From Dogs to Daughters - Finding a place at the Table of Jesus

You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone

podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone

Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan

Merrick, and it's our prayer that this message

strengthens your faith and draws you closer to

Christ. Let's dive in. Turn with me to Mark chapter

seven. The title of my sermon this morning is

From Dogs to Daughters, The Table of Grace. And

no, I'm not making a statement about anyone's

beauty. The passage we're going to unpack this

morning is a pretty famous passage, and it's

one as I'm going to talk about in just a few

minutes. It's one that gets brought up in TikToks

and Facebook reels quite often of typically progressive

pastors love to use this to show that Jesus was

not perfect, that he was sinful. They go to this

passage. And so we're gonna look at why that

is wrong and actually what the passage is teaching

us. And something that's just really wonderful

and beautiful to see that I discovered as I was

preparing for this. And so I'm excited to share

that with you. The big idea for my sermon this

morning, if you wanna write this down. is Jesus'

act of humility in identifying with the marginalized

signifies that all can have a place at his table,

transforming outsiders into beloved children

of God. I'll give you a moment to write that

down. If you don't have a Bible, we have some

back there for you. Love for you to take one,

see the text in front of you. We're gonna be

a Mark chapter seven. We're gonna look at verses

24 through 37. And as you turn there, I want

you to think about something. You don't have

to say it out loud, but I want you to think for

just a moment about how you approach God. How

do you personally approach God? Throughout scripture,

we see God approached, yes? Can anyone think

of examples of God being approached or his presence

being approached? Okay, what about even before

that? What about in the Old Testament? Yes, you're

correct. Yeah, yeah, like come coming to him

either either way how they approach Yes, I have

that I have that in there all the Psalms David

and they all have our different right in their

emotional well -being somebody said Moses Somebody

said yes Mount Sinai right and we see how my

Mount Sinai The it says that the presence of

God comes down to Mount Sinai and all of the

people tremble and they send Moses up And they're

like you go up and you just tell us what he has

to say Right. There's another another one that

came to my mind was Uzziah. You guys remember

what Uzziah did? Yeah, he was he he was helping

carry the Ark of the Covenant, which had the

presence of God in it, and he thought it was

going to fall and he reached out to study it

and he died. And so you could be like, well.

That seems kind of unfair. He was just trying

to. help steady the presence or the arc of God.

But what it shows us is that God's holiness is

not something to be treated lightly, right? As

it was already brought up, we talked about Mount

Sinai, we talked about the Psalms. What about

the prodigal son? We talked about the woman with

the issue of love. What about the prodigal son?

Right, he leaves his father, but when he comes

home, He comes home with a lot of humility, right?

And then he is greeted with a lot of love and

grace, right? So all throughout scripture, we

find this tension where God is holy beyond our

comprehension, yet he invites sinners to draw

near. So I asked the question again, how do you

approach God yourself? And how should we approach

God? Are they two different things? So should

we approach him with fear? Should we approach

him with confidence, with humility, with boldness?

What do you think? Yes, all of those things,

right? And so our passage today gives us one

of the most surprising encounters in the Gospel

of Mark. We're going to see a Gentile pagan woman,

a complete outsider, to the people of God. She

comes to Jesus desperate for help and she has

no status, no religious credentials, no claim

upon God's covenant promises. Yet she approaches

Jesus with this mixture of humility and with

boldness as a model for all of us. And throughout

this encounter, Mark shows us something that's

really beautiful about the kingdom of God. There's

always a seat at the table for those who are

in Christ. even before there was truly a seat.

And we're going to look at that in just a minute.

And so this morning, let's take a look at the

passage. We're going to see how Jesus takes the

outsiders and welcomes them into his family,

transforming dogs into daughters and giving them

a place at the table of grace. We're going to

do this. We're going to also look at the deaf

and mute man, because we see a very similar approach.

And so. I'm going to unpack each story separately.

So let's go ahead and go through verses 24 through

30. The Seraphine woman. And from there, well,

hello. There we go. 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. But immediately

a woman whose little daughter had an unclean

spirit heard of him and came and fell down at

his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Seraphanician

by birth, and she begged him to cast out the

demon of her daughter. 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

dogs. But she answered him, yes, Lord. Yet even

the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.

And he said to her, for this statement, you may

go your way. The demon has left your daughter

and she went home and found the child lying in

bed and the demon gone. So if you're taking notes,

my first point and I only have two this morning.

My first point is bold faith finds grace. Bold

faith finds grace. Now, as I told you, this passage

is famous for being quoted as by progressive

pastors who say that this shows that Jesus was

a normal man and he did sin. What do you think

the sin is that they're accusing him of? Racism,

prejudice. And so is that what's happening here?

