What is 'Great Faith'?

Sermon-9 Pentecost-Proper 15-August 14, 2011
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
“My God of peace, of joy and delight,
I offer you all my tears, all my ignorance.
My God of peace, of joy and delight,
I offer you all my fears and fractured promises.
You, my God, know all this, all this;
How poor I am, how small I am;
You, my God, know all this, all this.
Yet what I have, my God, I give to you.”
[Paul Verlaine 1844-1896]
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, "Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles." Then the disciples approached and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?" He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit." But Peter said to him, "Explain this parable to us." Then he said, "Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile."
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon." But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.






I have been telling you throughout this summer that things aren’t going well for Jesus. He went to his home town and bombed in chapter 12. 58And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.” He had to resort to parables in chapter 13, because his disciples weren’t getting his teaching. Jesus learns that his cousin, John the Baptist, was beheaded by the king in chapter 14-and when he tried to get away to grieve, the people followed him. “Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.” Last week he is walking on water and Peter, the leader of the band, sees storms instead of Jesus, and sinks. It’s been a tough time for Jesus in his ministry. But at least in today’s gospel it takes a turn for the worse.
I need you all to do something for me so you get a sense of what’s happening in today’s story. I have asked one person to be the Canaanite woman. She has one line, Lord, have mercy: Kyrie Eleison . And I need the rest of you to be the crowd. Here is your line, it’s one word, apolyson. “ἀπόλυσον". Let’s try it:
(1 finger)Kyrie Eleison
Whenever I put two fingers up you are supposed to say: Apolyson
Ok, louder two fingers
louder two fingers
louder! two fingers
Matthew the gospel writer wants us to get the alliteration here-how much Eleison and apolyson sound alike. “Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me” Eleison means, “have mercy”. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us." two fingers “Apolyson” means, “send her away”.
Jesus, has been having a hard time, a tough time in Galilee, so he goes across the Sea of Galilee to a gentile area-and what happens? The disciples say to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?" Jesus is being challenged, criticized, accused, judged wherever he goes, whatever he does. Perhaps the disciples are trying to be helpful, perhaps they’re warning him. But each chapter of Matthew reveals increasing pressure, increasing disapproval of Jesus and his message.
Ever been there?
One finger Eleison two fingers Apolyson
You are trying to please EVERYONE. You are working so hard, and it feels like every time you turn around someone is saying, “you forgot to do this!”. Or, “you didn’t do it right!” The harder you try, the greater your sense of frustration. Ever been there? I’ll bet if I give you a few seconds you can remember one of these moments pretty easily when you tried to do the right thing, the good thing, the decent thing and you were met with criticism and disapproval.
Jesus feeds 5000. Jesus walks on water. Jesus calms the storm. And what does he hear?
(1 finger) Eleison
And what else does he hear? (2 fingers) Apolyson
Kyrie Eleison Lord, have mercy. We use it a lot at the beginning of our service. Kyrie “Lord” Eleison, “have mercy”. The gospel says that the woman, the gentile woman, the desperate woman is pleading for her daughter, her poor, demon racked daughter. And she begs Jesus, Eleison.
And what do the disciples say, two fingers “Apolyson” “send her away”.
This is an embarrassing story for Christians, isn’t it? Jesus doesn’t look very Jesuslike in this gospel. First, he doesn’t respond to her at all. Then he tells her that he is on a mission, he has a goal, and that is to reach the JEWS. But she persists, and he finally calls her a “dog”. Not very “Jesus” of Jesus. Every week I try to think of a funny title for my sermons that will make someone seeing the title on the blog want to read it. This week I was going to call it, “What up, dawg?”
Jesus ignores her, tells her “I didn’t come here for you!” she’s not part of his purpose, then he insults her. And what does she say,(1 finger) “Eleison”
Ever been there where you have to humble yourself, to “crawl” for something? Ever been in that spot where you wanted something so badly, so desperately, you were willing to disgrace yourself to ask for it? Have you been in that spot that you had to give up your dignity for something, you had to swallow a big chunk of your pride-because something was so important to you? There is a great scene from the movie “Out of Africa.” Karen Blixen is a Danish baroness who lives in colonial Kenya in the early 1900s. By the end of the movie, she has lost her money, her husband, her lover, and her farm. She has utterly failed and must return in disgrace in poverty to Denmark. As a farewell to Africa she goes to a party given by the British ambassador. There is a very formal receiving line, and while standing there she asks the ambassador to save the tribe of people who worked for her, a group she has come to love. He gives her a perfunctory, “I’ll look into it.” At which point the baroness drops to her knees in front of him and everyone, and begins loudly, insistently begging him to help her friends, this tribe. Everyone is horrified by her lack of decorum, her breech of protocol. She has no dignity left, no pride. She has lost everything and wants only the mercy of the government for her friends. She is willing to suffer any shame to save these people. The first time I saw that movie and saw her begging for help I thought of this gospel story of the Canaanite woman beseeching for her daughter. It is a moment we have all been through, perhaps less dramatically. We know what it is to be on our knees giving up our pride for something, someone we love.
Jesus started with great excitement and joy in his ministry-preaching, healing, performing miracles. But as his journey continued it got harder and harder. His disciples, his closest group, frequently didn’t understand who he was, and what they were called to. Often they wanted more power or authority-for themselves. Five times in the gospel of Matthew Jesus chastises his disciples as people of “little faith”. Only once in Matthew does he describe someone as having great faith. It’s here. In this story, in this miracle-this woman-who was not even a Jew. Do you see what’s happening in Matthew’s gospel? Jesus is seeing humility as the key component in the response to his message. The initial enthusiasm to his good news is being replaced by misunderstanding, opposition, and hostility. But once in a while someone will step up who realizes that being forceful about someone else does not conflict with being humble about yourself. In a sense, Jesus is learning not just about this woman, he’s also learning about his ministry, his mission. He will not be a king as his followers want-he will be a servant. He will fight for others, but he must be willing to be humbled himself. Great faith requires great humility. Closeness to God, means willingness to give up one’s own dignity.
One more thing. Let’s see if you remember your word one more time, (2 fingers)Apolyson. Believe it or not that you have heard that word before. You heard it two weeks ago. Jesus was surrounded by 5000 people. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away (2 fingers apolyson) so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Apolyson
The disciples are good at sending people away. Especially those who are in need, especially those who are embarrassing. Jesus sees those who are hurting, and realizes that his whole purpose, his mission is to the dogs, the crumbgatherers, the anonymous gentile women with daughters who are possessed. His mission is to teach us about sacrifice of self. This morning’s gospel is about healing. But even more it’s about the true meaning of faith-it’s about humility, and openness, and fighting for others, and not ourselves. We hear two words in this gospel that sum it up-(2 fingers)apolyson-send her away or (3 fingers) Lord, have mercy. Today, Jesus has a woman, a foreigner, a crumbgatherer, a “dog” kneel before him. And she is not sent away. Today, there is no apolyson. Today there is only Eleison. Amen.