Bottom line up front: The Complete Context Is Crucial 

Intro: In preparing to teach upon Matthew 15:21-28, one discovers that premature assessments can and do lead to horrendous theology and belief; but when one understands the complete picture, the truth is embraced. 

Context: It’s 1st century Israel. The nation is occupied by the Roman Empire. There is great diversity among distinct cultural groups within the nation proper. Amidst that diversity, there is bias, both cultural and personal. And yet God the Son has stepped into history as the logos incarnate. People from every tribe, language, ethnos, and nation are being reached by the truth. 

Text: And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly (Mt 15:21-28, ESV). 

Don’t Miss This: A superficial familiarity with this passage could be misinterpreted as fideism, a false teaching that says “Just believe,” but does not anchor that belief in truth. Another superficial familiarity with this passage could be used to claim that Christ discriminated unfairly against the Canaanite woman, implying she was less than others. But those misinterpretations would lead you into error. Why? Because the complete picture is necessary. There’s more going on here of which many are unaware. 

Encouragement/takeaway: Christ’s ministry to her was part of his use of distinguishing genuine truth-seekers from false pretenders. This woman begged Christ to heal her daughter of demon oppression. Jesus was not being harsh when he said that he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (v. 24). His point was for sinners to recognize their state of lostness and utter dependence upon God; it was not on ethnicity or cultural identity. If anything, it demonstrated that God was grafting in all sorts of sinners–from every tribe, language, people, and nation. 

Christ ultimately commended the faith of the Canaanite woman because she recognized her utter dependence upon Christ as God incarnate to heal her daughter, to redeem, to put her in her right mind, and to thwart the powers of hell. 

The complete picture is called for, in other words. If we don’t have that, we can prematurely come away with half-baked ideas and theology. And as a man thinks, so is he. May we labor to have the full picture. 

I woke up at 0300, showered, dressed, and drove to the airport for a connecting flight to ATL. I was so hungry I could hear my stomach grumbling. I was eager to get to ATL so I could grab a meal before flying on to Indianapolis.

The flight to ATL was uneventful save for the heavy man who sat on my right side on the flight. He twitched about every seventeen seconds and sniffed incessantly, as if he were afraid his nasal hairs were escaping downward through his nostrils. Sniff, sniff, he continued. Sniff, sniff.

Finally the plane landed in ATL and I deplaned, took the Plane Train to Councourse A, and went to Low Country, a country place in the airport that serves fare other than fast food.

The two women behind the counter were less than friendly. They came across as only interested in one another’s importance rather than in serving customers.

But a man caught my eye. He was out by the tables, serving customers. His name was Sunday. He had on a nametag and a blue lanyard. He would go to the dispensers containing the plasticware, and he’d methodically dispense a fork, knife, and spoon. Then he’d carefully roll them into two napkins, and come to us customers in line, and say, “Excuse me, sir/ma’am, your plasticware.” And we’d take it. We’d be almost caught off guard because of the contrast between Sunday’s courtesy and the behavior of the two women behind the counter who took our money.

When I got my food, the woman at the register said at me, “Cash or card?”

“Card,” I replied.

“There’s a question for tip amount on the screen, sir,” she said.

I hit 0% and paid.

As soon as I turned around to scout out a table at which to sit down and eat, Sunday was beside me, “Here’s a table, sir.”

I ate and enjoyed my breakfast. I watched Sunday. Incessantly, he provided each customer napkins and plasticware for their meals. He cleaned all the tables. He threw away empty water bottles as soon as patrons finished drinking. He aligned chairs under the tables. His area was spotless.

He saw me watching him, and came over to my table. “All okay, sir?”

“Yes,” I replied, and handed him some cash. “Thank you,” I said.

“Thank you, sir,” he said.

I finished my meal. When I stood up and put on my rucksack, Sunday reappeared. He took my now-empty plate and discarded it for me. And he carried on with his mission.

I don’t know who raised you, Sunday; I know almost nothing of you, really, except that you restored my hope. And I’m grateful you’re around. May your tribe increase.

“It’s just material; it can be replaced.”

“Look on the bright side; at least you’re safe.”

“Did the deer survive?”

The feedback could go on and on.

Bottom line up front: On the drive back to my work location Sunday, a herd of deer leapt into the driver’s side of my car as I was driving south on HWY 140, and that side of my car currently resembles the face of a losing MMA fighter who dared step into the ring with Jon “Bones” Jones. Somewhat less than aesthetically pleasing, one might say.

The opening remarks were all ones well-intentioned folks shared with me.

I agree; my vehicle is indeed material, and it can and will be replaced. Yes, the bright side is that I’m uninjured, as far as I can tell. Did the many deer survive? I do not know; they were not on the road by the time I was able to get my vehicle off the side of the highway and call the police. Perhaps they survived, but some of their hair (and other ‘evidence’ of their impact) is very much still on my car.

So, this is the second time I’ve been driving and collided with deer. And I cannot say it’s any more enjoyable this time than it was last time.

I had to call into work and ask for grace from my boss for a pass in order to get a rental and have my car relocated to a local body shop.

