Persistent Faith by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

On Wednesday afternoon, Carolyn Wilson and her partner went to the Courthouse and wanted to get married. They filled out the paper work and paid their fee. They went to the court room of the judge on duty and they were turned away. The bailiff said that judge did not do “these kinds of marriages”. But they were persistent. They believed in their right to marry, so they went back to the Clerk’s office where they had gotten their license. And when one judge would not do his duty, another judge stepped forward and married them. They had their wedding, but it should not have been so hard. They should not have had to suffer the indignity of being turned away. It hurts to be an outsider, an outsider turned away when you are asking for something you want or need. 

Today’s scripture (Matthew 15:21-28 from The Message for those following along from afar) is about another woman who needed something. She needed healing for her daughter. She was an outsider too. She was a Gentile, Gentiles are considered unclean by the Jews. Jesus was a Jew and even he considered this woman an outsider.

You see, Jesus, though he was God, he was also a human being, so he had human limitations. He was on a mission to draw as many people as possible into the love of God during his time on earth. I think he knew he would have a short time. As it happened, his ministry was only three years. Can you imagine having a career only 3 years long? So early on, he told his disciples they would focus on the Jews. As he was sending them out he said; “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Mt 10:5-6). 

Now later, of course, the apostle Paul spread the mission to the Gentiles, but Jesus, for the most part was focused on the Jews. They were the insiders.  So today’s story brings him to the area known as Tyre and Sidon. It’s a bit odd because this was a Gentile territory. A Cannanite woman comes up, this would be a sort of country woman, also a Gentile. Something strange happens. Jesus excludes this woman. We don’t really like to see this side of Jesus. Because we like the all-loving, all-inclusive side of Jesus. But he was still a man and still a Jew. Jewish men did not talk to Gentile women. 

So, in this case he sort of disses the woman. She comes up and says: “Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit.” And the text says he ignores her. This is unusual behavior for Jesus. Then, his disciples, being Jewish men, show that have no time for this outsider woman. 

They say to Jesus: “She’s bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She’s driving us crazy.” Jesus refused, telling them, “I’ve got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel.” Basically he is reminding them that his mission is to the Jews and he does not have time for Gentiles. He is focused on his mission. He is called to bring the message of God to the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and he is not going to be distracted by the likes of this woman. Again, it is hard for us to see Jesus like this. It is really out of character. 

The woman knows this is out of character for Jesus too, and she will have none of that. Apparently, she has heard about Jesus. She knows about his healing powers. She has a daughter afflicted with an evil spirit. And she wants healing. So a second time she addresses Jesus as “Master” showing him respect and reverence. She says, “Master, help me.”

Then he says something really cruel. Jesus says to her: “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to dogs.” He means that the people of Israel are the children and he is reminding the woman that he came for them. He is calling the Gentiles dogs. 

I can tell you that scholars really don’t know what to make of this. They really don’t know what to do with it.  It is really uncharacteristic of Jesus to be so blunt and so rude. It is not our Jesus.  But there is it in scripture. Jesus refers to the woman and her people as dogs. 

Maybe Jesus is tired. He is only human. Well, he’s God too, but he’s human. And humans can only be pushed so far. I think this is one of the reasons why I like this story, because we see the human side of Jesus. He just loses his cool. 

Then, we see this really strong mother instinct come out in this woman. Lord help us when a mother is trying to get help for her child. Woe be onto those who can help a mother but are trying not to help.  She is not going to stand for Jesus calling her a dog. She knows in her heart that Jesus is better than that. And she calls him on the carpet. She says, “Well, even the dogs get the scraps from under the table.” 

She demands something from her master. She wants healing for her daughter and she will not leave until she gets it. She is like those two women who showed up at the courthouse in Toledo on Wednesday to get married. They knew it was their right to get married and they were not going to leave until they were married, even if one judge refused to do it. The woman in the story is persistent. She demands healing for her daughter. As the story goes, Jesus gave in. He said: “Oh, woman, your faith is something else. I will give you what you ask.” Right then her daughter became well. 

Her persistent faith paid off. Jesus answered her prayer. He knew that God’s healing love would extend to the Gentiles too eventually, he knew that. So why not give a little piece of it today? So the woman, who was a double outsider (both a woman and a Gentile), got healing for her daughter.

Do you ever feel like a double outsider? Do you ever feel like God’s love is for someone else, but not for you? Do you ever feel like you are banging on the door trying to get God’s attention, and no one is answering the door?

This story is for you. This brave woman is your role model. She just kept saying to Jesus: “My daughter needs healing, and I know you are the one to give it to her.” She was like the two women who went to the courthouse to get married on Wednesday and weren’t going to leave until they were married. If one judge would not do it then they waited until there was another judge who would. They found a way. Persistence found a way.

What do you need? What do you need from Jesus? Do you need healing? Do you need direction? Do you need justice? Perhaps you need forgiveness? I believe Jesus will give us any of those things when we ask for them. We just have to be persistent. Sometimes forces in the world get between us and Jesus.  For the woman in the story, Jesus’ own human nature got in the way for a minute. He saw her as an outsider. But then he came to his senses and saw her as who she really is, a beloved child of God, a child of God whose daughter was in need of healing. The truth is this: to God we are never outsiders. And to Jesus we are never really outsiders. We are all inside the healing love of God. 

What do you need? What do you need from Jesus today? I want to invite you to ask for it. And to be persistent in your asking. Just ask for it today, and trust that you will receive it. It may take a little while, but put your trust in God. Ask for what you need and trust that Jesus will give it to you.  You can take it to God yourself, or you can ask here or elsewhere for help taking this to God.  But you can ask and be persistent, what you need will come.