Faith that Shows (3)

Matthew 15:21-28

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When God sent Samuel to anoint a son of Jesse as King of Israel, he had to remind him that man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. None of us can look into the heart of another person. We can’t know another person’s inmost thoughts, or the motive or reasons behind what they say or do. We can’t see whether there is faith in another person’s heart or not. But Jesus makes it clear that even though faith itself is not something we can see, faith will produce fruit that we can see. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote about this in his epistle in which he stresses that where there is faith there will be works, fruit. An alternate Old Testament reading for today is the account of Rahab hiding the 2 spies when they came to Jericho. James used Rahab as an example of someone who had faith that showed. When she heard about what God had been doing for his people Israel, how he brought them through the Red Sea and helped them defeat Sihon and Og, she believed that he was the true God, and she hid the Israelite spies and protected them.

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When Jesus traveled out of Israel to the region of Tyre and Sidon he met another gentile woman, who, like Rahab, had faith that showed.

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The first way that this woman’s faith showed was the manner in which she greeted Jesus. Publicly, in a way that anyone nearby could hear, she cried out to Jesus calling him Lord, Son of David.

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At first, that might not sound like a big deal. But remember who this woman was. She was a gentile, not a Jew. She was a Canaanite woman. Everything about her culture, her background, her upbringing, the attitudes of her family and friends and neighbors—everything worked against her even considering the claims of the Jews about a coming Messiah. Yet she not only considered those claims, but she also believed them and publicly confessed that Jesus was that Messiah promised to David even though she risked being canceled by her friends and neighbors for doing so.

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Faith shows. It boldly, publicly, unashamedly confesses that Jesus is Lord, the Son of God, the Son of David, the one God promised to Adam and Eve, who in the fullness of time came into the world to save the world. Faith has Jesus as its object and it doesn’t care what friends, or family, or neighbors think. It doesn’t care what is considered politically correct. Faith shows when we boldly and publicly confess that Jesus is Lord, the Son of David, the only one who can save us from our sin and the only reason our prayers are heard and answered even if we risk being canceled for doing so.

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The faith of the Canaanite woman also showed itself in humble perseverance.

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When Jesus seemed to ignore her, she kept praying. When the disciples begged Jesus to just answer, say something so that she would stop-- She must have sounded like the child who just keeps saying, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy… She was not deterred. Jesus reminded her that, yes, he was the Son of David as she confessed. And when he reminded her that the promises of God had been given to the Jews, instead of calling him racist, she humbled herself and bowed down in worship. When most would have stomped off in a huff she simply said, “Lord, Help me.”

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She didn’t argue with Jesus about anything he said or did. She didn’t offer a reason that Jesus should do what she asked. She didn’t try to bargain with Jesus. She didn’t promise to leave everything and follow him if he did what she asked. She knew that there was no reason he should help her. She simply trusted his grace. She understood that grace means that God does not treat us as our sins deserve. He chooses not to give us the punishment we deserve because Jesus took that punishment in our place. Instead, he gives us the things we don’t deserve, forgiveness, answered prayers, and eternal life, all for the sake of Jesus.

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When Jesus seems to insult her and imply that she is a dog, a derogatory term often used by the Jews to refer to “unclean” gentiles, she says, Yes I am a dog. I am a worthless sinner who deserves nothing from you. She was like the prodigal son who returned to his father and said, “I am not worthy to be called your son.” She continued to cling to grace.

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Her faith latched on to the fact that Jesus used a term that means little dogs, house dogs who were permitted in the house and sat under their master’s table. She humbly admitted, “Dogs have masters and you, Jesus, are my master. And I know that masters not only take care of their children, but they are happy to care for their little house dogs too. They give their dogs some of the table scraps. I’m content to be your little house dog, Jesus. I’m content to be allowed in the house and to receive a few crumbs from my master’s table.”

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How often we fall short of the example this woman set! When we come to the Lord it’s often not with humility and perseverance. We tend to come to the Lord thinking that he should do what we ask. After all, we are his children. We’ve been his children ever since we were baptized. We have done so much for him in the church and in the community, we tend to think that we deserve to have him do something for us. If he seems to put us off; if he doesn’t do what we ask; we are quick to give up. We don’t persist in prayer. Maybe we think, “OK, God, I’ll show you. I’ll stop praying. I’ll stop coming to hear your word. I’ll stop serving you,” as if that’s going to hurt God and make him do what we ask. How foolish!

Thankfully Jesus never demanded anything from the Father. He always offered perfect, humble, perfect prayers, and he continues to do so as our intercessor at the right hand of the Father. On the cross he paid for all the time we have demanded something from God, or lacked persistence in prayer, or showed little faith. Because he did these things in our place we can have the confidence that our prayers are heard, even when they lack humility or fail to let our faith show. We can have the confidence that the Father will answer our prayers in the best possible way, not because of anything we have done, but because of what Jesus has done for us.

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Jesus said to this Canaanite woman, “Woman, you have great faith.” Did you ever notice who it was that Jesus complemented for having great faith? Think about it. What did he often say to Peter and his disciples? “You of little faith. Why did you doubt?” He called those who claimed to be his children, the Pharisees and teachers of the law, “hypocrites” and “whitewashed tombs.” But the two people Jesus held up to others as having great faith were this Canaanite woman and the Roman centurion, both gentiles.

How easily Satan gets those who have known him their whole lives, the children, to become complacent and proud; to think that since they are the children they are privileged, deserving of more from God than others. If you read the whole of chapter 15 of Matthew you will see that’s why Jesus took this trip to the region of Tyre and Sidon, because the children, some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, were putting their tradition above God’s word, and thinking they deserved more from God than others. We need a daily slap in the face from God’s law to humble us and to remind us that we are God’s children only by his grace, not by birth or by works. As John the Baptist pointed out God can raise up children for himself from stones if he wants to. We need the constant reminder that even our righteous acts are filthy rags in God’s sight and that the only thing we deserve from God is his eternal wrath and punishment. Then, as we look to Jesus, we can come to him with the same humble trust this woman did. We can say, “Lord, I don’t deserve anything from you, but you came to me with your gracious promises. I know and believe that you are the Messiah, the promised Son of David, the Savior of the World. Although there is no reason that you should save me or do anything but punish me for my sins, Lord, help me. I’m satisfied with whatever crumbs you might give me.”

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If Rahab and this Canaanite woman simply heard about what God was doing for his people, and God used that to work faith in their hearts that bore fruit in their lives, how much more ought our faith show. We have much greater opportunity to know God than they did. We know the whole story of salvation from Adam and Eve, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David, to the Virgin birth, the Father’s approval at Jesus’ baptism and transfiguration, his suffering and death, his resurrection and ascension, and the miraculous spread of the good news through the whole world. We have multiple copies of God’s word which we can read and study any time we choose. We are constantly reminded that we are saved by grace alone through faith in Jesus. What a shame if we take these blessings for granted! What a shame if we let our faith remain a spark and fail to have the breath of the Spirit through the word and Sacraments fan it into flame. How we need to join the man who said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe, help me overcome my unbelief.”

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It’s true, faith can’t be seen except by God. But faith shows when we don’t care about political correctness that wants us to keep our faith to ourselves, but instead, boldly and publicly confess that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah, the one and only savior of the world who lived and died and rose again, and who is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

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Faith shows itself in humble persistence. It realizes that there is no reason for God to save us or do anything for us. But because of what Jesus has done for us he promises not only to save us but to give us whatever we ask in Jesus’ name, or if not what we ask, something better.