WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.620 I was reading an article the other day. It was a list of mothers who have been willing to do anything to save their children. 00:00:14.619 --> 00:00:30.719 And there were stories of moms who had fought off mountain lions and bears, and in one case in India, a tiger with their bare hands to save their children. 00:00:31.579 --> 00:00:40.259 There was a story of a mom running into a burning house and grabbing up her child and running out as the house was collapsing. 00:00:40.259 --> 00:00:51.219 And then there was even that famous story from the 80s about a mom who lifted an SUV off the ground so that her child who was trapped underneath could escape. 00:00:51.719 --> 00:00:59.000 It was very inspiring to see how these parents are willing to do anything, risk anything, for the sake of their kids. 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:05.299 I know we have some older kids in the congregation. If you're here, kids, we're so glad that you're here. 00:01:05.299 --> 00:01:07.500 I think you're here with us through the beginning of September. 00:01:07.500 --> 00:01:18.000 We're giving you a picture every week to draw, so this might be good artistic inspiration for you to imagine your mom or your dad or both as a superhero. 00:01:18.659 --> 00:01:23.560 What would they look like? You can draw that picture as we get into this text. 00:01:24.740 --> 00:01:28.960 Mom or dad, if you want to do a whole superhero family, hey, you're the artist. 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:39.539 But as I was thinking about these parents, these moms who have risked everything for their kids, I thought about this woman. 00:01:40.179 --> 00:01:44.799 The woman in Matthew 15, who I think deserves a place on that list. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:57.939 This, as we shall see later, Matthew describes her as this Canaanite woman, is willing to risk breaking every social taboo, is willing to risk making an absolute fool of herself, 00:01:57.939 --> 00:02:04.280 because she is desperate to save her daughter who is oppressed by a demon. 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:12.840 And what we actually will end up seeing is that this woman is not just worth paying attention to because of her devotion to her daughter, 00:02:13.180 --> 00:02:24.259 but she actually becomes one of the greatest examples in Scripture for us to follow as people who seek to follow and know Jesus as our Lord. 00:02:24.259 --> 00:02:27.819 But fair warning, this is a challenging passage. 00:02:28.399 --> 00:02:31.239 It's challenging to understand it. 00:02:31.679 --> 00:02:35.579 There are things about it that make the meaning, the true meaning, very obscure. 00:02:36.539 --> 00:02:40.280 We know, as we look at the lectionary readings that we've heard read, 00:02:40.340 --> 00:02:46.479 that there is this theme of people like this woman being included in to God's covenant, 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:52.000 and yet Jesus' behavior here seems bizarre, seems to run against that. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:03:00.240 So what we're going to do is take an approach to this and operate kind of like detectives to try to figure out what it's saying, 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:01.280 and we're going to do that together. 00:03:01.379 --> 00:03:07.159 So we're going to look at what is this saying, what does it mean, and then what does it mean for us. 00:03:07.180 --> 00:03:09.259 We'll draw out some implications for ourselves. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:10.000 Let's pray. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:16.420 Lord, we thank you for your word, and we thank you that even when it's hard to understand, 00:03:16.419 --> 00:03:24.459 even when the true meaning seems to elude us, we know that you are always speaking words that we need to hear. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:26.899 You're always giving us far more than ideas. 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:30.719 As Jesus says, this is actual nourishment for our souls. 00:03:31.579 --> 00:03:33.219 We need this in order to live. 00:03:33.799 --> 00:03:39.560 And we thank you that your words always come from a place of love, that they always build up, 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:42.560 and that when you send your word out, it never returns void. 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:45.979 It always accomplishes that which you set out for it to accomplish. 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:52.060 And so we pray, Lord, in faith that you will make your word plain to us, that we will be nourished by it. 00:03:52.539 --> 00:03:54.080 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:03:54.539 --> 00:03:54.800 Amen. 00:03:55.780 --> 00:03:57.740 So first of all, what does it say? 00:03:57.860 --> 00:04:03.000 Let's just summarize the events of this passage so we know what's going on here. 