Matthew 15:10-28              Crumbs and Grace        

Let us pray: may the thoughts of my heart, the words of my mouth and my actions be ever acceptable to you Lord for you and you alone are my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

She is a beautiful little girl.. all pig tails and smile. Her eyes sparkle...and her voice,  that child can sing....not only does she have talent, she has looks. But wait a minute, isn’t she a stand in for the real little girl who sang at the Olympic Opening Ceremony?  The little girl who actually sang...the one whose voice was used, is cute....she could use an orthodontist.....and braces.....but she is pretty. Why does the world have to see perfection in order for something to be good?

  The opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games was beautiful, one of the best ever, but parts of it were fake.   Don’t you think it ironic, that in the opening ceremony for the games which showcase  hard work, training and ability, that substitutions were made to give the world a picture perfect view? Are not athletes disqualified if they do not follow the rules guidelines exactly?

Let it be known that what you think isn’t always what you  want. The disciples and Jesus had traveled to gentile country, Tyre and Sidon. No synagogues, no pharisees or sadducees, no Jews present except them. Yet Jesus was still recognized. He had become popular with the masses, Jew and gentile alike. Jesus could do miraculously things...feed huge crowds, cure incurable illnesses, and drive demons away. This man was absolutely wonderful! That is why the people wanted him for King of Bread, King of Wholeness, King of Protection from enemies and anything else that might go bump in the night. Jesus was perfect as  king to provided bread enough for all to eat; as king of healing...to chase away every illness and even death! As king of protection from all enemies, he could be the new King David.  Every Jew knew King David, how he had united the tribes of Israel and formed the nation of Israel...a nation that their enemies would not bother. They needed a king like that now. And Jesus seemed to fit the bill. Even gentiles....saw strength in Jesus. Even bottom of the barrel, cursed to be slaves Canaanite recognized Jesus. Some for what they had heard he could do, and for what they wanted him to do for them....and some, like this Canaanite woman, a mother of an ill child, who saw in Jesus  hope.

“Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David...” she called out. I wonder if Jesus ignored her to see what she would do. “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David...my daughter is tormented by a demon.”  I wonder if each time she called out to Jesus if  she got louder and louder? She was so loud that even the disciples begged Jesus to send this shouting, screeching, Canaanite woman away.

But look at it from the disciples point of view....she was a cursed Canaanite...these people worshiped false idols, sacrificed their children, married people from just about anywhere and they  practiced abominations. Detestable and  abominable in their religious practice, this Canaanite, this a Gentile, this woman....why on earth would these good Jewish men have reason to respond to this demanding arrogant woman? She did not have a snowball’s chance in Port Isabel  in the middle of August.

Never underestimate the determination of a mother. This woman saw in Jesus something many of the Jewish people did not. This recognize Jesus as hope. She saw in him God’s mercy and the power to heal.. She saw her Lord, she saw the Son of David, she saw a healer and giver of mercy for her daughter and for herself. If she was certain of anything, she was certain her daughter was in need and Jesus was a master healer. This mother knew who she was, she knew her place, yet she ventured out and begged. Some might say she didn’t have anything to lose.....and that is true. Can you imagine how helpless she must have felt watching her daughter suffer? If she didn’t try...then what? If she didn’t follow through on what she thought to be true, then what?

But Jesus doesn’t seem to care. He ignores her and when he finally does talk to her, he is rude!  Not at all our gentle, loving, providing all we need...protective Lord we like to picture. You know, the tall blond man with the gentle blue eyes looking out to us with such peace and love. But wait, that is just an artist’s idea of what Jesus might have looked liked.  Here is scripture we see Jesus ignore this gentile, this Canaanite woman as she begs him to help her. He did not answer her at all. Then the  disciples ask him to send her away, she is making such a ruckus they just want her gone. Can’t you just picture Jesus turning to her, and looking down at her as he says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Almost as if he is saying “Get out of my way you insignificant piece of trailer trash.”  Part of me wants to deny Jesus could  ignore this woman. This isn’t my Jesus, this isn’t the Jesus of “He Has the Whole World in His Hands”...this isn’t the Jesus I learned about in Sunday school. We want to think of Jesus as compassionate, not cold, insensitive, rude or arrogant.  Then this desperate mother, falls to her knees and says, “Lord, help me.”  Didn’t Peter call out “Lord save me!” as he sank in the water? And Jesus reached down and pulled him to safety? 

This woman, this desperate  mother does not give up. When Jesus tells her, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”.....she has a fast reply, “Yes Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  With this one statement this woman said she knew who she was and she knew who Jesus  was. ..and she claimed him as her Lord. This outsider recognized God’s mercy in Jesus, she recognized him as Lord. Something Jesus’ own disciples were just beginning to do.  That took great and simple faith. It is this faith which allowed  her daughter to be healed.

This woman was a Canaanite, the low of the low in the gentile world. She did not know the Torah or the Prophets. She had not read the Wisdom writings. Nor did she have a creedal faith.....the Apostles’ Creed or Nicene Creed had even been written yet.....the “I believe in God the Father......”  She did not have a Sunday School faith, nor was she Catholic or Protestant...... Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Church of Christ,  or any other denomination. What she did have was a great and simple faith.  A faith  Jesus recognized and responded to.

I don’t know if God was expanding Jesus’ understanding of what his mission was with the Canaanite Woman or with the Centurion whose slave was ill; or with any of the Gentile healing stories we read in the Bible.  I don’t know if Jesus was testing the woman to see what she really believed. I don’t know if the writer of the Gospel of Matthew was making a statement to his Jewish readers that even a Canaanite woman could see Jesus as Lord.