I had to miss a training session where I was to teach soldiers about resilience (how ironic, right?).

I have a flight out in the morning at 5:30 a.m. to the Midwest to teach up there this week.

I have papers to grade for my college and university students.

But I also have learned that I’d be a wreck (sorry, could not resist the pun) without my Carrie Jane (she was a rock during the whole messy event), and friends who helped in a moment of crisis via sharing one of their vehicles, my local police department (they were great), the rental car place, and (so far) the body shop and my insurance company.

I did get a rental and was able to drive back to my work location 200 miles from my home of record.

I rescheduled today’s training for next week. I am indeed uninjured. Life will go on.

It’s one thing to “brief the slides” on frustration and resilience, and it’s quite another to implement them.

Like others, I am grieving the death of soldiers and civilians that are still being recovered from the cold currents of the Potomac River near our nation’s capital.

The investigations are underway, and undoubtedly some will politicize the event for their side. If we can trust what we are being told, American athletes were aboard the jet, talented skaters and their coaches, and scores of other passengers.

And it sounds like at least three of my fellow soldiers died, too, the ones aboard the UH-60 (Black Hawk).

When I sit and think about it, sundry Scriptures come to mind, but perhaps none as viscerally as Psalm 90. The twelfth verse reads like this: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12, ESV).

Introduction: When I was earning my M.A. in English many moons ago, I had a course that focused on the most influential writers of the Enlightenment. Among those was Alexander Pope and his An Essay on Man. Among its many memorable lines is this one: “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” Yes and amen.

It reminds me of one of my favorite films, The Shawshank Redemption, with its emphasis on hope. “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies,” wrote Andy to his friend, Red. Yes and amen.

Connection to Real Life: Hope. It is crucial. It affects so much. Over just the last week or so, a sea change is afoot among those to whom I am fortunate enough to minister, namely, soldiers. And do you know what their commanders are asking me to teach upon? Hope.

Oftentimes, the governmental and bureaucratic culture relabels it resilience. It’s fundamentally an issue of how and why we ought to press on when things are tough or even worse. Questions of how and why.

Those questions necessitate an ought, and that necessitates questions of teleology/purpose.

I don’t want to lose my audience with academic terminology, so I will just express it this way: A sea change of worldview is afoot, and I am hopeful. Again, yes and amen.

Bottom line up front: Not Just Flexibility, but Wise Flexibility

The Issue: Who sets the parameters when it comes to spiritual, moral, and ethical decision-making? For soldiers, we have sundry resources: 1) AR 165-1; 2) FM 1-05; 3) the (7) Army Values: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage; and 4) FM 7-22, among others. As a chaplain, I’m tasked by regulation with moral and spiritual leadership. One’s integrity cannot be in question as a chaplain. The soldiers must see and know that you’re the real deal; otherwise, you’re done for in terms of effectiveness in spiritual warfare.

When I was coming up, I discerned early on the men I desired to emulate.—men who loved the Lord and loved soldiering. I also learned from many what not to do. I remember one time when I was preaching from the book of Jonah and I looked out and noticed that I had so-called Christian chaplains who could not even locate that book in their Bibles, and inside, my heart broke. Why? Because I was seeing men charged with inculcating spiritual wisdom that were themselves immature and possibly worse.

Scripture: Paul was uber-educated, but he did not boast in that. He viewed himself as the chief of sinners, and understood that his redemption, too, was 100% of God’s effectual grace towards him. Listen to his words about wise flexibility:

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1 Cor 9:19-23, ESV)

Questions for Reflection: Did Paul change God’s message to tickle ears or to ingratiate himself with pagans? No. Did he pervert his own testimony to fit in? No. But what he did do was labor to reach men and women with redemptive truth. He flexed to them insofar as he understood their worldviews. He walked those bridges of connection. He shared his own testimony. He showed the universality of man’s sinfulness and need of redemption through Christ. He didn’t throw the book of Jonah overboard as if it were some antiquated allegory of God’s will, but he knew the Scriptures through and through to reach the mission field onto which Christ had commissioned him.

There’s flexibility and there’s wise flexibility, and God’s people should know and live the difference.

Question: What does the figure of Ahab (800s B.C.) have to do with narcissistic leaders and the destruction they can wreak upon the undiscerning? A great deal.

The older I get, the more I love studying history. Perhaps it’s because I learn and relearn that the patterns repeat. There are countless cliches about how we so seldom learn anything from history. At root, it’s that we don’t learn much from history. Nevertheless, here’s yet another effort to learn from history.

Historical context: Ahab was one of the most wicked kings and leaders Israel ever had. And there’s a passage in 2 Chronicles 18 that reveals part of Ahab’s wickedness.

He surrounded himself with those who flattered him and told him what he wanted to hear. When someone told him the truth, he suppressed it and labeled the truth-teller his enemy.