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:10.740 Matthew tells us that Jesus is withdrawn to Tyre and Sidon, and he says a Canaanite woman comes and says, 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:14.479 Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:17.720 My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:20.500 Now just that right there, there's so much that we could look at. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:21.360 We'll come back to it. 00:04:22.139 --> 00:04:24.759 At first, interestingly, Jesus doesn't say anything. 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:28.100 It's just sort of a stoic silence. 00:04:28.100 --> 00:04:37.400 His disciples then think that this means that he's bothered by this woman or that he's trying to focus on something else. 00:04:37.520 --> 00:04:40.220 And so he tried to help out by saying, Lord, just send her away. 00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:41.140 Just tell her to leave. 00:04:41.640 --> 00:04:42.620 We're not here for her. 00:04:42.700 --> 00:04:44.060 We're not here for people like her. 00:04:45.140 --> 00:04:49.460 Then Jesus says, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. 00:04:50.900 --> 00:04:52.960 But this doesn't deter this woman. 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:54.080 She persists. 00:04:54.080 --> 00:04:55.480 She begs. 00:04:56.300 --> 00:04:57.820 Then Jesus says something. 00:04:57.819 --> 00:05:00.259 I think most of us would agree is fairly shocking. 00:05:00.819 --> 00:05:03.759 It's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. 00:05:04.139 --> 00:05:07.659 The Jews often referred to Gentiles as dogs. 00:05:07.779 --> 00:05:09.120 It was a derogatory term. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:14.219 And as shocking as this statement is, the woman's response is even more surprising. 00:05:14.939 --> 00:05:20.319 She says, yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:26.839 And then Jesus seems to pull this 180 and he exclaims, oh, woman, great is your faith. 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:28.980 Be it done for you as you desire. 00:05:29.159 --> 00:05:31.980 And then her daughter is healed instantly. 00:05:31.980 --> 00:05:35.620 So what do we make of this encounter? 00:05:35.620 --> 00:05:39.000 Jesus' behavior, frankly, seems bizarre. 00:05:39.620 --> 00:05:46.780 It's not at all what we would expect when we think about Jesus' love and desire to include and welcome the outcast. 00:05:46.939 --> 00:05:48.980 What in the world is going on here? 00:05:48.980 --> 00:05:52.100 It's as though he's having maybe just a really bad day. 00:05:52.460 --> 00:05:56.240 And he even seems to use a racial slur. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:06:01.379 And then, as I said a moment ago, he seems to pull a complete 180. 00:06:01.740 --> 00:06:03.819 His attitude completely reverses. 00:06:04.180 --> 00:06:06.480 And then he praises this woman's faith. 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:14.220 One of the translations says, in a more colloquial translation, says, instead of, oh, woman, what an amazing answer. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:15.579 Right? 00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:19.040 So he's genuinely thrilled with her response to him. 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:20.319 And then he heals her daughter. 00:06:20.420 --> 00:06:21.199 So what do we make of this? 00:06:21.699 --> 00:06:22.759 Okay, what does this mean? 00:06:23.579 --> 00:06:25.939 As I said, this passage is a kind of mystery. 00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:31.439 And there are clues all over the place that help us understand what's really going on here. 00:06:31.740 --> 00:06:32.819 But you have to look for them. 00:06:32.819 --> 00:06:34.340 So you have to think like a detective. 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:37.120 And you have to put all the clues together. 00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:39.740 So let's look at sort of three kinds of clues. 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:43.860 The first kind of clue would be stylistic clues. 00:06:44.400 --> 00:06:47.780 By the way, this is an approach that you can use any time you're reading a passage of Scripture. 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:50.879 And you're not sure what it says or what it means. 00:06:50.939 --> 00:06:52.699 You can use an approach like this. 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:54.180 First, let's look at the style. 00:06:54.180 --> 00:07:00.139 Matthew's style as a gospel writer is very subversive. 00:07:00.139 --> 00:07:11.280 In other words, he is continually challenging, undermining, and ultimately overturning many of the established norms of first century Jewish society. