WEBVTT

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 So there are passages in the Gospels that preachers love to preach, and then there are passages like this one.

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 So a desperate mother comes to Jesus about her tormented child. The situation is bad. The woman's daughter is severely oppressed by a demon and there is no help.

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 And Jesus, who touched lepers, who wept at a tomb who would not break a bruised reed, does three things in a row that look nothing like the Jesus that we read about in the rest of the Gospels.

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 First, he seemingly ignores her. When she comes to him asking for help, in verse 23 it says, he did not answer her a word.

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 Second, when he does speak, it's not even to her and it sounds like rejection.

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 He speaks to his disciples who are asking him to make her go away because she was annoying them.

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 And what Jesus says to them, and in her hearing, is, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

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 And then, to make things seem even worse, when she kneels before him and begs for help, he seems to insult her by comparing her to a dog.

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 So, this is a tough passage.

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 And commentators have struggled with this for about 18 centuries, and today I'm going to lay it all to rest.

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 No, no, I'm just kidding.

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 So, some have tried to soften it by imagining that Jesus is using a figure of speech.

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 Others have tried to explain it away as Jesus quoting a proverb that he's then trying to overturn cleverly.

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 I even heard a former professor once say that Jesus' comment was typical of the ethnocentrism and even racism among Israelites towards Gentiles at his time.

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 So, I'm not sure any of these really work for me.

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 But one of the things I love about preaching from the Gospels is the chance to slow down and look closely at Jesus, at what he says and what he does.

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 For me, nothing that he says or does is accidental.

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 It's always intended to achieve something, to catalyze something that brings his kingdom into the lives and the situation of those around him.

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 And so, just to give you a sense of my direction of travel in all of this, what I think Jesus is doing here is drawing faith out of this woman that brings his kingdom to her and her daughter.

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 So, in order to get there, it helps to unpack some of the layers in this short passage.

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 And so, one of those layers is what we can know about Tyre and Sidon, both historically and in Jesus' time.

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 And another layer is what we can know about the woman herself.

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 But let's start with what the audience of Matthew's Gospel have in their minds when they heard this story, the history and the present context for Tyre and Sidon.

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 So, Tyre and Sidon, Phoenician port cities on the Mediterranean coast were roughly 30 to 40 miles northwest of Galilee.

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 They were outside Herod Antipas' jurisdiction, outside Jewish territory, and thoroughly pagan.

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 This is the furthest north that Jesus ever goes in Matthew's Gospel.

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 He has effectively at this point left Israel, left the covenant land, and in the thinking and beliefs of most Gentiles and Jews of his time, he is now in the territory controlled by other gods.

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 And so, for any of Matthew's Jewish audience, Tyre and Sidon evoke a couple biblical memories.

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 So, we read in 1 Kings 16.31 that Sidon is Jezebel's hometown.

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 Her father, Ethbaal, was king of the Sidonians, and it was from Sidon that Baal worship was imported into Israel.

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 Not a lot of good associations for many Jews.

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 As well, Tyre and Sidon stands under some of the fiercest judgments, some of the fiercest prophetic oracles in the Old Testament.

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 Isaiah 23, Ezekiel 26 to 28, Joel 3, just to name a few.

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 Ezekiel's oracle against the king of Tyre is one of the strongest and harshest prophetic denunciations of human pride in all of Scripture.

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 So, Tyre and Sidon have a reputation.

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 But, it's not the only biblical memory that they would have.

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 In 1 Kings 17, when Israel had abandoned the Lord, God sent Elijah out of Israel to Zarephath, a village between Tyre and Sidon, to a Gentile widow where Elijah restored her child to life.

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 So, Jesus brings the same story up in Luke 4 in the synagogue in Nazareth when he announces his mission.

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 So, for Jesus to go to Tyre and Sidon, he's both going to a place viewed as entirely outside the authority of the God of Israel, where some of the worst forms of paganism to affect Israel originated.

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 And also, though, a place where God has already gone before through Elijah, also to help a Gentile woman and her child when Israel was not hearing God well.

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 And so, from this perspective, Matthew 15 looks less like an unusual departure from Jesus' ministry and more like an invasion and a pattern for God.

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 So, keeping this kind of context in mind, let's look briefly at the woman at the center of the story.

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 Matthew and Mark refer to her in different terms.

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 In Mark's telling of the story, he refers to her as a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth.

