Sunday 11 May 2025

Nollamara Church Of Christ Sermons.Raw transcript of meeting:

Date Of Sermon: 11 May 2025

Speaker: Jamie Boland

Sermon Title: Who Let The Dogs Out?

Scripture Reading: Matthew 15:21-28

 To the region of Thai and Eden. A Canon night woman from that vicinity came to him crying out. Lord, son of David have mercy on me. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession. Jesus did not answer a word, so his disciples came to him and urged him, sent her away for she keeps crying out after rest.

He answered. I was sent only to the lost ship of. Of Israel. The woman came and knelt before him. Lord, help me. She said. He replied, it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs. Yes Lord. She said, but even after the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table, then Jesus answered.

Woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted, and her daughter was healed that very hour. Hear the words from the Holy Bible.

Thank you for that reading, Catherine. So it's Mother's Day, and so today what I wanted to do is take a look at this story from the gospels about a mother who seeks out Jesus on behalf of her daughter. Now the title of our message is Who Let The Dogs Out? And yes, that is a deliberate reference to the song that came out in the year 2000.

I see some of us are familiar with it, but not everyone. Let's commit this time to the Lord. Father, we thank you for mothers. What a wonderful gift they are to us. Father, we just magnify your creative intelligence, your genius, to give us mothers to create them. What a beautiful, precious gift they have been to each life here.

Father, as we look at this story of a mother devoted, willing to do whatever it takes for her child. We ask and pray that you would speak into our hearts and bless us. In Jesus' precious name. Amen. Now, Betty M. Moody, she was, uh, an American woman who was married to an Iranian doctor. She wrote the book, not without my daughter, anyone familiar with the book.

It was then made into a movie with Sally Field. Now Betty and her husband, ed, they were living in the United States at the insistence of Ed's family. They decided they would travel to Iran so that his family could meet the girl for the first time, and so they booked the tickets. The plan was for a two week visit.

Upon arrival, they were accepted by his family, but the situation quickly took a turn for the worst. Sayed advised Betty that he'd actually lost his job in the US before they came, and that he planned for them to stay permanently in Iran. Now, this is the early 1980s. It's during the time of the Iran Iraq war.

It's not a place she really wanted to be. Now this has put Betty in a very difficult place. She's completely unfamiliar with the the language. She's completely unfamiliar with the Islamic culture and as an American woman, what they found out, what she found out was that many of her actions towards her husband, towards the family, they actually offended Ed's own family.

She then found out that as the wife of an Iranian, she too had Iranian citizenship along with her daughter. Now, what this meant is she couldn't leave the country without her husband's permission. Not only could she not leave the country, she couldn't even leave the house without his express say so. So here she's, she's in a completely new culture with completely new rules.

Rules which dictate her role as a woman. Now, these roles extend to, you know, when she can go out in public, who she can be seen with in public, and who she can talk to in public. And when she's out in public, she's expected to dress appropriately. At a bare minimum. You wear her head covering, you make sure that your elbows are covered as well as your niece.

Okay? Now this is culture and she's expected to know her place. And if you don't like it. Tough. It's just the way things are. And if you step out of line and go against culture, there could be a consequence. Now, can you see, this is not the life she wants for her or daughter. One day what she does is she sneaks out of the house, okay?

And the husband finds out and he tells her very clearly, he warns her. If you do that again, I'll kill you. And so here she is. She feels trapped and she needs to get out, and she's resolved to do this, but not without my daughter. As the story unfolds, you see the risks that she takes for her child. Now it's, it's quite simple.

She could escape alone and that would be much, much easier. But she doesn't wanna leave her daughter behind. This is not the heart of a mother. And so what Betty Mahdi does is she defies the culture. She defies her husband, and she risks everything for the sake of her child. This is what mothers do. Yes, they will give everything for the sake of their children.

Now we can look at this and think, well, you know, isn't this a bit strange? But we need to understand that culture is endemic to all societies. Every single society has rules and laws that govern how things are. Okay? We have social protocols, which which dictate who can do what. When and how, for example, think of the pre-Civil rights era.

You know, in, in the United States, in the southern states, you've got African Americans. They were expected to know their place, okay? It was clearly marked where they could, you know, go to the toilet, which fountains they can drink from, and where they could sit in the bus. Okay? We all remember the story of Rosa Park.

This is culture, social protocols dictating who you know, based on who you are, what you can do, and when. In Islamic cartoon, Claudia and I, we couldn't walk down the street side by side holding hands. It would be considered shameful. Okay. That's, that's the, that's the, the culture. And when we're in South Sudan, you had men and women had to actually sit on different sides of the church.

