Hard to Say No to This Lady
Matthew 15:21-28
In American History, you study about a teacher by the name of Susan B. Anthony. She was born in 1820 and died the 86th year of her life in 1906. She was an earlier leader in America in the Abolitionists Movement, the movement to free all human beings from slavery, which was, in fact, accomplished when she was about 45 years of age. She was an advocate for equal educational opportunities for all persons, which led to coeducational institutions of higher education when she was age 70. She was a leader in the women’s suffrage movement, which led to the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, or the one called the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, which gave the right to vote to women. She was a Methodist.
Here was a woman to whom it was Hard To Say No!
I’ve known women like that. I know some now who are hard to say no to. And in order to continue as your preacher and in order to be able to go home, I’m not going to call any names nor give any examples this morning. However, I will give you one example since she is not in church yet this morning…Eva Scott. For 30 years she has served as a member of the Methodist Home for the Aging. Two decades ago she said to me, “We need to build a Methodist Home for the Aging here in Pensacola. We have been sending money to Birmingham and there are homes all over Alabama and not one single home here in Florida.” Today there is Wesley Haven Villa across the street. There is The Haven nursing home on Summit Blvd. There is Wesley Scott Place in west Pensacola. We have purchased property and plan to build in the next few years another home in the University area in north Pensacola. Here is a lady to whom you do not say “No.”
In the scripture today, the Bible introduces us to a Canaanite Woman who was cut from this same piece of cloth. She was a woman who would not take no for an answer.
Mathew tells her story, which also appears in Mark’s Gospel in a nasty sort of way…Chapter 15:21. This non-Jew came to Jesus with a request. It was not a selfish request, she was only asking for help for her ill daughter: “My daughter is ill, “possessed by a demon, have mercy on me.” Jesus did not answer her word—ignored her. She did not go away and the disciples asked Jesus, no, begged Jesus, “Send her away, for she is crying after us.” And Jesus says: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” She comes again kneeling before him saying, “Lord, help me,” and this time he says: “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” First he ignored her and then he insulted her. I would have told him by then to hang it on his ear.
A third time she comes back to his “not throw bread to the dogs” statement, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs are allowed to eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
And Jesus says: Great is your faith. Great is your persistence.
Now, I don’t want you for a fleeting moment to think that this aggressiveness in these women I have described this morning is a negative trait. After all, had they not pushed for their hopes and dreams, some could still be in slavery with half of our population not educated with the right to vote, and we would still be sitting around griping about the need for “somebody who ought to build a home for the older people in Pensacola.”
The trait to be admired and to emulate is their persistence. Here is a Godly trait to be claimed.
Some things just do not happen over night. It takes coming back time and time again, but God honors this attribute of successful living.
Jesus told the story of a women who went before a Judge and didn’t get justice, so she appeared late at night at the door step of his home. Knocking on his door and saying, I am not going home till you give me justice. Great was her persistence. A woman with a cause to whom you could not say no. And here in the scripture of today Jesus tries to put this woman off by putting her down, but she held her ground and finally, he says: Because Of Your Faith, Or Because Of Your Persistence, Your Dreams Will Be Reality, Your Hopes Will Be Accomplished.
For students, just beginning your school year, listen up. It will take your spending some time with the TV off, and the cell phone off, and the books on to learn how to do Algebra, or how to understand American Literature, or to get the whole picture of World History. Persist in your pursuit of worthy goals. Everything doesn’t come easy. As a matter of fact, anything of value in my life has always come at a price. And it doesn’t come over night.
For Godly parents, who want a Christian home, listen up. You want your spouse to love God and your children to grow into Christ likeness, and then it is going to take sacrifice, focus, and persistence. It will take trying and failing and trying again and never giving up.
For individuals who want to grow spiritually, more God like, then start praying, worshipping each week, tithing your monies, doing random acts of kindness. Methodist People ought to recognize the value of the disciplined life that produces results.