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:18.179 And he writes these accounts in a way that sets up the audience to expect one thing. 00:07:19.099 --> 00:07:23.859 And then he delivers a punchline that subverts those expectations. 00:07:23.860 --> 00:07:25.819 So you may remember the riddle. 00:07:25.939 --> 00:07:27.860 It's been around for a few decades now. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:35.400 Maybe you've heard the riddle where somebody says a father and son are in a car crash. 00:07:35.500 --> 00:07:36.660 The father doesn't make it. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:38.259 The son is rushed to the hospital. 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:40.199 He's rushed into surgery. 00:07:40.340 --> 00:07:44.139 And just as he's about to go under the knife, the surgeon says, I can't operate. 00:07:44.540 --> 00:07:45.819 This boy is my son. 00:07:45.819 --> 00:07:47.839 How is that possible? 00:07:48.620 --> 00:07:48.839 Right? 00:07:48.860 --> 00:07:53.519 And, of course, the answer is the surgeon is the boy's mother. 00:07:53.779 --> 00:07:54.000 Right? 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:57.939 But what this does is it exposes people who can't answer this. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:02.860 It exposes our kind of bias, our assumption that the surgeon must be a man. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:03.379 Right? 00:08:03.379 --> 00:08:14.159 So the riddle is designed to actually expose us as the audience and to make us aware of our faulty assumptions about how things work. 00:08:15.420 --> 00:08:18.659 That's the kind of device we see happening here. 00:08:18.779 --> 00:08:25.259 There's a setup that activates certain expectations and then a punchline that subverts those expectations. 00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:28.659 And what this does is it exposes our faulty assumptions. 00:08:28.819 --> 00:08:30.860 The joke is on us as the readers. 00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:32.960 So that's the first clue. 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:37.539 We know stylistically this kind of thing happens in the Gospels and in Matthew. 00:08:37.740 --> 00:08:41.519 And so we're going to hold on to that as our first clue. 00:08:42.360 --> 00:08:46.600 Now we're going to look at a second kind of clue, which is context. 00:08:47.620 --> 00:08:51.740 Anytime you're looking at a passage and it's hard to understand, look at what comes before it. 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:53.500 Look at what comes after it. 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:55.019 See how it fits together. 00:08:55.019 --> 00:09:06.360 Matthew writes his gospel thematically, meaning he groups things together because he wants us to read them all together because there are larger points that he's trying to make. 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:15.220 So just before this encounter, Jesus is confronting the self-righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees. 00:09:15.220 --> 00:09:21.320 And when he does that, he quotes an Old Testament passage, Isaiah 29. 00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:30.320 And in case you don't remember what Isaiah 29 is all about, this is where God denounces Israel for their empty religiosity. 00:09:30.779 --> 00:09:33.620 And then God says, one day I'm going to restore you. 00:09:33.620 --> 00:09:41.320 And this is how you know I'm going to restore you because I will cause Lebanon to flourish. 00:09:41.500 --> 00:09:43.560 Lebanon is Gentile territory, right? 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:50.960 I'm going to, I'm going to, your hardness of heart and hypocrisy is a barrier between us. 00:09:51.060 --> 00:09:52.340 One day I'm going to restore you. 00:09:52.379 --> 00:09:54.539 I'm going to bring you back into the fold. 00:09:54.539 --> 00:10:02.539 And the sign that that's going to happen is I'm going to cause the Gentiles in Lebanon to flourish while you wither. 00:10:03.219 --> 00:10:04.959 And that will be the sign for you, right? 00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:09.919 So where does this whole encounter with this woman take place? 00:10:10.339 --> 00:10:12.799 It says the district of Tyre and Sidon. 00:10:12.919 --> 00:10:13.679 Well, where's that? 00:10:14.819 --> 00:10:15.339 Lebanon. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:16.279 Right? 00:10:16.339 --> 00:10:18.299 So we're in Lebanon right now. 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:24.979 And then immediately after this encounter, Jesus goes and he begins to heal large numbers of Gentiles. 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:30.539 And then he miraculously feeds thousands of them with just a few loaves of bread, 00:10:30.659 --> 00:10:35.959 showing that God plans to give the Gentiles far more than crumbs from the table. 