Offensive Faith
A quick preview of this week's message on one of the hard sayings of Jesus
One of the interesting aspects of working through the Scriptures in the Revised Common Lectionary for each Sunday is that you occasionally have to deal with some texts that sound a bit harsh to modern ears. Years ago, New Testament scholar F.F. Bruce wrote a book titled The Hard Sayings of Jesus, to which we might respond, “Is there any other kind?” Jesus had a tendency to say some things that might cause us to wince, and this week’s gospel lesson is one of those incidents. The story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28 leaves us wondering if Jesus is being a bit offensive in his response to her. If we look deeper, however, we find that what he’s actually doing is drawing out a more “offensive” faith in her and in us. Join us this Sunday as we look at this “hard saying” and what it means to take the offense when it comes to seeking God’s best for us.
Jeff and I get into this in a bit more detail as we preview all of the Scripture texts for this Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost in this week’s podcast:
This week’s texts: Genesis 45:1-15; Psalm 133; Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15:10-28
What does it really mean to have faith? In this episode of The Aldersgate Experience, Pastors Bob Kaylor and Jeff Markey explore some of Scripture's most challenging passages and discover a common thread: faith is more than simply believing—it is actively pursuing God, trusting Him through adversity, and refusing to give up. From Joseph forgiving the brothers who betrayed him to the Canaanite woman who refused to stop pursuing Jesus, these stories reveal a resilient, persistent faith that trusts God even when circumstances don't make sense. They also wrestle with difficult questions about suffering, God's purposes, forgiveness, and the boundaries of His grace. What happens when we stop treating faith as passive belief and start living it as an active pursuit of God?