I don't know why but for the longest time I never thought of Jesus getting tired. Silly of me I suppose, but I kind of thought of him, in the brief time his ministry was going to last, going at it full tilt until the end. Stopping to pray, of course. But not going away, taking a break, not wanting anyone to know he was there. But now I get it.

I was at Wendy's the other day. I was tired. I needed to get away from the phone and the other interruptions and just have some quiet time with this gospel text and my fries. As I approached the line a man waiting to get his food gave me the kind of friendly welcome you usually get from someone you know. I'm usually pretty good with faces and thought that I had met him somewhere but couldn't place him. Turns out that he didn't know me either. He was just being friendly. Long story short, after asking about what I was reading, whether or not I was a pastor, and questions about the Episcopal church, he left. Next time... I'll need to find another place to get away and escape notice. Sometimes a person just needs a break.

Anyway, Jesus flew under the radar to a private house and most likely had just sat down in the BarcaLounger® with his feet up and was sipping some sweetened ice tea when there was a knock on the door. What now? Can't this poor guy catch a break?

In walked a Gentile, a Syrophoenician woman who bowed at his feet. Right away we know that this might not end well. Jews and Syrophoenicians had bad blood going way back. She told Jesus about her beloved daughter and how she had this unclean spirit inside her. Let me say, regardless of what we think of demonic possession, something was obviously desperately wrong with her daughter. Jesus responded to her request like an exhausted person might. Grumpy Jesus said about the nastiest thing he could to this woman. While his attacks on hypocritical religious authorities (and sometimes his own disciples) were often of this nature, Jesus was remarkably patient with the lay people with whom he came into contact. He said, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs" (Mark 7:27). Though it's possible that Jesus was pointing to and referring to a domesticated dog lying at his feet, the Hebrews found dogs in general to be utterly disgusting scavengers. So Jesus could have been saying here that a filthy, disgusting dog is more deserving of care than this woman's daughter. It's interesting to note that even the most critical of scripture scholars would agree that Jesus spoke those words since Mark included them even though they did not cast Jesus in the best light.

The woman could have run away in tears. She might have had a shred of dignity left and said, "Thank you, anyway." Instead she stood her ground. Nothing, not even this rude prophet, was going to stand in the way of getting help for her beloved daughter. You recall how she responded to his name calling, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." In other words, I'll gladly take leftovers. In fact, she seemed to be saying with great faith, that leftovers would be enough to make her daughter whole again. And then Jesus, without touching her daughter, without laying his eyes or hands on her, and it seems, without even looking up to heaven to pray, pronounced the woman's daughter healed. And she was.

The Syrophoenician woman's story and Jesus' response reminds me to pray always and not give up hope. It reminds me of the lament psalms in the Hebrew scriptures which have the person asking why God is failing to act and then reminding God of what God's job is, all with faith that the psalmist's request will be honored. I am also reminded that I cannot dictate what kind of healing is to take place. While I may want someone's cancer to go away, or a couple to work out their differences and restore their marriage, the healing that takes place may be subtler. It may be that the ones I'm praying for are handed a closer walk with God or peace. In some cases they may receive the ultimate healing of life forever with God.

It looked like Jesus wasn't going to get much rest in Tyre and so he and his companions packed up and moved on and were, once again, joined by the crowd. On their way some people came up to Jesus and interceded for a fellow who could not speak because he was deaf and had a speech impediment. They begged Jesus to help their poor friend. Jesus took him away in private, which, I think, was a good thing, since the gestures he was going to use to heal this man were disgusting. Tough to stomach, you might say. He put his fingers in the man's ears. So far, so good. But then he spat and touched the guy's tongue. We assume that Jesus didn't just spit like a major league ball player between pitches. He spat on his fingers before touching his tongue. Why? We'll never know but again, it is likely the action he took and not one made up by Mark. Jesus looked up to heaven. Here is the prayer that seemed to be missing in the first healing story, "Be opened." Mark included the words in Jesus' native tongue. We'll never know why he chose to do that. Instantly the man was healed. The gospel reports that he "spoke plainly." I suspect more accurately that the man shouted, "Yahoo!"

Jesus tried to keep everyone quiet about this healing. Again, we don't know why but we can make a couple of educated guesses. Maybe he was still exhausted and was concerned that every sick person in the territory was going to rush over to be healed. Perhaps he did not want his ministry to be about healing but rather about proclaiming and bringing about the reign of God. In the end it did not matter since, despite Jesus' orders, they told the world "he has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak" (Mark 7:37).

In those two stories it is a third party who asked Jesus to help. Same thing with you and me. We are often asked by people to pray for others. In our bulletin we have nearly a hundred names of people who have requested our prayers. And, I know, we all say that we will do just that. But even the most well meaning of us tend to forget over time. So here are a couple of suggestions. When we say that we will pray for someone, make sure we get his or her name. It sounds obvious but I can't tell you how many times I've been asked to pray for someone's relative and failed to get their name. I know that God knows, but I still want the prayer to be personal. Start a prayer journal even it it's on the back of an envelope you keep on your person. If you have a smart phone or tablet there are free prayer apps that can help us remember to pray and remember what we are praying for. Then set aside some time each day to remember them in prayer. Stand in the long line of those who have brought people to Jesus for help, from the Syrophoenician woman to the anonymous folks who brought the deaf man who was unable to speak.

Pray and then let God be God. Let God decide in what form the healing will be. Amen.