Is Jesus Is he being racist? And they would also

say that it took a woman from another culture

to reveal Jesus' supposed biases and his prejudice,

and this helps Jesus evolve theologically. That

it was the woman who corrects... and then it

broadens then from there Jesus broadens his mission

to her. But is that what's really happening?

No. I assure you it isn't Jesus who needs correction

in this passage. This moment is recorded for

your and I benefit and specifically the disciples

and all the other readers who would come later.

But first Notice where this takes place. It says

it takes place while Jesus goes specifically

to Tyre and Sidon. Tyre and Sidon are a port

cities that are very pagan, very Gentile, and

Jews would never go there. So begs the question,

then why did Jesus go there? Well, Jesus had

been ministering in Jewish cities. and he was

exhausted. And at this point, he doesn't want

to be, have crowds anymore. He's trying to just

get rest because we see again, he is still fully

a man while still being fully God. And so he

goes there to rest and he's going to hide amongst

the sinners. And this port city of Tyre and Sidon,

it would have what you would think. even just

a modern city like ours that has a lot of trade

happening and a lot of people coming and going.

So it would have all unrighteous things you can

imagine, right? So prostitution was very prevalent.

Pagan worship was very prevalent. There was stealing

and just burglary, just a lot of things. And

so Jesus is there specifically to get rest. And

so he thinks he's gonna hide. I say he thinks,

he knows all things, but his reputation is already

spread to tire inside it. And this Sarah Phoenician

woman hears that Jesus is nearby and she comes

looking for him. Now, I want you to imagine this

situation. Jesus is surrounded by other Jews

who are there. the disciples specifically, and

Jesus is a rabbi. He is known as a rabbi. And

did women have a lot of rights? No, they did

not. So she's a woman. She comes into a very

male dominant house. And she's approaching someone

of another religion, specifically a teacher.

And she is not of the same religion, right? So

that's that's smart. strike two, and then the

other thing is it tells us that she was pagan,

meaning she worshiped false deities. So there's

strike three, and she's desperate. And so, any

one of us would be a little intimidated to walk

into that situation, yes? It's awkward already

to just, I don't know, or maybe I'm just the

only one that gets awkward, but whenever I walk

into somewhere, I remember, When I was delivering

for FedEx over the holidays, I had to deliver

to this warehouse and I had no idea what door

to walk through because there was four. So I'm

like, well, I'm just going to choose the middle

one. So I got this big box and I just walk in

and when I walk in all these like, you know,

older mechanic guys who work on tractors and

stuff. And it was like a record scratching moment.

where they all turn and they look at me and they're

like, yeah. And I'm like, I'm looking for Susan.

And they're like, just leave it there. We'll

figure out where it goes. And I'm like, yeah,

okay. And then you just kind of leave because

you feel awkward, right? And so here's this woman

who I'm sure feels somewhat awkward, but why

does she go in? Why does she face that moment,

that tension? Desperation for who? Our daughter.

Moms, dads, grandma, grandpa, we will risk embarrassment.

We will risk whatever we need to risk, including

our own lives, if it means stepping in and saving

a child or a grandchild, yes? When it comes to

our kids or our grandkids, everything else goes

to the wayside. There's a movie called John Q

with Denzel Washington where he's a dad whose

son desperately needs a heart transplant and

the insurance company will not cover the cost

of it. And so they will not put him on the transplant

list. So what John Q does, he does with any normal,

rational father would do. And he decides to show

up to the emergency room and take them all hostage.

Would I do that maybe I don't know I've never

been in that situation But we can go that's pretty

radical and crazy to do something like that,

but at the same time We're willing to we just

said we'd be willing to do whatever it takes

To rescue our kid right and so that's this woman

That's this mother She comes and she begs to

help her daughter. And then we arrive at the

most difficult part of the story where Jesus

says, let the children be fed first, for it isn't

right to take the children's bread and throw

it to the dogs. Now be honest. You hear that.

What immediately comes to your mind? Does it

feel harsh? It is harsh. Now and you got to think

about this too. Here's here's something else

in our culture like literally our dog is Literally

in our car right now because we can't leave her

for seven hours and she freaks out around anybody

So we she has to come ride along with us on Sundays

Sundays are hard for her Monday. She takes a

long break. I mean she sleeps a lot So in our

culture we tend to be very dog pet friendly,

right? Then they weren't Dogs were considered

disgusting and unclean, and dogs would, they

were just scavengers, right? So they were unwanted.

