Lent 2 – Matthew 15:21-28 – March
16th, 2014
In the Name of Christ the
Crucified +
One of the great myths, the sacred cows of society today is
that we as a people have advanced, have evolved, have become better over the
course of time – that we in our ever expanding wisdom know so much more than our
pathetic forefathers did. This is the
myth of the modern world, that we are modern, that we are improving more and
more and ever better and better. I,
though, am a historian, and to me, it is obvious that this is not the case,
that we are no better morally than our grandfathers or our ancestors of 500
years ago. I’m not going to say that we
are getting worse all the time either – rather this. Sinful fallen people remain sinful fallen
people, and the same temptations we have faced since the days of Adam and Eve
are the same ones which we face today.
That is why we can understand the dangers shown in our
Gospel text today; that is why the same lessons apply to us. Two contrasting approaches to life are shown
to us today in this text. On the one
hand we see people living life according to the world’s standards, judging by
what the world sees as appropriate, good, and right – and on the other hand we
see a person who lives by faith, trusting that God will do what is meet, right,
and salutary. These are the two options
in the text, they are the same two options that we ourselves see, that we
ourselves choose between, that we struggle with to this day. Do we live thinking like the world,
accommodating its sin, or do we instead in faith determinedly cling to Christ?
And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and
Sidon. Jesus had been having a go around with the
Pharisees and the Scribes prior to our reading – the Pharisees who thought that
they were better than others because they kept their unique customs and
traditions, the Scribes who would honor God with their lips but despise Him in
their hearts. And Jesus seemingly takes
a break from having to deal with the Scribes and Pharisees, and He heads north
to the coast – to a foreign land. His
disciples follow Jesus to this neighboring country, and then we have this most
amazing pair of examples laid out for us.
And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying,
“Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a
demon.” Now, this is fantastic
and wonderful. Behold how the gospel has
spread! Even in this foreign land, this
woman has heard the Word of God proclaimed!
She knows who Christ is. Did you
hear her – she calls Him Lord, she acknowledges Him as God. She calls Him Son of David – she acknowledges
Him as the promised Messiah, great David’s Greater Son – even though she is a
foreigner. Think on that – Son of David
– even though she is not a Jew, even though she has no pipe dreams of a Jewish
kingdom. In fact, an earthly Jewish
kingdom would probably be bad for her, as the Canaanite people were viewed as
little more than dogs by the Jews in Christ’s day. But she has heard, and by that Word she was
brought to faith, and in faith she calls out to Christ for mercy.
Dear friends, there is nothing more beautiful, more
wondrous than a person in faith calling out to God for mercy. She gets it – she understands – she knows her
need for the Savior and she knows who that Savior is. This is the happy ending, the happy
conclusion, the happy faith that we pray that all people throughout the world
would come to. But as always, with
things in this life, sin can get in the way.
And we see this come up. Note
what Jesus does at first – But He did not answer her a word. At first Jesus doesn’t say anything. Now, at this point, many preachers, many more
fine than me, will begin looking at this text as focusing on the need for a
patient faith, for us to remember that God works on His own time table and not
ours – that faith trusts that Christ will act in our best interests when He
deems it best for us. All of this is
true. We see this truth demonstrated
often – we see it in the 10 lepers who head towards town and only as they are
walking are they healed. We see it again
and again in the Scriptures – faith waits upon God, even when it seems God is
silent. But with this text, there is an
interesting twist – when Jesus is silent, we hear the disciples fail.
And His disciples came and begged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she
is crying after us.” They came
and begged. . . they begged. Send her
away. Get rid of her – she is annoying
us. Two prayers are set forth before
Christ – one by this foreign woman who calls out for mercy, the other the
haughty prayers of the disciples to do away with this woman. I always feel a little shocked when I read
this verse – I pray for a living, it is part of my duty as Pastor to see to the
prayers of the Church, and this prayer of the disciples is vile and gross and
wicked and evil. Whereas they should
have been rejoicing, whereas they should have glorified God that even amongst
the people of Tyre and Sidon,
the ancient enemies of Israel,
their Lord and Master was acknowledged and believed in, they don’t. And they fail. Instead of praying for mercy, instead of
praise, they show forth hatred and disdain.
And it wasn’t even as though she was complaining about something small
and petty – none of her dresses fit right anymore or too much grey in her hair. No, it’s a demon. She wants help against a demon. Still, the disciples would turn her
away. They would rather let a demon run
rampant then have this poor woman aided.
