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.
