Sermon - Reminiscere 2023 - Matthew 15:21-28

Christ and the Canaanite Woman, Pieter Lastman, 1617

The endurance of humble faith

1. Humble faith

2. Enduring faith

3. Faith which endures is strengthened

Patience is a virtue. But the virtue of patience isn’t just being able to wait quietly for your meal at a restaurant for a few minutes, rather it’s the ability to endure trials without losing faith. So Jacob wrestled with God all night with the conviction: “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Noah endured living in the ark for an entire year, trusting that the flood waters would subside and he’d be let out. The Israelites endured in the wilderness for forty years before reaching the promised land. The Israelites had to wait thousands of years before the Messiah was born in Bethlehem. The christian church has now waited thousands of years for Jesus to return and raise the dead, and we still patiently wait. Moreover, our patiently enduring faith is also a humble faith. Like the Canaanite woman, we don’t presume to deserve God’s favor, rather we recognize our low estate and depend upon His mercy.  So today our Lord teaches us about the endurance of humble faith.

The Canaanite woman truly had no reason to boast about her situation in life before God. For one thing, she was a Gentile from the region of Tyre and Sidon, which were two Canaanite cities which God had punished hundreds of years earlier for their wickedness. Though by this time, Tyre and Sidon had been rebuilt and were enjoying a prosperous season on account of their allegiance to Rome. So in the eyes of this world these were prosperous people, yet in the eyes of God they were thoroughly pagan.

This paganism had taken deep root in this woman’s daughter, who was “severely oppressed by a demon.” That she was possessed by a demon should come as no surprise, because if you play with fire it’s no surprise if you get burned. If you worship demons, it’s no surprise if they end up possessing you. So it’s plainly obvious that this Canaanite woman and her daughter don’t deserve God’s favor. So the woman doesn’t approach Jesus on the basis of what she deserves, but based upon the clemency of her King Jesus. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.”

At first her Lord didn’t respond to her, but when He did, it was a rejection. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” She wasn’t one of the lost sheep, she wasn’t of the house of Israel, she was what the Jews referred to as a Gentile dog. Yet in a humble faith she didn’t become dismayed, rather she humbled herself even more, and prostrated herself and worshiped Jesus: “She came and knelt before Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’” When God clearly called her not a child, but a dog, she embraced it in humility and found the glimmer of hope in His words: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

What cleverness and astuteness! While most anyone would be offended with Jesus for not being nice, she humbly interpreted His words as merciful. If she’s a dog in the master’s house, that means she’s part of the household! Sure she may not deserve to be a child, but it’s better to be a dog in the house! It’s better to be a doorkeeper in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked! Jesus came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and she may not be a sheep, but she’s in the house, and that glimmer of hope was enough for her to cling onto in faith.

So too us; we must be filled with a humble faith. We often think far too highly of ourselves, which is why we’re so easily offended today. We are very quick to respond to disagreements in anger, with outrage and fury, walking out and making ultimatums. We expect everyone else to cater to us, and if anyone doesn’t we hate them forever. The same goes for our faith in God: we assume God must affirm what we want, and if He doesn’t we quit religion and walk away.

So instead of such pride and arrogance which is so easily offended, let us learn the humility of faith. We are no more deserving of God’s favor than the Canaanite woman. We live in a prosperous land of demons, like Tyre and Sidon. We engage in some of the most pagan activities, with idols galore, and the majority of the “arts” of our culture should fill anyone with disgust. It should come as no surprise then when our children appear to be severely oppressed by demons when we’ve surrounded them with so many vile things.

We, like the Canaanite woman, cannot approach God based upon our own merits and worthiness. Rather, we must humbly bow before God, relying upon His clemency towards sinners such as us. Instead of being filled with horrible offense at every remark against us, we should plead for mercy and find hope in even the dimmest glimmer of God’s grace towards us.

Only with a humble faith, dependent upon God’s rich grace and mercy, can we then have an enduring faith. Jacob wrestled with God, refusing to let Him go. The Canaanite woman wouldn’t be quieted, but continually cried out after Jesus. A humble faith is an enduring faith, because in a way it is desperate. Jacob was about to meet his brother, Esau, the next morning. The last time he saw him, Esau wanted him dead, because he had just stolen their dying father’s blessing. Now when Jacob wrestled with God for His blessing, he did it knowing full well that the next day he might lose everything to his brother unless the Lord delivers him. Jacob’s humble faith had nowhere else to Go except to God, and so his humble faith endured in spite of trials.

So too the Canaanite woman. She and her daughter spent their days among the pagan deities, and now her daughter was reaping the fruits of pagan devil worship: demon possession. She had nowhere else to go, no one else could help her. Only He who is mightier than the demons could heal her daughter. So she turned to Jesus, the kingly Son of David and the Lord of all creation. Even when He seemingly ignored her, rejected her, and offended her, she endured with a humble faith. Only Jesus could rescue her and her daughter from the demons, He was her only hope, and with a faith solely focused on Christ she endured every hardship.

With a humble faith in our Lord Jesus, we too may endure every trial we will come across. It doesn’t do us any good to get offended by Jesus when He says something harsh, afterall, where else can we turn? Only Jesus has the words of eternal life. In the words of Job: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” He may send me trials and tribulations, but I will endure since my faith is in Him alone and trusts in Him for every grace.

But I suppose the question may be asked: Why would Jesus send us troubles? He does it so that He may strengthen our faith which firmly trusts in Him. Like we heard at our midweek lenten service this past week, St. Peter teaches us that we are grieved by various trials in order to test faith. Just as gold is tested by fire in order to purify it, so is our faith tested by troubles in order that it too may be purified and made stronger. The Canaanite woman’s faith was tested by Jesus in order to show that she resolutely clung to Christ and that she wouldn’t immediately run back to her pagan worship. Her trials strengthened her faith and drew her closer to Jesus, and in a similar way strengthened others who saw her great faith amidst the fiery trials. When we’re tested our humble faith is strengthened, and so is the faith of others who see how our humble faith endures.

Therefore my friends, patience, or steadfastness and endurance amidst trials, is a virtue. When you face the various trials of life, may you do so with a humble faith, which isn’t quickly offended. May you hold onto Christ and His promises, trusting that God will be gracious to you, since His Word is sure. After all of life’s trials, your humble faith will endure unto the end and you will receive relief from all of your troubles. Perhaps some relief will come soon, like a glimmer of hope, or perhaps like Jacob you’ll limp the rest of your life on account of your trials. But rest assured you shall receive full relief in the end when Christ returns. May God give you endurance and a humble faith to never let Him go.