The Faith of an...OUTSIDER

 

Friday, August 21, 2026

When Jesus left there, he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon.  Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.” Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.”  He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  But she came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!” He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was healed.  Matthew 15:21-28^(CSB)

I know what it’s like to be an outsider, looking in.  As a young man I dated a beautiful girl in my high school class.  Her family was of Italian descent, and it was large.  Her mother was the oldest of 13 children!  THIRTEEN!  My family was miniscule by comparison.  Even I the 1960’s ethnic lines were important.  I later compounded my crossing of those lines by marrying that beautiful girl…in a Methodist church!  I eventually confirmed every doubt and fear held by her family that an outsider had stolen an Italian princess by moving our little “mixed” family a thousand miles away to the strange land of rural Florida, and joining a Baptist Church…light years removed from the religious tradition of my bride’s heritage, which was connected to the Vatican in Rome.

I can identify closely with the Gentile woman who approached the Jewish rabbi, Jesus; it was more than awkward; in Jewish culture it was an affront to every accepted and deeply held rule of propriety.  Likewise, in 1965, New York Italian girls did not bring non-Italian boys home to meet the family!  If they did, there was that risk of being branded with a Scarlet Letter.  (There was also some not so tongue-in-cheek tales told of non-Italian boys disappearing…something about trunks of big black cars and cement shoes).

Needless to say, I always felt like something of an oddity on display at Elizabeth’s family gatherings; kind of Ripley’s Believe-it-or-Not non-Roman freak show.  Elizabeth’s cousins were like Jesus’ disciples encouraging Him to send the Gentile woman away; she just didn’t belong!

What is an Outsider to do?

Well, like the woman Matthew (the tax-collecting Jew/outsider extreme) wrote about this Gentile woman…keep the faith and press-on!

For You Today

So, are you living the “outsider life”?  Maybe this postscript of my experience with outsider-ship will help.  My move wasn’t just a thousand miles away, it brought me to a calling, into the pulpit.  Twenty years later, as Elizabeth’s mother, Sofie, lay dying, it was the outsider she called to her bedside.  She wanted me to read Scripture to her and pray for her…and share comforting words of faith and hope. 

Sometimes, when faith in Christ is held dearer than the next breath, an outsider will find himself at the table with much more than crumbs!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors  and Heart Image by DesignByDessie

[1] Title Image by Daniel R from PixabayUnless noted, Scripture quoted from Christian Standard Bible^©    

Hearing, Learning, & Loving

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ.  When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ.  When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law.  Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law.  When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ.  But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.  When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ.  Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.  I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.                                      1 Corinthians 9:19-23

The WHY of apostle Paul’s living a somewhat chameleon-like life, blending-in with every sort of different person, nationality, or social status, was his learned ability to love.  It was so important to Paul to treat others with an open, loving heart, he virtually gave himself to others, so that he would have the opportunity to introduce them to Christ. 

Paul changed; he was no longer a fire-breathing zealot on a crusade to destroy everything related to Jesus Christ.[1]  In place of the old Saul, there was now the new, loving Paul who would literally give his life to bring others to Christ.[2]  Why the shift?  Jesus confronted Paul in the middle of his holacaust work of destroying the church, and taught him to love, because he was loved.  In the process, Paul couldn’t get enough of loving others.  Real Christianity is contagious!

Finding common ground with others is how you learn to love the unlovable.  You cannot do that when you’re unwilling to hear others with the receptive ear that helps you learn who they are, underneath, in their being, and understanding what wakes them up in the middle of the night with the cold sweats.  If you’re serious about sharing the love of Christ, that someone else might know Christ, and find eternal life, you cannot engage in screaming matches, or massive campaigns to exclude people from your life.  In short, you just can’t be afraid of others who are different…you must hear them, and understand them, so you can love them.

