Second Sunday in Lent February 21, 2016
Lent 2
Matthew 15:21-28
February 21, 2016
“Yes, I’m a Dog, But…”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
How many husbands in here have been in the doghouse before? We use that phrase, right? “Being in the doghouse”. It means you’ve been a dog and you might just have to sleep outside in the doghouse tonight. Maybe I should also ask, “How many wives have been in the doghouse before?” How many kids have been in the doghouse with Mom and Dad? The doghouse isn’t a good place to be. It means we’ve acted like a dog (in a bad way, of course, not a good dog). We’ve been naughty. We haven’t done what we’re supposed to do.
Well, the Canaanite woman in the Gospel reading today is in the doghouse. She’s in trouble. And Jesus basically calls her a dog, which we’ll talk about soon enough. Because Jesus knows she’s in the doghouse. First of all, she’s a Canaanite which probably means she doesn’t worship the right and true God. She probably worships a bunch of false gods. Secondly, her daughter is possessed by a demon which probably means there were bad things going on in her house in the first place. And lastly, there’s a really good chance that this woman hasn’t been living a pure life because her daughter’s father seems to be nowhere in the picture. So Jesus knows she’s kinda in the doghouse, here. She’s got a life that’s not together and a daughter that’s really suffering.
But here’s the real kicker—she doesn’t deny it one bit. She says, “Yep, I’m a dog.”
Let’s look again at how this conversation goes. Jesus has gotten out of Jewish country for a while to get away from it all. So He and His disciples are traveling around in foreign, Canaanite country up in the northwest. And here comes this woman, a Canaanite. Normally the Jews don’t associate with them. But she comes and begs Jesus, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” What does Jesus do? Says nothing. Nothing at all. That kinda hurts, right? To be ignored?
Then the disciples beg Jesus to do something about her. She’s annoying them. But Jesus answers again, “I was sent only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Ouch, again. Jesus seems to be uncharacteristically rude here, right? Don’t worry about Jesus, though. He knows what He’s doing. He loves this woman a lot. And He will get her where he wants her to be. In the meantime, though, this poor woman is really in the doghouse.
Then comes the biggest insult. She kneels down in front of Him, begging, “Lord, help me.” And Jesus, ouch, says, “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” You heard that right. Jesus calls her a dog. Again, it doesn’t sound like the Jesus we’re used to. But He knows her and He knows where this is going. And she gives the greatest answer possible, “Yes, Lord, I’m a dog, but…” She doesn’t deny it one bit. “Yes, Lord, I’m a dog but…even the dogs get crumbs from the Master.” That’s all she wants and all she needs. Just some crumbs from the Master.
Wow! What faith! What humility! What truth! And that’s exactly what Jesus says about her. “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And just like that! Just like that! The daughter is healed. Jesus doesn’t need to touch her. Doesn’t need to say the magic words. Doesn’t need to call in a doctor. Just like that, “Be it done for you as you desire,” and the daughter is healed.
Are we in the doghouse? Have we, like this Canaanite woman, not done what God expects us to do? Sure, we have. We’re in the doghouse all the time for things we say and things we think and things we do. And this woman here is a perfect model of faith for every single one of us, “Yes, Lord, I’m a dog, but…” We’re dogs, but God is an incredibly good Master. We’re dogs, but the crumbs from God’s table are all we need. We’re dogs, but His grace is absolutely sufficient. Yes, we’re dogs, but Jesus brings dogs like us into His house and makes them children of God.
Dogs have to learn to beg. Right? Isn’t this what dogs do? They beg. Those of you who have dogs know. There’s a really hilarious part in the movie Bolt, which is a family movie all about this dog named Bolt. He’s a movie dog so he’s never really had to be an actual dog. But he gets lost and he’s hungry. He’s traveling with a funny cat named Mittens who knows the ways of the world. So the cat teaches him how to beg at a campground. It’s really funny. He learns the art of begging. Titling his head. Dropping his ears. And as he starts going around to all the campsites, the food starts coming. Dogs are good at begging.
And that’s what we dogs are before God. We’re beggars. And that’s okay. That’s good. Because Jesus specifically came to make beggars like us rich. But sometimes we’re too proud to beg like this Canaanite woman begs.
You might have heard of a group of Catholic nuns called Little Sisters of the Poor. They’ve been in the news a lot in the last couple years because they have been fighting the United States government who is trying to force them to provide contraceptive services that go against their religious beliefs. So their case is before the Supreme Court even right now. But that’s not why I bring them up. I’m glad they are fighting that battle and that is a really important topic—the freedom to exercise religion in this country—but I want to tell you something else about the Little Sisters of the Poor. And that is, they’re beggars.
