Sermon

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August 14, 2005
Pentecost 13 / WLIM Sunday
Matthew 15:21-28
Pastor Robert Raasch

The Prayer of a Desperate Mother

1. A Prayer that was Tested
2. A Prayer that was Faith-full

Have you ever been in a situation where you desperately wanted to get a hold of someone? You know, you've dialed their number and the phone is ringing and you're thinking, "Please, please pick up the phone! C'mon, somebody has to be home!" Or maybe you're trying to get a hold of them on their cell pone and you keep getting the same message: "The Cellcom customer you are attempting to reach is not available." And you're thinking, "No, this can't be happening. I need to reach person. It's an emergency. I'm getting desperate."

My friends, do you realize that those kinds of desperate phone calls are made to more than just the people on the other end of a phone line? Sometimes those kinds of calls are made to God. We call them prayers. And just like the calls we make here on earth, sometimes the prayers we make to heaven seem to be calls that are not getting through, no matter how desperate we may be. Sometimes it seems like God is not answering our prayers.

But you know, you and I are not the first people whose desperate pleas have gone seemingly unanswered by our Lord. No, during the time that Jesus walked the earth, he came into contact with a woman who was in desperate need of Jesus' help. Today we want to take a little closer look at her prayer, and more importantly, at Jesus' response to her prayer. Today we want to draw some parallels to our lives as we consider what we might call:

The Prayer of a Desperate Mother

We'll see first that:

1. A Prayer that was Tested
2. A Prayer that was Faith-full

Our text begins with the words, "Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon." This is an important point, for it tells us that Jesus was now distancing himself from the more heavily populated Jewish settlements in Galilee and Judea and instead moving toward the fringe of Jewish territory. It was here that Jesus is approached by a non-Jewish woman, a Canaanite. It was this woman who makes a desperate plea of Jesus, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession."

Now, just for a moment, I'd like you to put yourself in her shoes. Your daughter is possessed by an evil spirit. She's physically, mentally and spiritually under the control of a demon, that is, and evil angel. Typically, those who suffer from demon-possession exhibit violent behavior toward themselves and others. Often, they have almost super-human strength and cannot be controlled, even under lock and chain.

Can you imagine what a nightmare this mother was living in? Your daughter is out of control, and what's worse, there was no known medical cure for her affliction. Is it any wonder that this mother is desperate? Is it any wonder that when she hears that a miracle worker from Nazareth is in her vicinity, she comes to him and pleads, "Lord have mercy on me. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession"?

Now, I think you realize that true demon possession is not all that common today. But that doesn't mean that we don't all have some figurative demons to wrestle with. Tell me, as you look at your life, are there things that have brought you to the brink of despair? Things that have led you to cry out, "Lord, help me!" Maybe it was some kind of emotional problem, an addiction, an obsession, a craving you just can't seem to control. You're thinking to yourself, "God, I just can't go on like this!" Or maybe it's a financial crisis that you are facing. You just can't seem to get ahead. You're drowning in red ink. You're on the verge of bankruptcy. Or maybe it's a medical problem you're wresting with. You just can't seem to stop the pain. You can't sleep at night. No position seems comfortable. There no cure in sight. Or maybe it's not your medical condition that's the problem. Maybe it's a parent or a child of yours who, in the words of this mother, is "suffering terribly."

Whatever your particular hardship in life, chances are, you too have come to God, like this Canaanite woman and prayed, in effect, "Lord have mercy on me." Maybe you too, have offered a prayer of desperation. But notice the response that this woman received from Jesus: Our text says that "Jesus did not answer a word." And that brings us to the first characteristic of this woman's prayer. This prayer of this desperate mother was first of all (I.) A Tested Prayer.

In other words, Jesus did not simply snap his fingers and say, "Request granted. Next." No rather, Jesus initially appeared to ignore her request. You might say that he seemed to just blow her off. Tell me, can you relate? Have you ever thought, "Hello, is there anybody up there? God, are you even listening? Is this thing called prayer working?" Let's face it. In this age of instant coffee and instant messaging, we're sometimes tempted to give up on God if we don't get an instant answer to our prayer. We're tempted to think that our prayers are just a waste of time.

But notice, this woman doesn't give up on Jesus. In fact, she persists in her prayer-not only in the face of the silent treatment she gets from Jesus, but also in the face of the flack that she catches from his disciples. Matthew tells us that (Jesus') disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." In other words, "This lady is wasting your time and ours. She's making a scene. She's becoming a pest. Either tell her to scram or hurry up and answer her prayer and send her on her way."

What was Jesus' response? "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." Now again, if you're that Canaanite woman, those are pretty discouraging words coming out of Jesus' mouth, right? How can you not be thinking, "I'm flat out of luck"? "This guy doesn't care about me. I don't belong to the nation of Israel. I'm not the right nationality, the right pedigree. I'm a foreigner, an outsider, I don't belong."

