This video won't be available until midday BST on 16th August after it has gone live for the service at St Nicolas Church Earley.
Matthew 15:21-28
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Psalm 133
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
The Remnant of Israel
11 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.
For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
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I don’t know about you but I find this passage in Matthew about the Canaanite woman very difficult to read.
This doesn’t sound like the Jesus I know, where is the love and time and compassion?
This isn’t the Jesus I follow is it?
But yes, yes it is Jesus.
And according to the commentaries I’ve read we are meant to feel uncomfortable and confused when we read this passage. So that’s a tick already.
As I read and reread this passage I decided to break it down into three sections, three areas for us to apply to our lives.
1 Jesus withdrew
At the start we hear that Jesus withdrew
There are two important things to know about this
First: It is thought that Jesus left Capernaum where things had become unsafe. He had spoken strongly about purity and defilement when he was asked why he and the disciples weren’t washing their hands as required, he had stirred up upset.
This reminds us that it is important to withdraw, to remove ourselves from conflict which has no purpose and also to rest when we need rest.
I need reminding of this need to rest because if it’s good enough for Jesus then it’s surely good enough for me.
It is OK to rest - in fact it’s important to rest - and that is why I am recording this a few weeks before you’re hearing it today, because I am taking time with the family to rest.
Second: He had journeyed out of Israel, across the border into Tyre and Sidon, into a place of heathens - the gentiles.
Theologians debate whether Jesus actually crossed the border or just went close to it, but he clearly went close enough that this Canaanite woman, an enemy of Israel, a religious outsider, could visit him.
Jesus was going outside of Israel, showing the disciples as a foretelling of the Great Commission (Matthew 28) that they would go to all nations to baptise and teach.
This same message is taken up in the reading from Romans today where Paul is reminding the church that “Gentiles believe when many in Israel turn away; then many in Israel believe when provoked by Gentile belief. Paul is clear that God saves people of all nations thanks to the work of the spirit in both the Jews and Gentiles.
What does this passage tell us today in 2020?
It tells us clearly that we should be feeding the poor, fighting injustice and bringing the peace of Jesus to all those we meet, no matter what their background. And that as well as sharing the love of God with those people we should tell them about the love of Jesus and the blessings of God in the world.
That might sound terrifying but you do not need to be standing on the high street bellowing down a loud hailer to be sharing the love of God in the world.
It can be as simple as offering to pray for someone, or sharing that you are donating to a christian charity or signing a petition against injustice, or talking about a favourite hymn.
2 Jesus wants us to keep in touch with him
The second theme I want to share from today’s gospel reading is that Jesus wants us to keep in touch with him.
Some commentators say that Jesus is testing the woman and that he wants to test us, but that’s surely too simplistic a reading. Is Jesus really testing her or is he actually in conversation with her, wanting to understand what it is she needs and longing for more relationship with her?
Jesus wants her to persist, he wants us to persist; in relationship with him, in conversation with him; in prayer.
And perhaps this is the best demonstration of what prayer can be.
I like to talk about prayer as chatting to God
In fact I’m reminded of a poem I wrote in early July about exactly this
Pray however feels easy
Exactly the same way you chat
Just be with God like you would a best friend
Let it all hang out
Sometimes it's comfortable silence
Sometimes it's a massive rant
Whatever you want to tell him
God's glad that's where you're at
So I wonder…..
How often do you let it all hang out with God?
How honest are your conversations with God?
Do you tell God what you really think?
If not, why not?
He knows the truth of our hearts, we know that
But there’s a power in putting these thoughts into words of prayer
And so to the really big question -
Can you wrestle with God and refuse to take no for an answer?
I like a good rant about life and I’m sure God rolls his eyes at my ranty prayers, but I don’t recall ever telling God that he is wrong or that he needs to change his mind, or plan.
It’s something to think about, a challenge for the summer.
3 Jesus heals
The final theme I am going to share is the fact that Jesus heals.
I have shared before and I will share again that I am so thankful for the healing blessings of God. I never really thought that God would or could heal me, I’m not sure I really believed it was possible in the 21st century. But I sit in front of you, well on the screen but you get my point, blessed with the healing power of God.
I am still sat in my wheelchair, I am still almost entirely blind, I still live with chronic pain and fatigue and I still have mental health challenges, but I am healed thanks to the work of God.
I am healed of the grief of disability, I am healed of frustration at the challenges and I am healed of bitterness and regret at my situation.
Others may look at me, and indeed tell me, that I need healing; but the truth is that I have been healed of the most negative impacts on my life - God took away the things which He knew needed healing.
So please, be more like this canaanite woman.
Never give up on the ability of God to heal you and those you love.
Never stop praying for God’s healing presence in situations of pain.
Keep loving, keep praying, keep trusting.
Amen
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