So why does Jesus call her a dog? Does knowing

that about the dogs, does that make this statement

seem any easier to digest? No, it just makes

it harder, right? But if we keep reading, and

if you actually know, Jesus actually uses the

diminutive form of dog when he says this. So

the actual translation would be more like puppy.

Calls her a puppy. Now, does that make it any

easier? Does it make it more palatable? Jesus

calling her a puppy? Nah, not really. It's like,

oh, that's, I guess kind of sweeter. No, it doesn't.

do anything for us. So then there has to be something

more. What is Jesus saying? What is Jesus doing?

And so here is the key part you need to write

down. You need to write this part down. Jesus

is speaking to her in a parable. That's important.

No, sorry, Eli, I don't have... You can go ahead

and write that down, guys. I'm getting there.

Jesus is not insulting her. He's explaining God's

redemptive order. And here's what I mean by that.

the Jews called Gentiles dogs, right? That was

their literal prejudice. And so they would call

them dogs. They would treat them as such too.

So what is Jesus doing? Well, if he's speaking

in a parable, okay, he's speaking in a parable.

So what am I saying here? What is he saying?

Okay, well, Jesus is telling her, I have come

to my kids. I've come for Israel first and then

I will come to the others. And you can be like,

okay, all right. So it's like, okay, so he's

telling her because she's a mother, she understands

the order of things. So he speaks to her in this

order in a parable that says, hey, you know,

as much as I do, that there is an order when

people eat. and the children must eat first,

then the dogs will eat whatever is left over.

That's what Jesus is saying. So, how does the

woman respond? What does she say? Yes, Lord,

yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's

crumbs. So suddenly we realize they're having

a conversation in the same metaphor. So Jesus

says, you know how a household works, right?

The children eat first, like I said, then afterward

the pets are fed. There is an order to things.

And Matthew's account tells us further about

that. When Jesus says, I was sent only to the

lost sheep of the house of Israel. That's how

I know that. It's not Pastor Logan reading into

the text. I just got to bring it all in context

from the other gospels. And so Jesus's earthly

ministry was primarily focused on Israel. He

came to fulfill the promises God had made through

the law, through the prophets, through the kings

and the temple. But the story doesn't end there,

right? After his resurrection, he sends his disciples

to who? All nations. And so that's where you

can write this down. Jesus is not insulting her.

He's explaining the redemptive order. Israel

first, then the other nations. But I love how

the woman responds. She says, yes Lord, right?

I understand that. But even the puppies eat while

the children are eating. They get the crumbs

that fall from the table. Mercy, our dog, she

knows exactly where to be under the table when

we're eating. Me and Micah. We're the two messiest

eaters. And so the dogs know where to be and

so this is what her response is this. Yeah, but

I need mine now. I understand it. But I need

mine now. In other words, I know I don't belong

to Israel. I know I have no claim on the covenant.

I know I don't deserve a seat at this table,

but I also know there is more than enough grace

at the table for me. I've heard who you are.

What an absolute monster of a response. She doesn't

get offended. She doesn't demand rights She doesn't

argue about worthiness She doesn't say anything.

She doesn't even say I deserve this Instead she

says give me what I don't deserve because of

your goodness Church that is what faith looks

like its humility and its boldness She approaches

Jesus with empty hands and complete confidence

that it's because of him that he would act. How

does Jesus respond? What is his response? Does

he say, sorry, nope? We read the text, what does

he say? He heals the daughter, he loves her answer.

Jesus essentially says, you're exactly right.

Bible scholar James Edwards notes this, this

woman appears to understand Jesus's mission better

than the disciples and the rest of Israel. While

the disciples repeatedly struggle to grasp who

Jesus is, this pagan woman hears one parable

and immediately she understands. We saw, we unpacked

the feeding of the 5 ,000. And if you continue,

We didn't do Jesus walking on water because I

didn't feel like it. It really did much for where

we're going. And so I should have actually included

it in my sermon with the feeding of the five

thousand. But it says at the end of the feeding

of the five thousand, it says they still didn't

understand who Jesus was and their hearts were

hardened. So here's what's very ironic. The religious,

the ones who Jesus came for, continue to miss

the point. And yet this outsider gets it. Jesus

speaks in parables all the time and no one understands

and the disciples keep going, can you explain

that one to us? Jesus speaks in a parable and

this woman answers in it. Scholars believe that

more than likely this woman becomes converted.

and she would be the first person to respond

to the gospel. Pretty incredible. So I want you

to write this down. She becomes the first person

in Mark's gospel to hear Jesus' parable, understand

it, and respond appropriately. Why? Write this

down. Because she understands something that

disciples are still learning. There is enough

grace at Christ's table for everyone who comes

to him in faith. And that faith begins when we

stop appealing to our goodness and start appealing

to His. I'll give you a moment to write that

down. I know that's a lot. If you're taking notes,

we're gonna go to point number two. As we unpack

the story of the deaf and mute man. So boundless

compassion touches the outsider. Boundless compassion

touches the outsider. If you are still writing,

that's okay. I'm going to go ahead and begin

to read this passage. Then he returned from the

region of Tyre and went through Sidon. to the

Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.

