Dakota Community Church
February 22, 2009 am
Dawgs - Like Me
Matthew 15:21-28
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
He replied, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs."
"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table."
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Now this is one of those occurrences in the life of Jesus that for me is somewhat offensive.
I don’t like this exchange.
To my western eyes Jesus appears to be rude to this woman, in fact if I didn’t know better I would be tempted to say that treating another human being in this fashion is sinful… yet Jesus is without sin.
I want to edit this passage out of the Bible and yet I know that the Holy Spirit would not have included it if it were not important, true, and right.
Jesus is God and everything He does or says is holy, and perfect, and righteous, and good.
In the end Jesus says that this is an example of GREAT FAITH.
How is this great faith? How are we as those who want to be people of great faith to read and apply this passage to our lives?
1. This “dawg” accepts Jesus’ exclusionary mission.
Matthew 15:23-25
Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
This Canaanite woman does what so many today seem unable or unwilling to do.
She accepts God as He is.
“I know you didn’t come for me, I’m not asking you to take anything from the children, but what about the crumbs, what about what they are not eating, the left-over’s… is there anything for me there?
How do you respond to God when He doesn’t live up to your expectations?
She does not try to re-imagine Him as she wants Him to be. She does not insist on inclusiveness, she does not seek out a new kind of Jesus. She accepts Him as God, as He reveals Himself to her and simply bows before Him.
Think about what would happen if this were to happen today.
“How dare He not respond to my need?”
“Who does He think He is refusing ministry to someone based on nationality?”
Call the lobbyists we have a hate crime on our hands.
Are you offended by the exclusive truth claims of Jesus?
Do you feel a need to do something other than bow before Him and them?
John 14:1-7
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
In The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis, a young girl named Jill, who is quite thirsty, discovers a stream -- but also finds it guarded by a lion.
“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.
“I’m dying of thirst,” said Jill.
“Then drink,” said the Lion.
“May I -- could I -- would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience ….
“Will you promise not to -- do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.
“I make no promise,” said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.
“Do you eat girls?” she asked.
“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
“I dare not come and drink,” said Jill.
“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.
“Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer, “I suppose I must go look for another stream then.”
“There is no other stream,” said the Lion. (C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair (New York: HarperTrophy, 1981), 20-21)
There is no other stream.
This woman in her “great faith” accepts Jesus’ exclusionary mission, and so must we; her faith does not stop there however.
2. This “dawg” accepts Jesus’ damning designation.
Matthew 15:26-27
He replied, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs."
"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table."
This woman was, and so are all of us in this room this morning, a heathen gentile dog.
The gentiles did not have the law; they did not have the prophets.
The gentiles revel in their sin and so do we.
We reject God, we reject truth, we reject righteousness.
We ignore the evidence that can be clearly seen in creation and willfully choose to believe a fabricated lie.
We are dogs. Why dogs?
Dogs are dumb.
I know not all of you will agree with this point because you have foolishly come to believe that your dog is smart; however in defense of my position I want you to meet Sandy.
(Slide of Chow/Bearded Collie) Sandy is all the proof one could ever require that dogs are dumb.
She cannot fetch a ball; she cannot catch a treat dropped inches from her nose. Sandy does not understand that the bathroom for her is outside and she sticks her nose through the fence to get at Arts cat every time they taunt her despite hundreds of painful scratches.
In spite of all that Sandy is not as dumb as a human being who rejects Christ. We are born in sin and our stupidity is seen in that we take joy and pleasure from everything in life except God.
Dogs are dirty.
Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
Ever seen a dog return to its vomit? Dogs are dirty.
They eat disgusting things, the neighbour’s cats contribute, dog owners you know what I mean.
If you don’t keep on top of them they will drag you right down to their filthy level; before long there is hair in and on everything and you don’t even want to go out in the back yard because they are filthy beasts. If we don’t keep the garbage locked up we come home to filth everywhere.
And we are the same way.
Oh I know we want to recoil against that, we want to take pride in the great value God has placed on us, we want to say that we are so wonderful that Jesus died for us but that is not an idea found in scripture. I like the way C.S. Lewis said it:
Unequal Love – C.S. Lewis
It is idle to say that men are of equal value. If value is taken in a worldly sense - if we mean that all men are equally useful or beautiful or good or entertaining - then it is nonsense. If it means that all are of equal value as immortal souls, then I think it conceals a dangerous error. The infinite value of each human soul is not a Christian doctrine. God did not die for man because of some value He perceived in him. The value of each human soul considered simply in itself, out of relation with God, is zero. As St. Paul writes, to have died for valuable men would have been not divine but merely heroic; but God died for sinners. He loved us not because we were lovable, but because He is Love. It may be that He loves all equally - He certainly loved all to the death - and I am not certain what the expression means. If there is equality, it is in His love, not in us.
- From “Membership” (The Weight of Glory)
Now I want to address the issue of sin vs. righteousness consciousness.
All this talk of sin and dogs and gentile heathens is discouraging.
I thought we are new creatures in Christ and all that, aren’t we supposed to spend all our time thinking on good things?
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
1John 1:8-10
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
(Latin) - Simul Justus Et Peccator
At the same time righteous and sinner, both are of equal importance because of what happens when we focus on half the equation.
We are now faith dogs!
Look at how the New Testament ends:
Revelation 22:12-15
"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
3. This “dawg” leaves with the children’s bread.
Matthew 15:28
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Portions of this sermon inspired by a message by Jeff Noblitt
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
