BELIEF BEYOND BOUNDS
Scripture Emphasis
“Mark 7:24-30 24Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter, possessed by an impure spirit, came and fell at his feet. 26The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27“First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 28“LORD,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” 30She went home and found her child lying on the bed and the demon gone.
Belief, when it is veritably Christian, transcends all boundaries!
No arguments diminish it;
No new philosophies can ever replace it;
No cynical efforts can ever defeat it. Consequently, Christian belief rises again from the ashes of historical cynicism, continuing to wear the conqueror’s crown. Christian faith never wallows in stagnant backwaters, fearing the experience on stormy seas of controversies. But Christian belief undergirds every situation like the unspeakable calm that lies just beneath its surface when the sea is boiling.
All of the above is true because belief is inextricably bound to the presence of Jesus. Jesus, from early childhood, stood on the firm religious foundation of His Jewish forebearers, celebrating the fact of God’s dwelling in our spirits to manifest His love and unwavering care for us. The Deuteronomic historian pronounced this firm belief, ” The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deuteronomy 32:27). Through the advent of Christ, what were previously inspiring words ” became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have beheld His Glory.”
Christian belief is not the product of analytical research into the historicity of Jesus. Neither can the detailed application of psychological theories or consideration of philosophical archetypes unravel the mysteries surrounding Christian belief. In fact,
Christian belief does not result from consideration of ready-available conclusions made by others. Facts and theories proven true for someone else will not guarantee a well-established faith for you. On the contrary, your belief depends entirely on a personal revelation of Christ, Himself, to you. For instance, the miraculous spread of the Faith in the Risen Christ was not solely due to the testimony of the early visitors to Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning. Instead, the greater impetus in that miraculous spread was the personal and private revelations of Jesus. Women and men became demonstratively changed from their previous selves. Peter, the other disciples, and the apostle Paul were prime examples of this truth.
In the final analysis, Christian Faith results from an individual’s revelatory experience with the Risen Christ. They become Christ’s ambassadors, not by choice but by compulsion. ” I live, yet not I, but Christ who lives in me.”
(Galatians 2: 20).
The Christian Gospel is the epic narrative of a movement that refuses to be constricted by prison walls or prejudiced souls. History reveals myriad efforts to prevent the spread of Christian beliefs. The blood of martyrs stains the pages, and, sadly now, people are swelling the ranks of those content to permit the event of “the WORD becoming flesh to dwell among us” to become just a word again.
In the Gospel lesson for today, Mark goes to great length to make clear that Jesus did not go into Gentile territory to embark on a healing ministry. More likely, His journey into the vicinity of Tyre was in search of a brief reprieve from the narrow prejudices of those who owned a stinging religion. But belief about Him had gone beyond the borders of Galilee.
Mark insists on letting us all know that the house Jesus enters belongs to a pagan. He tells us that one immediately joins their company which was both Greek and, by race, a Phoenician.
Although unproven, when coupled with the wrenching cries of a sick child in the heart of a loving mother, Faith is a formula for moving mountains existing between Tyre and Galilee. But is not the door of her soul fortified against all other religious dogmas? Yet, the eternal truth remains, that embedded in the spirit of each human, the same God of all Creation instills the same knowledge of the divine, even though it be identified to them by different names. God has already come down the secret stairway into this woman’s soul. Belief has already equipped her to seek and find a pathway to victory and healing. Powerful Faith, to deliver healing, races ahead to the home of the Syrophoenician woman, and, on her arrival, she finds her child wholly healed.
Set no boundaries in your journey through life.
Be not afraid of what you think is unattainable.
Never sit back and wait, hoping that a less obstructive pathway may appear for you to travel.
God is waiting to discuss with you the path that lies ahead. The power of Belief in Him not only lights the proposed route for you to follow but at the end, He will stand alongside you to celebrate a most remarkable achievement.
A Prayer to Follow This Meditation
My Father, thank You for the Faith that is
more splendid than any light needed to find my way, when the night here is as dark as pitch;
more resilient than a young child’s smile, following a moment’s disappointed frown;
as permanent as a mother’s love, even amidst her tears for her child’s careless loss of opportunity;
as ready as a father’s wisdom to know of his child’s need in some trying circumstance and to travel the distance, at least in spirit, to show the way by memory’s recall.
Father, the greatness of this gift of Faith, both powerful and tireless, can change humankind; and thereby change this world to resemble a place where Your will accomplishes all things as it does in Heaven.
Father, save me from the timidity of standing out noticeably in a crowd as one holding fast to Christian Beliefs. This world, daily, makes it more normal to become lost in the crowd than to stand firm in the Faith both for Christ’s sake as well as for the future of the world.
Father, thank you for Your love! Would you please show me how to love You in return? Amen.
Hymn: Make Me A Captive, Lord
https://youtu.be/tWgpXbJTbrs
Picture Of Innocence
Words always fail to capture my heart’s response whenever I look at this photo of my four-year-old daughter, playing the piano in the presence of her most committed friend. The location was the St. Anthony United Church manse many years ago.
May innocence, gentleness, belief, and deep love always embrace your spirit too.