"'Have mercy on me Son of David, my daughter is tormented by a demon.' But he did not answer her at all. (The disciples said), 'Send her away...' (Jesus) answered, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' But she came and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, help me.' (Jesus) answered, 'It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.' She said, 'Yes Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.' He answered, 'Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly. Matthew 14:22-28

So what happen to the kind, sensitive, caring, loving Jesus? What happened to "the Jesus" who took the children in his arms, welcomed outcasts and sinners, healed the sick, touched the lepers and raised the dead? Are we catching him on a bad day?

A Gentile woman comes to Jesus asking him to heal her mentally ill daughter. She is called by Matthew, a "Canaanite," an anachronistic term which Matthew probably intentionally uses to make a point. Matthew's point is just this: this was a person who had a couple of strikes against her, at least as far as the disciples were concerned.

First of all, she was a woman and in those days it was considered improper and forbidden for a woman to directly approach a Jewish teacher or rabbi in the manner that she did!

Her second strike was that she was a Gentile --an outsider --an alien --a stranger --one whom the inner circle of the religious of Israel looked down upon and scorned!

Now it is easy to understand the woman’s sense of urgency and her persistence, especially for you mothers in the congregation this morning. If your child is sick you suffer vicariously with your child, and you will do anything to make your child better. We can understand this woman’s willingness to "pull out all the stops" and "leave no stone unturned" for the sake of her child.

Likewise, the disciples' rejection to this woman shouldn't really surprise us. We can understand their response by taking an honest look at ourselves. They simply parroted the prejudicial and narrow attitudes of the time. They were men and she was a woman and a Gentile. In those days there was no public association between the two – none! Sometimes we demonstrate similar attitudes about those whom we have deemed to be outside of our carefully drawn boundaries of hospitality. Most of us are very friendly people and even consider ourselves hospitable people, but practically speaking, within very definite and often strictly defined limits.

What's it like for "us" disciples who gather here in this place and call ourselves "Holy Love Lutheran Church?" Do outsiders come here and in any way experience the kingdom of God's incredible grace? Are outsiders, strangers and those who are different welcomed here? Do we ever dare to reach through the boundaries of our fear and mistrust, extending a hand of hospitality that at least creates the possibility and opportunity for understanding and relationship? Or do we allow ourselves to cave in to pressures and fears that hinder us from extending ourselves for Christ's sake? We really should have no trouble understanding the reaction of the disciples.

It is Jesus’ reaction to this woman that deeply troubles us. Did you hear what Jesus said in the face of her request? "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." I know an insult when I hear one and I cringe! In my nauseous reaction I wonder if this can possibly be the same loving Jesus that we confess and have come to know so well.

I am not going to soften or rationalize the abrasiveness of this difficult story. The harshness of this episode cannot be whitewashed. It is an embarrassing story!

But I believe that is exactly the point! Perhaps embarrassment is the point of the story. I believe the cutting edge and power of the story lies somewhere in the scandal of the embarrassment.

You see the stakes were high! This is a dangerous and subversive story both for the Israelites of Jesus' day, and for we who call ourselves "Christian" in our day. The stakes are very, very high! This pleading woman was asking Jesus for a great deal! Yes, she was asking for the healing of her daughter. But she was asking for even more than that! She was asking Jesus to bestow upon her gifts that were, not by right, hers to claim by the strictly set religious boundaries of the day. If Jesus really was the Son of David and the long awaited Jewish Messiah, then Jesus and the gifts of His kingdom rightly belonged to those who suffered in Israel -- not to Gentile outsiders - to use the racial slur, Gentile "dogs."

To gain an appreciation of the disciples’ attitude towards Gentiles, I tried to think of a contemporary parallel with which we can identify. The best I can come up is the attitude in our day that is prevalent towards illegal immigrants. I think it is a good parallel. What do we sometimes say about illegal immigrants who use the resources and benefits of our tax dollars? We say, "This must stop! They have no legitimate claim on the stuff that rightly belongs to American Citizens. How presumptuous can they be?"

