LIFE IS A ZOO
THE DOG
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 15:21-28
JULY 25, 2004
In Edinburgh, Scotland today, there is a cemetery called Greyfriars Church Yard. In that cemetery, there is a monument to a dog named Bobby. Bobby was a little sky terrier. Bobby’s master died 146 years ago, in the year 1858. Bobby was only two years old when his master died. This little sky terrier was there at the funeral service and after the funeral service, he did not leave the church yard but remained on the grave of his master. This continued day-after-day, week-after-week, year-after-year for 14 years. The dog only left the gravesite to go and eat. There was a restaurant owner not too far away that fed the dog. The dog went twice a day to be fed. The rest of the time, day and night, the dog remained on the grave of its master until they found this little dog, 14 years later, dead on the very place where his master was buried. The monument is there in Greyfriars Church Yard, a testament to Greyfriars’ Bobby, this sky terrier who had such loyalty, love, and affection for his master.
You might think, “Well, that’s got to be really unusual,” but in Tokyo, Japan, there’s a monument there to a dog that was named Hotchi. This dog would go with her master to the train station every day and then would wait there at the train station until evening came and her master came back. One day her master died. The day after her master died, Hotchi went back down to the train station and stayed there until she died ten years later. They built a monument there for her loyalty, love, and affection. There’s a monument in Canada to a collie named King that had an 8-year vigil by the grave of his master as well.
Dogs can be incredibly loyal, very affectionate, very loving. Of course, not all dogs are the same. Maybe your dog will dance on your grave or maybe your dog will put you there. Maybe you’ve got a really mean Rottweiler or Doberman. But of course even most Rottweilers and Dobermans are loyal to their masters and at least loving and affectionate towards them. Dogs are amazing animals. But there’s no one that has a better dog than Barb and I have. Our dog is such a help for us, particularly on Sunday mornings. I want you to see this little clip.
“I love Sunday mornings. The Dixons don’t realize that without me, they would never make it to church on time. That’s why I’m the dog. That’s what we’re going to be talking about today, the dog. That’s right! We’re talking about Life is a Zoo and I’m a dog. I’m a dog. Come on, Mom. Okay. Okay. Now we need to get Dad together. We need to get some breakfast. We need to get moving. Okay. Okay. I’m going to get Dad. Life is a zoo! Life is a zoo! All right, so we have breakfast. There we go. Yes! Iams! I can’t read. I’m a dog. Okay, I’m a dog, I’m a little dog and I love to eat breakfast. Let’s move it! Let’s go! Time to go to church. Where’s Dad? Dad? Dad? Okay! Hey! Nice sandals. What we need to do now is rehearse. So, rehearse everybody. Life is a zoo! Life is a zoo! Dad, eat your breakfast! Move it! All right, thanks Mom. I love your pants. They’re sparkly. They make me dizzy, especially when I run around you like this. Ohhhhhh goodness gracious!
“The Bible verse for today is… no wait… I’m so distracted… Okay, we can do this. We need to focus. Let’s go. Let’s go. We need to go now! Okay, guys, I’ll work with you. You work with me. Okay, you drive. Shotgun! Here I go! Whoop-de-doo. Life is a zoo! Okay, Dad, let’s go. We need to move it, folks. Come on, Pop! The window is open. I’m going to fall out! Okay. I know where to go. No time to wait. Put down the donut and let’s go. Okay. Okay. Come on, Mom! I love your sandals. Follow me down the aisle! We’re going to go down here. Okay. Somebody’s got an M&M. Oh, I can smell it. Now what I’m going to do is I’m going to sit up front so that you can always see me. No one ever sees me. This is perfect. This one right here. Okay, sit me down. Okay. Okay, there’s Dad. It’s his time now. Don’t worry about me. What we need to do now is just relax. Everyone relax! It’s go time. It’s go time!”
This is our dog. Her name is Puddin’. She’s a Yorkshire Terrier, Yorkshire Puddin’. Of course, she is one of the best dogs in the world. You know, it is true though, isn’t it? I think a lot of people really do love their dogs. And dogs are amazingly affectionate, loving, and loyal. And yet I hate to disappoint you, but in the Bible dogs are rarely mentioned in a positive way. I mean, it’s dogs who lick the blood out of Ahab’s chariot. It’s dogs who devour the flesh from the bones of the wicked Jezebel.
