The Dog's Truth

Sermon for the second Sunday in Lent

Perhaps you remember 

the tale of Greyfriars Bobby,

the little dog 

who was so devoted to his master

that he refused to leave

his master's grave side.

Perhaps you remember

how the townsfolk

looked after him 

and cared for him

until the little dog himself died

at the age of 16

and was buried not too far

from his master.

Some people think this is a legend,

but the statue that stands 

in Bobby's memory

is there for a reason.

There must be some truth 

in that story for such

a memorial to have been erected.

There is truth in that story.

[PAUSE]

"There must be truth 

in that story,"

thinks the Canaanite woman

as she tends to her dying daughter.

"There must be truth

that He heals."

The Canaanite woman

holds to these two truths,

the truth that her daughter is dying,

and the truth that lies in

the people's tales

about Jesus healing people.

So she goes to the Master.

And she will not leave,

clinging to these two truths

with all her might.

And she cries out

again

and again

and again and again and again,

so much so that 

people get sick of her crying.

"Send her away.

Don't bother the Master!"

But she holds to

the two truths doggedly.

She will see the Master

and He will heal her daughter.

Finally 

she catches the eye of God.

And He speaks truth:

"It is not meet

to take the children's bread

and cast it to the dogs."

A harsh rebuke?

Does she go away

reminded of her status as 

an outcast from 

the Children of Israel?

No. 

She knows another truth:

she is not Jewish and He is

but she is human

and so is He.

If He is the Messiah,

then He is merciful.

If He is the Messiah

then there is a crumb of mercy

that can fall for her.

She still holds doggedly

to the truth 

that He can heal.

He is truly the Master 

and she worships Him.

"Truth, Lord:

and yet the dogs eat

of the crumbs which fall

from their master's table"

For with Lord there is mercy.

And with that mercy

comes Divine admiration. 

"O woman, 

great is thy faith:

be it unto thee

even as thou wilt."

Notice how,

He calls her "woman"

- a term of respect,

a term of recognition of status,

a term of admiration, 

not a term to be used

to address a dog.

How can a master admire a dog?

How can a town 

set up a statue 

to a little dog 

who clung on to the truth 

of his devotion 

to his master?

To see an insult

in comparing this woman

with a dog

is to miss the breakdown

of the barriers 

that separate 

the Children of Israel

from the children of men.

For Jesus Himself

is the Bread of the Children of Israel

and He gives Himself freely

to a woman

whom the Children of Israel

would call a dog.

And He does so

because she has faith -

the knowledge that 

there must be some truth

in the stories she hears 

about Jesus,

even if she doesn't know

the whole truth.

He gives Himself to

this "dog"

willingly, 

in admiration 

with mercy and love.

And, in receiving this bread

she becomes one 

of the first gentile members

of the Church.

[PAUSE]

For us,

this faithful woman disappears into history -

a story, many would say 

- but if a story, then a story 

in which there must be some truth.

Indeed,

a story in which there is The Truth

a true story!

and this Truth 

that even now 

she holds onto 

in a state of Eternal bliss,

we, too, hold onto,

doggedly.