Using that contemporary parallel we can begin to see that if Jesus were to grant the request of this one Gentile woman, an outsider, unwanted and unwelcome by any way you measure it, it would forever change their religion, the direction their religion was taking them, and even become a threat to the foundation of their social and economic structure and their accepted way of living - much like some would argue in our time about illegal immigrants.

I believe it is right here with this outsider, this outcast, this Canaanite that we find the real scandal, and hence, the real power of this story. We must understand that this story was sending a message both to the insiders of the house of Israel, Jesus' own people, and the insiders of today -- you and me!

"Send her away! She's a nuisance and an embarrassment," urged the disciples. Then Jesus says, "I wasn't sent for you--I was sent for Israel." But this was a determined mother and a woman who was not going to take "no" for an answer. With desperation she threw herself at Jesus pleading, "Lord, help me!" It was as if she was saying, "If your religion is authentic at all! If you're the real McCoy, I believe that you want to help me and that you will help me!" And then to Jesus' harsh rebuke she made a rather clever reply, "Even dogs are allowed a few crumbs from the children's bread!"

You see, it is right at this point, right at this place where the embarrassment and scandal of the whole story reaches a monumental crescendo when Jesus replies, "O Woman, (you are really somebody special) great is your faith! Your request is granted!"

The real scandal and power of this story can be summed up in one line: GREAT IS THIS OUTSIDER'S FAITH! Great is this outsider's faith! You see that's the whole point of the story. Even though it was an embarrassment, that's why the early church remembered to tell it and not tweak it to make it more palatable! That's why Matthew includes it in his Gospel story when he didn't have to. He could have left it out! Narrow, exclusive, elitist, self-righteous faith was exposed for the sham it really is when Jesus declared, "Great is the outsider’s faith!"

First of all, this story is a flat out indictment of any group, church, denomination or individual who lives with the elitist attitude that it is only they who are the true believers; it is only they who are the authentic first class Christians. Quite frankly, the more I hear that from numerous sources the more I am getting sick of it!

For whatever reason this "outsider" was convinced and convicted that the only power and source of healing and wholeness that could really help her and grant her that which she and her daughter needed was found in Jesus. Even though there were a host of cultural and religious conventions and prejudices that said she had no right to even approach Jesus, she did anyway. Even though she knew that she would be discouraged through scorn and disparagement, she pressed forward nevertheless.

"Woman, great is your faith," said Jesus. I believe what he meant was not "Woman, great is your persistence." Faith is not persistence. He didn't mean "Woman, great is you ability to be a nuisance to the point of badgering me into a response." Faith is not being a badgering nuisance.

When Jesus acknowledged the greatness of her faith, he was acknowledging that she had placed her complete and unequivocal hope in him alone. She had surrendered to the truth that only Jesus could help; that only He was the source of authentic life; and that she was willing to place herself before him, no matter what the cost of embarrassment and scorn.

This is a story about an outsider who saw and acknowledged in Jesus, through all the boundaries and barriers that would cloud her vision, what the disciples of the inner circle had yet to see and understand. And she not only came with her great faith, but she exposed them for the narrow, judgmental and parochial people they were, at least at that point in their journey of faith.

It took an outsider to dramatically demonstrate that there are no inner and outer circles as far as God is concerned. It is we who build barriers, make distinctions, draw lines, and create exclusive fraternities.

It took an outsider to show that being religious has nothing to do with joining an inner circle of super righteous. It is we who think we can break into the inner religious elite with our attempts at self-justification and masks of phony piety.

It took an outsider to show that to experience the life that God offers, one must come offering nothing but emptiness, even to the point of desperation. It is we who attempt to fill the emptiness within us with our insatiable appetites for just about everything under the sun but God.

It took an outsider to show that ultimately God is bigger than every accepted human convention and tradition. It is we who make God small by putting God into a box to keep God under our control and manipulation.

I must ask myself, "Am I really ready to hear and accept this story?" Are you? Are we? Am I ready to let go of the ways that I mold Jesus into my own image, force Him to fit within the boundaries that I draw; make Jesus look more like me, than me look like Jesus? Am I ready to let my life and faith be shaped by this story?