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 He identifies her as culturally Hellenized and ethnically Phoenician.

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 Matthew reaches back a thousand years and in verse 22 uses a different word.

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 He calls her a Canaanite, which is a spiritual identity marker.

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 Canaanite in the Old Testament is a word for the people Israel was commanded to drive out of the land.

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 It's the word used to identify people who are enemies of God's covenant.

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 I think Matthew chooses it on purpose because he wants his audience to know that she is far outside of the covenant.

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 Far outside of the saving faith in the God of Israel.

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 So, I want to add something else to our reflection on who this woman is.

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 So, what I'm about to say is not anything that Matthew or Mark say in their telling of Jesus' interaction with this woman.

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 But I think for anyone, for Jesus' disciples and anyone in Jesus' time who would hear this story, they would be well aware of this.

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 So, according to archaeological research, the region of Tyre and Sidon was home to one of the most prominent healing temples in the ancient Near East.

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 About two miles northeast of Sidon, at a site called Boston Esheikh beside the Iwali River, was a temple to Eshman.

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 Eshman was a Phoenician god of healing.

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 And the renewal of life.

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 The chief male deity of Sidon.

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 So, the construction of that temple began in the 7th century BC.

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 And it was in continuous use all over that time, all the way up into Jesus' day.

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 In the Roman times, it was even expanded to become a whole colonnaded street with a fountain for ritual washing.

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 So, this temple and its rituals were well known and still functioning in Jesus' time.

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 And Jesus is there.

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 So, here's something that could be really interesting for this story on a personal level for the woman and her daughter.

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 Archaeologists excavating this temple site recovered dozens of votive statues of children.

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 Small figures dedicated to Eshman on behalf of sick or vulnerable little ones, along with ritual pools and glass jars thought to be related to these healing rituals.

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 There was also a second shrine at Kyareb near Tyre with terracotta figures of children as well.

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 So, this was literally a place where Phoenician moms and dads took their sick kids when they needed help.

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 So, like I said, Matthew's gospel doesn't mention this.

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 Neither that there's this temple near Tyre and Sidon, nor that the woman had been there.

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 So, we can't say for sure that she had gone to these sites.

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 But I will say this.

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 She lived within a short distance from one of the most famous healing shrines in the region.

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 A temple dedicated to a God with a distinct focus on curing children.

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 This was a nearby spiritual resource available to this woman.

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 Well known, well regarded by everyone around her.

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 Something that would be natural to her cultural and spiritual upbringing.

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 But in the passage in Matthew that we're reading today, she's not praying at that temple.

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 She's asking Jesus for his help.

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 So, I can't help but wonder, did she go to this nearby temple, didn't get the help she needed, and so she's now coming to Jesus.

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 We don't know, but it's definitely interesting.

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 But I actually think it gets even more interesting.

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 So, in the passage, the woman comes and says to Jesus,

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 Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David.

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 My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.

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 And I want us to notice two things in what she says.

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 Keeping all this other stuff in mind.

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 She says this.

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 First, the woman asks for mercy and not justice.

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 The Greek verb is elation.

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 Mercy is by definition what you can't demand.

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 The moment you can demand something as a matter of right or fairness, it's not mercy.

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 The woman doesn't come with an argument for why she thinks she deserves help.

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 She has no right to ask Jesus for help, and she knows it.

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 All she has is her raw need, and she simply throws herself on Jesus' compassion.

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 Second, the woman calls Jesus son of David, which is amazing.

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 She is not Jewish, but she uses a Jewish messianic title from the promises to David.

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 She has no spiritual, cultural, or ethnic share in David or Israel.

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 But she confesses Jesus as the Messiah.

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 So, quick sidebar in Matthew's gospel.

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 Son of David is almost always used by people who are asking Jesus for healing.

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 This is the two blind men in chapter 9.

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 The crowds in chapter 12.

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 Blind Bartimaeus in chapter 20.

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 For Matthew, it's clear that son of David carries an understanding of who and what the Messiah is like.

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 Son of David is someone who heals.

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 And the Canaanite woman seems to understand this.

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 So, now we come to the tough parts.

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 In verse 23, I mentioned this already.

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 Jesus says, but he did not answer her a word.

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 So, this could feel like a very painful response to receive.

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 Is Jesus ignoring her?