00:10:36.919 --> 00:10:39.599 He plans to bless them abundantly. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:48.120 It's a miracle of a feeding of thousands of people that parallels an earlier miracle in Matthew's gospel 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:53.480 where Jesus performed this and miraculously fed Jews. 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:59.600 Now it's happening to Gentiles and it's a contextual way of saying God's blessing is for everybody. 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:00.600 Right? 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:01.860 So that's the context. 00:11:02.019 --> 00:11:06.540 And so if we look at that before and we look at after and we keep in mind, here's the next clue. 00:11:06.539 --> 00:11:13.299 We need to read this whole encounter with Isaiah 29 in mind and God's promise to make Lebanon flourish 00:11:13.299 --> 00:11:14.799 in order to bring the Jews to repentance. 00:11:14.980 --> 00:11:16.779 It's like, okay, well, now that's going on. 00:11:16.819 --> 00:11:18.620 Let's hold that in our minds. 00:11:18.899 --> 00:11:23.959 And the third and final kind of clue to the meaning of this is the actual language in the passage. 00:11:25.299 --> 00:11:29.639 The fact that Matthew refers to this woman as a Canaanite is really significant 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:35.159 because at this point in history, the word Canaanite had been not in use for hundreds of years. 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:36.500 It's a very antiquated term. 00:11:36.719 --> 00:11:41.759 This would be like you meeting somebody who's from the UK and calling them an Anglo-Saxon. 00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:42.879 Right? 00:11:42.980 --> 00:11:45.379 It just is, you just typically are not going to say that. 00:11:45.459 --> 00:11:45.679 Right? 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:48.980 British person, yeah, but Anglo-Saxon, a little outdated. 00:11:49.860 --> 00:11:50.980 That's what's going on here. 00:11:51.019 --> 00:11:52.139 It's a very outdated term. 00:11:53.539 --> 00:11:55.839 Why is Matthew using this term? 00:11:55.959 --> 00:11:58.019 This woman is technically Syrophoenician. 00:11:58.379 --> 00:12:02.219 The parallel account of this in Mark tells us that she's Syrophoenician. 00:12:02.219 --> 00:12:04.139 Why would Matthew call her a Canaanite? 00:12:05.139 --> 00:12:06.259 Well, it's very deliberate. 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:10.860 The Canaanites in the Old Testament were the ultimate enemies of God and his people. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:17.899 If anybody stood opposed to the covenant, if anybody was labeled as the ultimate enemy of God and his people, 00:12:18.019 --> 00:12:18.819 it was the Canaanites. 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:22.799 Very, very, very deep history of animosity between these people groups. 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:30.199 And so Matthew wants to portray this woman as the ultimate outsider, the outsider's outsider. 00:12:30.439 --> 00:12:36.120 You can't get further away from God's blessings than a person like this. 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:46.460 Also, so that's the first term linguistic clue that there's more going on here that Matthew's trying to get across. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:51.899 Also, another linguistic clue, even though it seems like Jesus is calling this woman a dog, 00:12:53.299 --> 00:12:57.679 in reality what's happening is that he's responding like he often does with a parable. 00:12:57.899 --> 00:12:59.320 This is kind of a mini parable. 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:04.780 The word dog here is not the derogatory word used by the Jews to insult Gentiles. 00:13:04.940 --> 00:13:13.020 It's a diminutive form of that word that means something more like puppy, like a little puppy, a household pet. 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:20.980 So Jesus is saying to this woman, hey, there's an order in which I am bringing God's blessing to the world. 00:13:21.079 --> 00:13:25.879 And the order has been established that first it would come to the Jews and then the Gentiles. 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:32.879 The Old Testament is, you know, full of that kind of teaching that this is how God's blessing is going to come. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:35.120 He says there's an order that needs to be maintained. 00:13:35.699 --> 00:13:37.899 It's not right to do things out of order. 00:13:37.899 --> 00:13:50.500 And yet even still, we know based on the context that we've looked at that Jesus has deliberately come into Gentile territory to do just that, what Isaiah 29 says. 00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:51.759 Right? 