"Great Faith"
Matthew 15:21-28
Pentecost 14 - A Our
Pastor Troy Slater
Grace, mercy, and peace … (Matthew
Dear
brothers and sisters in Christ. … "Send her away, Jesus. Send her
away." Easy to fall into that trap called
self-righteousness, isn't it? That ugly attitude that thinks that because of who I am, because of
what I've done I am somehow more deserving of a place around God's table. I think it's safe to assume that the
disciples had fallen into that trap.
"Send her away Jesus for she is a woman and no good Jewish rabbi is
to respond to a woman and especially to a no-good Canaanite woman. She is a
dog, a Gentile, a non-Jew. She is not
good enough, she is unworthy to sit and feast at
the table of God. After all, such a place is only
for, well, people like us. And she's not
like us, Jesus. Send her away." …
"I'm a life-long Missouri Synod
Lutheran," perhaps we say. "As were my parents and grandparents. I went to Catechism classes - even memorized
the Catechism, I was married in the church and will be buried from it. I attend church at least somewhat faithfully
and even serve on a board. I try to do
my best - I'm certainly better than my neighbors - after all, you've heard
about their kids, haven't you. And Lord knows I'm also certainly better than Bill
over there, that old hypocrite." … Yes it can be awfully easy to fall into
that trap called self-righteousness. …
But what do we see Jesus doing in our
Gospel text for this morning? In
contrast to the self-righteous attitude of his disciples; in contrast to the
"religious correctness" of the Pharisees and teachers of the law that
Jesus keeps running into; in contrast to our own attempts to limit God's grace
and mercy to those like us, Jesus responds to the request of a Canaanite woman
- a Gentile.
Now probably none of us are too
surprised to see Jesus respond to the request of the Canaanite woman. For it is in Matthew's gospel that we
repeatedly see Jesus associate with and reach out to the despised, the outcast,
the non-Jew.
For example in Matthew's Gospel we see the Gentile magi come from
the east to visit the infant Jesus and bring him gifts. In Matthew we hear Jesus proclaimed as a
"great light" for
But perhaps it was a bit surprising
to you to hear exactly how it was that Jesus responded to her. I mean it might have struck you as a bit cold
as to HOW Jesus responds to her pleadings to have mercy on her and to heal her
daughter of demon possession. I mean at first
Jesus "did not answer her a word" our text says as this woman cries out
to Him for help. "Did not answer her a word." Gave her the cold shoulder it almost
seems. And then, even when Jesus does
speak, he seems ready to cast her off just as quickly as his disciples seem to
want to. "I was sent only to the lost sheep of
But again, Jesus responds in a way that
seems rather cold and unsympathetic. "It is not right to take the children's
bread and toss it to their dogs."
In other words, "I have come to feed the children of the house of
But you see here is where that God-given,
humble faith of the Canaanite woman really begins to reveal itself. She doesn't argue with Jesus. She doesn't accuse Him of being
unsympathetic. No. Rather in faith - in faith - she acknowledges
to Jesus that He is right. He is the
Jewish Messiah - sent to rescue the lost sheep of the house of Isreal. And she is a
Canaanite - a Gentile - she is unworthy to sit at
"'Woman, you have great faith!" Jesus says. "Your request is granted.' And her daughter was healed from that very
hour." … (long pause) …
Boy if only we had faith like
that. I mean if only I had the faith of
a
Well, brothers and sisters,
let me tell you what will create great faith.
And no it doesn't come from the latest best seller that lays out the
10-steps to the victorious or purpose-driven life … Rather it comes from - it is created
by - God's word. Great faith is created
from hearing God's Word of Jesus. For
Jesus is the Son of God who came down to earth, lived, suffered and gave His
life on a cross in order to bring God's mercy to Israel, to a Canaanite woman,
and to you. Jesus is the Lord who has
purchased and won His people by His blood shed on the cross. Jesus is the promised and long-awaited
Messiah, the Son of David who will forever sit on the throne of God's kingdom
having defeated our enemies of sin, Satan and death. Jesus is the resurrected Savior of the
world, your Savior who will come again to take you and all His people to join
him around His heavenly banquet table.
That is God's Word of Jesus and it is that Word that creates great
faith.
And that is the Word that the
Canaanite woman had heard and which brought her to the feet of her Lord - in
great faith. Now certainly she didn't fully
know all of what Jesus was about - the cross and empty tomb
were yet coming into focus. But
she did know that this Jesus, He is THE one to cling to. She did know that this Jesus is THE one who
could save her and save her daughter from the bonds of Satan. She did know that this Jesus is THE one who
grants a life so full and so free that all she needed was a crumb. All she needed was Jesus and whatever He
would give her. …
Now I've often heard it said in
response to the question of "How you know you will spend eternity in
heaven?", but I've often heard it said that "I know I have life in
heaven because I have faith." But my
response to that comment is "Yes we are saved by faith, but faith in
what?" I mean faith is not faith
unless it is in something, right? And to
say my assurance of eternal life is my faith, it almost makes it sound like my
assurance comes from something inside of me.
Something I've done, something about me that
makes me good enough in God's eyes. But
if that is the case, well then that of course opens up room for all sorts of
self-righteous attitudes - much like what we heard from the disciples at the beginning
of our reading. And if our confidence or
our faith rests on something inside of us, that confidence will fail us on the day of judgment. For
as
And so is our faith in our
faith? Or is our faith in what our faith
clings to? … You see faith saves because faith clings to
Jesus. Great faith saves because like
with the Canaanite woman, great faith looks to Jesus. I don't know how many hurting or dying
people's bedside I've been at where it's not anything about them that gives
them comfort as they travel through that dark valley. It's Jesus and Jesus alone that gives any
hope and comfort. Faith saves because
faith acknowledges that Jesus is Lord, He is the Son of David come to save
God's people from their sins. That was
the faith of the Canaanite woman and that is great faith.
And so if you think there is
something in you or something about you or your ancestry that somehow merits
God's goodness, you might as well get u and go home now - you don't need Jesus
- or at least you don't think you need Jesus.
But if you look at your life and you see there a need - a desperate need
for a Savior, a desperate need for even the crumbs of God's love and
forgiveness that He so freely gives to sinners, then stay and look to
Jesus. Cling to Him. Trust that He alone is the answer to our
sin. Believe that even the crumbs that
fall from your Lord Jesus' table are able to nourish; are able to provide life;
are able to provide eternal life even for poor, miserable sinners like me and
like you. Cling to Jesus alone - for
indeed that is great faith. Amen.