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 Then, to add to the hurt, the disciples asked Jesus to make her go away, like I mentioned,

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 because she's a nuisance or an inconvenience.

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 And then, in response, Jesus says what we read earlier.

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 I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

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 So, I don't think this is ethnic disdain like one of my professors said in a class.

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 I want to suggest that this is more a statement of redemptive order

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 that Jesus is speaking to his disciples for their information.

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 And Jesus says the same thing to his disciples when he sends them out in Matthew 10.

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 Paul speaks to this.

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 He says, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

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 And in John's gospel, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that salvation is from the Jews.

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 The Messiah of Israel came to Israel first.

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 It's true.

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 In fulfillment of God's covenant promises.

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 But he goes to all people.

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 This is not exclusion.

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 It's sequence.

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 But the point remains.

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 It feels very painful.

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 Jesus seems to ignore her.

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 And then, in the third thing I mentioned, the woman kneels and says to Jesus in verse 25,

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 Lord, help me.

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 The word used here is actually the Greek word meaning literally to kiss the ground.

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 It's the word that the New Testament uses for worship.

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 The woman is bowing down to Jesus in worship, calling him Lord and asking him to help her.

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 And Jesus says it's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.

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 Ouch.

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 So, I've heard it preached.

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 I've preached this myself in the past that the word used for dog is canarian.

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 It's a diminutive term.

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 It refers to a little dog or a household pet.

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 It's not the word for a feral dog that wanders the streets.

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 But I don't think it's much better.

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 Honestly, it's still a hard word.

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 I'm not trying to criticize Jesus here.

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 But for Matthew's audience, they would have caught this difference.

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 Jesus places the woman not among the children at the table, but not as a mangy dog outside on the street.

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 But under the table.

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 Proximate to the table.

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 So, let me say again, I think the turn of phrase is a hard one.

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 If he had asked me for advice, I probably would have said, don't go with that one, Jesus.

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 Here's some suggested wording for this.

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 But this is what he says.

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 What the woman says next is astonishing.

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 In verse 27, she says,

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 She says,

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 So what happened?

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 Did she wear Jesus down like she seemed to be wearing down the disciples?

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 Did she outmaneuver or kind of outclever Jesus with her reply?

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 Have such a sharp answer that Jesus had to sort of sigh and, you know, silent shoulder shrug and say,

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 Okay, fine.

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 You get what you want.

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 So, I don't think that's what was happening.

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 I think what's happening here is that Jesus is being very deliberate about how he's ministering to her and her daughter.

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 His silence is not absence.

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 His non-answers and hard answers are not denials of her request.

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 Jesus went to Tyre and Sidon on purpose to bring his kingdom to a very pagan place the way God sent Elijah to this place centuries before.

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 To bring mercy to a Gentile woman and her dying son.

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 And Jesus is doing the same in Tyre and Sidon.

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 He didn't resist her or her pain or her request for help.

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 I think his silence and pushback had the effect of sharpening and drawing out her faith.

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 And this was on purpose.

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 We see other stories like this in the Gospels.

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 In John 4, the royal official comes to Jesus and says,

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 Help me, my son is dying.

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 And Jesus says,

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 Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.

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 And the man presses Jesus again to help his son instead of being deflected.

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 Or in Mark 9, when a father asks Jesus to help his son who's also oppressed by a demon,

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 saying,

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 If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

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 Jesus replies,

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 If you can, all things are possible for one who believes.

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 And the dad says,

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 I believe, help my unbelief.

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 He doesn't get deflected.

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 He pushes in.

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 Even Jesus' mom knew this about him.

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 At the wedding in Cana, she says,

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 We're out of wine.

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 And he says,

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 Woman.

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 Man, if I said to my mom,

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 Woman?

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 And reply?

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 He says to her,

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 Woman.

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 You know, what does this have to do with you or me?

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 It's not my problem.

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 And his mom pushes even harder on him.

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 Just seems to ignore it.

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 And says to the servants,

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 Just do whatever he says.

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 Sometimes Jesus seems silent.

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 He seems to push back on requests in the Gospels.

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 But I think it's to draw out faith that moves mountains.

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 Because he wants to heal.

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 He wants to help.

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 So I want to focus on a couple insights here.

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 So Jesus' commendation,

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 Great is your faith,

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 Is actually unique.

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 In all of Matthew's Gospel,

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 There are only two times when Jesus says this.

