The context is a lesson on superficial lip service verses love.
Yes, they were talking about dietary codes and what a person ingests. But what Jesus taught about was the depth of a person, verses the superficiality of verbal claims, empty pieties and outward practices that do not reflect THE DEPTH OF A PERSON.
So, Jesus continued the teaching, and then gave an example...
First, the teaching...
The human body takes in what you put in the mouth, and it passes through the other end.
It does not shape who a person is, or transform a person's character, essence or nature.
What comes out of the mouth REFLECTS what is in a person's true nature.
Likewise, who a person loves is different from what they express in that love. Sex is sex. But the real nature of a loving relationship is how people express what lies within their hearts for one another. The plumbing is superficial at best. It is the love that matters.
If one claims to be upright and "lawful", pure and holy, but hurts or destroys the lives of others in any way, they are unclean, defiled, according to Jesus. It is all about genuinely loving relationship.
Likewise, in community, it does not matter what differences lie on the outside or what is visible, but rather what the character is of the people within the community and how they share their integrity, trustworthiness, kindness, generosity (see Galatians 5:22,23) and compassion. People can practice different faiths, come from different ethnicities, love different music and food, have different tastes in clothing, art and the like but still come together to be a lively, loving community, if that is within their character as members of the community. On the other hand, folk can claim whatever they want about who they follow and what principles they live by, but if what comes out of them is judgment, intolerance, hatred and ungraciousness with anyone - ANYONE else, what they claim is a lie. Those were the folk Jesus was speaking to, and still is speaking to through the Gospels. Those who get all caught up in everyone else's purity and holiness while ignoring their own unwillingness or inability to live Agape Love have lost Jesus. Jesus' commandment is the living of Agape Love.
Now, the example...
Jesus set up His disciples. Jesus did not answer her plea until the disciples arrived. He did not address her until they urged Jesus to send this foreign woman of a different faith away, rejecting her because of who she was.
Jesus, in front of the disciples, addressed her as they would have liked at first. He said everything that was in their hearts and on their minds. She was not "one of our own." She was unclean, according to the Law of Moses, a dog. He did not mince words with her in front of them. But she was determined and knew who Jesus was. She acknowledged the prevailing bigotries of the time, which the disciples were expressing, but went to the true nature of Jesus - Agape Love and Grace. She got the Agape Love and Grace thing, while His disciples did not. In front of them, Jesus made HER an example of faith and healed her daughter. I often wonder if the disciples "got it" after that, having been set up and slammed by Jesus in front of the Canaanite woman. I often lament that WE have not learned that lesson as people who claim the name of Jesus.
People claim great faith and do not follow in words and actions the one in whom they claim to have great faith.
People claim great patriotism and then express in words and actions disloyalty to others in their own nation.
People claim great love for Democracy and then in their words and actions demonstrate a desire to destroy democracy for the sake of capitalism or fascism, or both.
People claim not to be racist, homophobic, classist, sexist, intolerant of other faiths and the like - usually right after something comes out in their words and/or actions that demonstrates their bigotry.
The superficial things, differences and claims do not matter - they are superficial.
What matters is what is in your heart and mind, and what is reflected from them out in the world around you.
If we want to be followers of Jesus, then we must follow what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us on how to live, as we have that in the Gospels. If we want to follow Jesus, we must go where Jesus went in the world - to the marginalized, exploited and "least of these" in Agape Love and Grace, to foreigners and people of other faiths, strangers and even enemies. If we are not living what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled on how to live with those around us in the world, then we only honor Jesus with our lips and our hearts are far from Him. If we do not live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled, we are just superficial stuff that passes through the world and ends up in the sewer. Yes, that is what I mean.
What comes out of you?
Pastor Jamie
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