For individuals starting a new job and want to be successful, listen up. Whoever said to you that to achieve success could be done between 8-5, told you a lie. It will take long hours and great effort, it will take trying first something and then something else. Do you know how many light bulbs Thomas Edison assembled till he made one that worked? Persistence pays off.
Ask Justin Gatlin if you can win the 200 meter dash without training, practice, and hard work. Ask an aviator if you can fly a plane without study and practice. Ask an "A" student if you can make "A’s" without studying at home. Ask a parent if you can keep the house clean, get kids to school on time, and the clothes washed and the bills paid by not staying up late to do the work you could not accomplish during the day. Ask a person who has run for public office if they don’t have to work hard to get the job, and even harder to keep the job. Ask an alcoholic, make that a sober alcoholic, if it is easy not to take a drink. This fellow said to me, “I have stopped drinking, but I am still hanging around the bars because that’s where my friends are.” You know how long he stayed sober? Not long. Sometimes you have to change your friends if you want to succeed at something. Surround yourself with persons who are like what you want to become and stop wasting your time with losers, druggie, failures, no gooders, non-believers. Now God values them, but you need help to stay focused. Stop wasting your time. Stop wasting God’s time.
It could very well be that the pathway of the self under footing, the easy way, is but the pathway to hell. The hard, the challenging, the difficult, the steep hill is the path way to greatness and accomplishment.
The other day we were trying to repair a Baldwin lock on the entrance to our house. I was tired and overwhelmed with something, which at the time was so very important, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was all about. It was only four days ago, nevertheless, what was so important and so exhausting to me then is forgotten today. I was working on this Baldwin lock, because I couldn’t get in the front door of my house. Now, I know that it’s a man’s thing not to ask for help, but Jane is so good at putting a puzzle together, and it had so many small interlocking parts, that I compromised my manhood and asked for help. Well, she was also tired and we couldn’t do it, so frustrating. Finally she said, let’s just leave it be and rest tonight and do it tomorrow when we are fresh. The next day, while she was gone, and I was at home alone and rested and I fixed it!
I learned three things:
1. Sometimes you need some rest. Take a break from that which is overwhelming you. Allow God to replenish you through rest.
2. Keep coming back. Be persistent with those things which are worthy and you want to accomplish and those things which you must accomplish. Be persistent.
3. Have faith that the impossible can be done, it just may take a little longer, but the Bible teaches: “Nothing is impossible with God” and “All things are possible for him who believes.”
So Jesus said to this woman, this Canaan foreigner, this woman to whom he could not say “No.” Because of your great faith, it will be done for you.” There is hope here!
Become the Person You Are!
Romans 12:1-8
“I Appeal To You Therefore, By The Mercies Of God To Present Your Bodies As A Living Sacrifice, Holy And Acceptable To God, Which Is Your Spiritual Worship.
Do Not Be Conformed To This World, But Be Transformed By The Renewal Of Your Mind, That You May Prove What Is The Will Of God, What Is Good And Acceptable And Perfect.”
Contained in the writings of the Apostle Paul is world changing news.
Things can change for you when you start thinking
differently about yourself!
What is implied here in these Biblical words, “be not conformed to this
world, but be transformed,” is that life doesn’t always have to stay the
same. You don’t always have to deal with the same old problems, you don’t have
to waste your time trying to be someone else, but your mind can be renewed in
Christ and you can live in the will of God in joy and peace.
The Apostle Paul seems to imply that change comes with the “renewal of
our Mind.”The discoveries of
scientist studying “The Brain” has been most interesting. Population studies
show that 50% of people older than 85 years old will have Alzheimer’s disease. Fifty
percent. I used to not read articles about this kind of thing, but with
time I am getting more and more interested.
Scientists are
discovering that you can stave off dementia, the loss of brain function, by
mental stimulation, aerobic exercise and also antioxidant foods such as blue
berries and spinach. I’m putting my money on blueberries, not spinach. If you
are around 40 years of age and are planning to live to around 80, you might want
to start getting some exercise such as walking 45 minutes 3 times a week, take
trips to museums, do crossword puzzles or cards. Eat right, read, and exercise.
