Prayer and Puppies

Prayer and Puppies

Matthew 15:21-28 (Mark 7:25-30)

Sometimes God works or deliberately works in ways that we don't understand.  Last week we learned about Hannah, who prayed and pleaded with God for years and years and suffered greatly before her prayer was answered.  We'll pick up a little bit more on Hannah's story later, but I want to jump to a strange story in the New Testament about another woman whose prayer was not answered on a normal timetable.  

We're reading the passage in Matthew, but there is a parallel version in Mark that gives a clue about what is happening.  Jesus and the disciples were exhausted, everywhere they went in Israel, there were crowds of people and they wanted a little vacation.  So they found a nice house by the sea north of Israel to hang out and recover for a few days.  

And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”  But he did not answer her a word. 

The stories of Jesus's miracles spread like wildfire everywhere he went.  An Syrophonecian (Phonecia was a bunch of city states on the Mediterranean who created modern writing, they had been ruled by Alexander the great and the Greeks, but were now controlled by Syria) woman, aka, a Caananite, heard the stories and had suffered greatly being unable to help her daughter with an evil spirit.  As a parent, if you have a sick child, your life stops.  You will do anything in the world to make her better, travel across the country to the best hospitals, spend every penny you have.  The Caananite woman was desperate and for a very understandable reason.  When Jesus came through town with his disciples, she came along too, in search of help.  

The woman addresses Jesus with the most flattering greeting she can think of - "Lord, Son of David."  By Lord she means something like calling a judge "your honor" or as as say in the South "yes sir or yes ma'am".   And Son of David is a polite (in this circumstance) way to refer to Jesus's Jewish heritage.  She surely meant this as a compliment, for an ordinary Jew would have been proud of his heritage.  But I imagine that this is a phrase that could have been an insult used in a different circumstances.  Son of David spoken kindly was a compliment, and spoken sarcastically was an insult.  Either way, she had no idea who Jesus really was.  Jesus was God's son, not David's.  he was the king of the world, not just the king of the Jews.  

She does get one thing right, though: "Have Mercy on Me!!"  The Latin translation of this phrase is Kyrie Eleison, which we say in church every Sunday, Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy; this phrase is pretty much a cornerstone of our faith (Kyrie Elieson is also a sweet 80's song by Mister-Mister).  What Christians mean by it is "we are sinners, Lord, have mercy in us, forgive us, renew us. . .".   I pretty sure she didn't sit around reading the Lutheran catechism and wasn't asking for the exact same thing that we do during church.  But she did have a desperate need and knew that Jesus could fix it.  Lord, have mercy is a cry for help, and like Hannah, she was crying out.  

"But he did not answer her a word".  Jesus completely ignored her.  Walked right on by, brushed her aside, didn't seem to care.  Hannah had prayed for years and years and nothing happened, God answered not a word.  King David had the same experience - Lord, I wait for you; you will answer Lord my God." Psalm 38:15.  Sometimes heaven seems silent.

Is Jesus being mean or rude?  Why did he not answer? 

Have you wondered about everyone else?  We talk so much about what Jesus did, but what about the things he did not do?  The people who Jesus didn't heal or help?  Depending on how you count, Jesus performed some 37 miracles that we have written down in the New Testament.  He healed, he did amazing things for some people.  But for others he was silent.  He healed the woman with a hemmhorage, but what about the guy with a sprained ankle in the crowd?  Remember when he healed the paralyzed guy who was laying by the pool? This man was healed, but the men around him were not.  Why?  What did they think of that?  For every person that Jesus helped, there were hundreds and thousands that he apparently ignored.  

Or did he?  

Didn't God make the earth they walked and the sky above?  Didn't he make the air they were breathing?  Didn't God make man out dust and give every person chromosomes and fingernails and toenails?  Didn't God cause the sun to rise and set and the rain to fall?  The entire world and our very lives are in God's hands. . .when we cry "Lord have mercy!" we should remember that he has made the very tongue with which we speak.  God, has mercy on us in so many ways that we can't even imagine.  Even if we were to pray and He didn't answer, we would have no rational reason to be upset.  