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 Once to the Canaanite woman,

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 And then to a centurion in chapter 8.

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 Both are Gentiles.

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 Meanwhile,

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 Jesus calls his own disciples four times,

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 Oligoi pistoi,

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 Which means little faiths.

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 Including when they're in the boat with Jesus,

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 Just one chapter earlier.

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 Jesus isn't trying to insult them.

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 He's trying to push them to have more faith.

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 So Jesus' commendation of the woman

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 Is actually really significant.

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 Partly because of what happened in the previous passage.

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 Before this passage,

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 Where we read about Jesus and the Canaanite woman,

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 Jesus is fighting with the scribes and Pharisees

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 Over ritual hand washing.

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 They accuse Jesus' disciples of eating with defiled hands.

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 The conflict ends with Jesus saying something sharp.

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 It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles,

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 But what comes out of the mouth.

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 Because what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart.

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 These religious leaders,

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 The ones who knew the scriptures,

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 Had clean hands but defiled hearts.

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 Meanwhile,

00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:25.599
 The Canaanite woman,

00:17:25.940 --> 00:17:27.559
 Who's ceremonially unclean,

00:17:28.139 --> 00:17:29.619
 And outside the Jewish faith,

00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.359
 Had a heart full of faith.

00:17:32.740 --> 00:17:34.440
 What proceeds out of her mouth

00:17:34.440 --> 00:17:37.639
 Is a confession of faith in Jesus' Messiah.

00:17:39.579 --> 00:17:41.319
 What made her faith great

00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:42.859
 Was not the size of her faith.

00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:44.639
 It wasn't her knowledge of the law,

00:17:44.759 --> 00:17:45.339
 The prophets.

00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:48.559
 It's that her faith held on to the goodness of Jesus.

00:17:49.299 --> 00:17:51.859
 She held on to who he is as son of David.

00:17:51.859 --> 00:17:56.879
 Jesus' apparent silence drew out her faith

00:17:56.879 --> 00:17:59.619
 In order to reveal to her and his disciples

00:17:59.619 --> 00:18:01.219
 And everyone who reads the story

00:18:01.219 --> 00:18:03.000
 What great faith looks like.

00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:06.879
 And the other thing is she came not just with faith,

00:18:06.979 --> 00:18:07.819
 But with raw need.

00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:08.779
 As I said,

00:18:08.859 --> 00:18:11.000
 She never once justified her request.

00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:15.000
 All she came here was with raw need and faith.

00:18:15.339 --> 00:18:17.779
 And she said that she would take any crumbs

00:18:17.779 --> 00:18:18.899
 That fell from the table.

00:18:18.900 --> 00:18:21.820
 Those crumbs were enough to heal the woman's daughter.

00:18:22.600 --> 00:18:23.900
 In the passage that follows,

00:18:24.140 --> 00:18:27.660
 Jesus goes on to feed over 4,000 people,

00:18:27.840 --> 00:18:28.960
 Most of whom were Gentile.

00:18:30.100 --> 00:18:32.240
 It's interesting to me that in this passage,

00:18:32.900 --> 00:18:34.600
 A couple crumbs that helped the woman

00:18:34.600 --> 00:18:35.660
 In the next passage

00:18:35.660 --> 00:18:37.960
 Turned into seven basketfuls left over.

00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.340
 What started out as something for her

00:18:40.340 --> 00:18:42.340
 Turned into something for a lot of people

00:18:42.340 --> 00:18:44.120
 In the way Matthew tells it.

00:18:45.280 --> 00:18:46.380
 So let me close,

00:18:46.780 --> 00:18:48.080
 Bring this even closer to home.

00:18:48.900 --> 00:18:50.580
 So I want to say something to those of you

00:18:50.580 --> 00:18:52.720
 Who feel like you're an outsider to faith

00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:54.100
 Or maybe that you don't feel like

00:18:54.100 --> 00:18:55.040
 You're a legit Christian.

00:18:55.660 --> 00:18:57.360
 So I want you to see this woman's story

00:18:57.360 --> 00:18:58.120
 And take heart.

00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:00.320
 Jesus was not her Messiah.

00:19:00.740 --> 00:19:01.940
 This was not her religion.

00:19:02.380 --> 00:19:03.100
 Her upbringing,

00:19:03.420 --> 00:19:05.240
 Her cultural or ethnic heritage.