The Bible says “You can change things by the renewal of your mind.”
Your life is what you make out of it. When we baptize our children it is a powerful moment. On behalf of the future of the world and the church of Jesus Christ, I hold these children in my hands, these creations of God, and they pulsate with potential for good for us all. It is a moment of change.
Years ago the church called this Baptismal moment, this cataclysmic event, “The service of Christening.” “The giving of the Christian name.” Thus we do give the Christian name when we baptize, not the family name. Historically it was the giving of a new name but I look upon it as the giving of an opportunity of a new name.
There is a play entitled ‘The Rainmaker’ In Which The Main Character Is A Conman Who Calls Himself Starbuck. He travels from town to town during the “dirty ‘30’s” scheming to get people to pay him to bring the rains for their parched fields. In time, he meets a young lady by the name of Lizzie Curry and the sparks of passion begin to fly between the conman and the innocent girl. Lizzie wants to know his real name, which she knows is not “Starbuck” and finally he admits that he was born a “Smith” but he says: “What kind of name is that? My apologies to Charlie, F. P. and Mary Elma, Jan, George and Melinda, Mike and Cindy,) This is just a sermon illustration. “What kind of a name is Smith for a fellow like me? I need a name that has the whole sky in it! Starbuck! Now there’s a name—and it’s mine!”
Lizzie tries to tell him it is a matter of honesty and that he has no right to choose a new name, but he says: “You’re wrong Lizzie. The name you choose for yourself is more your own name than the name you were born with.”
I like his attitude. I’m for Starbuck! Choose your name! Not that you need to rush out and change your family name, but you have the power to chose your identity.
Start calling me “Rocky, Justin Gatlin, Joe Montana, Tigger, Mr. Fantastic.” We had one of our little children in the church several years ago who in search for his identity, refused to let his parents call him by his name. They had to figure out who he was each day or he would not talk to them. Superman was easy, the red cape was a dead giveaway. And when the black cape with the black mask appeared at the breakfast table one day that was easy also, he was…“Batman”. But then he got into the Fantastic 4 and the Pokeman characters, and his parents were lost.
I hope the name that has been given to you by your family suits you, but for sure, know you are defining your identity by the kind of life you are living every day.
And thus the Apostle Paul says: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed.” There is a possibility when we give ourselves over to God, that we might become what is good and perfect in the will of God. When we give ourselves over to God, a transformation takes place from what we have been to what we can become.
The poet saw a friend clearly when he wrote:
“And there were three men went down the road
As down the road went he:
The man they saw, the man he was,
And the man he wanted to be.”
The Person We Each Want To Be When We Find Our Truest Self In God Is More Than We Are Now. It Is Larger Than Either The Identity We Have Received From Others Or The One We Try To Create By Our Human Efforts.
Stephen Covey Struck A Responsive Cord Inside Of My Psyche When He Wrote: “If We Live Out Of Our Memory, We’re Tied To The Past And To That Which Is Finite. When We Live Out Of Our Imagination, We’re Tied To That Which Is Infinite.’
By God’s Grace The Possibilities Are Endless, Without Limits For You For Your Child!
In Summary:
It was fascinating to me when I discovered in the archives of the history of
the Protest Reformation of the 16th century, a sermon written by Martin Luther
and preached 500 years ago. Martin Luther, a German who was a Roman Catholic
priest/teacher. Martin, during his awakening as a Protestant leader of a new
church, once preached a sermon he entitled: Become The Person You Are!
Deep inside of you, he said you are a child of God. You are endowed with imagination, insight, humor, creativity. You have the ability to create things, to figure things out, to make things work, to organize things, to improve things, and to know and to love and serve God.
Now, If the question for you is “Where do I start to become the person I want to be?” Then the answer is Right where you are! Don’t delay. Seize this moment today. Commit yourself to Jesus Christ as your Lord. Make an inner resolve to move from decision to action, from desire to reality, from memory to imagination. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
The Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be unto God.