Does this story disturb you?
A woman asks Jesus for help.
He says that
it is not right
to give the children's bread
to the dogs.
Of course,
she says that
even the dogs eat
of the crumbs
that fall from the table.
Only then
does Jesus
heal the daughter of this woman.
Surely it disturbs us
because
we don't expect Jesus
to be so, well, rude!
The Jesus we know
and love
would heal the daughter
immediately
with kind words.
But He doesn't.
He effectively calls her
a dog,
albeit a family pet
rather than
a wild dog.
What's gone wrong?
[PAUSE]
We're rather presented
with a Jesus
that does not always
behave the way
we expect Him to,
or that we want Him to.
This might cause us to doubt Him.
Many people leave
the Christian Faith
because they
cannot reconcile
the God of Love
with some of the actions
they believe He commits.
The old argument goes
that because there is Evil
God cannot be wholly good,
or He cannot be Almighty
or He cannot be all-knowing.
But this argument forgets
that we human beings
are not wholly good
are not Almighty
are not all-knowing.
It means that
we cannot know
the mind of God.
We weren't there
at the moment of Creation.
We didn't see His blueprints
for the Universe.
We didn't see Him
ponder over which
laws of physics to choose.
We don't know Him.
But God knows
we don't know Him.
It is because we can't know Him
that He bids us to have faith,
to trust Him
when we are terrified
to hold on to Him
when we are in the greatest pain,
to believe in Him
when we can't see where He has gone.
[PAUSE]
We can't always know the reason why.
But look at this woman.
Look at what happens to her.
She has faith.
She doesn't lose
faith in Christ
or in His love
or in His power.
He calls her a dog
and she stands her ground.
She doesn't run away crying
her image of a nice Jesus
broken to bits.
She knows that this Man
can heal her daughter
and she trusts that He will.
She keeps faith
and answers Him
respectfully,
humbly,
and with the determination
that comes by faith in Him.
And then Jesus
shows her that He is faithful
and heals her daughter.
Actually,
He does more.
Jesus shows us that He is faithful
and He shows that this woman
is faithful.
[PAUSE]
We cannot expect
God to be exactly how
we want Him to be.
This is a sickness that has
invaded some parts of the Church.
To often,
we expect Jesus to
agree with us,
to be on our side of the argument
to be fighting for the causes
we support.
This is not Jesus.
This is a cardboard cutout
- not even an ikon.
If we are to grow in faith
then it will be in the hardships of life,
in the sadnesses, fears,
pains and sorrows,
the injustices and cruelty of life
that will cause that growth.
We cannot know God's purposes
but we can grow in faith
and believe that,
whatever is happening,
not only does He have a good reason for it
but we will become closer to Him
as a result.
This is part of our
business of repentance.
No-one said that
this would be easy
but perhaps we should
thank God for the fact that it is not easy.
For then we are
the greater in our faith
and deeper in our love.
God truly loves us:
He wants us to be perfect in Him,
even when we can't know
how to be perfect yet.
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