A Feisty Faith

Matthew 15:10-28

I wanted to say, “She finally is facing reality!” but I didn’t. Natalee Holloway’s mother has now left Aruba. Natalee hasn’t been found yet. You’ve probably heard about her story. Natalee was on vacation after graduating from high school. It was one of those trips every parent wants to give their kids, but every parent is also glad when the trip is over because so much can go wrong. And in Natalee’s case the trip apparently did go wrong. On May 30^th she disappeared. Promising leads have come up empty. Since the end of May, every once in a while I’d see news clips, or read stories in the paper about the case. But it seems the case has investigators baffled. And I’ve seen Natalee’s mother say over and over again, “I know we’re going to find her and I know she’s alright.” Every time I heard her say this, my heart has gone out to this woman but I’ve also thought this woman is not living in reality. The odds of this woman’s hope being true are slim.

Now that I’m a parent, I have a little better understanding of what Natalee’s parents must be going through but it’s still tough for me to imagine their void. I guess most of us would uncover every rock in Aruba if it were our kid that was missing. But at what point do you say, “We may never know”? At what point do you give up poking through the bushes and draining ponds? At what point does your faith in a hopeful outcome breakdown? And then a related question has to be, “How will Natalee Holloway’s family come out of this on the other side?” And how would we, if it were our child…or parent…or close friend that was missing, deal with those loose ends that may never be tied?

This is one of those stories that raises the issue of faith’s role in a person’s life. How does our faith stand up in the midst of disappointments? When we keep coming to God and it seems there’s no answer, no solution, no fruit, do we abandon the pursuit or keep on going? Surely God has heard the prayers on behalf of Natalee Holloway.

I don’t know where Natalee Holloway’s parents are at spiritually. It’s probably not even fair to put their lives under a spiritual microscope and examine them at this time. But I’ve heard them talk enough on television to hear them speak about God, faith, and getting their daughter back all in the same conversation, to make me believe there some spiritual aspect to their lives that’s pretty important to them. Natalee’s mother has a strong conviction that her daughter is going to be back from wherever she is. People like me say, “It’s time you begin to deal with the fact that your daughter’s probably gone.” Others are scoffing openly at her optimism, determination, and maybe even her faith. Whose voice should be heard right now: the voice of a mother’s persistent faith or a voice of realism?

Lately, it seems I’ve been stuck on passages in the Bible that preachers like me wish weren’t there. These aren’t the passages that we’d often find in our Sunday School lessons or in Vacation Bible School. These stories are fraught with questions and deficient with answers. Today’s story seems to have parallel themes with Natalee Holloway’s disappearance.

The hero in the story is not Jesus, but the Canaanite woman. Yeah, you heard me right. It seems that the human side of Jesus comes through loud and clear here. People have been dogging him at every stop along the way and it seems it might be getting to him. It could be argued that prior to the Canaanite woman’s heroics that Jesus acts indifferent, inconsiderate, and even (gulp!) racist toward this woman! This is not the Jesus that we preachers want to talk about.

This one of the few times, and maybe the only time, that Jesus ventures outside of Palestine. He’s now in Gentile territory and for Jews, interacting with Canaanites was mingling with religious scum. The mere mention of Canaanites triggered some detestable thoughts Jews had toward Canaanites: idol worship, sacrificing children in worship, and people of one religion marrying people of other religions. Each of these things was a horrible misstep and evidence that the Jews were right and the Canaanites had gotten it all wrong.

So as Jesus is walking along, this Canaanite woman starts begging that Jesus would heal her daughter. Matthew says that the daughter is “…tormented by a demon…” which could mean that this girl suffered from some kind of mental illness. Who knows, maybe she was demon-possessed? Whatever it was, the daughter was in a bad way. It would be hard for Jesus to ignore this woman’s shouting but that’s apparently what he did at first. He simply didn’t say anything. He seems to walk on by like we do when we try and ignore someone begging – treating them just as if they weren’t really there. This doesn’t deter the woman. She keeps on shouting and raising a ruckus so the disciples step in and ask Jesus to flick her away like a mosquito that doesn’t give up. Still she persists and then Jesus essentially says, “Bug off lady! I was sent to minister to Jews and you’re not one of us! So take a hike!”

Most would probably give up at this point but this woman seems a lot like Natalee Holloway’s mom. This is her daughter’s life on the line here. This is no place for self-pride so the woman essentially lays down before Jesus and begs for help. Now, the Jesus we encounter most of the time in the Gospels would have immediately responded but here Jesus says, “…it’s not fair to take the children’s food and give it to the dogs.” Calling someone a “dog” in the biblical world could be the equivalent of using a racial slur in our world. What’s Jesus doing here? I’ve read lots of interpretations on this response but all of them are a bit slippery. No matter how you read his response to this woman’s persistence, it still stings.

But notice how the Canaanite woman responds. She accepts this putdown from Jesus and leverages it to her advantage. The woman says, “I may be a blankety-blank Jesus, and I accept that, but even in my lowly status I still beg you for a few crumbs of mercy.”

I wish we had a video footage of this moment because Jesus had to be surprised. This woman knew she had no right to God’s mercy yet her surrender and persistent faith that Jesus could heal her daughter not only brought her a few crumbs, but the whole banquet! Matthew tells us that this demon-possessed daughter was healed instantly.

So what impression should this story make upon our own faith?

First, I see myself in this Canaanite woman. There is nothing about me that deserves God’s grace and favor. I am a blankety-blank sinner without a doubt. If you’re honest, then you’re in the same position. Receiving God’s blessing and favor stems from facing our own miserable sinful realities and then relying upon God’s mercy. God’s favor comes through humble surrender. All of us here today need to surrender ourselves to God. How and what do you need to surrender today?

Second, are you capable of the kind of persistent feisty faith this Canaanite woman had? When the familiar, easy ways of coming to God have roadblocks do you give up or persist? The optimistic part of me hopes that one day Natalee Holloway’s mother brings Natalee to my doorstep and says, “See what a feisty faith is all about!” I wonder if Jesus had given in right away to the Canaanite woman’s request if her faith would have risen to the heights that it did? It seems to me that often the more mature our faith becomes, the slower and slower God’s replies are. Maybe that’s because God wants me to learn new ways of coming to Him so that my God moments are always fresh. Maybe it’s because of things, like aspects in this text, I’ll never understand. The road to spiritual maturity is not a wide interstate but it’s a narrow rocky path. Often the faithful response is being persistent despite the direction that circumstances and reality point toward.

Amen.