Sermon Tone Analysis

| "A Faithful Dog's Portion" \\ Matthew 15:21-28 \\ \\ 21 September Anno Domini 1997 \\ \\ Our Redeemer Lutheran Church \\ Emmett, Idaho \\ Pastor Michael L. McCoy |

Dear friends in Christ, \\ \\ A close reading of the Bible reveals that many of the fiercest struggles that people have are not with the devil, not with the world, and not with the themselves.

As Christians, these are ones that we know of and expect -- opponents that, with God on our side, are kept at bay.

We sing of this Divine Help in that great reformation hymn ... \\ \\ "With might of ours can naught be done, Soon were our loss effected; \\     But for us fights the Valiant One, Whom God Himself elected.

\\     Ask ye, Who is this?

Jesus Christ it is, Of Sabaoth Lord, \\     And there's none other God; He holds the field forever."

\\ \\ However, it is sobering, and perhaps not a little disturbing, to realize that many of the fiercest struggles and greatest battles are with the Valiant One, with the Lord God Himself.

Abraham is assaulted with God's demand to sacrifice Isaac.

Job is afflicted in body, soul, spirit, and heart.

He asks a simple "Why?" and must, himself, be questioned by the Lord God.

Jacob wrestles with God in order to receive a Word of blessing and is given the strength of body to prevail and the faith of the soul to await the blessing.

\\ \\ Such a trial was no less for the woman in the Gospel Reading for this day.

She was tested by God, she struggled with Him, and, in the midst of disappointment and despite facing opposition at every turn, she refused to give up or give in.

God the Holy Spirit has caused the account of this woman to be written for us, showing that the life of the believer is one of continued, on-going persistence in the life and death struggle as a child of God.

You and I are to recall and remember that nothing, not even death itself, is to keep us from calling upon the Lord and holding Him to His Word, even when He appears to be against us and when His answer is "No."

\\ \\ Please listen to the Gospel Reading once again, meditating on the Lord, His Word, the Canaanite woman, and the encouragement for us in our Christian faith and life.

We do so under the theme ... \\ \\ ... A Faithful Dog's Portion \\ \\ Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!

My daughter is severely demon-possessed."

But He answered her not a word.

And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."

But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"

But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."

And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."

Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!

Let it be to you as you desire."

And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

\\ \\ Thus far the inspired and inerrant Word of the Lord our God.

\\ \\ When you stop and think about what has been said to this point, how the greatest struggles are with God, and how that truth applies to the Canaanite woman, you really begin to wonder just how she could endure it all.

The struggles with God are so great because they are so unexpected.

I mean I really do expect to battle against this old sinful nature that clings to me.

I truly expect the world to be against me and place temptations in front of me.

I recognize that I must be aware that the devil is roaming around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

But with all that facing me, I was thinking that I had enough to contend with, that I wouldn't have to wrestle with God.

\\ \\ Now, before this turns into a personal pity party, we need to understand that, truly, neither you nor I nor anyone I have ever met, had the awful situation and the horrible circumstances in life that this poor Canaanite woman had.

The woman herself and the events of her life are so miserable that it is hard to imagine things being worse.

First of all, she is a woman.

In that time and culture, being a woman often meant being in a lower class and having a lower status.

Second, she is a Canaanite woman.

With respect to Jesus, she is a Gentile and He is a Jew.

That means she is not one of the children of Abraham and not one of God's chosen people of Israel.

She is an outsider with absolutely no genetic right to ask for help.

Third, the woman's daughter is demon-possessed.

Moms and dads stay up at night with a sick child, but parents hearts ache when a son or daughter is sick with a serious disease for a long time.

I simply can not even imagine the awful anguish and plaguing pain a father or mother might have if a little daughter is demon-possessed; where Satan bodily invades a child.

The thought is completely frightening.

Dear people, the Canaanite woman's daughter was demon-possessed.

\\ \\ So what did she have?

She had herself, her alien nationality, and her devil-plagued daughter.

But she had one other thing.

She had the Word.

At some place and at sometime, she had heard the Word.

It was a sliver of the Word, a mere crumb of a report come into her pagan land, that this man named Jesus is the Lord, the Son of David.

Perhaps she heard of what He had done in healing the sick and casting out other demons.

It could be that she had seen such a miracle.

We don't know the occasion of her knowledge for the Bible does not tell us.

Next, she hears that Jesus is on the move and coming in her direction.

Certainly, like what any other mom or dad in like circumstances would do, she sought the help of various remedies for her daughter's exorcism and recovery.

The potions and mumbo-jumbo all failed.

But now, here, with Jesus in the vicinity, is the opportunity for her to make her plea to the Lord.

Certainly she must have had some conflicting thoughts.

"Why should I ask anything of Jesus?

Who am I? A woman.

A stranger.

A foreigner.

A nobody." \\ \\ In his house sermon on this text, Martin Luther says, "If such a staggering blow had hit our hearts, we probably would have succumbed and given up on prayer.

For it is no joke when conscience tells us, 'You have no right to pray; you don't belong to Christ.

Let St. Paul and St. Peter pray, but our Lord God won't listen to you; you have no faith, are probably not among the elect, and not worthy to be eligible for and deserving of stepping before God to ask for anything.'

With such thoughts and troubling doubts, the devil assaults and jabs at us." \\ \\ The Canaanite woman closes her eyes to the fact that she is a Gentile and closes her mind to her pagan nationality.

By faith, she trusts that the Lord will hear her prayer of petition; a plea, not for herself, but on behalf of her daughter and that He would grant it.

And so, seeing Jesus, the Canaanite woman took that sliver of hope which was based upon a mere crumb of the Word and petitioned God with the title the Hebrew people used, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!

My daughter is severely demon-possessed."

\\ \\ This becomes the example for us as Christians when assailed by personal doubts and devils.

We too may reply, "Everything about me is true.

I am indeed a great sinner and God truly owes me nothing but punishment and condemnation, now and forever.

If anything were left to me -- to receive on what I deserve, then I am most certainly lost.

But here is Jesus, my Savior and my Redeemer, Who died in my place suffering the wrath of God in my stead.

There is no where else to go." \\ \\ So the woman followed Jesus into a house and begged Him, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!

My daughter is severely demon-possessed.

But He answered her not a word."

Not a word!

Not a word?

Silence from God. Why? Her mind must have been puzzled, "Where is the man about whom everyone is talking and praising His miraculous wonders and deeds?

Is this man the one who is willing to help so many, but not me?

What is it that I have from this Jesus?

Silence."

Neither her thoughts nor the Lord's silence deter her.

\\ \\ We might well ask, "Why was Jesus silent?"

Was it for her that she might have her faith tested and become stronger as she grew in her trust of Him? Possibly.

Was it for those around her, that they might realize the need to temper faith through trials?

Maybe.

It is quite possible that there was another reason why Jesus remained silent.

Perhaps it was because she was not being completely honest with Jesus.

She petitions Him with a greeting that was common to the Hebrew people, designating Jesus as the Son of David, giving the impression that she was one of the Israelite people, one of the descendants of Abraham and Sarah.

His silence gives her an opportunity to be honest and truthful with Jesus.

\\ \\ His silence is incorrectly interpreted by the disciples, as they came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."

Their words are ones which make Jesus seem harsh and cruel.

"Please, Master, send her away.

Either grant her petition and she will go away thanking You, or, deny her request and order her to leave.