Nevertheless, the woman was distraught and waiting in silence.  "Lord, I wait for you; you will answer Lord my God." Psalm 38:15

"And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”  Like Hannah, the Caananite woman did not give up in her prayer.  She followed the disciples, crying over and over and over again in a shrill, broken-record sort of voice.  I have done this with my girls.  Annabelle will ask Madeline the same question two-hundred-eighty times and finally I'll holler from the other room, "Please answer your sister, it's driving me nuts!!"  The disciples see that Jesus is not answering, the woman won't shut up, and they beg him to get rid of her.  "Lord, either answer her or make her go away, she's making us crazy!!"

Silence is golden

"I believe she (alone) rightly interpreted our Lord’s silence. In spite of the disciples’ persistent prodding to have Jesus send this woman away, Jesus did not tell the woman to leave. His silence in this regard was golden for the Canaanite woman. And what Jesus said was also encouraging to her. He said He was sent to the lost sheep of Israel. That was His mission. She was not seeking to dissuade Him from fulfilling His calling. And so she persisted to plead with Him to have mercy on her."  http://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-hermeneutics-matthew-1521-39

After what seemed like an eternity to the woman and the the disciples, Jesus opens the door of the house and steps outside.  "He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”.  Jesus is on a mission, he came from heaven with a homework assignment: preach and teach among the Jews, make them hate me, be crucified, rise again.  "Look lady, can't you see I'm doing my homework right now?"  

 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”  She's been following and raising a ruckus until now, she falls at his feet and grabs his ankles and begs again.  

Pause for a second; look at this image of prayer.  She is absolutely desperate, in the dirt, begging for mercy.  Remember Hannah weeping and praying so hard that people thought she was drunk?  The Caananite woman has the same sort of desperation.  Dirty, loud, mascara running, absolute mess, and in desperate need of Jesus.  

And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  

What a bizarre statement.  I just spent thirty minutes fact checking this one, and it seems that once again context is really important.  Jesus is speaking with a Greek/Phoenecian woman, not a Jew, which is significant because Greeks did keep dogs as pets.  Moreover, the specific word we see in the Bible is kunarion, which means "puppy."  So Jesus is not calling her a dog, he is speaking in a family metaphor that she would understand.  If she spends all day cooking puttanesca for her children, the kids should eat it, not their puppy  

She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  Genius answer!  I picture Jesus's mouth opening in surprise and then turning into a smile.  This woman gets it!  I get that you're on a mission to the Jews, I get that you're here on vacation, I get that I am a puppy, but drop me a crumb and I'll be satisfied.  

Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Anytime you impress the king of the universe, you have done well.  She begged, pleaded, persisted, and used impeccable logic in seeking God's mercy, and Jesus was delighted!  

"Ah! poor heart, though Christ beat and bruise thee, or even slay thee, trust him; though he should give thee an angry word, believe in the love of his heart".  See we have this idea of God's silence being opposition to us.  We picture God's will being so different from ours that he wouldn't give us the desires of our heart.  We are afraid to ask, and give up easily.  We see bad circumstances as God's punishment and pain as his frown.  But we find out here, and in Hannah's story that God does want our joy.  "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart!"  Hardships, brokenness, pain, suffering, even God's silence are not a punishment; they are an opportunity for Him to cultivate our faith.

What if Jesus had answered the Syrophoenecian woman's request right away?  What if he didn't remain silent and then ask her the tough questions?  Jesus loved her enough to let her beg, he loved Hannah enough to let weep. . .surely he does the same with us.  

What is similar about the Syrophoenecian woman and Hannah?

- they both suffered greatly

- prayed without ceasing

- sought a miracle from God

- mothering/parenting issues

- questioned/tested and answer wisely

- answers are similar "be it done as you desire" and "go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant what you ask him."

- receive what they asked for, the woman's child is healed and Hannah becomes pregnant

Cool related songs: 

Mumford and Sons - I will wait

Crumbs from your table - U2