God's Last Words

“Fringe Benefits”

MARK 7: 24-37

A Math teacher poses the following problem to one of his classes:“A wealthy man dies and leaves ten million dollars. One-fifth is to go to his daughter, one-fifth is to go to his son, one-sixth to his brother, and the rest to his wife. Now, what does each get?”

After a long silence in the classroom, Joe raises his hand and says, “A lawyer?”

And then this one: Married for many years, Paul had been ignored by his wife, Liz, for some days, so eventually he confronted her with what he perceived as the problem.

“Come on Liz, admit it,” he ranted, “You only married me because my granddad left me $60 million, didn't you?” “You really are silly, Paul,” retorted Liz loudly, “I couldn't care less who left it to you.”

Each of us is aware of the fringe benefits we can receive from jobs like health insurance, vacation and sick pay, and the like. Other things have fringe benefits as well; finding out that your spouse has a special cooking talent or has an ability that benefits your family in some way. Or having a family member that travels because of their job and discovering they can use their earned travel miles for family vacations and such.

Things that yield unintentional positive consequences or opportunities you might not have had – being a food caterer and getting to bring home the quality left-overs, you get the idea.

Now fringe benefits are not those things we manipulate others into giving us, or that we demand, but are those things we get because of something else - they are gifts of grace.

It’s only fair that on Labor Day weekend we discuss the fruits of “labor.” Human values say we that we must expect to earn something for the work we do. God’s values say that we must produce “fruit” in gratitude for the grace He freely gives to us. Two opposite ideas that suggest the idea of labor

Let’s hear our Gospel lesson for today, from Mark 7: 24-37:

From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there.

Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin.

She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 

But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 

He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 

Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

The Book of Romans tells us that the wage of sin is death. Paul tells us we are under the sentence of death for violating God’s law because we are unclean in God’s eyes.

Mark uses the Greek word for food in this passage of “chortazō” (klor-ta-zo), which means to fill or satisfy men and/or to fulfill or satisfy the desire of any one.

In the Decapolis, a heavily pagan area, Jesus clearly commands the Heavens be opened to those who are, or were previously, i.e. gentiles and/or pagans, those who can be considered deaf and dumb in God’s Kingdom.

This passage shows us that God, and Jesus, are now including gentiles, that is, people who are not of Jewish birth or religious ritual, have now been adopted into God’s Kingdom as well. In saving the Jewish people, the gentiles get Grace as a fringe benefit, albeit via an analogy that is not without some humor.

The Book of Titus (2: 11-1, HCSB), says it this way: For the grace of God has appeared with salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his quilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.

The judge asked, "Guilty, or not guilty?" When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, "That'll be ten dollars -- a dollar for every mile you went over the limit."

Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said. "The fine must be paid--but I am going to pay it for you."

He took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! "That," said Billy Graham, "is how God treats repentant sinners!" Kind of a nice fringe benefit for speeding?

Charles Spurgeon and Joseph Parker both had churches in London in the 19th century. On one occasion, Parker commented on the poor condition of children admitted to Spurgeon's orphanage, and how hard they were to care for.

It was reported to Spurgeon however, that Parker had criticized the orphanage itself. Spurgeon blasted Parker the next week from the pulpit. The attack was printed in the newspapers and became the talk of the town.

People flocked to Parker's church the next Sunday to hear his rebuttal. "I understand Dr. Spurgeon is not in his pulpit today, and this is the Sunday they use to take an offering for the orphanage. I suggest we take a love offering here instead." The crowd was delighted. The ushers had to empty the collection plates 3 times.

Later that week there was a knock at Parker's study. It was Spurgeon. "You know Parker, you have practiced grace on me. You have given me not what I deserved, you have given me what I needed.

God love is such that He gives us not what we deserve, but what we need. It is the ultimate fringe benefit of God’s grace and Jesus’ sacrifice.

While we never hear again about the Syrophoenecian woman and her daughter, or the man who was a deaf-mute, we may assume they went forth with lives changed by the Grace of God, accepting the fringe benefits of His Kingdom.

Amen.