Praise the Lord for this new day. It is Friday, and Sunday is coming. Those of you who live in the region join us for our Friday Evening TV outreach this evening at 7 PM on Time Warner Cable channel 4.
FEB. 11, 2012 Saturday at First UMC, Endicott:
One of our ministry teams will be preparing serving a Friendship dinner tomorrow at noon at the First United Methodist Church, Endicott.
I attended a service of death and Resurrection for a woman of faith yesterday. The service was held in a one room Presbyterian Church near Montrose, PA. This beautiful woman died at the age of 92. She loved the Lord and served Him , faithfully. She taught Sunday in that one room church for 50 years. She was a faithful and fruitful member of the little church for 81 years. She had baked thousands of pies in her life time serving and blessing others in the life of the church. While sharing a meal after the service I ran into one of the saints of the church, whom I had last seen in 1979. She was one of the former days saints of the church I first served in the 70's. Her husband was a school administrator. She taught music, and also served as the church pianist and organist at one of the first churches I served. It was great joy to see her. She and her husband are now retired but keep on serving the Lord in this tiny church where the Lord performs big miracles. How blessed we are to be part of His glorious church.
I have been blessed in my life with so many beautiful women of faith, including my mom, my wife, my daughters, and so many friends around the world.
In Matthew 15:21 we read about the faith of a Canaanite woman. As a matter of fact, it tells about the "great faith" of this Canaanite woman. This would not be such a big deal if Jesus went around applying this compliment loosely, but this woman was unique in two ways. She was the only Gentile woman,according to Matthew's Gospel, whose faith was commended, so that Jesus healed her daughter, and she is the only person Jesus said had "great faith." When we compare that with the five times he reminded the disciples of their "little faith," we can understand how unique she was. The Canaanite woman, whose name we never hear, had a daughter whom she describes as "cruelly possessed by a demon." We don't know exactly what this meant, but it easily could have meant she was afflicted with violently insane behavior, like the man who lived among the tombs in Matthew 8, or that she had terrible seizures, like the boy who often fell into the fire in Matthew 17. Whatever her symptoms, her mother was desperate for her to be healed - to be free from this terrible state. Her desperation led to hope - not hope in the folk cures and remedies she probably had tried before, not hope in the best medical advice of the day, but hope in the God of Israel, hope in the Messiah, God's Chosen One.
This hope led to a faith without shame. Many times we can be afraid to let our faith be known. Sometimes we don't want to stand out; sometimes we just want to be polite and not "talk religion." Sometimes we just don't want the added scrutiny that comes when people realize we're followers of Jesus Christ. This woman was different; she lived out a faith that came from having nothing left to lose, a desperate faith. She approached this band of disciples and their leader, Jesus. Shescreamed out to them from a distance, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David!" She didn't just shout, she screamed, her cries as desperate as the faith she had that Jesus was the One who could make a difference. She didn't care that the disciples would not approve. She didn't care, even as a woman approaching a group of strange men, that she would stand out like a sore thumb. She didn't care about the things that often make us ashamed. She had the faith of a desperate mother - a faith without shame.
This woman's faith should make us think about our own. Is our faith only known when we reach the point of desperation? Does our faith rise out of a confidence that Jesus is the only One who can bring meaning to our lives, the only One who can bring true spiritual and emotional healing, the only One to whom our lives are worth devoting? Or, is our faith just a casual thing we do because it's expected? The Canaanite woman's faith was without shame because she knew Jesus was her only hope and she didn't care what others expected.
She cried out, but Jesus didn't say a word. There was complete silence. At this point, the disciples were probably more than a little uncomfortable. She then demonstrated the true measure of her faith. Not only did she have faith without shame, but her faith was without fear. She was not afraid of Jesus or the disciples. She threw herself down at Jesus' feet in total worship. With nothing to lose, she showed a relentless dependence on Jesus. Without shame and without fear, she fell at Jesus' feet and asked again, "Lord, help me." Do we show this level of utter devotion, or are we afraid to pray and ask God something because we might be told no? This woman didn't let Jesus' lack of response stop her.
Not only had she a faith without shame or fear, but she also showed a faith that wouldn't quit. As she bowed down at Jesus' feet, He told her something very strange. He said, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." Both the disciples and the woman understood Jesus to be saying in effect: It isn't good to take the blessing meant for Israel and give it to the Gentiles. The woman's response was bold and unexpected as she said, "Jesus, master, as always You're right, but even the dogs eat from the crumbs that fall off the master's table." In other words, on her face in worship at the feet of Jesus the woman was saying, "Lord, I know Your blessings are for the entire world. I know Your blessing is so great that I'll gladly take the leftovers and be satisfied." At this final response from the woman whose faith won't quit, I can imagine the scene. Jesus' serious face broke into a smile; He reached down, grabs her by the hands, helped her off her feet, looked her in the eye and said, "Great is your faith woman, your daughter is healed!" May God grant us such faith, a faith so great that it won't give up even in the face of uncertainty, a faith so great that it seeks Jesus Christ relentlessly, a faith so great that it believes God's blessings are too big for one nation, a faith so great that it never quits. May God grant us the faith of a woman who had nowhere else to turn except to worship at Jesus' feet.
In Christ,
Brown
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Praise and Worship Service
First United Methodist Church, Endicott .
Sponsored by Union Center UMC
6 PM Gathering - Coffee - Fellowship
6:30 PM Worship
Music: Laureen Naik
Speaker: Brown Naik
FEB. 11, 2012 Saturday at First UMC, Endicott:
5:30 PM - Special Banquet prepared by Joe Walker
6:30 PM Hymn Sing with Aric Phinney at the Grand Piano and Yancey Moore at the Great Organ.
FEB. 4 & 5:
Saturday, February 4, The Movie “Courageous” will be shown at First United Methodist Church, 53 McKinley Ave., Endicott (Doors open at 5:30)
Sunday, February 5, it will be shown at Union Center UMC (doors open at 2:00).
As vividly illustrated in COURAGEOUS, the impact of fathers in the lives of their children is immense. This powerful film has been the starting point for a movement of fathers creating a legacy of Godly families. A free will offering will benefit the youth retreat in April.