00:13:51.799 --> 00:14:00.759 So the tone based on all of this, the tone of this exchange, which we can't get from just reading it, is almost certainly a playful tone. 00:14:01.340 --> 00:14:06.159 You might even imagine Jesus kind of smiling slightly as he says it. 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:13.620 There's a device that master teachers, wise teachers will sometimes use where they deliberately play. 00:14:13.860 --> 00:14:17.139 They deliberately play kind of a devil's advocate role. 00:14:17.500 --> 00:14:22.019 And they create a foil against which their student can build their argument. 00:14:23.079 --> 00:14:23.199 Right? 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:25.480 So they create a kind of false resistance. 00:14:26.199 --> 00:14:29.939 And it gives the student the opportunity to mount their response. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:33.500 And that, I believe, is what Jesus is doing here. 00:14:33.500 --> 00:14:42.399 So with all of these observations in mind about style and context and language, we can take another pass at this. 00:14:42.700 --> 00:14:45.580 And I think we begin to see this encounter in a whole new way. 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:56.500 So imagine we are first century Jewish readers with all of the assumptions and prejudices and bias that we would have in that context. 00:14:56.759 --> 00:14:57.500 Here's the setup. 00:14:57.500 --> 00:15:05.440 A respected Jewish rabbi finds himself in the god-awful region of Tyre and Sidon. 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:07.000 It's a horrible place. 00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:16.779 A Canaanite woman, the very worst kind of person, has the audacity to think that God might do something to help her daughter. 00:15:16.779 --> 00:15:22.120 This rabbi says what any self-respecting rabbi would say. 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:27.419 God's blessings are reserved for his children, not for dogs like you. 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:35.779 And just as we are beginning to nod to ourselves with smug superiority, then comes the punchline. 00:15:36.199 --> 00:15:39.899 This woman turns the parable around on Jesus. 00:15:39.899 --> 00:15:44.819 The only time this ever happens anywhere in the Scriptures. 00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:46.519 She reverses it. 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:48.000 It's like an Akito flip. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:50.139 Reverses the momentum of the parable. 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:52.539 Turns it right back on Jesus. 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:58.620 And says, yes, Lord, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. 00:15:58.740 --> 00:16:04.220 Notice she's including herself as one for whom Jesus is the master. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:04.980 Right? 00:16:04.980 --> 00:16:08.200 And Jesus exclaims, what an amazing answer. 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:11.180 Great is your faith. 00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:16.600 Very rarely does Jesus praise the faith of anyone. 00:16:16.920 --> 00:16:18.279 Great is your faith. 00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:19.700 And heals her daughter. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:23.639 And then we realize the joke is on us as the reader. 00:16:24.560 --> 00:16:33.440 The ultimate outsider, this Canaanite dog, is actually held up as an example to both the Pharisees and the disciples. 00:16:34.980 --> 00:16:35.539 Right? 00:16:35.659 --> 00:16:40.580 She calls Jesus the son of David, which is a Jewish messianic title. 00:16:40.680 --> 00:16:48.360 She's not Jewish, but she understands and has connected the dots and understands who Jesus is in a way that none of the Jews do. 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:56.519 Her humility juxtaposes with the Pharisees' self-righteousness earlier in chapter 15. 00:16:56.519 --> 00:17:04.960 And while the disciples are still not yet even to understand Jesus' parables, that happens also earlier in this chapter. 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:07.440 Jesus laments, you still don't understand? 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:09.879 You still can't see through the parables? 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:17.259 While they're not even able to understand the parables, she not only understands it, but turns it back on Jesus. 00:17:17.259 --> 00:17:29.000 And then you have Jesus lamenting the little faith of the disciples in chapters 14 and 16 and praising this woman as a woman of great faith. 00:17:29.660 --> 00:17:39.839 So what we see here, what's actually happening in this story in a very subversive way, is that this Canaanite woman is being held up as a model of Christian faithfulness. 