Okay? This is culture. You're, you know, you're expected to know your place. Now it seems quite foreign to us here. As I look around, I don't, I see men and women inter intertwined. I remember going into this church thinking, why are women here and men there? That's just the way things are. You're, you're, you're meant to, to know your place and accept it.

Now, reading today needs to be understood in light of this context. It's a story of a woman who defies her culture, a mother who violates the social protocols of her day, and, and a woman who is doggedly determined, you know, and she, she, she, you know, just doesn't accept her place all for the sake of her daughter.

Let's look at our text. In verse 21, Matthew writes, leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of t and sadden. Now straight away, this should set alarm bells ringing. This is where, this is Gentile territory, and if you are Jewish, this is a place you avoid. This is a place that's full of unclean people and it's, you know, just, it's just a place as a, as a Jew, you just avoid.

Now in the story before this, Jesus has had this huge clash with some Pharisees and teachers of the law. They've come down from Jerusalem. They're arguing over issues of clean and unclean. And in Jesus' mind, he, he's thinking, you are not arguing over the law. You are arguing over culture. It's what he calls the rules of men.

And then Jesus tells his disciples, it's not the externals that make people unclean. It's what comes outta the heart that makes us unclean. And then as if to make a point, Jesus then deliberately goes into unclean territory, and it's here that he encounters this desperate mother first. 22, A Canaanite woman.

Whoops. I went one too far. Oh no, that was a map. So you can see just how far he is gone. They've gone from Capernaum all the way up to T. There's side and, and this is in the region of roia. So verse 22, Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him crying out. Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.

Now when you read the Bible, you go to the Old Testament, you'll see Tyra and Sadden. They're known, they're famous for bal worship, okay? These are cities in a region that's denounced continually by the prophets for their pride in their wealth and their power. As a Jew, this is not a place you go, but Jesus goes there deliberately.

And Matthew tells us that he's met by a Canaanite woman. Now, please understand Canaanites didn't exist in the first century. Okay? To call someone a, you know, in Jesus day a Canaanite will be, you know, very similar to, to meeting a Norwegian and calling them a Viking. Okay? That's their history. It's not, you know, part of now.

Mark, when you look in his account calls her a SI ish. Now that's a, that's a term that's more specific to the region, but this term that Matthew uses to describe to her, which is used only at this point in the new New Testament, it's an intentional way of describing her as the enemy, as someone who will defile God's.

People. Remember in the Old Testament. They go into the land. If you meet a Canaanite, what were you expected to do? Kill them. Show them. No mercy. That's what God says, and you can see it here reflected in this woman's statement. Show me mercy. God has said, show them no mercy. Go into the land. Exterminate them all.

And here, this woman, she understands this and she approaches Jesus and she says, Lord, son of David, have mercy. Now, understand for the Jews, there's only three kinds of people in this world. There's us Jews, you know, we're a covenant people. We're chosen, set apart, we're clean. There's our half breed cousins, the Samaritans whom we despised, and then there's the Gentiles, these unclean pagan pig dog, Gentiles.

And so what we have is we have this unclean, defiled woman. She comes up to Jesus crying out, Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. Now think about this. One of the biggest problems Jesus faced was Jewish unbelief. He came to his own, but his own did not receive him. In contrast, we've got this picture of this pagan pig dog, gentle, openly acknowledging him as Lord, son of David.

But you understand what's happening here. She's saying, you are the Messiah. You are the king of the Jews. She sees what most Jewish people do not, and she's there. She's begging him. She's crying out for mercy. Jesus have mercy. My daughter, you know, she's suffering terribly from demon possession. Okay? When you read the gospel, you see what demons do to people.

This is not good. Now three miles north of Seham was a temple that was dedicated to Esman. He was the Phoenician God of healing This woman, she's local. She knows where that temple is. She could go there, but that's not her destination. Instead, she looks to Jesus. Isn't that wonderful? She's a pagan. She doesn't look to a pagan healing God.

Instead, she sees Jesus and she goes to him. And how does Jesus respond? Verse 23. Jesus did not answer a single word. We are speaking here about a desperate woman, a woman who ignores a pagan deity and puts her trust in Jesus, and Jesus says nothing. No, this is a mother of a small girl who's demon possessed.