And they brought to him a man who was deaf and

had a speech impediment, and they begged him

to lay his hands on him. And taking him aside

from the crowd privately, he put his fingers

into his ears, and after spitting, touched his

tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and

said to him, which means be opened. And his ears

were opened and his tongue was released and he

spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell

no one. But the more he charged them, the more

zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished

beyond measure saying, he has done all things

well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute

speak. Hopefully. In our verse of the week, you

are paying attention. So in the previous story

that we just unpacked, right, the Sarah Phoenician

woman, we see a mother who comes boldly to Jesus.

She fights through every barrier imaginable because

she believed there was grace enough for her and

her daughter. Some of us have testimonies like

that. Here's what I mean. Some of you guys, in

this room, came to Jesus after essentially coming

to the end of yourself. You got so far down the

road, you hit a brick wall, saw that nothing

can bring you joy or happiness, and you were

just miserable, can't save yourself, and so you

were like, hey, I was brought up in the church.

I should probably go give that thing a try. Or

someone invites you to church and you come to

Christ. Don't hear what I'm not saying. I'm not

saying that Jesus wasn't running after you. He's

always been running after you. He's the one who

initiates. You respond. But some of us are like

the Syrophoenician woman. And then there's others

of us, I would be in this category, where Jesus

finds you or found you in a very unexpected time,

in a very unexpected place, and you just respond.

Whether a friend invites you to church or you're

standing in line at the grocery store or whatever.

but a conversation may catch your attention,

a coworker shares their testimony. But in that

moment, you have stumbled into a moment where

Christ met you unexpectedly. And that's what

happens here. That's what happened to me when

I was six years old. I went to spend the night

at a friend's house and it was on a Saturday

night, Sunday morning, my parents said I could

go to church with them. They had a church that

met at an old Taco Bell. And here is six -year

-old Logan Merrick. Though I've been brought

to church with my family every Sunday since I'd

been alive, unexpectedly, my ears are open to

the gospel when the children's minister shares

what Jesus has done for me. It just started with

a friend's invitation to come over to his house

and go to church the next morning. And so we

see this deaf and mute man doesn't come to Jesus

himself, his friends bring him, right? So let's,

let's read. Oh, I already read. What am I doing?

I was thinking that I had not, I had to pick

Noah up at one in the morning. He worked the

Savannah bananas game and I swear my brain has

not turned on yet. And so we see that his friends

bring him. And so this is a beautiful reminder

that sometimes God uses ordinary people to carry

others to Christ. when they cannot get there

themselves. But Jesus does something really unusual.

What do you think I mean by that? What does he

do that's unusual? He puts his fingers in his

ears. What else? He spits and then puts his spit

on the man's tongue. If Pastor Logan did that

to one of you guys when you're like, I got an

earache, Pastor Logan, will you pray for it?

And I'm like, yeah, hold on. You're like, we're

not going back to that church. So it feels really

unusual because Jesus doesn't really do that

a whole lot. We know of one other miracle, right?

where Jesus spits in the mud and he puts it on

the man's eyes, right, to heal him? So before

I keep going any further, notice that it also

says that he takes the man away from the crowd.

So he wants to minister to him privately. And

like we said, he sticks his fingers in the man's

ears and he touches the man's tongue with his

saliva. And then he turns toward heaven and he

sighs deeply before saying apathe. be opened.

So the question is, is why does Jesus do that?

Did he do that to heal? Did he do some sort of

ritual to heal the little girl, the Syrophoenician

girl? Nope. When he healed Jairus's daughter,

we unpacked that, right? Did he do anything crazy

there? Nope. We haven't seen him do, even when

he fed the 5 ,000, it says he looks up and he

breaks the bread and gives thanks. And so miracles

don't require rituals. So what is Jesus doing?

Like what is he doing this for? Is he just trying

to gross us out? There's never a special formula.

There's not a ritual. It's just the power of

Christ on display that we've seen before. So

Jesus is doing something, and here's what I want

you to write down. This miracle isn't about displaying

power. It's about displaying compassion. Jesus

is ministering to this man in a way he can understand.

