GONE TO THE DOGS

A sermon by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk

Harundale Presbyterian Church

Glen Burnie, Maryland

August 18, 2002

Text: “Even the dogs eat the crumbs.” (Matthew 15:27)

First Reading: Genesis 45: 1-15

Second Reading: Romans 11:1-22a, 29-32

This past week Terry and Shiela took their new golden retriever puppy to “Kinderpup” obedience school. Kinderpup is off B&A Blvd. They specialize in training all kinds of dogs. Their method is to use a clicker, which gets the dog’s attention, after which the animals get a treat. Different commands go with the clicker and the theory is that in time the dog will learn to take the commands, since it knows if it obeys it will get a treat. Shiela’s dad had already paid for the course and they thought it would be a good idea to give the dog and themselves some training, especially with the dog so young.

That was until they got there. Not long into the session one of the instructors began berating golden retrievers and labs, saying that they were too hard to train. Their point was the dogs are too friendly with people and, for that matter, with other dogs as well. All they want to do in life is play. Now, take a shepherd for example. A shepherd will do what it’s told. Other breeds are easy to train as well. The instructors that night just had it in for goldens and labs.

Apart from Terry and Shiela another woman had a golden there to be trained as well. She took umbrage with the instructor’s comments and thought the instructor was out of place and asked why she was being so critical. The instructor replied with a flip, “you don’t want to go there!” at which point the woman responded, “well, if that’s the case, I don’t want to be here; I’ll just find another instructor,” and took herself and her dog out of the class.

Enter Jesus and his disciples. Jesus has left the area of Galilee and gone north into what is now Southern Lebanon. It’s called the area of Tyre and Sidon and was known for some time for its pagan ways. In fact, it doesn’t take long for one of the old timers in the area to accost Jesus. Matthew describes her as a Canaanite, emphasizing her heritage of one of the earliest inhabitants, a long time pagan and one who would otherwise be quite critical of the Jewish monotheistic faith and commitment.

It would be similar today to someone describing a person as “worthless.” Just the phrase alone connotes someone who doesn’t fit in, whose life style is out of sync with the prevailing culture. This Canaanite woman not only doesn’t fit in with what Jesus and his disciples are used to, she’s also quite bold in her approach. She has a daughter who’s possessed with a demon. Now, Jesus and his disciples would have been taught that demon possession was usually visited upon someone as a result of some past grievous behavior. So, not only would this woman be considered “worthless,” she’d also have some accounting to do about her daughter’s defilement. She was sinking lower on the decency ratings all the time.

Go back to Terry and Shiela’s encounter with the obedience instructors. The instructors didn’t have much good to say about golden retrievers and labs. You can imagine what Jesus and his disciples thought of the Canaanite woman. Yet, listen to what happens. She, like the goldens and the labs, may not be politically correct, but she knows how to play her cards when it comes to Jesus. She starts shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David.” You can’t get any better than “Lord” when it comes to showing respect for God’s chosen one. Also, her use of “Son of David” was how Matthew described the gentile’s reverence for the coming of the Messiah. So, here she is in front of Jesus showing very clearly that somewhere she’s been to obedience school and learned a few tricks of her own.

Jesus’ first response has baffled historians for centuries. He just ignores her, but somehow she’s beginning to get on the disciples’ nerves. They take the initiative to get rid of her. After all, she’s nothing but worthless! Take any group of which you’ve ever been a part. There are the “ins” and the “outs.” Those in the “in” group claim certain territorial rights to who should be in and who’s not worthy to be included. The disciples all along have jealously hoarded Jesus’ attention for themselves. They’re not about to relinquish their rights to some brazen woman. Just like we don’t like to admit just anyone into our circle of righteousness. There’s a Presbyterian church in California that has made the conscious decision to remain small rather than open its doors to what they consider to be not their kind of people.

But the woman will not give up. This time she kneels down and implores Jesus to have mercy upon her. Jesus’ response gives us some insight to the political realities of that time. All along Jesus has understood his call from God to work primarily with the Jew. Jews first and then the gentiles has been the clarion call guiding his ministry. So, his response to the woman’s pleading is very politically correct. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel…It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

Now I’m sure that some time in life someone has made a stinging comment. At the moment it has hurt, but you were so taken by surprise or hurt that you couldn’t offer any comment in return. It hasn’t been until probably three or four hours later that the perfect response has come to you. Your feeling has been, “why couldn’t I have thought of that at the time?” Well, the Canaanite woman certainly thought quickly on her feet, since she comes right back at Jesus with, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

In other words, she understands completely Jesus’ emphasis on the “lost sheep of Israel.” She’s willing to wait her turn. But she’s also quite confident of her faith in his ability as the Messiah, and knows that if he but says the word her daughter will be made well. Go back now to the conclusion of last week’s lesson. Peter for a time focussed his faith on Jesus and asked him to command Peter to come to him on the water. Jesus did so and Peter was empowered to walk to him and for awhile able to do extraordinary things, namely in this case to walk on the water. We know that it didn’t last long and soon Peter found himself sinking and cried out “Lord, save me.” At which point Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Our lesson today is juxtaposition to Peter’s lack of faith, since Jesus responds to the Canaanite woman, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” In other words, one from within the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples lacked faith when troubling winds shook the waters around him, while one from without that circle is lauded by Jesus. Her faith never wavered in spite of his debate over her credentials.

It all comes back to the fact that instructors shouldn’t be too critical of golden retrievers and labs. Sure, they would rather run and play through life. They may be off saying “hello” to some other dog when they should be listening to the clicker and some command. They may continue to fail obedience school because their personalities just don’t fit the norm. Yet, God made golden retrievers and labs just as God made the Canaanite woman.

Just as with last Monday night’s obedience class, so also this morning, it may be that those who don’t always fit the so-called norm of behavior we’d consider appropriate are the very ones who can teach us what it means to be faithful to the God who calls us!

Thanks be to God,

Amen