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:45.939 One commentator calls her the, quote, the catalyst, the foremother of all Gentile Christians. 00:17:47.139 --> 00:17:54.059 We sometimes talk about Mary as being the first disciple, Jesus' mother Mary, because of the way she responds to the angel. 00:17:55.819 --> 00:18:06.539 If she's the first disciple, or if Mary Magdalene, who encounters Jesus after the resurrection, some call her the first Christian. 00:18:06.539 --> 00:18:11.980 Well, this woman is the foremother of all Gentile Christians. 00:18:13.799 --> 00:18:20.680 So now that we've begun to understand what's really going on in this text, what does this mean for us? 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:27.039 This woman is one of the finest examples of how we should approach God anywhere in the Bible. 00:18:27.879 --> 00:18:33.059 She's one of the finest examples of how we should approach God anywhere in the Bible. 00:18:33.059 --> 00:18:44.700 You know, some people believe, maybe they wouldn't admit this, but some people deep down believe that God is maybe kind of distant or inaccessible. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:54.379 Some people believe, if you really get into it, that God maybe is somehow always vaguely disappointed in us for not doing better. 00:18:55.419 --> 00:19:00.619 That God has this sense of, man, I just keep putting up with you, but you just, you keep letting me down. 00:19:00.619 --> 00:19:04.019 Other people, I think, maybe believe the opposite. 00:19:04.219 --> 00:19:10.859 They think of God as this always accessible, almost like a spiritual force, right? 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:22.919 A lot of people like to talk about the universe, where we can send out our kind of vibes, and then the universe will respond to us in kind. 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:30.560 And we can essentially access this force whenever we want to, you know, kind of like a cosmic vending machine. 00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:36.180 People have lots of different ideas about God and what it means to approach God. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:45.460 The thing that stands out most about this woman is that when it comes to approaching God, she has two qualities that you very rarely see together. 00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:51.620 She is both humble and bold at the same time. 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:55.880 A bold humility or a humble boldness. 00:19:56.200 --> 00:20:00.200 Notice that she doesn't even question her place in the parable. 00:20:01.640 --> 00:20:05.840 She doesn't assert her rights at all, right? 00:20:05.900 --> 00:20:11.940 Even in the face of being playfully referred to as a puppy who should wait for the crumbs, 00:20:11.940 --> 00:20:14.519 she doesn't challenge that. 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:19.779 Instead, she says, look, okay, I know there's an order to God's plan. 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:21.120 I'm not questioning that. 00:20:21.620 --> 00:20:25.799 The Savior comes first to the Jews to show that God's promises have been fulfilled. 00:20:26.340 --> 00:20:27.299 I'm not a Jew. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:28.460 That's fine. 00:20:28.580 --> 00:20:32.420 But then she says, but I know there's enough at the table for me. 00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:35.259 I know there's enough for everyone. 00:20:35.259 --> 00:20:43.379 So she's doing something that we really don't ever see in our society, and I think for most of us, even me, it makes us a bit uncomfortable. 00:20:43.900 --> 00:20:48.920 She's asserting herself very boldly, but not on the basis of her rights. 00:20:51.259 --> 00:20:55.539 See, in our society, there's so much focus on our rights. 00:20:56.619 --> 00:20:59.700 And rights are important in a society like ours. 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:00.420 Don't get me wrong. 00:21:00.420 --> 00:21:06.940 But there could be this sense when we come to God that you should give me what I'm owed. 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:08.700 It is my right to ask this. 00:21:08.779 --> 00:21:10.460 How dare you not give this to me? 00:21:10.980 --> 00:21:13.740 And that's not what we see at all with this woman. 00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:18.279 This woman is coming to Jesus knowing that she deserves nothing. 00:21:19.980 --> 00:21:22.039 She knows that she deserves nothing. 00:21:22.120 --> 00:21:23.620 She's not saying, how dare you? 00:21:23.720 --> 00:21:25.740 Do you know, you know, I deserve so much more. 00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:31.259 I know I don't deserve anything, but I know you have enough. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:34.019 I know you have more than enough. 