Heaven only knows what this demon is doing to this, this poor child. Can you imagine how she's feeling as a mother? How would you feel if this was your child? You would be frantic. You'd be consumed by fear. Can you imagine her pain? She's anxious and distressed, and she's met with what? Stone? Cold silence and indifference.

I want to study this passage with a bachelor level class here in Perth. Now, as we read through this, I asked my students, I said This, what do you see right here at this point in the text? They stopped. They reflected, and there was just complete silence. Eventually, it hit one of the female students right between the eyes.

She said, Jesus is rude. He simply ignores her. How do you think this woman felt? How do you feel when, when you are ignored? Have you ever said hi to someone and they look, you know, straight past you? Straight through? How does that make you feel? Do you like being ignored? No. I remember an incident from before, you know, I, I came to faith in Jesus.

I was in the city, in the cbd. I was with my girlfriend. We walked into this very trendy inner city cafe. Now, the guy behind the counter was someone I went to school with, but guess what? I looked at him and I remembered him. I'm thinking, you know, you, you weren't cool. And so when my, my girlfriend, we went to introduce us, I just ignored him.

I didn't say anything. A few weeks later we're out on a Saturday night in Northbridge and I, and I saw this guy, he was wearing a white T-shirt. He'd been into a fight and there was blood all over this T-shirt. And he came up to me, he pointed his finger at me and he said this. He said, I'm not the person I was at school.

You used to pick on me, but I fight back. Now you came into my place and you were rude to me. If you ever disrespect me like that again, it's gonna be your blood on my shirt. I was humbled, something I had to own. Can you see that feelings run high when you ignore someone? I was rude. So what's Jesus doing here?

Most commentaries will say something like this, and I quote, on the surface, Jesus seems to be rejecting her request, but in the larger context it is more likely that he's testing her, waiting for further response. Now, whilst this may be true to some degree, there's so much more, you know, to all this than, than, than just that explanation.

We need to understand the cultural context. Because what this woman has done is in complete violation of social protocol. So think of the first century. Jesus lived in an unashamed culture. It's a culture not too dissimilar from the Islamic culture that Betty Mahmoudi found herself in. Now in an unashamed culture, there are rules that dictate who you can speak to publicly without incurring shame, and most of these rules are based on who was clean and who was unclean and who was clean and unclean is often based on who you were and where you're from.

For example, Jerusalem, the city of God was clean, but the temple was cleaner. And those associated with the temple, the high priests, the members of the Sanhedrin, they would be considered cleaner than someone like Jesus who just works with his hands. Now, Galilee, where Jesus came from that was considered unclean in comparison to Jerusalem, but clean in comparison to Tyra and side.

Now you with me. Jews were clean. Samaritans were unclean, and as for Gentiles, don't even bother. They're completely defiled. Jewish men were cleaner than Jewish women. They're men. That's just the way things are and some Jewish men used to pray. Blessed are you owe God king of the universe who has not made me a gentile.

Blessed are you owe God king of the universe, who has not made me a woman. Hm, okay. That was the culture. That's the way they saw things. I'm a Jewish man. I am clean. I'm cleaner than you as a Jew Jewish woman, but you are cleaner than those pagan pig dog gentiles. I. Now in most unashamed cultures, women are not allowed to publicly initiate conversations with men.

More so if it's a man they're not related to. They should really only speak when spoken to, and some commentators will say Even Jesus' mother is pushing the limits. When she speaks to him at that wedding in Cana, culturally, she's considered inferior to him. Okay? It's basically know your place and speak when spoken to.

Now, in the first century, there was a sect called the Bruised and bleeding Pharisees. Did you get that? A sect within the Pharisees called the bruised and bleeding Pharisees. Now, how did they get this name? They got this name because every time they saw a woman, what would they do? They would cover their eyes, and then they would bump into things, okay?

And all the bruises they had were seen as marks of piety. The worse the bruise, the more bruises you have, the more pious you believe to be. Okay. Even today, ultraorthodox Jew, I could see some ladies needing to breathe that one out. Thank goodness we have a slightly different culture. But even today, ultra Orthodox Jewish men, they're gonna cross the street if they see a non-related Jewish woman approaching them on the same side.

Are you hearing this? Okay. In fact, a few years ago. An ultra orthodox man, he demanded that a non-related Jewish woman not be allowed to sit next to him on a plane. Now, this is something slightly different where a heap of men on the plane, they basically stop the plane from, you know, flying. I'm ultra orthodox stew.

