Today, I wrap up my month-long reflection on faith. Over the last few weeks, we have seen Peter called a man of weak faith, we have seen an outsider called a woman of great faith, and we have heard Paul’s suggestion that we see ourselves as a single, united body of faith.
In all of this, as Paul reminds us, we rely on God’s mercy, for God is the one that provides all that we have. God is the author of faith, the mover behind both Peter’s faith and the faith of the Canaanite woman. It is God’s Spirit that imbues us with the different gifts that we have. In each of these ways, God is providing us with exactly what is needed. No matter how weak or great we may feel a particular gift is, God has provided it and God can work with it.
As we turn to our reading from Romans today (Romans 12:9-21), you may notice that I am picking up right where we left off last week. This is because Paul continues his argument about our unity with another metaphor he uses often. “Love each other like the members of your family” (Romans 12:10, CEB). Paul’s concern here is not only our unity, but also the ways in which we live together with one another. What is it that should unite us? What does the Christian life look like? For Paul, it looks like a family, or at the very least what he thinks a family should look like.
As we continue to look at the topic of faith, we shift our focus a little today. In the last two weeks, we have seen Peter called a man of weak faith, and we have seen a foreigner called a woman of great faith. At the same time, we have realized that God can do amazing things even with weak faith and that those we consider outsiders sometimes have the strongest faith of all.
Today, in his letter to the Romans, Paul helps us begin to make sense of how our previous stories fit together (see Romans 12:1-8).
Last week, I started a series of reflections on faith. This week, we look at faith in unexpected places. After calling Peter, one of his closest disciples, a man of weak faith, Jesus and his disciples continue their journey. In the next chapter, Jesus is first confronted by a group of Pharisees and scribes and then a Canaanite woman comes to him seeking help. While my focus this week was on the story of the Canaanite woman (verses 21-28), the earlier verses of this chapter help to set the context of the story (see Matthew 15:1-28).
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I have to admit that this story is one of the most troubling accounts in the Gospels to me. This story follows closely after the last story. Jesus and the disciples have made it across the lake and have encountered a group of Pharisees who came all the way from Jerusalem to question Jesus. They have questions about the Law, specifically all the religious rules that Jesus and his followers seem to regularly disregard.
In response to their questioning, Jesus makes the case that the law of God is greater than the ritual laws found in the Torah. God’s law commands us to love one another, but the scribes and Pharisees use the religious laws as an excuse not to love others or serve others as it suits them. Jesus then refers to the Pharisees as the blind leading the blind and tells his disciples to pay them no mind.
Leaving this group behind, Jesus and his disciples continue on their way. As they are traveling, this Canaanite woman we hear about today approaches and shouts toward them, asking for Jesus to heal her daughter. At first, Jesus simply ignores her, but the text suggests that she continues to follow after him, shouting her request. The disciples finally urge Jesus to send her away, concerned about her shouting.
So, a woman begs Jesus for help because her daughter is tormented by a demon and his first response is to not respond at all. This seems odd given the stories of healing we have already heard about. However, this is a small reminder that Jesus is in fact a man, and not only that but a Jewish man.
You see, in the Hebrew texts, we hear that the land of Canaan is the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. They are the ones that lived in the land when Abraham’s descendants entered it. They were outsiders. As far as the Hebrews were concerned, they barely had a right to exist. In fact, several Canaanite cities were completely destroyed as the Israelites entered the land. (Truly, the stories of the Israelite's battles with and treatment of the Canaanites is rather violent.)
This is part of the context of Jesus’ response here. But it doesn’t end with Jesus ignoring her. He responds that he has been sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. It’s not immediately clear in the text if he is saying this only to his disciples or if this is in fact a response to the woman. Whatever the case, he makes it clear that he has been sent to the people of Israel, to bring them salvation.
Undeterred the woman kneels on the ground, pleading before him. Jesus again responds with language that makes it clear he is well aware of the animosity that exists between the Hebrews and the Canaanites.
