“Faith is….” How would you finish that phrase? You might quote the classic Bible passage that defines faith. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Or perhaps you would come up with a string of synonyms for faith. You might say, “Faith is trust.” “Faith is belief.” “Faith is confidence.” In our attempt to explain faith we might describe it the way other believers have described it. Some have said that faith is the “hand” that receives the promises of God. Others have said that faith is being convinced about the reliability of someone or something. In a more colorful way, a song writer has declared that faith is “standing on the promises of God.” (Now you are thinking about Alan Jackson so I’ll never get your attention back.) Martin Luther said that faith is the glue which attaches our hearts to God’s promises.
“Faith is….” It’s not an easy thing to finish that phrase. Perhaps it is a little ironic that something that is so important to us is so difficult to explain. The Bible clearly teaches that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, as revealed in Scripture alone. We live our lives by faith, in faith, and through faith. And yet the whole concept of faith remains somewhat mysterious even to those who have faith.
Since faith can be difficult for us to understand and yet is essential for our salvation the Bible offers us more than just definitions of faith. It literally shows us what faith is. When we ask what faith is, the Bible shows us what it is through the lives and examples of believers. Faith is a centurion who came to Jesus and asked him to heal one of his servants. He said to Jesus, “Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” (Matthew 8:8) That’s faith! Faith is a synagogue ruler named Jairus who believed in Jesus even after he was told his daughter had died. In the Scriptures faith is a royal official who came to Jesus asking him to heal his son. John tells us that, “The man took Jesus at his word and departed.” (John 4:50) Throughout the Bible faith is given the face of a man named Abraham who believed in God’s promises even when all human hope was gone. Yes, instead of just telling us what faith is, the Bible shows us what faith is—through the lives of believers who have gone before us.
And so it is with our Gospel Lesson for today. We are shown what faith is through the example of a Gentile woman. In fact, Jesus pointed to this Canaanite woman as an example of “great faith.” For our sermon together let’s focus our attention on the faith of one Canaanite woman. To do that let’s ask God the Holy Spirit to enable us to:
“HAVE GREAT FAITH IN JESUS”
I. Faith that is Humble
II. Faith that is Peristent
Perhaps you have noticed that in June, July, and now August our Gospel Lessons have been progressing through Matthew’s Gospel. We have heard parables and witnessed miracles. There was a pivotal event that occurred just before the Feeding of the Five Thousand. John the Baptizer, Jesus’ cousin, had been put to death by King Herod. The Pharisees had begun to attack Jesus more frequently and more forcibly. Because of these events in Galilee Jesus had withdrawn to a foreign country bordering Israel. He went to Phoenicia which was located along the Mediterranean Sea. In an apparent attempt to let things settle down and to get some rest for himself and his disciples we are told that, “Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.” In Mark’s Gospel we are given the additional information that Jesus was in a house not wanting anyone to know where he was. But it probably doesn’t surprise us that Jesus’ presence could not be kept a secret. The news spread that the great miracle-worker from Galilee was visiting the area. And so one woman, with a demon-possessed daughter, went to Jesus for help.
I.
The first thing that we notice about the faith of this Canaanite woman is that she wasn’t too proud to beg for help from Jesus. Matthew tells us, “A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” This woman knew more about Jesus than just the fact that he could do miracles. She recognized him as the promised Savior when she called him “Lord,” and “Son of David.” From experience this Gentile woman also understood the spiritual battle that has been raging for thousands of years between Satan and his followers and Christ those who follow him. An evil spirit had taken possession of her daughter and was causing her to suffer terribly. So, she went in faith to the one person that she was convinced could help.
But the greatness of the woman’s faith is not demonstrated by what she knew about Jesus or by what she knew about spiritual things. No, her great faith can be seen in her humble request of Jesus. She asked for mercy in her misery. The fact that she asked for mercy implied that she knew she was asking for something that she had no right to demand or expect.
Since faith is difficult to define and even more challenging to measure let’s first focus just on the humility of this Canaanite woman’s faith. A person who believes that Jesus is his or her Savior from sin has saving faith. And such a person would no doubt go to Jesus in his or her need. But the mark of a great faith can be seen in how the person makes requests of Jesus. A great faith makes humble requests of Jesus—pleading for his mercy.
In light of this woman’s great faith let’s take an honest look at our faith. The trust that we have in Jesus as our Savior is the Holy Spirit’s gift to us. But as needs arise in our lives do we make humble requests of Jesus? Do we simply cry out to him for mercy like the Canaanite woman? Or perhaps we view our faith in Jesus as a last resort instead of our first stop when we face troubles of every kind. We attempt to handle things on our own without Jesus’ help. We are unwilling to humble ourselves, admit that we are in need, and ask Jesus for help. Or maybe we are on the other end of the spectrum foolishly thinking that Jesus owes us something because we are good people and have done some good things? So we go to him for help but we demand it. Or perhaps we resent his slowness in responding or what we perceive to be lack of any action on his part.
Today through our Gospel Lesson our Lord Jesus teaches us what makes a great faith great. Through a Gentile woman he shows us how great faith makes humble requests of him. Moved to confess our lack of faith and the smallness of our faith, may we take this woman’s example to heart. And through the Means of Grace let’s ask God to give us such a great faith as she showed.