She's a woman. She may be Jewish. That's a good thing, but she's not related. She's not my wife. She has to go. That's the way they think. True. So here we have Jesus. He's a clean man in an unclean place. He's a rabbi. He's a man of high social standing. He's approached by a non-Jewish woman who is unclean in almost every conceivable way.

Culture dictates it, governs that she cannot approach him, and yet here she is, she has the audacity to ask for a favor. Can you see? She clearly doesn't know her place. Culturally, Jesus, what Jesus can do has got several options open to him. Now, given what she's done, he has every right to openly rebuke her and chase her away.

Are you with me? She has no right to approach someone of higher social standing in public like this. And, and basically it's an honor shame culture. She's brought shame upon herself and Jesus, he now has every right to protect himself so that she won't bring any shame upon him. The most gentle response open to Jesus is to treat her as a non-existent person.

Culturally, you can, you know, just act as if she doesn't exist. Give her the silent treatment, pretend she's not there. And so this is what Jesus does. So what we see here is not Jesus being rude. Go online. A lot of people will argue Jesus was rude. He ignored this woman, but that's not what's happening here.

Okay? What we see here from Jesus is the least worst response. He has two options. He can completely, you know, rebuke her, chase her away, or he can treat her as if she's not there. And so he chooses the least worst response. Does this make sense? Let's keep going. Now, think about this woman. She knows the culture and she definitely knows what Jews think of her.

She's Gentile. She knows what these Jewish men think of her, and she knows that in coming before Jesus, she's gonna be hurt and possibly rejected. And so the question is, why go? Why take the risk of being abused and being chased away like a dog? Why would she do this? Because she's a mother, and as a mother, she's got nothing to lose.

Her child is hurting, and as a mother, she's gonna do whatever it takes. And one thing's for sure. She's not gonna take silence, you know, as an answer. She won't accept that. And so she's gonna keep on pushing. And if her pushing is met with silence, she's gonna push some more and she's gonna push until she gets a reaction.

And this is where things get interesting. Look at the response of the disciples in verse 23. Jesus did not answer a single word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, send her away for she keeps crying out after us. Jesus is silent. She is persistent. So what do the disciples do? They complain. They basically say, Jesus, stop ignoring her, rebuke her.

Set a straight sender on her way. And as I've already said, culturally speaking, he's well within his rights to do that, culture allows him to aggressively rebuke her. Just say, be off. Jesus now is faced with a dilemma. His disciples have complained, they've confronted, they've forced the situation. If he ignores them, then he'll be giving them the same treatment he gave her.

They would've made a demand of their master and his refusal to act would leave them embarrassed. We've asked our master to do something and he's not gonna do it. They're gonna be embarrassed, and culturally, they now incur shame. Can you see this? So in a sense, Jesus' hand has been forced. He must now engage this woman to avoid bringing shame upon his disciples.

And so Jesus finally responds to it. Finally responds in verse 24. He answered, I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel. All this time of silence. And finally, this is the response she's getting. She's desperate. She's distraught. My child is at home. Demon possessed Jesus, do something. And this is the first thing he says.

It is like you're still ignoring her request. Yes, you're right. I am the Jewish Messiah, as you say, but I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel. Not you. In other words, go away. Leave us alone. It's, it's kind of a soft rebuke. Can I tell you this woman's not gonna let go without a fight. Her daughter is demon possessed and she's suffering, and she is, you know, she's willing to risk further shame, further abuse, because this is what a mother will do.

Amen. Verse 25, the woman came and knelt before him, understand she's now on her knees. She's now on her knees in public before Jesus, and she says, Lord, help me. She cried. Lord, help me not Lord, help me, but Lord help me do something in public. And people are watching. Are you getting the picture here? She throws herself down on the ground in front of him.

Can I tell you, you don't do this. This is something you do not do on her knees before Jesus. She's seriously violating social protocol and she's bringing down a ton of shame upon herself. Now, could you imagine what people would say if this is where the story ended? They'd say, ah, mom, look, there's that woman.

There's that woman that shamed herself. By kneeling down in front of that, that foreign man, her reputation, her social stand, it'd be destroyed. And she goes out in public and she's facing very real public humiliation. Are you getting this? There's that woman that embarrassed herself thought he could do something.

This is what a desperate mother is prepared to do for a child. Mothers. What wouldn't you be prepared to do for your child?

Now having rebuked her, Jesus can just walk away. You could actually leave her there on her knees. But Jesus responds and understand as a Jewish rabbi, he's inviting shame upon himself just by speaking to her. And then he says something that may seem offensive to us. Verse 26, he replied, it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs.