There’s an old idea that just doesn’t ring true for me, that dogs will chase cats because dogs hate cats.  Well, my daughter’s pets didn’t get that memo.  Boomer, the huge Mastiff, has gotten quite used to Carrie’s feline borders, Smith & Wesson.  In the picture you see just how close a 100-pound Mastiff can relate to a 7-pound kitty he could have for lunch.  It wasn’t always that way.  Whenever Boomer came into a room, Wesson used to run for the nearest place the hound couldn’t reach.  Little by little that changed.  Now they even play together.  Somewhere along the line, they began hearing each other out…listening, and learning…and now loving.   

Boomer is still a dog…a big, drooling mess of a mush, incapable of not being loved.  Wesson is still a mischievous feline, climbing-on anything high, jumping-off anything dangerously placed, and squeezing-in any tight spot (especially if there’s a slight trace of food to be had).  Neither of them have changed species; but now they play together…and they’re both the better for it.

For You Today

Learn Paul, Boomer, and Wesson’s lessons…listen, learn, love – and play nice!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Living in a Dumpster and When Tolerance Grows Up into Spiritual Maturity

[1] Images:  via Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] See Acts 9

[2] See Romans 9:3

James the Just - Part 7 - Love's Royal Law

[1]

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  James 2:8

James remembered his brother Jesus telling this little story of the GOOD Samaritan.  In the story Jesus makes the Samaritan mongrel a hero, and the religious Jewish leaders the mutts! 

That well-known “little story” teaches us four lessons about loving under the “royal law” of Jesus…

     1.    We Should Love People Even When It’s Unpopular

In Jesus’ story, the Samaritan helped a Jew.  He would have been in trouble from both sides of that coin.  The Jews would’ve hated him because they hated Samaritans; the Samaritans would have despised him for having anything to do with a Jewish bigot; a little like the predicament you’d get if Jesse Jackson decided to join the KKK!

The point is, no matter the popularity, love people anyway.  Someone will always disapprove – but God will approve!  He looks at your heart, while others can only see through their prejudiced filters.

     2.    We Should Love People Even When It’s Inconvenient

There is no “good” time for ministry.  The opportunity to minister and love others is something that comes upon you.  In the story, the Samaritan was on a business trip.  It wasn’t pleasure – he was in the land of those that hated him but found it convenient to do business with him. 

The religious leaders had to be somewhere else – church meetings, whatever…  The Samaritan had stuff to do too – he was just a bit more ready to love.  If you’re going to live by the royal law of love, you need to be ready when God is!

     3.    We Should Love People Even When It’s Unprofitable

It cost the Samaritan to care for the man.  Besides the discomfort of other people’s looks, he put the beaten man on his own saddle, and walked while the wretched Jew rode.  When they got to town, the Samaritan paid for the man’s room at the inn.  He even promised to pay more if that’s what it took. 

In every way love costs; if it doesn’t, it isn’t love!  And great love is very costly.  If you doubt that, go back to the Gospels and check out the cross.  It cost God a whole lot to love your sin away.

     4.    We Should Love People Even When It’s Uncomfortable.

The Samaritan could not have been very comfortable with what he did when he took the first step towards that ditch.  I can imagine his what went through his mind:

     ·      What am I doing here? 

     ·      I don’t even know this guy. 

     ·      Man, this Jew smells…don’t they ever wash? 

     ·      My wife is gonna kill me, this money was to buy a new milk cow. 

     ·      Aw, man, look at this guy’s eyes – he’s gonna die if someone don’t help him. 

     ·      Okay…c’mon my little Jewish pain in the neck. 

     ·      Get up on that saddle; Samaritan pushover’s gonna give you a ride to the doctor.

You and I have our comfort zones.  The Samaritan didn’t LIKE the Jew.  But he did love him.  You will probably experience discomfort when you love – but that’s what happens when you live by the royal law of love. 

Favoritism and prejudice are sinfully wrong.  It shames the poor, divides the church and leads people astray.  Living as a follower of Jesus Christ means a higher road, looking up, loving.  And loving according to the royal law; it means loving even when it’s unpopular, inconvenient, unprofitable, or uncomfortable.

