, it’s not that the Gentiles were going to get something lesser. It wasn’t a diminished grace by any means. But it comes to them later, because God responds to his waiting people, as if to say — I’ve heard you, and I haven’t been ignoring your cries. Because words matter to God, and his Word matters to us.

And before we get into what Jesus calls this woman, I want to highlight how he validates her. Because we’re told that in an instant, her daughter was healed — just by his word. When our family was in Philadelphia, we would have guests come and stay with us and visit us. We were in San Diego prior to our time there, so most of our friends visiting were from California. And there’s often this intrigue with the east coast for Californians. Whenever they would visit, they would always ask us if we might take them to the same places, with a couple being — Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, along with the east entrance to the Philadelphia Museum Arts, also known as the Rocky Steps, where Rocky does his triumphant jump of victory in celebrating his successful completion of training before facing Apollo Creed. Because we love success stories. You know where they never ask to be brought to? Not the place where Rocky is captured celebrating but the slums where he came from. The block that consisted of bums (that’s what he called himself in the movie) — bums like himself who were up to no good late into the night. Yeah, that place is called Kensington Ave. And it’s a very real place — just as real as those Rocky Steps. It was bad in the 70’s, and it’s in rough shape today. Abandoned buildings, un-policed blocks, just an eery ghostly feel to it.

I once heard a preacher who lives around and ministers in the area. He partners with those who are committed to the people of that broken neighborhood one story at a time. And he shared about one of his friends, whose commitment to the neighborhood was getting young kids to school and after school programs — along with coming alongside struggling families to help make that happen. He was going by Kensington Ave. on a particular day around dinner time. And in this cold, winter night — it gets dark sometimes around 4pm in the winter in Philly. In this dark, he spotted this six year old girl who was sitting in the corner of a street, pressed up against a rundown building — by herself and trying to warm herself up. And so, he pulls over the car and gets out to her. He asked her what she was doing, and she responded to him that she was waiting for her mom. And he asked what her mom was doing, and this girl replied that she went to earn some money and then went to the grown up store, where she would buy grown up things. And so, this man sat with herand waited with her for an hour or so until her mom returned. And when she did, he didn’t scold her or rebuke her. But asked her — Ma’am, what do you need? Because I want to get your girl to school and to after school programs. I want your girl to write a different story than those here on Kensington Ave. What do you need? Money? A new job? Because I want to come alongside you, to make sure that happens for her. And everything changed in that instant, because she had not been pushed down in shame but had been pursued in compassion.

And what this preacher shared, after a meaningful moment of pause, is that if the Word of God was a person, it would act like this man on Kensington Ave. Going on to say — in fact, the Word of God is a person, he’s the Word become flesh. And he not only visited but moved into our neighborhoods to repair what was broken, to rewrite our broken stories, and to meet us by his pursuit in compassion. Once again, we’re told in our story that in an instant, her daughter was healed — just by his word. Not a distant word but one that visits her. There is power in the words of Jesus. But there is also presence in the words of Jesus. And you think about what this meant to this woman and how she’s come to him — she’s heard about him, she’d received word. And it’s by his divine word that her daughter is made well, showing the power of his Word, even to a people who were far away. Because his Word efficaciously and powerfully travels. It visits us on Kensington Ave., asking us what we need. Whether we’ve strayed or wandered or habited ourselves to toxic cycles or have left behind important things. The Word of God travels into dark alleys with his people, visiting and sitting with vulnerable daughters on the corner of Kensington Ave., ministering to our needs and seeing us to our depths.

Now, here’s how I want to begin closing our time here. I don’t care if you’re Asian, if you’re black, if you’re Mexican, if you’re white, nobody likes being called a dog. And here, that’s what Jesus calls this woman. And something Tom Wrightnotes, once again, is that there is incredible wit here with how this woman responds to Jesus’ statement. Instead of taking offense at what he’s said to her, she responds by saying — Yes, Lord. He’s just called her a dog, and she responds by saying — Yes, Lord. That’s incredible. But she continues — Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs. As in, I know you have children waiting for food, but I know how deep your grace is, I know how abundantly you can provide. There is this incredible trust here, not just that Jesus would be willing to heal her daughter. But there is this knowledge somehow that there was no bottom to his grace. And you think about what had just happened. Jesus had fed the multitudes. And what was left over? Baskets filled with extra bread, more than mere crumbsafter the people were filled full. And she’s saying — I want some of that, showing not just Jesus’ abundance but her hunger and her need.

And when Jesus calls her a dog here, it actually brings us to a story in the Old Testament, from 2 Samuel 9. It’s a story involving King David and his interaction with Mephibosheth. And this was Jonathan’s son, who was David’s best friend. But as Jonathan was Saul’s son, this also meant that Mephibosheth was related to Saul. And kings in those times would assume the throne by eliminating all who were threats to the throne — and one of those included the progeny and the family of the former or rival king. But here comes Mephibosheth, who’s crippled in his feet, before King David. And at this point, David could have done anything to him. But he hears this lame man refer to himself as a dog, saying — What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I? And in a radical turn of events, what David does is not only spare him, but he gives him a place at the table and honors him. And you see, for crippled sons of rival kingslike Mephibosheth, for women of Canaanite origin like this Syrophoenician woman, and for us who have sinned against our God in our acts of treason against him, the radical thing that Jesus does for his people is welcome enemies to be made friends by offering a seat at the table, not by anything we’ve done but by his goodness and his countercultural ways as our king.

And here’s the thing. I don’t think you and I know how undeserving we are. But I’m pretty certain this Syrophoenicianwoman did. Who’s the last woman of Phoenicia prior to this woman that the Bible tells us about? It’s Jezebel. One of the most corrupted and corrupting characters in the whole of the Bible. For we noted in the beginning of our sermon about the retributive justice of God. The prophetic words were such where the far countries and those who belonged to the likes of Tyre and Sidon were those who deserved the wrath of God, especially with connections to the likes of Jezebel. But when we see this Syrophoenician woman receive healing for her daughter and acceptance at the table, what is it that we’re seeing? It’s not that the justice of God has vanished. But he’s showing something to this woman that’s important for you and I to capture as well. That the judgment has not disappeared. But in this new story, when we place our trust in Jesus, if we ask God to save us, as this woman had, then Jesus’ promise is that he would take our place, that judgment and wrath would fall on him instead. Because what are we told in Romans 5:8 and 5:10? For while we were still sinners and enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. That this is all Jesus’ idea — his carefully, meticulously designed story to make his enemies his friends. So that you and I can sit around the high chair and expect crumbs on the floor.

For as enemies made friends, we get a place, we get a seat at the table. And we get to enjoy the abundance of God’s grace. Because the justice of God Jesus took in our place, in order that we might be lifted and honored though our sin has crippled us and our hearts are torn and possessed by our sin. That when Jesus was utterly cast out on the cross, he was treated as the ultimate foreigner, he was crippled and immobilized, he was torn and possessed by our sin that we might become his righteousness. What desperate needs do you have this morning? I contend with you that there is no greater and more desperate need that any of us have than the need for forgiveness and to receive the mere crumbs that fall from the table of our king.