The dog is mentioned metaphorically in the Bible, and dog is really used in a negative way when used metaphorically because dogs were considered unclean animals in Israel. Of course, in Israel in the time of Christ, and even today, dogs are rarely kept as household pets. This is true throughout much of the Middle East today and even parts of Asia. Some people would rather eat a dog than pet one. This is simply true. In biblical times, dogs were rarely kept in the house. They would sometimes come in like vacuum cleaners to kind of take the crumbs from the dirt and from the straw. Most of the dogs lived in packs. They were semi-wild. They ate the garbage and the refuse on the outside or on the outskirts of town.
So, this was the image of a dog. When you call somebody a dog, it could mean two things. First of all, in the Bible, dog is often used as a racial slur. In the Bible that is how the word dog is sometimes used. In the Jewish culture it was a racial slur. So, we come to this difficult passage of scripture that we have this morning where Jesus takes a journey with His disciples and they travel out of Israel. They leave their country and they go to a foreign land. They go to the Coast of Phoenicia. They go to Tyre and Sidon, which were cities sometimes controlled by Syria.
There, even in this foreign land, Jesus is known as Messiah and this Canaanite woman approaches Christ. The Canaanites were the ancient enemies of the Jews. This Canaanite woman comes up to Christ and His disciples and she’s desperate. She says, “Have mercy on me, oh Lord, son of David, for my daughter is severely possessed of the demon.” Jesus gives her the silent treatment. He answers her not a word, so she begins to kind of bug the disciples and plead with them and plead with Christ.
Finally, the disciples come to Jesus and they say, “Send her away! She’s crying after us.” Perhaps they wanted Jesus to meet her need because Jesus responds by saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” This is clarified in Mark’s account where he says, “I was sent first to the Jews, or sent first to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” The woman comes up to Jesus. In her desperation, she falls down before Him and she says, “Lord, help me.” Jesus said, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” The children were the Jews, and the dogs were the Canaanites. He called her “dog.” She said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs have the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Jesus marveled. He said, “Oh, woman, great is your faith,” and He healed her daughter instantly.
That’s a tough passage. Some try to soften the blow. They say, “Well, the Greek word is ‘canaria,’ and this is a diminutive form of the word ‘dog’ and perhaps it means ‘puppy’ or ‘pet dog.’” That doesn’t help much. The truth is, Jesus spoke Aramaic and in Aramaic there is no diminutive form of the word dog. Jesus called her a dog, but we need to understand Jesus hates racism. He hates racism. No scholar doubts what’s going on here. Jesus was quoting a Hebraic expression. He was quoting a Jewish expression which this Canaanite woman undoubtedly had heard many times from the Jews because the Jews often referred to the Gentiles as Gentile dogs. They referred to Canaanites as Canaanite dogs. They referred to Samaritans as Samaritan dogs. Jesus was just quoting this expression and testing her—something she’d heard, I’m sure, many times. Her response was humble beyond belief and filled with faith and desperation and Jesus marveled.
722 years before the birth of Christ, the armies of the Assyrian Empire conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Many of the Jews were deported and sent into exile. Some Jews remained in the North, and they intermarried Assyrians. These Jews who intermarried with Assyrians produced a kind of new race, a mixed race of mixed blood called Samaritans. Of course, the Jews hated the Samaritans because they had tainted their blood. They called them Samaritan dogs, and you know how Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan.
In the story of the Good Samaritan with the Jewish man who fell among robbers on the Jerusalem-Jericho Road, the hero of the story is this Samaritan who passes by. And it’s the Samaritan who reaches out in love to the Jewish man and tends his wounds and puts him on his beast, anointing him with oil, taking him to an inn, paying for his provision there, caring for him. The Samaritan becomes the hero. The message was clear to the Jews. There’s no room for racism, not if you’re going to follow this Rabbi. There’s no room for racism. Jesus hates racism and I hope and pray that you hate racism too.
On April 30, 1945, Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun were hiding out in the lower levels of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. They had been married just the day before, but they knew they had no future. They knew the future was dark and bleak. Hitler, according to those who were with him in those hours, was shaking. His hands, his feet, and even his head were shaking. He was in agonizing fear as his stomach and his gut were just traumatized. Of course, he knew the allied forces were approaching Berlin and he had no power to resist them. On that day, April 30, 1945, Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun took their lives in a kind of suicide pact and the body of Adolph Hitler was burned by his officers. One week later, the Germans surrendered and it was the end of one of the most tragic periods of earth’s history.