But that's not what she says. Instead, she throws herself at his feet and repeats her prayer, "Lord, help me!" Boy, you would think that Jesus would have to answer her prayer now. But Jesus is not done testing her. Instead, he says, "It's not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." Now again, if I were in this woman's shoes, I think I might take some offense at Jesus words. "Dogs? Is he calling me a dog? Who does he think he is? I deserve to be treated better than a dog!"

But that's not the attitude that this woman displays. Instead of taking Jesus' words as some kind of putdown, she finds in Jesus' words a glimmer of hope. And her hope is found in the word that Jesus uses for "dog." You see, in the original language, Jesus doesn't us the common word for dog. That word would refer to wild dogs, the dogs that would scavenge for their food on the garbage piles of the city. Those dogs were largely despised by the people. No, the word that Jesus uses for dog is "Kunarion." Literally, it means "little dog". Jesus is referring to a pet dog, a dog that is not wild, but rather a dog that belongs to the master. While such a dog does not have a place at the master's table, it does have a place under the table.

It's that fact that this Canaanite woman seizes upon. This woman acknowledges that she is a dog. She doesn't deserve a place at the table. She's not one of the Children of Israel. But at the same time she does acknowledges that "even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." In other words, this woman is confessing, "Lord, I know that I deserve nothing from you. I'm not a descendent of Abraham. I've not kept all your Old Testament rules and regulations. But I am trusting in your mercy. I'm trusting that you will take just a little bit of what you promised to your children and instead share it with me. I believe that in your love and mercy, you can and will answer my prayers."

My friends, that's what faith is. And that's why we can say that the prayer of this desperate mother was not only tested, but more importantly, II. It was Faith-full. It was a prayer that was full of faith. This woman was coming to Jesus, confessing her unworthiness to receive anything from God, and yet, trusting that God, in his mercy would answer her prayer. This woman acknowledged that Jesus was a Jew, who was sent to the Jews, in fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures. And yet, she trusted that God's grace in Christ extended beyond the border of Israel and it applied to people of every race and nation.

Ultimately, it was that expression of faith on the part of this Gentile woman that Jesus publicly commends. Jesus says to her, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And as Matthew records it, "Her daughter was healed from that very hour." My friends, what a wonderful lesson this account teaches us about the importance of persistence in prayer. Rather than being discouraged by the tests that Jesus put this woman through, this woman pleaded all the more fervently with her Savior, not with an arrogant, "you owe me," attitude, but rather, with a humble, "I deserve nothing" attitude. And the whole time she put her trust not in her own merits but in the grace and mercy of her Savior God. God grant that when we come to him even in the time of desperation, our prayers are just as humble and just as faith-full as this Canaanite woman.

And yet, let's also not miss the bigger picture here, the picture that is painted by all of our Scripture readings today. And that's the fact that God's grace in Christ applies to people of all nations, and every circumstance in life. Remember that this woman was a Canaanite woman. That means that she was a non-Jew. She was an outsider. She didn't fit the mold. She wasn't like everyone else.

You look at the actions of the disciples toward her and you have to wonder, "Were these men expressing some prejudice against this woman? Is that why they urged Jesus to send her away? Was it because she was a different race or nationality? Did she speak with an accent? Maybe it was because she had a problem that they didn't want to deal with. A problem they were embarrassed by. Or maybe they saw themselves as the purebreds, and didn't want to be tainted by her kind.

You know, if you think about it, it's not hard for you and me to become guilty of that very same attitude today. We've tempted to pre-judge people on the basis of their skin color or their accent or their past. We think to ourselves, "I can't understand that person or I don't think she belongs here. Or he doesn't come from a very good family."

But was that the attitude that Jesus displayed? Absolutely not. Jesus' side trip into Canaanite territory was no accident. Jesus specifically wanted to come into contact with this non-Jew. He was determined to reach out to her. He was determined to fulfill what God promised in Isaiah 56 when he said, "I will gather still others…besides those already gathered." As Savior of all mankind, Jesus was determined to reach out to those who didn't seem to belong, those who were on the fringe, who were often overlooked or marginalized.

The question is, are you and I just as determined? You look around at our society and you see people who might very well fit into that same category. On this WLIM Sunday, I can't help but think of the people who are currently institutionalized in nursing homes or mental health institutions, or those who are incarcerated in local jails and federal prisons. It's very easy for us to take an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude toward such people, or worse yet, consider ourselves better than they are, or someone more deserving of God's grace than they.

But the Word of God before us today reminds us that we are all equal. We are all, in effect, dogs, begging for crumbs from the masters' table. And yet, what has God done? In his mercy, God has made us his children. And it's that mercy in Christ that compels us to reach out to others in love, including those whose backgrounds and current situations in life are dramatically different than ours. May God's love for beggars like us ever fill us with the desire to love and care for our fellow beggars, whoever they may be, wherever they may be, so that one day, by God's grace, and through faith in his Son, we may all sit down together at the table prepared by our Father in heaven, for Jesus' sake. Amen.