A Persistent Faith

I heard a make-believe story once about Jesus.  He was meeting with a group of people and he said to them, “Hey, everybody, I’ve got an idea!”

Well now, the Presbyterian said: “Just a minute.  Is it sophisticated?”

The Baptist said: “Is it moral?”

The Methodist said: “Is it non-alcoholic?”

The Apostolic said: “Is it scriptural?”

The Lutheran said: “Is it evangelical?”

The Mennonite said: “Is it quiet?”

The Catholic said: “Is it authoritative?”

And Jesus said: “Forget it.”

That’s because Jesus was a very “inclusive” type of person; and these individuals were being very “exclusive.”

Jesus confronted apathy toward the poor.  He called to discipleship those who didn’t even fit the mold.  He judged not on outward appearances – but on what he saw in their hearts – the searching pain, the loneliness, even humble and what seems to be inadequate faith.

Jesus would never have separated people according to their denomination . . . or their appearance . . . or their age . . . or their type of behavior . . . or the depth of their pain!  In the Gospels, we have painted for us the image of the Son of Man as welcoming all people.  He welcomed children – even when the disciples considered them to be a bother . . . he spoke with an adulteress, a Samaritan to boot, and asked her for a drink of water at the well . . . he chastised his host when a prostitute washed his feet with her tears . . . he talked with a Pharisee in the dark of the night – even when the Pharisees were the very ones he had called blind and deaf to the Kingdom of God.

And, here in our text for today, Jesus does something even more surprising.

At first glance, today’s Gospel text would cause us to wonder at his apparent indifference to the Gentile woman who came to him pleading for help for her daughter.

But . . . lest we miss the whole point, let me set the stage for you:  this woman would have had no rights in the context of the society in which she lived.  (But then, neither did the woman at the well.)

This woman was a Gentile with absolutely no claim on a Jew . . . but so was the Roman centurion.

This woman was a pagan and devoted to another religion.  Yet, Jesus took the time to talk with her – he took the time to draw out of her the very depth of her faith – and he healed her daughter!

Now, this woman’s principal importance to the Good News is found in the fact that she is the first woman – outside of Israel – to whom Jesus ministers!  She and the centurion who came to Jesus on behalf of his servant (Ch. 8) are the first Gentiles to receive healing and blessings from Christ!  In fact, Christ’s mission to the whole world began with her!

Remember, that from their first infiltration into the Promised Land – that is, Canaan – the Israelites had been influenced by that pagan culture!  Remember how their attraction to Baal and the fertility cults had resulted in Israel’s infidelity to the law and the covenant – not just once – but on countless occasions!  And here we have this gentile woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon.  A Canaanite who had none of the advantages of tradition – or heritage – or covenantal history as did the Israelites.  Nevertheless, her faith and messianic hope were obvious when she knelt before Jesus and called him “Lord!”

How shocking it must have been for Matthew’s Jewish Christian readers to find a Canaanite revered as a heroine of faith!  Interesting to note is the fact that today’s text follows right on the heels of one of Jesus’ encounters with the Pharisees.  It presents us with an interesting study in opposites.  While the Pharisees and scribes refused to believe, the faith of this Canaanite woman shines like a beacon – and was intended to guide all would-be disciples to a similar confession of faith.  Yet, the disciples of that time had a negative reaction to this woman – and Jesus’ initial reluctance to grant her request was not unusual at that time  They were examples of the anti-gentile sentiment that was prevalent in Jesus’ day – and in the late first-century church!  But, in this very strange episode, Jesus reluctantly – but powerfully – steps beyond his own era’s racial and social prejudices!  His compliance with this woman’s request was a blatant contradiction of popular opinion!  –  And, in so doing, Jesus acknowledges the universality of faith!

But then, the genuine faith of this Canaanite woman was also contrary to popular opinion and expectation!  In fact, this whole text is!  The rudeness of Jesus and the disciples is very unexpected – and out of character.  Jesus refers to her as a “dog” – some have referred to her as the “canine Canaanite” – yet she persists!  – And this becomes a running conversation – a battle of wits if you will.

Yet, that woman’s sense of destitution over her daughter’s condition is the force that moves her to continue!  Hasn’t that been true in times in our own lives?  When our sense of destitution has been so great that we have been moved out of own our comfortableness into action.  That could be physical – or it could be situational!

Matthew – through his Gospel, instructed his contemporaries to be willing to look beyond any limiting means and to seek for hearers of the good news in the least likely places and in the least likely candidates!

Well, the woman of Canaan was the least likely candidate.  Yet, she demonstrates the power of faith to make healing possible – and with her, as I have said, Christ’s mission to the whole world began.  For this we give thanks!  But her presence in the church’s history offers us even more:

For as her cry for help shattered Jesus’ peace long ago in Canaan – so she now shatters ours.

As with Jesus, her cry for help overrode one of the venerable traditions of Israel, so may she continue to remind us that not even our own hallowed traditions should ever take precedence over a call for mercy!  May she continue to remind us that all people are children of the same living God.

In this text then, Jesus sets for us an example!  One perhaps best described by the words of the American poet, Edwin Markham, when he wrote these words:

He drew a circle that shut me out –

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But Love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle that took him in!

There is, of course, another point in our text not to be overlooked.  And that is, the persistence of the woman.

  In our Gospel lesson, we encounter a woman with the faith that Jesus called “great.”  I suppose that is because she possessed a quality that is desperately needed today, the quality of persistent faith.

The quality that continues to believe – whether we are cured, or not; continues to believe whether the answer is yes or no; continues to believe when we are hurt, when we are afraid, and, yes, even when we don’t understand.  This is a persistent faith.   This is great faith.

Like the woman in our text may our faith be persistent – even in the face of adversity; and, like the example of Jesus in our text, may we continue to draw greater and greater circles in our understanding and love for all children of the same living God!.

Amen.