I was looking at their website this week in relation to their Supreme Court case and they have a little diagram that shows one day in the life of one of these sisters. And right there on their schedule, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm is listed “Begging”. Sounds kinda odd, right? But it’s not. The Little Sisters of the Poor are not too proud to beg. In fact, they rely on it. Heavily. The Little Sisters main mission is taking care of elderly poor. So they essentially run nursing homes for elderly who can’t afford it. They have them all over the world. And to feed the residents and clothe them, the sisters have to go out and beg.
The New York Times ran a story about it. They interviewed Sister Elisabeth Anne who has been begging for food for more than 35 years. She goes to markets and they give her food for the residents. She says that it was the worst thing anybody could have asked her to do—to beg, that is. She cried her heart out for two weeks. But she learned to appreciate it. If we don’t all learn that we truly are beggars, then we’ll only believe in ourselves. All the way to hell.
Obviously I’m not telling you all to go out and beg. But I am telling you to have the heart of a beggar. Because before God we are all beggars. This Canaanite woman today is a model of faith because she is a model of begging. She knows she’s a dog and knows she doesn’t deserve anything. But she knows even more how good Jesus is and she holds Him to it. Even when it seems like He is saying no, she keeps believing. Keeps trusting. Keeps begging, “Lord, help me.”
Your God loves you so much. He has given His Son Jesus to die for you and has promised you eternal life. He has baptized you and He gives you Christ’s body and blood for your forgiveness. Yet there are also times where you probably feel like He is ignoring you or telling you “no”. There are times you might want to get really frustrated with God when He gives you a disease or when He allows your family to rip at the seams or when He takes away a loved one. There are times you may be praying to Him again and again for something and you seem to hear nothing but rejection.
That’s when you say, “Yes, Lord, I’m a dog but…You love me and You have promised to forgive me and feed me and take care of me.” “Yes, Lord, I’m a dog but…You love dogs. You gave Jesus to die for dogs. You have made me one of Your children and have promised to never leave me nor forsake me.” “Yes, Lord, I’m a beggar and I don’t deserve any particular thing from you…but You have told me to call upon You in the day of trouble and You will deliver me.” And you keep on begging. That’s faith. You keep on trusting Him. Keep on believing Him. Keep on praying. Keep on clinging to His Word and promises. “Yes, Jesus, I’m in the doghouse but You came to set me free from it. So set me free, Jesus.”
The name of this Sunday is a Latin word that I can’t pronounce that well, but it means “remember”. Sundays were often named from the first word of the Introit. So today it’s “remember”. In that Introit from Psalm 25, we asked God to “remember His mercy”. That’s what beggars do. Ask God to remember His mercy and goodness. Like the Canaanite woman, we hold God to His mercy. “Lord, have mercy.” We know God is merciful. We know He loves sinners like us. We remember His promises and ask Him to remember them as well. “Remember, O Lord, how good and merciful you are. Let me not be put to shame.” We beg for His goodness. His love. His forgiveness. Because we know He’s good for it.
That’s why we heard about Jacob’s wrestling with God today. Because that’s what we all do. Faith is wrestling. That’s what the Canaanite woman does. We wrestle with God. Around us it doesn’t always look good. There’s so much pain and sadness and problems and sickness. And there’s so much evil and sin. So we wrestle with God and beg Him to remember His mercy and His goodness. We beg Him to help us remember how good He is and how much He loves us. Even when we don’t seem to feel how good He is. We beg Him to show us the joy and the peace that is ours in Jesus.
And you can rest assured that Jesus does answer your prayers. Always. He brings you out of the doghouse time and time again so that you can live for Him. So Paul urges us today in the Epistle to not live like dogs…but come out of the doghouse and live like God’s children. To abstain from sexual immorality. To not play around in the devil’s playground as the Canaanite woman had probably been doing when her daughter became possessed by demons. But instead to run away from evil. To live holy and honorable lives. And not to wrong or transgress our neighbors, but to love them.
Yes, Lord, we are dogs but help us to do better. Forgive us and renew us. Make us your children who trust your Word and follow it. Give us faith like the Canaanite woman—to beg for your mercy because we know, we know, we know that You are good for it. Remember your mercy, Lord. Feed us dogs with the Bread of Life crumbs that fall from Your wonderful table. In Jesus’ name. Amen.