Even the Dogs

Sermon – Matthew 15:10-28

Even the Dogs

Pr. Paul F. Cannon

Grace and Peace to all of you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

Even the dogs…even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.  It gives you chills doesn’t it? Here’s a woman seeking help for her daughter, a Canaanite woman – a woman from the wrong side of the tracks – a woman whom Jews weren’t supposed to even talk to – perhaps catches Jesus a little bit off guard with her declaration that even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the master’s table.

Of course, we are all taken a little bit aback by Jesus initial words to this Canaanite, “It is not fair” he declared the woman, “To take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 

Wait...Is Jesus calling this woman by a derogatory term?  Is he being mean?  Is he being unwelcoming?  My most honest answer is that I don’t know, but...I don't think so.

Some have pointed out that the term Jesus uses here for a dog, really means a little household pet dog.  Growing up, we had a miniature poodle named Nibbles – he was a yippee little ball of energy that did indeed lick up all the crumbs dropped to the floor.

But the truth is that no matter how you parse it, Jesus isn’t being particularly complimentary here.  He’s not being “Minnesota Nice” as they say in the Twin Cities. 

These harsh words from Jesus don’t seem to jive with the Jesus we all know and love. But Martin Luther said that scripture interprets itself – or in other words, if you get hung up on something you don’t understand, turn to the parts that you do.

The parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and the sending of the disciples out into the world all testify to a man who cared deeply about outsiders. 

So when Jesus said, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs,”   I have to imagine that the he had a knowing smile forming at the corners of his mouth. He said this not to mock – not to demean the woman – but to draw out her faith for the world to witness.

With wit and grace, the Canaanite woman responded to Jesus saying, “Yes, Lord.  Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

Even the dogs.  That’s a startling admission.  Is that how she thinks of herself?  It’s no stretch to imagine that she must have been on her last hope for her – a woman of Cana – to turn to a Jewish man for help. 

 

A few weeks ago, we encountered a woman who may have felt the same way.  We were on a mission trip with 9 of our kids and one other chaperone in Benton Harbor, MI to join with churches from across the country to be servants to the community there.

If you don’t know anything about Benton Harbor, it’s truly a tale of two cities.  On the west side of river lies the city of St. Joseph, and on the east side of the river lies Benton Harbor. 

In St. Joseph, there’s a bustling downtown area with artisan shops and street fairs, and in Benton Harbor there’s abandoned factories and 40% unemployment.  On one side of the river there’s well-manicured lawns in well-maintained homes and on the other side there are rusty fences and boarded up windows.

Our group was assigned to the home of a woman named Rhonda.  Her home had been vandalized weeks ago.  The vandals broke all the windows.  They spray-painted profanity and smeared food across her white walls.  They even broke into her home, tipping over the fridge and furniture.

I don’t think I’d be putting words in her mouth by saying that, like the Canaanite woman, she too may have felt like a dog at the master’s table. 

The 11 of us got to work, painting, mowing the lawn, trimming back the bushes, picking up broken pieces of glass, and weeding along the garden.  I hope some of you got an opportunity to see the before and after pictures of Rhonda’s home on Bethany’s facebook page (if not, you should “like” our page and look it up!), because by the end of the week, it looked like an entirely new building.

 

I remember looking at the finished product on Thursday afternoon – clean white walls, with freshly painted gray trim around the windows and door, a weeded flower garden, and two hanging flower baskets which we had given her as a gift.  Standing next to Rhonda looking at the finished product, she said “A few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have even said this was my house.  But today, it’s MY house.” 

It was awesome to see the joy and pride in her face, as tears filled her eyes.  The 11 of us had come alongside her to serve, and together we experienced God in a very real and tangible way.

I expect this was the Canaanite’s woman’s reaction as well.  Her response to Jesus was that she was merely a dog before the master’s table, and yet Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith.  Let it be done for you as you wish.”  And then her daughter was healed.

There is a temptation here, to think that we are the children that sit at God’s table.  Especially on mission trips like we went on, it’s easy to feel a little bit like we belong at God’s table as we toss down scraps of help those beneath us.

But all of us on the trip would tell you the opposite – that in fact, it was through Rhonda that we encountered God.  Unprompted one afternoon, she went out and bought the entire group pizza – an act of generosity that was not unlike the parable of the woman who donated her last coin.

The truth is, we all come before God as dogs at the master’s table.  The scraps of bread that fall to us are pieces of grace that we have neither earned nor do we deserve. 

When we encounter God in this way, we are all transformed. For the Canaanite woman, a sick daughter was healed. And all of us on the trip experienced it as well.  Shame turned into joy, pride became humility, and tears turned into laughter.

We all come before God as dogs at the master’s table.  I say this not to demean any of you, but to recognize the brokenness in all of us.  As the Apostle Paul said, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 

Yes, Lord.  Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs of grace that fall from the master’s table.

Thanks be to God. 

Amen.