Adolph Hitler believed he was a member of the Aryan race and he believed the Aryan race consisted of the fair-skinned blue-eyed Nordic Northern Europeans. He believed the Germans were the purest expression of the Aryan race. Of course, today, anthropologists tell us that Adolph Hitler wasn’t even Aryan. Anthropologists tell us that the Aryans were actually an Asian nomadic people who invaded India 1,500 years before Christ. Their blood was ultimately mingled throughout the Middle East and in Europe, but Adolph Hitler was not Aryan. Of course, the problem with Adolph Hitler was not that he misunderstood the word Aryan. The problem with Adolph Hitler is that he’s a racist. He actually believed that one race was superior to others. He was a racist. Because of his racism he wound up gassing and incinerating 6 million Jewish men, women, and children.
I hope there’s no one in this worship center who believes his or her race is superior. I hope you don’t think Anglos, white people, are somehow superior. I hope you know God loves, honors, and values every single race equally. God loves us all. There’s no room for racism in the church of Jesus Christ. Nothing is more tragic than when you see racism in the church of Christ. Unfortunately, at times and in places throughout history, this happened.
I know you have all heard of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi in his autobiography, called “My Experiments with Truth,” tells an amazing story. Gandhi explains how, when he was a student in England, he actually decided to become a Christian. He had read the Bible and he loved the gospels. He was enamored and enraptured by the person of Jesus Christ. He said he was on the brink of becoming a Christian. He thought that maybe Christianity could overcome the caste system in India, so he resolved that he would go to a Christian church in the city of London and there he would ask Christ to be his Savior.
He went to a Christian church. He stood at the door. He looked in and was amazed and disappointed to see rich people sitting with rich people and poor people sitting with poor people. How could this be? He decided to go in and he was stopped after he took just a few steps by an usher who didn’t like the color of his skin and he was refused entrance and sent away. Gandhi said from that point on, he never considered Christ or Christianity. What a tragic story. What a devastating point in Christian history and world history. What a tragedy. Racism in the church of Jesus Christ.
I love the story of Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson was of course the first African-American to play major league baseball. Jackie Robinson was hired in 1947 by the Brooklyn Dodgers and by Branch Rickie who was the President and the Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Branch Rickie was a devout Christian. He loved Christ and he was one of the founders of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Branch Rickie said to Jackie Robinson, “It’s going to be tough. You’re the first African-American, the first black man, to play major league baseball. You’re going to get ridiculed. You’re going to get mocked. There are going to be racial slurs and you’re going to need to persevere, but I’m in this with you.”
Jackie Robinson, in the very first week, had a horrible game where he struck out at the plate. He missed two ground balls. He played second base. He overthrew first base. The crowd went crazy, just yelling at him, and the racial slurs were just flowing. In effect, they called him “dog!” The noise was just thunderous in the stadium. Then an amazing thing happened, a wonderful thing. Pee Wee Reese, who was the shortstop of the Brooklyn Dodgers, walked across to Jackie Robinson and put his arm around him. This just wasn’t done. I mean, a white guy and a black guy. You just didn’t put your arms around each other in 1947, not in most parts of America. But Pee Wee Reese gave Jackie Robinson a hug right in front of everybody and the crowd went silent. It changed everything because one Anglo was willing to stand against racism and one African-American had the courage to confront racism. It changed everything. Jackie Robinson later said it was the turning point of his career.
I believe with all my heart that the church of Jesus Christ needs to find a public way to embrace the races of the world. We need to find a public way to do this in the name of Christ, that the world might know that God loves us all equally. You see, this is why we as a church have always stood against racism and always will. We’re very much an Anglo community. There are a lot of fair-skinned people here. There are some people of minority, but it reflects our demographics. And yet, we want to be a church that loves everybody equally. That’s why we’re always inviting you to go into the urban corridor in our church program to tutor and mentor inner city kids that they might someday compete for the dignity of a job and that you might do this with the love of Christ and in the name of Christ—and not just because people are poor but because you want to show you love all people regardless of color and you love them equally. So, we have Manna Ministry here at the church and we reach out to so many thousands of people every month. We’re always inviting you to come and be part of this. But remember, in the Bible dog is sometimes a racial slur.
