Advent Lutheran Church

"Yes, Lord"

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

In November 2000, I received an invitation from the local church in Dimma.  Dimma is located 575 miles southwest of Addis Ababa the capital city where I live. It is at the Ethiopian Sudanese border.  The invitation was to preach on Christmas Eve service that usually lasts for three days.

Since the United Nations refugee camp for the Southern Sudanese was in the same place, I was told that there would be many Southern Sudanese refugees at the service.

First, I hesitated to miss my family, my church, and my choir at Christmas time. However, I realized that this was a great opportunity given from God, to spend time with refugees and share their experiences.

Let me share with you my first cultural shock, and move on to the point why I am telling you this story. Dimma is a very hot place with an average of about 90 degrees.  After two full days travel, not in a car, but in a public bus, with no air condition, finally I arrived to Dimma.  On my arrival, the first thing that I asked was where to take a bath.

A gentle man came and asked me to follow him to a place where I could have a bath.  After few minutes’ walk, he pointed to the Akobo River and said, “Please enjoy”. There is no privacy no shower curtain. This is an open public bath. Animals drink, people swim, people fish, people wash their clothes and kids play in the same river.  Well what option do I have, After all, I traveled 575 miles to be with these people. I enjoyed the public bath.

We had a great time in the whole services. It was a great experience for me to preach with a translator.  I had two translators. I do not mean one as a reserve, but two at the same time. My sermon was supposed to be translated into two ethnic languages at the same time. Among the Southern Sudanese refugees, two major ethnic groups needed equal treatment. The Nuer, and the Agnewak. Both translators were translating from my Amharic to their native languages. It was fun.

At the end of the conference, the church leaders suggested to me that it would be a good idea to speak about some ethical issues. Specifically on one major Southern Sudanese, ritual. It is a very harmful ritual from health point of view.

Around the age of between seven and ten, they remove the lower front teeth as a sign of becoming an adult. There was some thought that removing the teeth would prevent diarrhea. You have no clue how their teeth is removed.

Since it was discouraged to cry during the procedure, the girls were the first. The elders tell the boys that if the girls do not cry, then the boys could not cry either. To endure the pain was to be considered as a man.

Well, it was not an easy issue to deal with. However, I was willing to discuss the matter from God’s creation and stewardship point of view. At the end of the discussion, most of them seemed to be convinced to stop doing such a harmful action.

While we were concluding the discussion, a young man raised his hand to ask me a question. The translator translated the question as follows, “We have heard all what you have said. We repent for our disobedience.  However, could you please pray  right now so that may God give us back our teeth which we had lost them?” 

Trust me by any means I did not expect the question would involve a miracle request. A kind of miracle that was needed right now.

What do you do if you were in my place?  I said, “Yes, I am willing to pray”. I did. But don’t ask me whether they received their teeth back or not.

Sometimes we will be asked to live what we believe. To practice what we preach.  To mean what we say.   Sometimes it is challenging, but, sometimes it is an opportunity.

What we read in the first part of the gospel of Mark 7: 23-34 is a kind of an opportunity that was given to Jesus to practice what he preached against the elders traditions.  If we read chapter 7:1-23, we will notice the main issue is about cleanness. It was about whether cleanness is based on internal character or external appearance.

In this passage, Jesus declared that all foods are clean. Based on the lists what makes a person unclean, no human can meet the standard. Cleanness and uncleanness is not based on, social, race, gender, age or religion.

It is after such a gospel preaching and teaching that Jesus enters in Tyre, a gentile town and meets the Syro-phoenican woman.  Jesus crossed the boundaries, Jesus entered in to a house that is in a gentile territory. Often times when people read this passage, they pay attention to the words that was exchanged between Jesus and the woman and want to spin on that.

But let us move on and see the whole picture and the main issue. Because Jesus crossed into the territory, therefore the woman was able to respond to Jesus her need.

In other word Jesus is the one who took the initiative to be in the Gentile territory. No matter how and why he went there, he crossed intentionally. That is gospel.  God is the one always who took the initiative so that we may respond accordingly. 

This story is the most humanly and genuine when it comes to the process of crossing the isle. People had a problem hearing Jesus calling this woman a dog.  However, Jesus is teaching us how difficult it is to deal with an existing polarized, generational problem. There is no way that Jesus as Jew man would forget everything and act as if there were nothing between the two people.

The question is, is there a difference between the Gentiles and the Jews. Yes. Is there a possibility to work on those differences? Yes. Is it is easy to work without having an honest conversation. NO.   By the way, Do you know what that honest conversation God did with humans is called? The Cross-!

If we want to have real change on both sides, what is needed is a humble heart.  It costs us to acknowledge who we are, and who those people are.

It costs us to say humbly YES sir, YES ma’am. When Jesus said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."

She did not engage on the right usage of words. The common response would be   “what do you mean by dog? Who is the dog? I am a woman. Can’t you see? ….

 She has a need. Her daughter is tormented by demons. She is hungry for healing food. She needs to be fed by Jesus and yet she knows she does not deserve. She knows that she is unclean.

She engaged in to the conversation with Jesus, starting with confession. She started with acknowledging Christ Jesus as the LORD and herself as a person who does not deserve to be fed by Christ. She engaged in the process through  faith to receive the gift from Jesus.

She answered, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

My brothers and sisters, none of us deserve to be fed by Jesus. None of us deserve to eat the body and drink the blood of Jesus that gives eternal life.

We all are sinners. We all do not deserve to be called the children of God. Everything we are is because of the grace of God that is given to us through Christ’s crucifixion, death and resurrection. 

Every time, we gather for worship and see the cross in the sanctuary, the cross speaks of how God crossed in to human territory and how we should cross to one another.

Brothers and sisters, Is there anything in your life that, you are struggling to say Yes LORD?  Yes my wife, YES my husband, YES my child YES my friend,

Today Jesus is encouraging us to practice a faithful conversation, which starts with confession or acknowledging who God, is. And also acknowledging other people as who they are.

As we are sharing this table, we come with a humble heart saying YES LORD we don’t deserve…but you made us able to share from your table.

May the Lord open our ears to listen to God and people?  May Lord, open our mouth to speak the truth in love.

Amen.