For You Today

When you love others God changes things.  It’s the way He set things up in this universe.  His rule is that mercy triumphs over judgment. 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

 

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of  Wikimedia Commons     Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

Orthodox Dilemma - Part 2

[i]

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

So Peter invited the men to stay for the night.  The next day he went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa.  They arrived in Caesarea the following day.  Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends.  As Peter entered his home, Cornelius fell at his feet and worshiped him.  But Peter pulled him up and said, “Stand up!  I’m a human being just like you!”  So they talked together and went inside, where many others were assembled.  Peter told them, “You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you.  But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean.  So I came without objection as soon as I was sent for.  Now tell me why you sent for me.”  Cornelius replied, “Four days ago I was praying in my house about this same time, three o’clock in the afternoon.  Suddenly, a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me.  He told me, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God!   Now send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.  He is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.’  So I sent for you at once, and it was good of you to come.  Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.”  Acts 10:23-33(NLT)

We left Peter yesterday receiving impure, untouchable, undesirable Gentiles into his home; now we find Peter at the door of a Gentile’s home, telling the humble God-fearing Gentile Cornelius that God said Peter’s thinking was what was undesirable.  The question I often had – and get questioned about as a Pastor is:  Why did God label Gentiles impure in the first place, and then change His mind?

The whole issue centers in one word:  CHOICE.

Consider these few basic assumptions about our relationship with God:

1.     All humans are created in the image of God (we don’t choose humanity), and therefore are endowed-with (given) intrinsic worth.

2.     All humans sin, and therefore choose to disfigure (sin-away) that image and our relationship with God; we choose our impurity.

3.     Everything follows the pattern of the first two and needs restoration.

Returning to the Methodist fracas du jour for the moment as an example, God never ordained, never said a single word in favor of today’s aberrant sexual depravity, but has much strong condemnation of it.  Setting aside the argument of genetic predisposition – being born a woman in a man’s body, or vice-versa[ii], homosexuality, bi-sexuality, trans-sexuality, as opposed to heterosexuality is largely a matter of choice of behavior.  We act how we choose to act.

Sin is very much that way, a matter of choice.  People are not impure or unclean in God’s eyes (and neither should they be in ours) because of birth, genetics, race, or defect or any kind.  We make ourselves unclean with sin by rebelling against the bond of relationship with God.  Rebellion in sexual matters is no different for a homosexual or any of the other aberrations, as it is for a heterosexual who violates fidelity in marriage, or abstinence in singleness.  Heart rebellion is the center of the issue; when we choose to separate ourselves from God’s will, our free will accomplishes the task…and we know it.  Our eyes are no less opened by our sin than Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened when they rebelled.

So, why did Peter tell Cornelius he’d concluded that he should not think of any man as impure or unclean?  Simple; Peter had watched a woman brought to Jesus for condemnation because she was caught in the act.  Jesus told her accusers, ok, stone this sinner…whoever among you doesn’t have any sin on his card, step forward and throw the first stone.[iii]  They all slinked away.  It’s not a question of if we’re all guilty; we just can’t be proud of the fact that we might be less-guilty than the next guy.  We’re all sinners!

For You Today

Ash Wednesday is tomorrow; it’s a great time to put pride where it belongs.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:   By Illustrator of Henry Davenport Northrop's 'Treasures of the Bible', 1894 Public Domain

[ii] I do not set this aside entirely; gender is not an identity, it is chromosomal; and that from conception.  Anything less is subjective science digging for excuses.

[iii] John 8:1-11

Familiar Pain

[1]

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

So they arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes.  When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him.  This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain.  Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles.  No one was strong enough to subdue him.  Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.  When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him.  With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!”  For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.”  Then Jesus demanded, “What is your name?”  And he replied, “My name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.”  Then the evil spirits begged him again and again not to send them to some distant place.  There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby.  “Send us into those pigs,” the spirits begged.  “Let us enter them.”  So Jesus gave them permission.  The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd of about 2,000 pigs plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.  The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran.  People rushed out to see what had happened.  A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons.  He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid.  Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs.  And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.  As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him.  But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.”  So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.  

