Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Mark 7: 24

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. ²⁵ But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. ²⁶ Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ And he said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." ²⁸ But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." ²⁹ And he said to her, "For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter." ³⁰ And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. ³¹ Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. ³² And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. ³³ And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. ³⁴ And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." ³⁵ And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶ And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷ And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. (Mar　7:24　ESV)

Charles Dickens writes in the novel The Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…." How interesting, the best of times and the worst of times at the same time. We can relate to the worst of times. We saw loss of life and property in our region from the tornados a little more than year ago, the worst of times. The storm damage and flooding in the coastal communities from hurricane Isaac, the worst of times. Shoulder surgeries, bad reports from oncologists, family problems, the worst of times. I’m not so sure we see the best of times. In our text today, we have a tale of two cities, where, here too, it was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Walk with me as we follow Jesus through these two cities and I promise this story will give us a glimpse of how to live in this "tale of two cities."

In a gentile city in the region of Tyre and Sidon, we find a woman; Mark tells us she is Syrophoenician by birth, a Gentile woman. News that the man named Jesus had slipped into the city was traveling fast. As you can imagine, news about someone that can heal people spreads quickly. The woman was one of the first to hear. She went to the house Jesus slipped into, and fell at His feet. The woman presents Jesus with her worst of times, her demon possessed daughter. Put yourself in her place, can you imagine what she is thinking? I’ve heard of this Jesus, he has healed people. I believe he can help my daughter. I can’t imagine things being any worse.

She put herself in the most humble position possible; she is kneeling at Jesus feet and she is begging Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. She is at her worst and I’m sure she didn’t think it could get any worse. Then, Jesus spoke; "Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs." This doesn’t sound good, and seems like things just got worse. What exactly did Jesus say here? He said that he came to bring salvation, the bread, to the Jews, the children, and that it is not time for the Gentiles, the dogs. He is not willing to change his mission to the children of Israel for a Gentile woman. He was sent by the Father to fulfill the covenant with the children of Israel. Yep, things just got worse for the woman. Jesus just told her He wouldn’t heal her daughter because she was a Gentile. The woman humbles herself even more and accepts her position as a dog, or Gentile, and accepts the secondary position of the Gentiles to the Jews like a family pet to the children yet; she is filled with hope as she makes her statement of faith. The woman had faith in the midst of the extremes, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. She shows faith by reasoning with Jesus that she is willing to take the crumbs that fall from the table because as a household pet, she is at least in the household. She expresses her faith that she is a member of the believers and therefore, she is willing to be secondary because the crumbs of Jesus are enough. Can a person go any lower? Can it get any worse? She has assumed the most humble position, begged for healing, accepted the position of a dog. In the face of all the terrible things around her she is at peace with her place because she has faith that there is still room for her and her daughter, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Jesus recognizes that her faith has made her a member of His kingdom. She has faith greater than the Pharisees; she understands what Jesus is teaching. He acknowledges, because she is a member of the kingdom He has granted her request.

She went home and found her daughter without the demon; he didn’t even need to see her. She was in the darkness of a demon-possessed daughter, the worst of times, at the same time God worked faith in Jesus Christ and His saving relationship, the best of times. Faith lives in the best and worst of times.

Down the road a ways, in the region of Decapolis near the Sea of Galilee there was a man, a deaf and dumb man. This is another Gentile region and another Gentile, a tale of two regions. Jesus had been in this area before and the crowd asked Him to leave after He cast demons by the name of Legion into a large heard of pigs and the pigs ran down a steep bank into the sea and drowned. This story had circulated and the people knew who Jesus was. They heard Jesus was in their town. They know of the deaf and dumb man. He can’t hear and he can’t speak well, this sure seems like the worst of times, doesn’t it. The people gather to take the deaf man to Jesus. They have faith in Jesus to heal him; it was the best of times.

The deaf man is pretty anxious, after all, he had no idea what was happening. So, Jesus takes him aside to provide some privacy. He looks in his eyes with such compassion; he really cares about him. He comforts his anxiety with just the look. How is Jesus going to communicate with him? How would you communicate with a deaf person today? Right, sign language. Let’s see what Jesus does. He puts His fingers in his ears and touches his tongue. This looks like sign language to me. What is he communicating? He is saying, I’m going to heal your ears and your tongue but at the same time He is saying so much more. He is physically becoming the word of God to him by communicating with him and generating faith in the deaf man. While Jesus is still standing in front of him, he looks to heaven and says what is interpreted as, "Be opened." Suddenly his ears were opened and his tongue is released and he can speak plainly. He is healed! The miracle is the story but the message is Jesus communicating God’s Kingdom to the deaf man, it was the best of times.

Jesus turns and tells everyone not to tell anyone, remember this was a Gentile region. Jesus was sent to be the savior for the children of Israel. It wasn’t time for the Gentiles yet. Through this miracle, Jesus shows that faith is not a tool to gain a miracle, the miracle points to faith as a trusting relationship with Him. Jesus reveals a community of Christ through this miracle. Their faith brought the man to Jesus to be healed and Jesus worked faith in the man that was in the worst of times and as a result healed him. Faith lives in the best and worst of times.

In both stories, Jesus works to bring forth faith in troubled times. In the first story, He strengthens the faith of the woman living in hell on earth with a daughter possessed with a demon. She held on to the faith in Jesus even during her troubled times. Her terrible situation and her faith through that troubled time, is both the best of times and the worst of times at the same time. In the second story, Jesus not only heals the man, He also communicates to him the kingdom of God. Unlike the first story where the person healed wasn’t present, Jesus physically becomes the word of God to this man and touches him while He healed him. For the man, it was the worst of times when he was deaf and dumb and it was the best of times, as he became part of the kingdom of God. For the community, it was the worst of times when they were merely Gentiles, lost and it was the best of times when Jesus revealed the community of God known as the kingdom through His miracle. God is there in our troubled times too. Hebrew 13:5 records, "[Jesus] will never leave you or forsake you." We discover God in our personal and difficult struggles. Most of our struggles are caused by our sinfulness. Our sinfulness is the worst of times. God works to bring forth faith even in our sinfulness, you see Christ’s death and resurrection has conquered sin and death and he lives, the best of times!

Christ’s death and resurrection brings us to a tale of two worlds. Here in this world we struggle and suffer with broken bones, cancer, death. These are truly the worst of times! God has promised that in all things God works for the good. We don’t know what that good is nor can we guess but we do know there is good. Through Christ’s conquering of sin and death, nothing in this world has power over us. Christ wins; this is the best of times! In all these struggles and pain God is with us and has defeated anything this world can bring. This brings us to the second world, the New Jerusalem, the new heaven and the new earth. We have the hope that God will bring us to the new heaven and the new earth after he raises us from the dead. Eternal life is the gift, the best of times. Herbert Brokering writes in Thine the Amen, Thine the Praise that in the kingdom the justice of His ways is explained. Until then we must trust in His promise, if God is for us who can be against us. In our Tale of Two Cities, Jesus’ word pointed to faith as a saving relationship with Him by revealing the people of God in an individual in the first city and a community in the second city. We look with hope to the best city, the New Jerusalem, By comparison, the sinful fallen world lives in the worst of times and the New Jerusalem is the best of times. We have faith and hope that one day we will be in the best of times. Faith lives in the best and worst of times. Amen