“It is not good to take the children’s bread and toss it to dogs” (Matthew 15:26, CEB).
It is not right for me to take the healing that has been promised to the land of Israel and offer it to an outsider. And not just any outsider, but a Canaanite.
Think about our world today. Where are the places we hear similar statements today? Think about how you may feel when you hear such language. How surprising is it to hear Jesus respond this way?
But the woman continues to press. Even dogs get the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. She knows that Jesus is a man of power. She has heard his stories of healing. Surely he has enough power to spare a tiny bit. Surely a mere crumb of his power is all it would take.
At this point, Jesus praises the woman. “Woman, you have great faith.” At that moment, the woman’s daughter is healed.
Now, it should be obvious now why I have such a difficult time with this story. Jesus first ignores the woman who is calling out to him, something numerous others have done and will continue to do. But then he refers to her as a dog. Sure, he meant her people as a whole as he said it, but does that really matter. When we are speaking to an individual person and refer to some group of which they may be a part negatively, it doesn’t much matter if you were referring to the group or the individual. It hurts. Again, this makes clear that Jesus is a human man and a Jewish man. He is a part of the culture that raised him even as he is also something more.
Of course, there is the possibility that the phrase he used was an idiom with a particular meaning at that time that would not have seemed nearly as offensive as it sounds to us today. Imagine trying to explain a phrase such as “cat got your tongue” to someone that has no concept of what you are talking about. So perhaps it is possible that there is a meaning here that has been lost to time.
Perhaps he was playing on his disciples’ assumptions as he sometimes does. He starts with a response in line with what his listeners are expecting before offering a twist that goes in a different direction. He does this in the Good Samaritan story, among others. Not that he openly insults the Samaritan in that story, but it is a teaching method he uses.
And while it is certainly problematic to our ears (and possibly at that time as well), it is this juxtaposition that is key here.
First, we must hear this story in conjunction with what came immediately before. As I summarized above, after crossing the lake, Jesus and the disciples encounter a group of Pharisees who question him about the religious laws. These are Isrealites, Hebrew religious leaders and scholars. Jesus calls them to task for having the form of faith without actually going as far as God expects. If we consider his response to the Canaanite woman, these are the very ones Jesus was sent to heal.
And yet, while he at first engages with them, he ultimately walks away, calling them blind. On the other hand, he at first ignores the Canaanite woman, before calling her names, and finally praising her faith. If those to whom Jesus was sent will not hear him and heed him, there are others that will hear God’s call and seek out a relationship.
While the way he goes about it is difficult for our ears to hear, he does ultimately welcome this outsider and praise her faith.
In addition to this setting, it is also hard to hear this story and not think of last week’s story. Last week, we see Peter’s fear and failure, and then Jesus calls him a man of weak faith. Then today, Jesus calls this person, this woman, this outsider, a woman of great faith.
In our world today, there are still those that look to the external appearance of religion, to certain purity laws and practices, as the way to prove our faith in God. And, while there is nothing inherently wrong with someone following these rules as a practice of one’s faith, there are others that fall outside of these practices, that exist on the margins, that have faith as strong or stronger than those who consider themselves on the inside.
How often do we, like the Pharisees, use our ideas of religious purity as an excuse not to help someone in need or not to include someone in our faith lives? On the other hand, how often do we see those who do not fit our ideas of religious purity and faith doing the very things that Jesus has called us to do and seeking an active relationship with God?
Sometimes those we consider outsiders are the most important part of the story.
It is kind of like the story of King Arthur, at least the Disney version we see in “The Sword in the Stone.” In this movie, we first meet Arthur as a scrawny boy, an orphan in the care of his uncle. He is part of the family but also kept apart, treated differently. Where his cousin Kay is trained as a knight, young Arthur works in the kitchens. He is belittled, berated, called names, and forced to do all manner of chores.
Now, in this story, England is without a king. There is a sword piercing an anvil and a stone that rests in a courtyard in London, and the story goes that whoever pulls the sword is the rightful king. While many have tried, no one has been able to pull the sword. It has been all but forgotten, but the nation still needs a king, so a tournament will be held to decide the new king.