00:19:06.060 --> 00:19:07.940
 But she came to Jesus anyway.

00:19:08.560 --> 00:19:10.660
 The only criteria that Jesus has

00:19:10.660 --> 00:19:12.160
 Is that you come to him real,

00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:14.300
 Honest with your actual need.

00:19:14.660 --> 00:19:15.920
 He'll never turn you away.

00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:18.160
 He will grow your faith to help you get there.

00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:21.300
 So all of us,

00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:22.800
 All of those and all of us

00:19:22.800 --> 00:19:24.540
 Who visited other shrines or temples.

00:19:25.500 --> 00:19:27.040
 So we've all been to those shrines

00:19:27.040 --> 00:19:27.960
 That offer peace,

00:19:28.279 --> 00:19:28.580
 Help,

00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:29.360
 Healing.

00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:30.779
 Could be therapy,

00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:31.279
 Medicine,

00:19:31.600 --> 00:19:32.120
 Surgeries,

00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:33.180
 Alternate approaches,

00:19:33.380 --> 00:19:33.620
 Books.

00:19:34.060 --> 00:19:35.340
 They can all be really helpful

00:19:35.340 --> 00:19:36.440
 And I'm not putting them down.

00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:38.620
 No one should stop seeking healing

00:19:38.620 --> 00:19:39.400
 From those things.

00:19:39.980 --> 00:19:41.700
 But they're not the same as Jesus.

00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:43.500
 The woman found that

00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:44.580
 Even though the crumbs

00:19:44.580 --> 00:19:45.620
 That fell from the table

00:19:45.619 --> 00:19:46.579
 Were more than all

00:19:46.579 --> 00:19:47.719
 That the shrines and temples

00:19:47.719 --> 00:19:49.299
 Around her could ever offer.

00:19:49.939 --> 00:19:51.739
 So give Jesus a try too.

00:19:52.179 --> 00:19:52.599
 Hear me out.

00:19:52.639 --> 00:19:53.279
 I'm not saying

00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:54.699
 This is not an anti-medicine,

00:19:54.819 --> 00:19:55.939
 Anti-doctor message.

00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:56.739
 Just,

00:19:57.379 --> 00:19:59.059
 If you've been pursuing that,

00:19:59.159 --> 00:19:59.919
 Keep doing that.

00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:02.179
 But if you've not been pursuing Jesus too,

00:20:02.579 --> 00:20:03.359
 Add Jesus.

00:20:03.819 --> 00:20:05.099
 Put it on your list of supplements.

00:20:05.099 --> 00:20:05.279
 Silence.

00:20:06.859 --> 00:20:08.099
 So for those struggling

00:20:08.099 --> 00:20:09.299
 With Jesus' silence,

00:20:09.879 --> 00:20:11.319
 You've prayed for your kids,

00:20:11.500 --> 00:20:12.059
 Your marriage,

00:20:12.179 --> 00:20:12.679
 Your illness,

00:20:12.819 --> 00:20:13.399
 Your job,

00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:14.699
 For all the pains

00:20:14.699 --> 00:20:15.980
 Of those around you,

00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:17.179
 And there's been nothing.

00:20:18.159 --> 00:20:19.179
 Jesus' silence

00:20:19.179 --> 00:20:20.219
 Is not absence.

00:20:20.879 --> 00:20:21.939
 Jesus seemed to ignore

00:20:21.939 --> 00:20:22.679
 Martha and Mary

00:20:22.679 --> 00:20:24.059
 When they asked him

00:20:24.059 --> 00:20:25.319
 To come help Lazarus.

00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:27.119
 He came eventually

00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:28.059
 And raised the dead.

00:20:28.179 --> 00:20:29.459
 So don't quit asking.

00:20:29.939 --> 00:20:31.819
 Let Jesus draw out your faith.

00:20:31.819 --> 00:20:34.039
 To those struggling

00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:35.460
 With insurmountable evil,

00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:37.159
 Jesus went to a place

00:20:37.159 --> 00:20:38.539
 With a long and deep history

00:20:38.539 --> 00:20:39.339
 Of paganism

00:20:39.339 --> 00:20:41.079
 And worship of dark spirits.

00:20:42.679 --> 00:20:44.179
 Jesus went there on purpose,

00:20:44.299 --> 00:20:44.679
 I believe,

00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:45.720
 Just for this woman

00:20:45.720 --> 00:20:46.319
 And her daughter.