00:21:36.180 --> 00:21:36.620 Right? 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:43.579 The Pharisees tend to think, and we need to contrast this woman with the Pharisees, they tend to think in terms of merit. 00:21:43.579 --> 00:21:48.220 God should give me what I deserve because of my goodness. 00:21:48.419 --> 00:21:59.019 All the times I go to church, all the volunteer teams that I serve on, all the things that I do in the community, all the issues that I care about and pour myself into, God should bless me because of my goodness. 00:21:59.740 --> 00:22:01.199 I do good things, therefore. 00:22:02.199 --> 00:22:04.879 But this woman is coming from a very different place. 00:22:04.879 --> 00:22:10.079 Not on the basis of merit, but on the basis of mercy. 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:13.159 Right? 00:22:13.579 --> 00:22:19.059 The merit approach says to God, give me what I deserve because of my goodness. 00:22:19.779 --> 00:22:23.220 I've done all this for you, now you give me what is owed. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:26.179 The mercy approach says something very different. 00:22:27.500 --> 00:22:31.740 Give me what I don't deserve because of your goodness. 00:22:33.859 --> 00:22:40.720 Give me what I know I don't deserve, not because of my goodness, but because I know you're good, God. 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:47.460 And I know, I know you have abundant, abundant blessings that you want to pour out on your people. 00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:52.400 Give me what I don't deserve because you're good, because you're merciful. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:56.820 And that's what we see in this woman, and we so rarely see that today. 00:22:58.220 --> 00:23:10.420 And as we think about this in our own lives, you know, there are really two ways on display that we can miss out on the mercy and the grace and the love of Jesus on offer through the gospel. 00:23:10.420 --> 00:23:13.900 Some of us do miss out because of our self-righteousness. 00:23:13.900 --> 00:23:26.900 You know, we think that because we are enlightened, socially conscious people who try to do the right thing, we tend to say in our hearts when we approach God, God, give me what I deserve because of my goodness. 00:23:26.900 --> 00:23:30.140 And I know other people who have the opposite struggle. 00:23:30.820 --> 00:23:41.900 Because we assume that God is disappointed in us, tired of our whining, that he sees us basically as failures, we tend to say in our hearts, God would never give me anything because of my badness. 00:23:42.600 --> 00:23:50.560 Or another way we might say it is, I'm sure God is so tired of hearing me ask for the same thing over and over and over. 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:56.039 Or we might think, I don't even know how to pray because it's been 10 years since I really prayed. 00:23:56.379 --> 00:23:58.000 Or I've never really prayed. 00:23:58.259 --> 00:23:59.519 I don't even know what I would say. 00:24:02.919 --> 00:24:14.659 If you want to know which tendency you have or which tends to be stronger in you, a good litmus test is to look at your prayer life, is to look at what it's like when you approach God. 00:24:16.099 --> 00:24:18.559 You know, first question would be, do you pray? 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:22.919 If not, why not? 00:24:25.819 --> 00:24:30.119 Is the reason that you don't pray, is that because you don't really feel like you need anything from God? 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:38.240 I mean, a lot of us, you know, if you've got a good job and a few good friends and you're fairly healthy and a good place to live and a lot going on in your life, 00:24:39.399 --> 00:24:42.159 a lot of times we can go a very long time, it doesn't even really occur to us to pray. 00:24:43.099 --> 00:24:46.899 It doesn't really need, the bases are covered in our lives. 00:24:46.900 --> 00:24:51.519 Or maybe you don't pray because you don't really think God cares about your needs. 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:54.580 Maybe you feel like God is, he's involved with the big stuff. 00:24:54.860 --> 00:25:00.120 Yeah, we should pray for the wars, we should pray for the fires, you know, in Hawaii. 00:25:00.220 --> 00:25:01.660 We should pray for the big things. 00:25:01.660 --> 00:25:13.240 But, you know, God doesn't care about, you know, whether I get that job or whether or not that person, you know, likes me or whether or not my kids get into that school. 00:25:14.100 --> 00:25:15.500 That's kind of menial stuff. 00:25:15.500 --> 00:25:19.039 If you do pray, why do you pray? 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:21.339 What motivates you to pray? 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:27.339 Is it because you genuinely desire to feel closer to God or is it because you're praying only when you want something? 