Great is Your Faith
Scripture
Isaiah 56:1,
Isaiah 56:6-7,
Romans 11:13-15,
Romans 11:29-32,
Matthew 15:21-28.
Reflection
Dear Sisters and brothers,
After listening to the gospel today, we may ask many questions, such as:
Is Jesus so rude to the Canaanite woman?
Is Jesus so arrogant towards her?
Is Jesus so racist?
Is Jesus so casteist?
Is Jesus so gender-biased?
Why did he say, “It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26)?
Is it not so embarassing to hear these words from Jesus?
As human beings, we feel bad when someone disrespects us.
As human beings, we feel disappointed when someone disowns us.
We often say that life is not fair to some people.
Some suffer continuously throughout their entire lives.
The pain and difficulties are endless in their lives.
What is the solution to these known questions?
What is the solution to these unknown happenings in our lives?
We can openly say that there is no direct answer to these questions and happenings.
Despite of all these, our lives go on with hope against hope.
We move on with our little faith.
The gospel reading of today gives us some way out to get answers for our meaningful Christian lives.
The belief that God’s blessings are somewhat limited to people of certain tribes or cultures has been around for a very long time.
Such a belief was very much alive in the society in which Jesus grew up.
When Jesus said in today’s gospel reading, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24), he was expressing a popular belief.
It is not clear whether he believed it himself or whether he said it in order to expose and correct its false claims.
We are not sure of it.
Every person and culture in the world shares a few of these myths, falsehoods, and prejudices.
From the idea that only Jews were God’s favorite people to the myth that there was no other way to find salvation, from caste prejudice in India to racial superiority in Nazi ideology, from the assumption that males are inherently better than women to the myth that Western cultures are superior, and so on.
We are now encouraged to dispel these falsehoods and refute their erroneous and exaggerated assertions.
To convince early Jewish Christians that their belief in the unique divine privileges of the Jewish people did not make sense, it took the active engagement of a complete outsider—a Canaanite lady, our sister.
The courage of this unknown woman, who broke down the barrier of prejudice between Jews and Gentiles, is perhaps what made you and me what we are today-Christians.
In today’s service, we need to reflect with this daring woman and ask her for advice on how to go about tearing down the barriers that unnecessarily divide God’s people—the human race that God created out of love—among themselves.
She begins by teaching us the importance of courage in our Christian mission to bring all people to God.
It took extraordinary bravery on her side to choose to engage the all-Jewish and all-male company of Jesus and his disciples to give her the status as a foreigner and as a woman.
She was so humble that, despite calling him by his rightful Messianic title, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David” (Matthew 15:22), Jesus continued to ignore her: “He did not answer her at all” (Matthew 15:23).
At this point, the majority of people would quit and concede defeat.
However, such was not the case with our Canaanite sister, a bridge-builder, a social reformer, and a revolutionary.
Instead, she ramps up her efforts and stages a solo performance to the point where the disciples had to urge Jesus to intervene: “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us” (Matthew 15:23).
Look at the patriarchal attitude of the disciples.
If a woman speaks, it is like shouting.
They indirectly point out that women cannot speak in front of men.
She is a woman of courage.
She faces the patriarchal system with courage.
Her courage and her refusal to take no for an answer finally paid off.
The other lesson this woman teaches us is to keep our eyes on the call, as the Christian: ‘keeping our eyes on the purpose of God, or the goal of building the Kingdom of God, or the aim towards to preach the gospel to the peoples.’
She remained composed and focused on her mission, which is to demonstrate that even non-Jews are entitled to God’s blessing in Christ and the purpose for which she is called, even when Jesus used language that denigrated her people: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26).
Our brave sister understood that speaking her mind to Jesus at that time would endanger her cause and put her in danger of losing what she had worked so hard for.
But with determination and her eyes fixed on the goal, she succeeded.
If you consider that Jesus’ statements to her were unwarranted verbal assaults against her and her people, she is a prime example of non-violence as well.
Her reaction was more of calm reconciliation toward the peace process.
Her persistence paid off.
Jesus finally bowed down: “Woman, great is your faith! As you wish, let it be done for you” (Matthew 15:28).
And the bold woman obtained her goal.
She achieved her purpose.
Finally, she received what was intended for her and what she was called for.
To all of us today, this lone woman stranger is saying, “Great is your Faith.”
Have faith, stay committed to your goals, and confront bias and falsehood everywhere it appears, including in positions of authority, power, and even religion.
God may use the least of us as a source of faith to bring justice and healing to all of God’s underprivileged daughters and sons around the globe.
The question is: Am I Ready for it?
May the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen…