Mark 5:1-20^(NLT)

The wild man could not be restrained; he broke every chain and smashed every shackle they tried.  He ran through the countryside, demons within screaming like an animal in pain.  He lived with the dead and terrorized the whole region.  Sounds pretty much like one of those zombie movies!

This man’s family, friends and the whole community had given up on the wild man.  “What a shame” they would whisper, shaking their heads.  “Yeah – he had such a bright future till all that evil spirit stuff got on him.”  “Can’t have him around town; all the children are scared to death of him; who knows what he’d do to the young women…and when the tourists get here…forget about business profits.”  “I know what you mean; if he can’t be normal it’s better that he lives out in the graveyard with the other wild animals…nobody can help him anymore.”

Then Jesus showed up.  The cost of saving this one man’s sanity was a herd of pigs.  The only problem with this approach to mental health care was that it was not his herd of pigs.  And when the people saw how Jesus had changed everything, and the cost of it, they wanted nothing to do with him; they pleaded:  please leave…quickly!

Often, in our churches, living rooms, hospital waiting rooms, and anywhere pain forces its way into our lives there are prayers lifted for healing.  When the pain hangs around for a while we pray harder.  When the pain just won’t leave us alone we do what we can to manage the assault.  For those who live in chronic pain, that daily dose of death becomes so familiar we can’t imagine life without it; our painful normal becomes that cross we must bear, running wild through our landscape, howling all over the countryside of our inner life.  The very thought of living pain-free, like the young, demon-possessed man who was healed, is a dream. 

Cutting to the quick here, let me offer that our world is stocked with people in pain.  And there is no shortage of people breaking the restraints our Creator intended for His creation in order to spread the pain around.  Shootings, mass-murder, bombings and in untold other ways the wild howling demons have their pain-inflicting influence on humanity.  We wonder if there is any hope for our world.

For You Today

Resolve that there is hope.  Scripture says that one man – Jesus – died for the sins of all.  It was that way with the wild man that day; Jesus drove out the evil, put him in his right mind, and the upshot was a lot of people got mad over it.  There is indeed hope for our world…but it’s never without letting go of the familiar pain we seem to love.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

It's Not Easy Being Green

[i]

Monday, May 29, 2017

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.  Psalm 37:4^(NLT)

Jim Henson’s puppet character Kermit the Frog had a lot to say about making peace with yourself about who and what you are, and not entering into destructive forms of selfish behavior in order to make sense of that which troubles you.

Listen to the green philosopher: 

It's not that easy being green;

            Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold-or something much more colorful like that.

It's not easy being green. 
It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things.
And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water-or stars in the sky.

But green's the color of Spring. 

            And green can be cool and friendly-like.
And green can be big like the ocean, or important like a mountain, or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be It could make you wonder why, but why wonder?

            Why Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful! 
And I think it's what I want to be.[ii]

Kermit, figured out that he was created green (after all, he’s a frog); but what’s more, Kermit learned to look for the beauty in what God made.  And in so-doing, the frog accepted the fact of his green-ness and his frog-ness, and found that he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Note the last line of Kermit’s song:

And I think it's what I want to be.

That is one fine frog commentary on the Psalmist’s advice to us this morning about making peace with all that surrounds your life.  Taking delight in the Lord is a matter of accepting everything about the way you came into this world, including your family, where and how you were born, what you look like, and all the other stuff that makes up the hand you were dealt…and thanking God for His wisdom in giving you breath, life, and even the not-so-wonderful circumstances, or overly-wonderful circumstances in which you find yourself.

What is absolutely astounding in 100% of human existence is that once you come to terms with that hand you’ve been dealt in life – you begin to realize that the heart of God created you in a most magnificent way, better than anything you could have imagined – and it has inexplicably become the desire of your heart too!

For You Today

If God created you to be green, be the best green ever!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

NOTES

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 ^I Title image: By Dawn Endico from Menlo Park, California (Cindy Lou Who meets Kermit the Frog), via Wikimedia Commons

[ii] Muppets - It's Not Easy Being Green Lyrics | MetroLyrics