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:35.519 You know, the Anne Lamott, you know, help, help, help, you know, thank you, thank you, thank you kind of prayer. 00:25:35.619 --> 00:25:36.539 The signal flare prayer. 00:25:36.539 --> 00:25:41.059 Or when you pray, is it because you feel like you have to? 00:25:41.159 --> 00:25:48.579 You're sort of doing your duty and if you don't pray, you feel really guilty about not praying because you know you should pray because that's what Christians do. 00:25:48.740 --> 00:25:50.099 When you pray, why do you pray? 00:25:50.339 --> 00:25:54.980 And then third question, how do you respond when God doesn't give you what you ask for? 00:25:58.259 --> 00:25:59.139 How do you respond? 00:25:59.200 --> 00:25:59.799 Do you get angry? 00:25:59.799 --> 00:26:13.019 Do you resent the fact that you've spent so much time in prayer, you've given so much of your life and sacrificed so much to be faithful to God? 00:26:15.460 --> 00:26:18.759 All you wanted from God was this one thing and he didn't give it to you. 00:26:20.980 --> 00:26:27.599 Or does that, right, when God doesn't give you what you want, does that just confirm your sense that God really doesn't care about you? 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:32.419 That if God is doing stuff in the world, he's doing it over here, but you're really not on his radar. 00:26:34.959 --> 00:26:43.679 Spend time reflecting on questions like this in your own life and chances are you will see a mixture of self-righteousness and self-loathing. 00:26:44.719 --> 00:26:56.539 You'll see both of these things at work in your heart, keeping you, barring you from really experiencing the love and mercy of God in your life the way this woman does. 00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:01.279 And that's why we need examples to follow like this woman. 00:27:02.139 --> 00:27:06.579 The example that she sets of humility and boldness. 00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:12.539 In approaching Jesus, she's humble because she knows she's unclean. 00:27:12.899 --> 00:27:15.779 She knows, you know, in fact, we all are. 00:27:16.179 --> 00:27:20.319 She knows that in the face of God, she has no rights. 00:27:21.339 --> 00:27:23.980 She knows that Jesus owes her nothing. 00:27:23.980 --> 00:27:29.599 She knows that Jesus needs nothing from her. 00:27:30.120 --> 00:27:31.680 He doesn't care about her approval. 00:27:33.259 --> 00:27:34.920 He doesn't owe her anything. 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:39.259 All she knows is she needs him to show mercy. 00:27:40.579 --> 00:27:50.460 And yet, she is also incredibly bold because she knows that there's enough, that God has enough to bless the whole world. 00:27:50.460 --> 00:27:52.960 That Jesus' mercy is abundant. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:57.500 And she recognizes ultimately that it's not really about her. 00:27:57.900 --> 00:27:59.140 It's about Jesus. 00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:05.240 And as we pray every week, we're going to pray in a little while, when we come to the Lord's table, 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:09.900 that when it comes to Jesus, his eternal nature is always to have mercy. 00:28:09.900 --> 00:28:21.540 And that all we need to do is come and ask, Lord, give me what I don't deserve because of your abundant goodness. 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:23.300 Let's pray. 00:28:23.299 --> 00:28:32.879 Lord, may these be more than ideas for us. 00:28:33.339 --> 00:28:41.519 May we, as we come to you in prayer and in our singing and as we gather around your table, 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:46.839 may we experience your mercy and your love. 00:28:46.980 --> 00:28:50.539 May we feel your delight in us. 00:28:50.539 --> 00:28:56.720 May you allow us to see clearly the truth of our own hearts. 00:28:58.500 --> 00:29:06.000 That you would strip away any sense of entitlement that may be barring us from approaching you. 00:29:07.500 --> 00:29:15.159 Also, that you would strip away any sense of self-loathing in us, Lord. 00:29:15.299 --> 00:29:16.079 Self-critique. 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:23.319 Help us rightly see that both can bar us from coming and receiving your mercy. 00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:26.779 And fill us with boldness and fill us with humility to come. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:30.579 And to plead with you. 00:29:31.439 --> 00:29:34.919 To pour your mercy and your grace into our lives through your Holy Spirit. 00:29:35.539 --> 00:29:37.079 Because you are good. 00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:39.539 And your blessings are abundant. 00:29:39.879 --> 00:29:41.299 We pray this in your son's holy name. 00:29:41.579 --> 00:29:41.799 Amen. 00:29:41.799 --> 00:29:41.899 Amen. 00:29:41.899 --> 00:29:41.960 Amen.