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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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She Doesn’t Deserve This |
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Matthew 15:21-28 Second Sunday of Lent March 8, 2009 People are often shocked when they read Matthew 15. They are shocked because the treatment of the woman seems to be completely contrary to everything the Bible tells us about Jesus. Jesus is famous for His love and compassion. He is famous for healing people, for casting out demons, for raising the dead. So great was His love, He even prayed for those who tortured Him to death, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Yet here is this woman, a woman who clearly loves her daughter, and who comes to Jesus, who is begging Him and crying out in deep distress, and He ignores her. When she persists, He actually insults her, essentially calls her a dog. And people, reading this passage, say to themselves, “She doesn’t deserve this.” They are right. She doesn’t deserve this treatment from Jesus. In fact, she doesn’t deserve anything from Jesus. That is the whole point of this passage. To understand this we need to remember that the woman is a descendant of ancient enemies of God’s people, and of God. Her ancestors were a wicked people of idolatry and sensual sins, whose religion included drunken orgies and burning babies alive. Even worse, if there can be any such thing, they were persecutors of God’s people. They fought against the house of Israel, enslaving, and even killing the Israelites. Still worse, they were not content to commit sin themselves; they induced Israel to join their evil ways. (It has always been true that when God’s people share the Word of Life with people, they call us bigots and narrow minded and tell us to keep our biased views to ourselves, but they in turn feel completely free to attempt to lure us into their sinful ways of thinking and living.) This was the heritage of the woman in our text. She was not of the house of Israel. She was not of the chosen people. She did not keep the ceremonial laws. She did not keep the moral law. She didn’t even worship God. She was an idolater. She was altogether unclean. She was a dog. To be a “dog” as Jesus used the word in this passage is to be a sinner. In the Bible, dogs are unclean animals. If you have ever been on a farm with a dog, you understand why. They eat carrion. They eat the dung of other animals. They roll in it. They eat their own vomit. In the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, they carried worms and fleas and mange. When Jesus told the woman it was not fit to give the children’s bread to the dogs, He was telling her she had no right to receive any good thing from God. Now here is something important; we are all unclean dogs before God, having no right to expect anything good from Him. One of the greatest problems people have today is the idea the idea that they somehow deserve all the good God can give them. Somehow they have earned God’s friendship, and blessing, and even Heaven itself, because they are such nice and good and deserving people, so they think. Not according to God. Listen to God’s view of people as found in Romans 3:10-20. “There
is none righteous, no, not one: There
is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become
unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have
used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways:
And the way of peace have they not known:
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them
who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God. Therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight:
for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” This woman, at least knew this. She, at least, could see that she did not deserve anything from Christ. She did not dispute that she was an unclean dog. But she was not asking for what she deserved, she was asking for grace. She knew if she were to receive anything from God He would have to give it out of His mercy, not her merit. This is the beginning point of a right relationship with God. The world has recently embraced the first verse of John Newton’s hymn, “Amazing Grace.” It has become a favorite of people of many races and nationalities, even many religions. But, though they love the song, many reject its meaning. They secularize it and make it mean salvation from drugs or despair, or worldly problems instead of the salvation of their souls from the pit of hell by the self-sacrificing love of Christ. But even our hymn books have changed the words a little. Most of our hymnals say, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” But, if I am correct, John Newton wrote, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a worm as I.” Now that may not fit our definition of good poetry, but it is great theology, for it shows our neediness before God. We are not deserving people in His eyes. We are sinners. We are criminals against His holy law. We are dogs. We are worms. We are maggots. Thus, when we come to Jesus, we don’t want what we deserve. We want Jesus to act on our behalf, even though we don’t deserve it. We want mercy. If we are unfit to sit at His table, we will gratefully receive the crumbs that fall on the floor Now here is the good part. Christ gives mercy. Christ came to receive sinners. Christ came to make us whole. He came to make unclean “dogs” sparklingly clean deep in our souls. He came to turn wild, flea, worm and mange infested carrion eaters into healthy, well-fed companions. He came not to give us crumbs on the floor, but to clean us up, seat us at the Table, and give us the full Feast of God’s richest blessings. He does this for all who simply ask Him for it in faith. The Cross is the means of our cleansing. He took our sin upon Himself, and suffered and died for it on the Cross. Thus, He makes us “fit” to sit at the Table of God. Our sins are “washed” away in His blood. Faith is simply trusting Christ to make us clean. If you have not asked Him to make you clean, I invite you, in His name, to ask Him today. You probably know what to do already. You have heard this prayer before, or you have read it in books. Maybe you’ve heard something like it on TV watching Billy Graham or D. James Kennedy. Just sincerely pray this little prayer. “Almighty God, I have sinned against You, and I am unfit to receive anything good from You. I know that instead of earning Heaven by my good works, I have earned hell by my sins. But Jesus died for sinners. He gave His life on the cross to bear the punishment for my sins, and He offers forgiveness, cleansing, and Heaven to me as a free gift. I gratefully ask for that gift today. Amen.” The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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