Who led the dogs out? Who? Who? And that's for those who know the song. A few smiles. Firstly, Jesus meets her with stony silence, and then he kind of says, go away. I'm not here to help you. I'm here for the lost sheep of Israel, and now he's implying that she's a dog. I mean, what's really happening here? I.

You know, when we lived in East Africa, people, people fear dogs. I would walk my dogs. People are so afraid of dogs and that's why we kept them. Here's a picture in the foreground. This is Lupo, and that's boss. Boss was his great big Belgian Shepherd, the most beautiful dog. Beautiful dog, but you come near our property line, he lets off a butt that would scare away a ghost.

Oh, he was fantastic. So they're there in the yard, you know, primarily a security. They're there to protect the property and to, you know, chase away intruders. I can tell you it worked. All the houses around us were burgled, but not us. Okay? Now we keep them primarily for, you know, security, but can I tell you, they're part of the family.

We love those dogs. We doted on them. It was hard to have to rehouse them and come home. They're part of the family, and Africans could never get that. Don't you have, we have enough mouths to feed with all the children and school fees. How can you afford to bring the dogs into the house and feed them as well?

Phillip? You get it? Yeah. Now, here's the thing. When we lived in the middle, you know in if you go to the Middle East, okay, and this happened when we were in Kato, dogs are not treated as pets. Dogs are reviled, okay? When we lived in Kato, you know it's Islamic, north Africa. Dogs are treated with contempt.

Okay. Most locals won't keep them, but what you would see is a lot of packs of wild dogs roaming the streets, and what people do is they'll throw a stone at that dog or they'll kick them. That's what you do as a good Muslim if you see an unclean animal coming near you. Now there's different words in the Greek language for dogs.

Jewish people would call Gentiles dogs using this first term Kuan. Okay, so it's a derogatory term. It's used to refer to unspiritual people or unclean animals. And as I've already said, the Jews thought of Gentiles as pagan pig dogs. This is the word they would use. The word Jesus used here in conversation with this woman was a different word ion.

Okay? It's a word that refers to a little dog or like a, a pet dog, a puppy, a lap dog. Okay. Jews would never use this word of Gentiles. Okay? So understand that it's a word that refers to a dog that is kept as part of the household. Like we would keep our dogs in Uganda. So contrary to what some people think, Jesus here is not insulting her or being racist towards her.

Go online, you're gonna find a heap of stuff. Was saying Jesus was, was racially abusing her, he was insulting her. He was basically calling her a BIT. I won't finish the rest of the word, but that's not what's happening here.

She understands this, and her response bears this out. She plays along with this metaphor that Jesus uses. Verse 27, yes Lord, she said, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table. Now understand what's happening here. Jesus deliberately creates this picture of a household where children have, you know, the first offer of the food that's on the table.

If the wife prepares a meal, you don't first give it to the dogs in our house in Uganda. If we've got some leftovers, they get it because they're part of the household, but they don't get to sit at my, my table eating our food with us. Okay? That's the way things work. And so she understands that Jesus is creating this picture of a household.

The children have first offer of the food on the table, and she understands that Jesus is speaking here metaphorically about the Jewish people and the blessings of God's kingdom and how those blessings are first and foremost for them. But she also understands that Jesus doesn't, you know, refer to her as a wild dog who's completely cut off and you know who's left to roam the streets, scavenging for scraps.

She knows that he deliberately referred to her as a household pet that gets to sit under the master's table and feast on the crumbs, which fall. And he's doing this as if to tease out a faith and in response she says, yes, Lord, even the crumbs of the blessings of God's kingdom are enough for me. That's all I need because if it comes from God, then that is enough for me.

At this. Yes, you're first for Israel. Yes. The blessings of the kingdom are first for you and your people, but if you call me this name, it shows that I'm someone that can come be part of the house and get what falls from the master's table and the crumbs of the blessings of God's kingdom are even enough for me.

They're from God. They're enough for me, and Jesus is like, wow. All he's done is encountered wave upon wave of Jewish unbelief and he exclaims woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted and Matthew writes, her daughter was healed from that very hour. Can you see what's happened here? This woman knows that culturally should ne, she should never have come and spoken to Jesus.

And even though the disciples ask Jesus to send her away, she keeps persisting because this is what a mother will do for her child. And even though it seems that all she's gonna get from Jesus is the cold shoulder, what she does is she humbles herself and she engages Jesus on his terms. I. Just a scrap of blessing, Lord, just a scrap.

