Mark 7:24-37        Pentecost 13         September 10, 2006     Rev. Laird Duran

How do you feel when someone gives you a compliment? How do you feel when some gives you a criticism? That would depend on who gives it and the circumstances. If you were an aspiring singer, and your favorite professional singer heard you and told you have a great voice, that would really mean something good. But If he or she said, your singing is terrible, you would not like and react against it. Likewise, if your teacher gives you grade of A+ on a test at school, chances are that makes you feel really good about yourself. But if the teacher gives you an “F” on the test, you might react against it.

How many compliments or criticisms do you think Jesus gave in the gospels? To be accurate, I would have to read all the gospels, and count them. I didn’t have time to do that. But in Mark’s gospel, Jesus consistently criticizes the disciple’s faith. He often says that his disciples have no faith at all.

In the story we just heard from Marks’ gospel, a Syro-phoenician woman comes to Jesus and asks him to heal her daughter. He tells her that he was only going to minister to the Jews, not dogs. That sounds rude, but Jesus had reasons for saying that. For one, back in those days, women and men outside the family didn’t speak to each another, and she was out of line. For another, Jesus needed to work with the Jews first, because God had promised that through them, the world would be saved. But what happens next explains why Jesus sounded so rude. What he said to her became the occasion for a great compliment about her faith, and a lesson for us.

This brazen woman persisted and said, “Even the dogs are allowed to eat the crumbs from the master’s table.” Then Jesus pronounced that her daughter was healed, and she was. That’s the way it’s recorded in Mark’s gospel.

In Matthew’s gospel we hear the same story we heard in Mark’s gospel, with one small but major addition. Matthew’s version tells us that Jesus says, “Great is your faith!” (We can read Matthew's version in 15:21-28). That’s the highest compliment our Lord could give her, “great is your faith. That made her famous for all Christians.

We don’t know much about her. We know she is a Canaanite woman who came from the country to the north of Palestine, a country hostile to the Jews. We know she had at least one child. But that’s all the facts we have about her. We don’t know her name. We don’t know if she was rich or poor. All we know of her is that in this single encounter with Jesus he spoke these words. “Great is your faith.”  I admire, even envy this woman because she received the greatest compliment of all time from Jesus himself. What faithful Christian would not like hearing Jesus say, “Great is your faith?” How wonderful it would be if Jesus would place his hand on our shoulder and say: You have great faith.

So my question this morning is, what characteristics can we develop to have such faith? To answer these questions, let us take a closer look at her story.

First, we can say of this Canaanite woman that she admitted she had a problem she beyond her control and needed God’s help. Her daughter was very sick, and she turned to Jesus for help. That is hard to do for many people. Denial is not just a river in Egypt!

The first characteristic or first step of her faith is her willingness to ask God for help and cross any barriers that get in the way. Most people don’t like to admit they or a member of our family is sick and needs help. There is the barrier of pride. Am I willing to get beyond myself and admit that I cannot handle every situation that comes up in life? Are we able to cross the barrier that says: I am doing quite well by myself.  I can’t tell you the number of people who will not see a doctor or go someplace to get the help they need. I can’t tell you the number of people who endure all kinds of hardship in their family and won’t ask anyone, especially God, for help. It’s far easier to just ignore the problem, keep it secret, and keep it in the family. But this woman broke the boundary, and got help from Jesus.

This woman also had no doubt that Jesus could heal her daughter. But for us, another barrier to faith is doubt, and there are several reasons. One reason people doubt is that Jesus is no longer in the world today. It’s been about 2000 years since Jesus earthly ministry when he did all those miraculous healing. Many people don’t think God is going to do any healing today. The truth is, God is constantly healing people through the medical care that is available every day. Thanks be to God!

Then there is the barrier of culture and race. This woman turned to a Jewish messiah for help. She did not consider that animosity of language or culture or race where the health of her daughter was concerned. The truth is, people are about the same in their relationship to family and to the world. Any mother who has a daughter who is very sick can identify with this woman. Every father, daughter, son grandfather or grandmother understands the dynamics of the relationships we have together. This woman wanted help for her sick daughter, and she crossed those barriers for her.

Secondly, we can say of her that she refused to be put off or put down. There were at least three times she was put off or put down. The scriptures tell us that when she cried for help, Jesus replied not a word.

There is no reaction harder to bear than silence. It’s like talking to someone on a telephone and suddenly suspecting that the person is no longer there. They haven't hung up the receiver; they are just silent. A flat “No” at east acknowledges your presence and tells you where you stand. But she was put off by silence.

Have you ever called out to God for help, and all you get is silence? I have! There is no sterner test of faith than God’s silence, and that’s hard! I can see who some just give up and walk away from God. But not this woman. This woman knew what very few people understand. The silence of God does not mean the indifference of God. This woman did not lose heart in the face of silence.  Once the disciples heard her plea, they didn’t offer any help. Instead they tried to run her off like a nuisance. They urged Jesus: “Send her away; see how she comes shouting after us." The disciples were getting tired of all these needy people! But this woman would not be put off by their put down.

Then Jesus finally spoke and said to her, “I have been sent to the House of Israel and to them alone." That was a huge put down! She could have cussed him in anger, and who could blame her? But she refused to be a victim. Instead, she fell at his feet and cried out: Sir, help me! She would not allow a put off or a put down to get in her way. To this woman's plea for help Jesus makes another putdown. He said to her, “It is not right to take children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

Calling her a dog sounds like an insult. Even today the term “dog” is used for something particularly despicable. Jesus was drawing the lines here. His ministry is not to the Gentiles. I can understand that, but I would expect the poor woman burst into tears and simply run away in anger. But she refused to become a victim. She didn’t cry and she didn't walk away in anger. Instead, she answered Jesus by calmly saying: “even the dogs eat the crumbs off the Master’s table.” She as admitting that to Jesus and the Jews, she was a dog. She realized she had no claim upon a Jewish messiah.

So this is the third characteristic of her faith, calm humility with an assertive sense of purpose. Some believe that being humble means being passive. Not true! Jesus was humble, but he gave his life for us as God’s messiah for the world.

This woman’s humility was balanced by her sense of purpose and her self will. She remained calm and assertive in the face of the put down and the put off. She was assertive without flying off the handle. That is the epitome of what it means to be truly humble.

That’s when Jesus said, Woman, what great faith you have. Be it as you wish. From that moment her daughter was restored to health. We can learn from the three characteristics of her faith. 1. Her willingness to ask God for help and cross all the boundaries to get it. 2. Her refusal to be put off, ignored or put down 3. Her calm but assertive humility by admitting that she did not deserve God’s intervention.

Now let us going to sing a hymn asking God to strengthen our faith. As we sing the hymn, let it become our prayer. Let’s ask God to give all of us that kind of faith. Amen

Amen