What do you mean, Pastor Logan? Well, and Pastor

Logan is not smart enough to get this. It took

commentaries to point this out to me, because

I'm like, And this is weird. But when I read

it, I was like, oh man, the man can't hear, right?

How do we communicate with people that can't

hear? Sign language. So this man cannot communicate

clearly. So Jesus enters into his world. What

we might call sign language today, Jesus uses

through physical actions. He's doing it for the

man, not for anybody else, not because he needed

to. He's doing it for the man. He's touching

his tongue. He's touching his ears. And so by

touching his ears, Jesus is communicating, this

is what I'm going to heal. Then he touches his

tongue. This is what I'm going to restore. By

looking towards heaven, he's communicating the

help you need comes from God alone. And so Jesus

is meeting the man exactly where he is. And Jesus

does this for all of us. He doesn't wait for

us to climb into his world. He steps down into

ours and he speaks our language. He meets us

in our weakness. He comes near and notice that

he makes the man, or he takes the man away from

the crowd first. Why does he do that privately?

Why would he take him away? What do you guys

think? Wouldn't Jesus want eyewitnesses to this

miracle? He doesn't need it, right? I think it's

done out of compassion. This man's entire life

has likely been a spectacle. People staring,

people talking about him, people trying to define

him by a disability. And Jesus refuses to make

a public spectacle of a man. So he takes him

away privately and instead treats him with dignity.

He gives him personal attention. He heals him

face to face. And then Mark tells us that Jesus

sighs deeply, and that is important that we understand

the sigh, because it reveals the heart of Jesus.

Jesus isn't emotionally detached from human suffering.

He isn't cold and he isn't indifferent. He feels

the weight of what sin has done on the world.

And some scholars suggest that in this moment,

Jesus is identifying with the man's isolation

and his alienation. And I personally think that's

right. Jesus sees the brokenness, he heals the

pain, and he is moved by it. But there's something

deeper that we need to look at. Once again, Jesus

comes face to face with the cost of what he has

come to do. Every miracle is a reminder that

the world is not as God intended it to be. Every

healing points to the curse of sin and every

restoration points forward to the cross. That's

why we had Isaiah 35 as our verse of the week

when the prophet declared, listen closely, say

to those with fearful hearts, be strong, do not

fear. He is your God. He will come and save you.

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, the

ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will

leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute will

sing for joy." And so Mark is trying to get us

and the early church to make that connection

back to that prophecy. Mark is essentially saying,

do you see the deaf hearing? Do you see the mute

speaking? Do you see the restoration taking place?

Then understand what it means. God has come.

The promises are being fulfilled and the King

is here. Write this down for me. This miracle

is not merely about one man's ears being opened.

It's an announcement to the entire world. Just

as Isaiah promised, God has come to save his

people. And his salvation is reaching far beyond

Israel. It's reaching outsiders. It's reaching

Gentiles. It's reaching people who never imagined

they could have a place at the table. And if

it can reach them, brothers and sisters, it reaches

us too. So in closing, I want to say this. We

discovered that we are actually both of these

people, the Seraphination woman. and the deaf

and mute man. We are the woman who had no claim

upon God's promises as Gentiles. We are the deaf

man who could not help himself. We are outsiders.

I almost wanted to sing the song, The Outsiders,

but I need to breathe, but I'll spare you all.

We are outsiders and yet Jesus welcomes us. Why?

Because he identifies with us. The Son of God

stepped into our world, He took our place and

He bore our shame and He carried our sin. In

a very real sense, the Son became what we were

so that He would become what He is, so that we

could become what He is. The one who deserved

the seat at the table was cast out so that those

who deserved to be cast out could be welcomed

to it. The one who is the eternal Word, went

silently to the cross so that our tongues could

be loose to confess it to others. This is the

gospel, brothers and sisters. Not that we fought

our way to God, but that He fought for us. Not

that we earned a seat at the table. Not that

we have finally become worthy enough. But it's

that He declared us worthy. He came for sinners.

He came for people who had nothing to offer but

empty hands and desperate hearts. And so let

me leave you with three encouragements. If you

feel isolated, don't believe the lie that you

are beyond His healing. If you feel proud, don't

reject what the gospel says about your unworthiness.

If you feel hopeless, Don't reject what the gospel

says about how deeply loved you are. The woman

came asking for crumbs. Jesus gave her a lot

more than that. Jesus gave her a daughter restored.

The deaf man came needing ears open and Jesus

gave him a voice. And the same Savior still welcomes

all who come to Him today because at the table

of grace, outsiders become family. At the table

of grace, dogs become daughters. At the table

of grace, sinners become sons. And there is still

room at the table for all who will come. Let's

pray.