00:20:47.099 --> 00:20:48.539
 Nothing was going to keep him

00:20:48.539 --> 00:20:49.919
 From breaking off the darkness

00:20:49.919 --> 00:20:50.980
 That afflicted her

00:20:50.980 --> 00:20:51.759
 Or her daughter.

00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:53.700
 Wherever Jesus went,

00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:55.879
 Darkness had to give way

00:20:55.879 --> 00:20:57.839
 No matter how long it was there,

00:20:58.259 --> 00:20:59.919
 How much everyone gave it place,

00:20:59.919 --> 00:21:01.480
 And no matter how strong

00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:02.700
 A hold it seemed to have.

00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:05.279
 Expect Jesus to break

00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:06.740
 The darkness off of you

00:21:06.740 --> 00:21:07.680
 And your life too,

00:21:08.099 --> 00:21:08.920
 No matter what.

00:21:10.660 --> 00:21:11.480
 Last one.

00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:12.860
 This is for me

00:21:12.860 --> 00:21:13.700
 And everyone else

00:21:13.700 --> 00:21:14.680
 Who is considered

00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:16.019
 A faith insider.

00:21:17.079 --> 00:21:18.519
 Don't miss the context

00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:19.279
 For this story.

00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:22.079
 The scribes and the Pharisees,

00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:23.500
 The faith insiders,

00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:24.920
 Members of the covenant,

00:21:25.339 --> 00:21:26.720
 Chosen people of God,

00:21:26.819 --> 00:21:27.620
 Had the scriptures,

00:21:27.940 --> 00:21:28.480
 The temple,

00:21:28.620 --> 00:21:29.099
 The law,

00:21:29.099 --> 00:21:30.419
 And the clean hands,

00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:32.019
 Argued with Jesus

00:21:32.019 --> 00:21:33.119
 About hand washing,

00:21:33.539 --> 00:21:35.119
 When it was a Canaanite woman

00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:36.259
 Who knew Jesus

00:21:36.259 --> 00:21:37.740
 Was the Messiah who heals.

00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:40.279
 Familiarity with the bread

00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:41.500
 Is not the same

00:21:41.500 --> 00:21:42.419
 As hunger for it.

00:21:43.099 --> 00:21:44.480
 It's entirely possible

00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:45.559
 That we find ourselves

00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:46.240
 At the table,

00:21:46.439 --> 00:21:47.619
 But we don't eat.

00:21:47.619 --> 00:21:50.359
 So let's examine ourselves

00:21:50.359 --> 00:21:51.919
 Once in a while at least

00:21:51.919 --> 00:21:53.039
 To test and make sure

00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:54.779
 That we're coming to Jesus

00:21:54.779 --> 00:21:56.199
 Raw and real,

00:21:56.619 --> 00:21:57.779
 Asking for more faith

00:21:57.779 --> 00:21:59.739
 And expecting more from Jesus.

00:22:00.399 --> 00:22:01.159
 Let me pray.

00:22:02.839 --> 00:22:03.779
 Lord Jesus,

00:22:04.059 --> 00:22:04.699
 Thank you

00:22:04.699 --> 00:22:06.539
 That nothing stops you

00:22:06.539 --> 00:22:07.439
 From reaching us.

00:22:08.159 --> 00:22:09.099
 You go anywhere

00:22:09.099 --> 00:22:12.359
 And you chase us, Lord.

00:22:12.659 --> 00:22:13.500
 Thank you, Lord,

00:22:13.500 --> 00:22:14.779
 That despite the way

00:22:14.779 --> 00:22:15.839
 It can seem sometimes

00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:17.140
 When you seem silent,

00:22:18.180 --> 00:22:20.640
 You are not absent

00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:21.859
 And you are for us.

00:22:22.259 --> 00:22:23.539
 So grow our faith, Lord.

00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:24.359
 Grow our hunger.

00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:25.960
 Grow our expectation.

00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:28.099
 And meet us, Lord.

00:22:28.660 --> 00:22:29.500
 Come meet us.

00:22:30.180 --> 00:22:30.900
 We thank you.

00:22:32.059 --> 00:22:32.380
 Amen.

00:22:32.380 --> 00:22:32.440
 Amen.

00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:32.440


00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:32.440