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This morning’s Scripture lesson is taken from Mark 7:24-30:
The doctrine of election is one of the most troubling and controversial aspects of Biblical Christianity.
Time does not permit me to address all the issues the doctrine of election raises, but from this passage I think this Syrophoenician women can teach us three very important lessons:
She Does Not Contest God’s Election,
She Places Her Faith, Not in Election, but in God’s General Call and Common Grace,
and most importantly
She Knows That Crumbs are Enough
We begin with:
She Did Not Contest God’s Sovereign Election
This Syrophoenician woman does not respond to Jesus’ reaffirming of Israel’s election as most people would.
She does not say, “This is not fair” or “This is unjust” or “This is unloving”.
She simply says, “Yes, Lord.”
What wisdom this woman shows.
Could it be that the reason so many people have a problem with the doctrine of election is because they have already ruled it out as unfair, unjust and unloving?
It is not as though the Bible is unclear concerning election, from the earliest days of Israel we read:
Here we see a clear statement of what theologians call “Unconditional Election”.
Israel was chosen not because of anything they had done, but purely by God’s good pleasure.
The doctrine of Unconditional Election is also taught in the New Testament.
For example:
In contrast to this woman, many read passages like these and say, “No, Lord”!
Paul was familiar with this reaction, for he response to it in the very next verse:
If any of the attempts to explain away unconditional election were true, Paul would have surely used them here, but he does not.
What does he do?
He doubles down on God’s freedom and right to chose whom He wills, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
Are you saying, “No Lord,” not only concerning what the Bible teaches concerning election, but anything else?
Think of all the churches in America that are saying, “No, Lord,” to what the Bible teaches concerning male leadership?
Think of all the professing Christians who are saying, “No, Lord,” to what the Bible teaches concerning marriage and sex.
Think of all the people who are saying, “No, Lord” to what the Bible teaches concerning disciplining and raising our children in the Lord.
This list could go on, but I think you get the idea.
We have an epidemic of people saying, “No, Lord,” in the church.
What is the consequence of saying, “No, Lord”?
What if this woman had said, “No, Lord”?
If she had, that would have been the end of the story.
She would have gone home angry at Jesus and when she got there she would have found her daughter was still possessed by an unclean spirit.
Rather than saying, “No, Lord.”
She said, “Yes, Lord,” and she appealed to Christ for mercy not on the basis of election, but on the basis of God’s General Call and His Common Grace.
She Trusted in God’s General Call and Common Grace
While it is true that some Jews referred to Gentiles as “dogs” in a derogatory way, clearly Jesus did not mean it this way.
He was using the imagery of a beloved family pet.
Of course, we love our children more than our pets, but this does not mean we are “unloving,” “unmerciful” or “unkind,” to our pets.
In fact, the exact opposite is true, we dearly love our pets.
One only has to look at the billion dollar pet industry for confirmation of this.
God’s Common Grace is His benevolent love and care for every person.
Jesus spoke of Common Grace when He said:
Because God loves all people, both Jews and Gentiles so much, He call all people to repent and believe.
Paul said this to the Athenians.
This “call” that goes out generally to all people is what theologians call The General Call.
When writing of the coming judgement, which we just heard Paul speak of, Peter writes:
This general love that God has for everyone is plan to see, not only in creation, but in His Word: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Seeing this love all around her, and especially in the person of Jesus who stood before her, this woman boldly said:
This brings us to the final and most important lesson this woman teaches us:
She Knew, “Crumbs are Enough!”
Too many people use the Biblical Doctrine of Election as an excuse for unbelief and rebellion against God and His Word.
They say, “What’s the point of believing in Jesus if I am not elect?”
or they will say, “I can’t really believe God will save me, until I know I am elect.”
What a foolish thing to say.
Nowhere in Scripture are we told to trust in our election.
We are always told to trust in God and His promises, and what is His promise concerning salvation?
Paul said this to the Philippian jailor:
God is still saying this to every man, woman and child.
Don’t get hung up on whether or not you are elect, Crumbs are Enough!
I don’t think it was an accident that the story of the Syrophoenician Women occurs in between the stories of the Feeding of the 5000 and the Feeding of the 4000.
In both stories, a few loaves and a few fish were all that were necessary to feed a multitude.
In the first feeding, the disciples gathered up twelve baskets full of crumbs!
In the second feeding, the disciples gathered up seven baskets full of crumbs!
Clearly, Mark wants his readers to understand that with Jesus, Crumbs are Enough!
Perhaps you have become bitter at God because all you feel He has thrown your way are crumbs.
Learn from the wisdom of this woman, put away your bitterness and replace it with faith, because with Jesus, Crumbs are Enough!
Let us pray.
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