That's all I need. The riches of God's kingdom may be for you, but I'm willing just to receive a scrap and that scrap is all I need. Can I tell you this reflects the pattern we see throughout scripture. God always responds to those who come in faith. Amen. You come with even a mustard seed of faith. God always responds to those who come in faith, even the wrong people.

And you see this so well in the story of Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute, a mother who's willing to risk her life for the sake of her family. And and what does scripture remember her as? As a prostitute, as from the wrong people? No, as a person of faith, history remembers her as a person of faith and celebrates that.

God never sends away those who come in faith. He honors them. He earnestly rewards those who seek after him. Now think about everything. This woman has done her life at stake. She knows that as a woman, she has no, no business approaching a man. She doesn't know, okay? Jesus is this unmarried Jewish man. She shouldn't have any form of contact, you know, with him.

And he with her, okay? And they certainly shouldn't be having a religious discussion. For them to interact in any way would be to incur shame. And this is what the disciples understand, and that's why they demand that Jesus rebuke this, this woman and send her away. But if he refuses, not only do they look foolish, they would've dishonored their master and bought shame upon themselves, but I want us to get this.

Jesus honors them by granting their request, and that's the whole social dynamics at play here. But for this woman, she, she's not gonna settle for the rebuke. And so this leads her and Jesus into a conversation, a conversation that culturally brings shame upon him. Okay? The, the bruised and bleeding Pharisees, they would've been disgusted to see him speaking with a pagan woman, okay?

For them, this entire interaction is scandalous. How dare a rabbi speak with a, you know, such a lowly, unclaimed person? And so in the end, Jesus not only engages with this woman, he honors her by granting her request and healing her, her daughter. Think about this. He honors his disciples. He honors this woman.

Jesus is the only person in this entire scene who is left incurring any form of shame. And this, and this is why this scene is a picture of the gospel. Are you getting this? This scene is a picture of the gospel. God enters our world. He meets us in our own cleans. He takes on our shame and in exchange he honors us.

The only person in this whole story left carrying any form of social shame was Jesus. He honored the, the disciples. He honored this woman and he alone incurs all the shame. This is why commentators will say, this is a picture of the gospel. Are you with me? Are you with me? It's a beautiful story. God enters our world, meets us, and takes our shame.

We're gonna close by sharing communion. And I want us to reflect on the way in which our sin leads to shame. And I want us to think about what God has done about that. Every single one of us here, our personal story is the story of Adam, we sin. And what does sin leave us feeling? Do you feel good when you sin?

Sin leaves us feeling naked and ashamed. And so we do what Adam did and we hide 'cause this is what shame does. Shame drives us outwards. Yeah, inward, sorry. Shame has this way of causing us to stop and reflect inwards, and instead of looking outward and upward to God, we look inward with disgust. Shame leaves us feeling worthless, like we're not good enough.

That we are defective. That we are broken without repair, beyond repair. And shame has this way of leaving us stuck. Now, every week around the communion table, we're reminded of the cross. The message of the cross is that Jesus just didn't take our sins. He also bore our shame. Hebrews chapter 12, verse two says, for the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross scorning at shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We remember crucifixion, it's a shameful death. The victim is publicly humiliated. They're stripped naked, they're stripped of their dignity. Yet Jesus willingly bore. He didn't avoid our shame. He faced it. He carried it, and he conquered it. He did all of this so that we wouldn't have to carry it anymore.

Today when we take the bread in the cup, let's remember Jesus didn't only die for our sins. He died to remove that barrier of shame that keeps us from God. You don't have to run away anymore. You don't have to look inwards with disgust. You can look to Jesus, you can look to the cross. You can look to your loving heavenly Father in Jesus.

We're made whole. We're made clean. Sin may leave us feeling unworthy and broken beyond repair, but the cross shows us that we are deeply, deeply loved

Today as we take communion, let's come not hiding our shame. Let's confess it and let's hand it over. Let's leave our shame at the cross knowing that Jesus has already taken it. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your deep and unfailing love. Thank you for sending Jesus. Thank you that he came not only to carry our sin, but also to carry our shame. Father, when we felt unworthy, you called us worthy. God, when we hi in darkness, you brought us into light. Jesus, you endured the cross scorning at shame so that we could stand free before the Father, that we could come before him with confidence cleansed and restored.

Jesus, we thank you that we're no longer, uh, defined by our past or burdened by guilt. We walk in grace and dignity that you've given us. Holy Spirit, thank you for making us new. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. If I could ask those who are distributing the.