Inspired by Love and Empowered by Faith
Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane
This is not my favorite gospel story. You can probably guess why. This does not sound like the Jesus I know, the Jesus who is the Savior of the world, the Jesus that I believe loves you and me and ALL people. And yet… Jesus first ignores the cry of the Canaanite woman; then claims that she doesn’t fall within the scope of his mission… and then insults her and her people by calling them dogs. What is going on with Jesus? Why is he acting in this way?
Some scholars say that Jesus is just testing her. Others say it shows his humanity or that we don’t know the tone – which is true. I’ve even heard it suggested that he was just kidding and lovingly calling her a puppy. Really? I don’t buy that one. Nor do I want to make excuses for Jesus. But this story does make we wonder how it fits with the Jesus I know and it also makes me wonder why – of all the stories that Matthew heard about Jesus--why does he include this one?
Matthew does tell us that Jesus has just angered the Pharisees by teaching that the law of God is not kept by maintaining strict purity rules or traditions the way they do but instead by following the way of God which means loving God & loving the neighbor. So maybe the reason he went way “Up North” to Tyre and Sidon was to get away from the Pharisees and the crowds by leaving the Israelite territory. And so maybe it was a bit jarring to have a Canaanite woman shouting at him, seeking healing for her daughter.
The Canaanites, if you remember back to your Old Testament stories, were the people that were living in the “Promised Land” when the Israelites came to claim the land and replace or push out the Canaanites. Today we might call it ethnic cleansing. But some Canaanites remained – like the Canaanite woman.
But this woman was not there to recall old grudges or make a claim on the past. This woman was there because she loved her daughter and since we don’t know her name, I’m going to call her “Mother.” Mother’s daughter had a problem; she had what they called a “demon.” I’m not sure what we would call it medically today – maybe we would call it a demon too. But that’s not important. Whatever it was, Mother believed that Jesus could heal her daughter.
Mother also knew that being a Canaanite was an obstacle for getting to Jesus but her love for her daughter made her determined to be heard and so she shouted and would not stop. She was annoying – and she knew it. But she also knew that if she kept quiet, she would never be heard. So, Mother kept shouting. The disciples wanted Jesus to shut her up. But instead, Jesus seems to be trying to ignore her. He says to the disciples, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
The Gospel of Matthew was written to a Jewish audience who also understood Jesus as coming to fulfill the promises of the Hebrew Scriptures. They too thought of Jesus as coming to save the lost sheep of Israel. From the beginning of his Gospel, Matthew makes connections to the prophecies and shows how Jesus is fulfilling them. Up until now, Jesus has focused on the “lost sheep” of Israel.
But this does not stop Mother. She has already acknowledged Jesus as Lord and as the Son of David – which are in keeping with the Jewish understanding of who the Messiah will be. Now Mother kneels before him and prays to him saying, “Lord have mercy.” Kyrie Eleison. Lord help me.
To this Jesus answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
Mother could have been insulted and left – and who would have blamed her? But instead, she parried back… “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
How did she know that even a crumb would be more than enough to heal her daughter? Perhaps she had heard stories that those who barely touched the hem of Jesus’ cloak were healed or that when Jesus fed the 5,000, all of the leftovers, all of the crumbs, were saved to feed and nourish and heal those who were yet to come. But I think what gave Mother the courage to speak was both the love of her daughter and her faith in Jesus. Mother knew that she was not one of the children of Israel and that she did not have a “right” to anything. God had not made a covenant with her people. She did not “deserve” God’s grace.
Her humble appeal reminded me of Martin Luther who, just before his death scrawled a note: “We are all beggars.” None of us are worthy of God’s grace. As Pastor Nadia Bolz Weber1 says in her blog, none of us are worthy, we are all dogs. And yet, by God’s mercy, love and compassion, God gives us grace anyway.
Jesus seems amazed at Mother’s humble words– and not only grants her wish, but also commends her for her great faith. Earlier Jesus had chided Peter and the disciples for their lack of faith. But Jesus proclaims that this Canaanite woman, a member of a tribe that had been either at war or suffered an uneasy truce with Israel for generations, had great faith. And at this point in Matthew’s Gospel, the mission of Jesus breaks open to include not only the children of Israel but also this Canaanite mother and her daughter and then expands to include all people.
This opening up of Jesus’ mission reminded me of the story of Jesus and his mother Mary at the wedding in Cana. When the wine ran out, a very humiliating thing in that culture, Jesus’ Mother Mary tells Jesus. “They have no more wine.” And when Jesus tells her that it is not yet his time, Mother Mary ignores that excuse and tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. Maybe Jesus was a bit exasperated, but Jesus turns the water into wine the best wine they had ever tasted.
Both Jesus’ Mother and the Canaanite Mother push Jesus deeper into his mission. Out of love of neighbor and faith in Jesus, Mother Mary urges Jesus to begin his ministry by creating wine out of water. And, out of love for her daughter, and faith in Jesus, the Canaanite Mother urges Jesus to expand his mission to include her daughter. In both cases, inspired by love and empowered by faith, the Mothers break down barriers that keep people from experiencing the mission of Jesus.. Mary Mother of Jesus broke the barrier of “the right time”; the Canaanite Mother broke the barrier of culture, race and ethnicity.
Jesus later confirms the breaking of both of these barriers. At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims: “Go into all the world baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” This is the commission that Jesus has given to us and it is for all the world – all of us. And, the time for the mission of God is NOW.
Inspired by love and empowered by faith, we – like Jesus’ Mother and the Canaanite Mother – can work to remove barriers to God’s love and mercy. It is our job to notice when someone is being excluded because of the color of their skin or the accent with which they speak or because of how much money they have – or don’t have or any other excuse. And it is our job to proclaim to whoever needs to hear, that the love and grace of God is for them too.
I said in the beginning that this was not my favorite Gospel story. It’s still not my favorite. But after wrestling with this scripture, I was reminded that an ordinary person who is inspired by love and empowered by faith can make a difference and be a bearer of hope and healing for another.
So I challenge you to ask yourself: What barriers to God’s love and grace do you see in your neighborhood or family? Is there a way that you can shine a little love to break these barriers? It might seem hard – but the Good News is that love, empowered by faith, is powerful and can make a difference because you are not alone. It is through the love and compassion of Jesus that we too can bring hope and healing to our world. Thanks be to God. Amen.