One afternoon in the summer before we moved from Cincinnati to Redwood Falls my family and I went to the swimming pool in our subdivision. Later on a group of young people arrived at the pool and began diving off the diving board. Suddenly after one of the young men dove into the pool the lifeguard jumped down from his chair and grabbed one of those red, foam lifesaving devices. He watched as the young man in the pool struggled to get back to the surface. After what seemed like a long time the lifeguard jumped into the pool. He swam behind the young man who was drowning and pulled him to the edge of the pool. Coughing and spitting water the young guy climbed out of the pool with the lifeguard. Those who had noticed what was going on were of course relieved that a drowning had just been prevented. But what struck me was the lack of haste on the lifeguard’s part. He worked quickly but he seemed to wait until the young man had stopped struggling to save himself. I’ve been told that saving a drowning person is very challenging if they are still trying to save themselves. Only when they give up and let themselves be rescued can they be saved. Otherwise, they are a danger to themselves and the person attempting to rescue them!
I think that it’s fair to say that saving faith works in a similar way. If we are struggling to save ourselves from sin we will drown in it. Or if we are scrambling to save ourselves from the trials, troubles, and challenges of life we will drown. But when we give up and call upon Jesus for mercy he will leap into action. If we are facing something as serious as the Canaanite woman with the demon possessed daughter or if it is something much more routine let’s make our humble request of Jesus. Like her we cry out,“Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Our humble requests will most certainly be heard by him.
II.
Instead of encouraging the Canaanite woman’s fledgling faith Jesus tested it. He tested her faith by saying and doing nothing! Matthew continues his account, “Jesus did not answer a word.” But in spite of Jesus’ silence the woman would not go silent. This is where we see more of the greatness of the woman’s faith. Even with no acknowledgement from Jesus she persisted in seeking a blessing from him. We are told, “So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” The woman with great faith was humble and yet persistent in her request of Jesus. She kept crying out for help with no answer and with people talking about her like she’s not even there!
And Jesus continued to test her faith. He still didn’t speak to her even as he was talking about her! Matthew goes on to say, “He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” Perhaps seeing an opportunity the woman spoke up for herself even though Jesus hadn’t really even spoken to her yet. Matthew tells us, “The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.” By the way, we again see the woman’s humility in her kneeling in front of Jesus.
But Jesus continued to test her faith and her persistence in faith. “26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” At this point someone with an average faith would have probably given up. But what a response the woman with great faith offers! “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Although Satan might tempt us to criticize Jesus for his actions remember that Jesus never drives a person away who comes to him in faith. No, he only tests a person’s faith in order to reveal where it is weak. He then also stands ready to strengthen that person’s faith through the Scriptures.
Have you ever experienced what this Canaanite woman experienced? At some point have you gone to Jesus in faith and felt like he was not listening? It feels like he doesn’t answer a word of prayers. Has your faith been tested by Jesus as he seemed to ignore you repeatedly? I am sure that it would not take long for any of us here today to recall something similar to this happening to us. And I imagine if we are honest, we would have to say that we didn’t react the way the Canaanite woman did. We gave up, we complained, we doubted Jesus’ love for us and questioned his love and promises. With this example of great faith in front of us we are led to ask the Lord for forgiveness for our frequent lack of faith and for him to strengthen our faith. Once again he takes us to his cross. Again, he gives us the proof of our forgiveness through his body and blood in communion. With that assurance let it be our prayer today that we have great faith in Jesus. Faith that he must create in us and strengthen in us. Great faith as we see it pictured for us through this Canaanite woman is persistent faith. As some have said, “Our faith-walk is not a cake walk.” At times we may feel like Jesus is ignoring us or unwilling to help us. But as Job said, he is known for his patient and persistent faith, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him…”
Now we get to highpoint of this story of the Canaanite woman! In the last verse of our Gospel Lesson Matthew tells us, “Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.” With great faith the women kept clinging in confidence to Jesus’ power and her request was granted.
The same Jesus who worked this miracle so long ago stands ready to work miracles in our lives. In the tragedies that we might face, or just in the daily challenges of life may we too cling confidently to Jesus’ power.
But I know everyone in this sanctuary wants to stop me and say, “But what about the times that the miracles we ask for from Jesus don’t happen? How can we have great faith at times like those?” We are still confident in Jesus care for us. As one Christian declared, “My faith didn’t remove the pain, but it got me through the pain. Trusting God didn't diminish or vanquish the anguish, but it enabled me to endure it.” Yes, that is confident faith. Jesus will work everything out for our good.
“Faith is…” I suppose we could all make an attempt at finishing that phrase. On one hand faith is a rather simple thing. On the other hand defining faith has its challenges. So God tells us what faith is in the Scriptures. We are told what it means to believe in Jesus. And in addition to descriptions of faith Gods shows us faith through the lives of believers.
In our Gospel Lesson for today we can say that faith is a Canaanite woman. In fact Jesus said of her that she had “great faith.” She made humble requests of Jesus. She persistently sought mercy from Jesus.
May our prayer always be similar to the words of the familiar hymn, “Oh, for a faith that will not shrink / Tho' pressed by many a foe; / That will not tremble on the brink / Of poverty or woe; // That will not murmur nor complain / Beneath the chast'ning rod, / But in the hour of grief or pain / Can lean upon its God; // A faith that shines more bright and clear / When tempests rage without; / That, when in danger, knows no fear, / In darkness feels no doubt; // Lord give us such a faith as this; / And then, whate'er may come, / We'll taste e'en now the hallowed bliss / Of an eternal home.” Yes, may the Lord give us such a faith as this—a faith that persistently seeks Jesus’ blessing. May the Lord give us such a faith as the Canaanite woman showed. With great faith may we too make humble requests of Jesus. With great faith may we persistently seek Jesus’ blessing. Of course, this faith cannot be found in us or produced by us. This must be God’s gift to us through the working of the Holy Sprit the Word and the Sacraments. Yes, then we have great faith! Amen.
