Readings:
Isaiah 56:1,6-7; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28
Children’s
Food and House Dogs!
1.
Jesus
was naturally compassionate and kind to women, children, the poor, and the
sick? Why then was he unkind to the Canaanite woman, a Gentile, a non-Jew who begged
him to heal her daughter? She was an
outsider. She did not belong to the family of God’s chosen people. She must
have heard about Jesus’ healing power, and so she came to him, crying
desperately for help. After ignoring her for some time, Jesus told her, “I
was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Yes, Jesus was
sent to his Jewish people. This passage describes the first time Jesus was
outside Jewish territory. It foreshadowed the taking of the gospel to the whole
world.
2.
How
do we treat outsiders in our midst? How do we relate with those who are
different from us, speak different languages, have accents, or do not belong to
our class? They are the immigrants and the marginalized. We often put people
into categories like Democrats, Republicans, or Independents. We are not
comfortable when people hold political views different from ours. We are either
with or against them. They are not one of us: they are Outsiders. The outsiders
are freeloaders, we reason. We often ignore their academic background or their professions.
According to an African proverb, “He who sees a person in the bush forgets
that they came from a home.” So, this woman, an outsider, goes to Jesus for
mercy and healing for her daughter. The disciples saw her as an embarrassment or
a nuisance. They demanded, “Give her what she wants and get rid of her.”
Just the way we see and treat the outsiders in our communities. They are an embarrassment
in our streets; we are tired of them because they are taking all our jobs; we
are spending too much money on their welfare. The disciples’ reaction was not
compassion and love, but an unchristian response to human needs. It was
shameful and reprehensible. But just like all the outsiders in our
midst, no insult would prevent her from getting what she wanted for her
daughter. Yes, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s
table. But she was a foreigner, a non-Jew, an outsider! Where did her
faith come from?
3.
Her faith came from her love for her
daughter. It was love that made her approach this stranger. It was love that
made her accept rebuff and insult. She saw compassion in the seeming words of
insult from Jesus. There is nothing stronger and nothing nearer God than our
love for others. We live better when we live for others. This woman’s
faith grew stronger when confronted by Jesus. She looked into Jesus’ face,
discovered something divine in her heart, and ended up calling him Lord. “Lord,
help me.” When faced with sickness and deprivation, the outsiders fall
back on God, and their faith grows ever stronger. God is truly close to the
brokenhearted. She came crying out for help and ended up on her knees in prayer
of adoration. She humbled herself and acknowledged the God of her salvation. She
was not discouraged because the prayer of a contrite heart always wins the Lord’s
favor.
4.
Christ’s
mission was to the Jews first, but this woman was a Gentile crying for mercy; He
had to awaken true faith in her heart. “It is not right to take the
children’s bread and to throw it to the dogs.” Her answer, “Please,
Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their
masters”, shows that her faith was strong enough for her miracle to be
granted. The true meaning of this story is not in the healing of her daughter
but in her audacity of faith that dares to trust in the face of silence, of delay,
and exclusion. She did not argue for her right or demand what she believes she
deserves but threw herself entirely upon the mercy of God and was convinced
that his goodness is greater than every obstacle before her. Jesus, moved by such
extraordinary faith, declares, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be
done for you as you wish.” The Canaanite woman teaches us that when we
approach God, we must drop our sense of entitlement and pride and lean entirely
on his absolute goodness. When we encounter obstacles, delays, or apparent silence,
we must resist the temptation to surrender to discouragement. God’s silence is
not always God’s absence. And his delays are not necessarily his denials. If
you are standing before a closed door today or carrying a burden that seems
impossible to bear, do not lose heart. Do not allow divine silence to harden
you into resentment; instead, kneel in prayer and continue to trust, hold firm to
God’s generosity, and remember that even the smallest touch of grace can transform
your story because the crumbs that fall from the master’s table carry the power
of heaven even for an outsider. Jesus reinforced the woman’s faith and showed
it as an example to others.
5.
Because of her faith, being an outsider
was no longer a barrier to approaching God for mercy. Peter recognized this
after he visited Cornelius’ house, himself a Gentile, “In truth, I see
that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and
acts uprightly is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34-35). John the apostle
adds, “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children
of God.” (Jn. 1:12). And John Rose wrote, “The Jews were the
chosen race. They had the right to receive the blessings of the Messiah. The
non-Jewish people, the Syro-Phoenician woman, who did not belong to the Chosen
race of the Jews, will still receive the same blessing because of their faith.”
6.
Our
faith and the water of baptism are, indeed, stronger than the racial and tribal
bond. In Jesus, it doesn’t matter whether you are an outsider or not; once you
believe in God and commit yourself to him, “Observe what is right, do
what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be
revealed.” Those who join themselves to God, foreigners, outsiders and
all, who minister to God and worship his name, will come to God’s holy mountain
where they will pray freely to him, for his house shall be called a house of
prayer for all peoples. May God who accepts us as we are, help us to accept
others as they are. Amen.
Rev.
Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
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