Secondly and finally, in the Bible dog is sometimes a word of moral and theological derision. It’s used as a moral and theological put down. It’s used for moral and theological judgement, the word dog.
There’s a little cartoon that Jay Phelps on our Communication Staff drew this week. It actually shows Barb baptizing our dog. Of course, I saw this and I suppose it’s true that some people can get a little carried away with their dog. When I saw this, I thought of an old joke about a guy who came into a Presbyterian church and wanted to baptize his dog. He went up to the Presbyterian minister and said, “I’d like to have my dog baptized.” This Presbyterian minister just laughed. He said, “I’m sorry. We don’t baptize dogs around here.” He said, “You might try the Pentecostal church down the street. They do what seems to me to be a lot of wild and crazy things that I don’t understand. Maybe they’ll baptize your dog.”
The guy said, “Well, strangely enough I just came from there and they sent me here.” The pastor nodded his head and said, “Well, why don’t you try the Catholic church just down this other street. They have more sacraments than we do and maybe they have a sacrament for dog baptism.” The man said, “Thank you. I’ll try that.” He said, “By the way, do you think $500 would be enough for that Catholic Church sacrament?” The Presbyterian minister paused a second and then he smiled. He said, “Hey, why didn’t you tell me you had a Presbyterian dog!”
Of course, it’s an old joke and I suppose it’s tragically true that some churches will do almost anything for money. But, you see, in the early church and in the early Christian Jewish community, it would have been unthinkable to baptize the dog. It would have been unthinkable because dogs were considered unclean animals and, as I said, they roamed around in packs and they were semi-wild and they were scavengers. They ate garbage and refuse. It would have been impossible to comprehend the baptism of a dog. In fact, the word dog was used as a symbol of the uncouth and it was used as a kind of put down for people who were immoral or people who are just theologically askew.
So, we come to the Bible and we see dog used this way. You look at Psalms, chapter 22, verse 16, and you see that those who persecute the people of God are called dogs because they persecute the people of God. You come to Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 11, and you see that the fool who returns to his folly is called a dog. “As a dog returns to his vomit, so the fool returns to his folly.” That passage is quoted in 2 Peter, chapter 2, verse 22. It’s applied to the apostate, to those who turn away from Christ and turn back to their immorality and their unbelief. Peter calls them dogs. He says, “As the dog returns to his vomit, so the apostate return to their immorality and unbelief.”
You look at Philippians, chapter 3, verse 2, and the Apostle Paul calls false teachers, people who are leading the church theologically astray, dogs. “Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evil workers,” Paul said. You come to Matthew7, and Jesus calls people dogs. Jesus speaks of those who are so morally debauched and so theologically off that they’re not capable of responding to the gospel or appreciating its glory. He says, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs. Do not cast your pearls before swine.”
You come to Revelation, chapter 22, verse 15, and you see that outside of the New Jerusalem, outside of heaven, are the dogs. “Outside of the heavenly city are the dogs, the fornicators, the sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars. Their lot shall be in the lake which burns with fire.” That gives a new meaning to hot dogs.
Of course, all of these passages of scripture have to do with apostasy. They all have to do with apostasy. The biblical Greek word for apostasy is “apostasia,” which means, “to fall away” or “to rebel.” It’s used of falling away from God. It’s used of rebelling against God. Apostasia.
The Bible says, in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, that as we approach the consummation and the end of this age there will come the Great Apostasia, the Great Apostasy, the great falling away, the great rebellion. At the close of the age, people will rebel against God morally and theologically. So, we have in 1 Timothy, chapter 4, “The Spirit expressly says that in the last days some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared.”
We come to 2 Timothy, chapter 4, and we read that “the day will come when people will no longer endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own liking and they will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myth.” So, the Bible is clear that at the consummation, as we approach the end of the age, the world’s going to go to the dogs. That’s what the Bible says. Morally and theologically the world is just going to go to the dogs. And it’s happening. “The spirit of antichrist, the spirit of lawlessness,” the Bible says, “is at work in the world already.”
It’s happening even in our country. In some ways, in some measure, we’re going to the dogs. In some measure it’s happening in the world of education. Thank God for all good and servant-hearted teachers in public education, private secular education and Christian education. But, you see, a lot of education is going to the dogs.