Here’s the Scripture:

¹² And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” ¹³ But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.” ¹⁴ And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And he answered, “Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand.” ¹⁵ But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁶ And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” ¹⁷ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” ¹⁸ And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. ¹⁹ And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. ²⁰ Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ ²¹ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ ²² Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The Lord has declared disaster concerning you.” (2 Chronicles 18:12-22, ESV)

Ahab doesn’t desire truth; he desires toadies. He demands sycophants and flattery. Why? Because his god is himself and his own power. Rather than loving the Lord, he loves himself and what he thinks is his ascending star.

But God knows his heart.

Ahab thinks he’ll evade disclosure and evade judgment by disguising himself in battle. But the irony is that the truth-teller’s prophecy is shown to be accurate, and Ahab dies in battle, from an arrow from the opposing army:

But a certain man drew his bow at random^[a] and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” ³⁴ And the battle continued that day, and the king of Israel was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening. Then at sunset he died. (2 Chronicles 18:33-34, ESV)

Encouragement and takeaway: One key indicator of a godly leader is that he tells you the truth. He does not pimp hearers via flattery and duplicity or soft speech. He does not surround himself only with toadies. He does not attempt to silence the truth-tellers/prophetic voices. Because the truth will emerge. It will be revealed. That’s the beauty of God and his gospel. Just when the forces of hell thought they crucified truth and buried it, and even surrounded the presumed corpus of truth with Roman guards at the mouth of Jesus’ tomb, truth arose three days later–just as the prophets had said.

Bottom line up front: Being vs. Seeming

Context: Over recent weeks and months, I have taught a group of 50-60 people the Gospel of Matthew verse-by-verse. Currently we are in chapter 15. The first 20 verses of Matthew 15 are about being rather than seeming. Jesus rebukes the religious posers/Pharisees. He teaches the people that our motives are known to God. Therefore, we should be genuine rather than fakes.

Here’s the passage:

15 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

8 “‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Mt 15:1-20, ESV)

Teaching & Encouragement: The Pharisees were emblematic of posers. They perfected religiosity. But their hearts were cold—both to God and to others. Jesus teaches that he is God, that he knows our hearts. He knows us through and through. This is why his people are to keep short accounts with him. Because nothing is hidden that will not be revealed. We need to be a people who are rather a people who seem.

Being vs. seeming, in other words. As I reflect upon decades of ministry now, there have been many times that I have been unable to keep the tears from coming when I’m teaching the Scriptures. I have had to stop preaching and/or teaching at times, in fact, just to gather myself emotionally. Why? Because God was teaching me—long before the message with which I was charged to herald—that, I, am known to God, and that there’s no place to hide from the Holy One. And that we are called to be the genuine. May we strive to honor the Lord by being rather than seeming.

This morning I was reading Luke 16-17 and I found myself once again arrested by the power of Jesus’s teaching about the Rich Man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31). Below is the passage. After that I offer a few reflections and musings:

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰ And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹ who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, ²³ and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. ²⁴ And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ ²⁷ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ ²⁹ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Some Reflections:

• V. 23 seems to indicate there was communication between a man in hell/Hades and a man at Abraham’s side.
• V. 25 seems to indicate that the first man’s placement was one of conscious agony of persistent holy judgment and the second man’s (Lazarus’) placement was one of blessing and joy.
• V. 26 seems to indicate what the rest of Scripture teaches, namely, that after death there is no chance to repent and flee to the gospel of God; it’s too late.
• Taken as a whole, the passage is one of the most straightforward teachings in Scripture. God has provided more than enough evidence for us sinners to believe; it’s never a matter of, “But, God, if you had just shown me more reasons to believe, or given me more evidence” defenses. Those are pathetic red herrings. No excuses are sufficient (Romans 1, etc.).

Encouragement: The passage is straightforward. Repentance is necessary, now, in order to be reconciled to the thrice-holy God. Believing the gospel is necessary, now, in order to be reconciled and restored. God knows our hearts (Luke 16:14). If we are wise, that should provoke holy terror in us and drive us to the person and work of Christ.

Above is the 1611 English translation in the KJV. I was raised on that English translation but now more often use the ESV, which translates it, “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan” (Pr 29:2).

The meaning is straightforward. It’s an example of antithetical parallelism in poetry. The second half of the phrase contrasts with the first. Why? For emphasis. Contrast is perhaps the best way to teach.

Part I: Righteous rulers = joyful people

Part II: Wicked/corrupt rulers = bitter, angry, debased people

For the first time in four years, gas prices in my area dropped 30 cents in just a week. We in the military were told via official chains that the DEI stuff is now gone. No more hiring and firing, promoting and demoting, based upon skin pigmentation and gender. And suddenly we can say that there are indeed still two genders. A sea change is afoot.

I lived in western NC for almost 10 years when I was young. Today, America’s president visited and is at work to bring relief. I almost wept when I saw the pictures of devastation that still characterizes towns there I know like the back of my hand.

Again I return to Proverbs 29:2: “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.”

I am praying for my Commander in Chief, and I’m doing so in a way I’ve never done in all the years I have voted and/or prayed for my presidents.

I saw the looks in the eyes of those who watched you as you, Mr. President, launched plans to rebuild western NC and take care of our nation’s citizens. And I am praying for righteousness, sir–from the ground up and from the top down. Proverbs 29:2; yes, Proverbs 29:2.