Why? Why did the
disciples show such disdain? The reason
is simple. Instead of thinking like
Christians, instead of viewing things in terms of faith, they were thinking
like typical people of the world and following the world, they fail. If you were born and raised a Jew at that
time period, you would be born and raised to view Canaanites, and especially
Canaanite women with utter contempt. The
disciples thought like people of the world, not as people of faith. They failed.
I read this verse, and I am disgusted.
Then I think, and I am disgusted with myself as well.
Do you think that we in Modern America are immune to our
prejudices? Do you think that we haven’t
been taught to despise people on the basis of their race or nationality or
color, or even gender? Oh sure, we could
point to the points where we here were the victims of it – we can go back to
1917 – back then in WWI the German churches around here weren’t too popular –
but I would wager when it comes to bias, when it comes to hatred and anger –
every one of us can give just as good as we get. And who we hate can change. What if I had showed up here 30 years ago in
the middle of the cold war with a thick Russian accent – what would you have
thought then? Or if I were middle
eastern today? Or what if Pastor Brown had shown up and he was actually. . .
Brown. And there are other things – how
quick we can be to despise the poor or someone who just doesn’t “look” right, or
if they have struggled with addiction, or if we hear that someone had done some
jail time, or even if they come from “that” family. Whatever it is, it seems the capacity of
fallen man to show disdain and hatred is limitless. We too often can write
people off just as quickly as the disciples do – and it’s wrong and vile. We play the world’s games, we think along the
way the people in the world do – and in so doing we fall in to great sin and
hatred and vice and shame.
Our Lord wants to contrast the difference between the hate
of the world and the life of faith – He wants to show the disciples and us
today how radically different the life of faith is from the attitudes of the
world. And so, He answered, “I was sent only to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Fine, you disciples wish to think you are
high and mighty – so be it. See,
alright, is this the type of God you want?
Cold and haughty to others? Then
since you think she’s beneath me, you deal with her. But the woman persists. But she came and knelt before Him, saying,
“Lord, help me.” And He answered, “It is
not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” There, another answer of harshness,
almost like one kid at school picking on another to fit in – is that what you
crave disciples? And a vile response at
that – Jesus basically called her a female dog, you know what He called her. Is that the type of God you wish for, o
Disciples?
But this woman, this faithful, faithful woman, she knows
and recognizes the One True God as He is.
Our God is not a God of our petty hatreds but a God of steadfast love
and mercy. She knows that He will show
mercy. She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even
the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Yes, Lord.
What powerful words of faith.
Amen. That’s what she says –
Amen, Lord, what you have said is true.
I am a dog, I am worthy of nothing, nothing which I ask of you. There is no good in me that I should have
rights to demand anything of You. But
you are the Master, and I know that when I hang around Your table crumbs will
fall to me, and I will be satisfied by Your generosity. You are the God of undying love, and You will
show love even to unworthy me. And Jesus
confirms for us that this is the right answer, that this woman demonstrates our
faith, for He answers her saying, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Jesus recognizes and commends her faith – and
puts the disciples to shame.
This lent, we are focused once again on Repentance, for
repentance is the life of faith.
Repentance beats down everything that would distract us from Christ’s
Mercy. This woman’s repentance was clear
– she was not focused on the prejudices of the world, for the Canaanites were
no fans of the Jews – she was not focused on her pride, but rather in faith
confessed her sin and lack and unworthiness.
Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their
masters’ table. In faith she
turned away from all these things and turned to Christ alone, seeking from Him
alone mercy and salvation. And Christ
delivers. Even over and against the
powers of a demon, Christ delivers. Of
course Christ will cast out this demon, He is here to wreck havoc and chaos
amongst Satan’s kingdom. This is the
battle He wages all this Lent, this is the battle that reaches its climax on
Good Friday. And throughout this season
we are called to repent – to turn our eyes away from our sinful and selfish
desires, from our hatreds and petty squabbles and to see with the repentant
eyes of faith, to behold our Lord win us freedom from our sin. When we look in faith, we will with repentant
hearts confess our sins and call out to Christ for mercy, and then we will
behold nothing but Christ, we will be as Paul, determined to know nothing but
Christ and Him Crucified – for Christ is merciful, and He is determined to give
you the gifts of life and salvation which He wins for you by His death upon the
Cross. And this He does for you without
fail. In the Name of Christ the
Crucified +
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