Above the gates of Harvard, even today these words are etched: “After God had carried us safe to New England and we have built our houses, provided necessities for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God’s worship and settled the civil government, one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity, not wanting to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches when our present ministers shall lie in the dust.”
Those words are etched above the gates of Harvard today because one of the primary purposes of Harvard University in those early days was to train people for ministry. In the early days, 52% of the graduates from Harvard went into full-time service and the proclamation of the gospel. What were the three original precepts of Harvard? The first was to know Christ, who is eternal life. The second was to spend time every day in prayer, for God is the source of all wisdom. The third was to spend time twice a day in the study of the scriptures, that you might be able at any time to give an account for what is written therein.
We know these are changing times, but there’s hostility towards Christianity today. John Witherspoon, the first President of Princeton University, who signed the Declaration of Independence, wrote these words. “Cursed be all learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ. Cursed be all learning that is not coincident with the cross of Christ. Cursed be all learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.” I think John Witherspoon, the first President of Princeton, would say, “Cursed be Princeton” if he saw education today, because there is a full-fledged assault in many secular institutions of higher learning on the integrity of the Bible and the claims of Christ. To some extent this occurs even at the level of high schools, in public high schools where we send our students. We train and bring our kids up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and our tax dollars are then used to destroy the very faith we’ve nurtured. It’s frustrating at times, frustrating for me, and I know for some of you.
Martin Luther wrote an amazing statement. He wrote this almost 500 years ago. He wrote these words in 1538. In 1538 Martin Luther wrote these words: “I would advise no one to send his child where the holy scriptures are not supreme. Every institution that does not unceasingly pursue the study of God’s Word becomes corrupt and I greatly fear that the universities, unless they teach the holy scriptures diligently and impress them on the young students, will eventually become the wide gates to hell.” What an amazing statement, made almost 500 years ago by Martin Luther.
Well of course we see moral and theological decline in the world of politics. In the world of politics, there’s really very little concern with truth anymore. That’s why Fahrenheit 9/11 can be so popular, Michael Moore’s assault on the character of the president. Of course, it’s filled with lies and bogus allegations. Even Democratic and Republican leaders have refuted the movie in terms of its lack of accuracy. And yet some people just don’t care about the truth. They hate the president so much that they want their hate to be fueled even by lies.
If we really cared about truth, we wouldn’t have wholesale abortion in this nation today. If we really cared about truth, we wouldn’t have abortion on demand. Thirty-five million babies have been aborted since the passing of Roe v. Wade. Regardless of your political perspective, that’s a national tragedy if we care about the truth. Of course, if we really cared about the truth as a nation, we wouldn’t be on the brink of adopting gay marriage and legalizing gay marriage as a nation. I think all of us as Americans believe in private and personal freedoms, but marriage is a public institution with a long history deeply rooted in sacramentalism and in religious belief. As Christians, we believe that marriage is instituted by God and regulated by His commandments. God has defined marriage as between a man and a woman, that they might produce a nest and rear their children in the Lord. If we change all of that, we really have gone to the dogs.
But, you see, we’re in dangerous times. We really and truly are. We’re in dangerous times morally and theologically. You look at entertainment and you look at Hollywood and you look at the media. In all of these areas I think we see room for moral and theological condemnation, but believe me and understand, it’s not to us to render that judgement. We can discern that things are wrong. We can seek to be salt and light, but ultimately all judgement comes from God. As we live our lives as Christians, it’s very important that we’re reminded this morning that we’re really not to throw stones. Even when you look at our world and you’re concerned—you see good called evil and evil called good and you’re frustrated and concerned—it’s still important to treat people with civility. It’s still important not to throw stones.
When you think of John, chapter 8, you see the woman caught in the act of adultery and the Jewish leaders and people willing to stone her to death and Jesus who sends them away. “He who is without sin, let him throw the first stone.” You see Jesus saying to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Is there no one to condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” He said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” He called sin, sin, but He didn’t throw stones.
So, we call sin, sin. God’s given us His Word and we know what is morally and theologically true but we don’t throw stones. We seek to be salt and light. It’s tough. It’s really tough to live for Jesus in a time such as this, but remember, we’re called to take the gospel to the nations. We’re called to be salt and light. Judgement is coming and it’s not for us to call people dogs. Ultimately God will judge the world. Let’s close and look to the Lord with a word of prayer.