Arthur’s cousin, Kay, is entered in the tournament, but Arthur is expected to remain at home doing chores. He becomes Kay’s squire at the last minute when the previous squire becomes ill. New to his duties, Arthur forgets Kay’s sword. In search of another sword, Arthur spots the sword in the stone and, not knowing what it is, grabs it and takes it to Kay. When people realize that the sword has been pulled, the tournament halts. After a little confusion, Arthur is crowned king.
Sometimes, those we least expect have something important to contribute.
Sometimes those we push to the margins or treat like outsiders have greater faith than the most regular church-goers.
Sometimes we get so caught up in rules, on who is in and who is out, that we miss the very thing that Jesus is trying to teach us.
Sometimes we are the person on the outside desperately seeking a relationship with God.
It is hard for our ears to hear this story play out as it does in our text today. We don’t like to see Jesus ignore someone in need. We don’t like to see him call a woman or a people degrading names. And, maybe, we don’t like being reminded of our modern times and the ways in which we still struggle with who gets included and who gets excluded. We still struggle with the names that we call one another, or the ways entire groups of people are treated as second-class people, barely worthy of existence.
But Jesus includes those we exclude. Jesus turns the tables on our expectations. God can do amazing things with weak faith. And Jesus points us to strong faith in unexpected places.
As we reflect on these thoughts today, I invite you to listen to the song, “Draw the Circle Wide.” This song is a call to action for us, to include those who are so often pushed out of our churches or to the margins of our society. God’s love is big enough for all of us. And often, those who are overlooked and pushed aside have the strongest faith of all.
As Christians, we talk about faith...a lot. Usually when we do this, we are speaking of trust. To have faith is to trust something unseen. To have faith in God is to trust God, to know that God's promises are true. We often look to the Apostles and Saints as exemplars of faith, but I think we sometimes forget that they were human.
When they failed (and they did) and when we fail (and we will), God remains faithful. We can have faith in God, because God remains true. We can trust God, because God never fails. And even when we doubt, even when we fail, we remember that God is still God.
Today, we look at one of these moments of failure. In Matthew 14:22-33, Peter has some doubts. Thankfully, Jesus remains faithful.
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As you may recall, last week Jesus received some bad news. His cousin, John, had been put to death. And while he would have liked to take some time alone to grieve, the crowds that had been seeking him out followed him from the shore and surrounded him as he came ashore. He had compassion and healed them. And then there was the miracle of the feeding.
Today, we pick up where we left off last week. Following the feeding, Jesus sends the disciples on ahead in the boat to the other side of the lake. I have to imagine them wondering how exactly he planned to catch up. They were taking the boat. Was he planning to walk around the shore the whole way? Was he planning to hire another boat somewhere along the way? What was the plan? But the text simply tells us that they went on ahead, and Jesus finally got his alone time.
He heads up the mountain by himself to pray. As evening settled he was alone.
Meanwhile, the disciples were having a tough time of it. The boat faced stiff headwinds. Far out from shore, they were tossed around by the waves. And apparently this went on all night.
Can you imagine being in a boat on rough water, far away from shore, without our modern conveniences like lights and navigational aids and life jackets? Can you imagine sitting in the dark all night tossed around by the waves?
As the sky finally starts to lighten, an amazing sight greets them. Striding across the water towards them is Jesus.
After the night they have had, they were justifiably terrified. How is this possible? Are they dead? Is Jesus dead? What is going on?
Perhaps you can understand their fear. Perhaps the difficulty they had in believing what they could see with their eyes makes a certain amount of sense.
As he gets closer, Jesus greets them with the phrase he seems to have to use with them so often - “Do not be afraid.” So much of what he teaches them and shows them seems to fill them with fear. “Do not be afraid.”
At this point, Peter decides to test this vision they see. “If it is really you, command me to come out on the water to you.”
Jesus responds, “Come.”
This is an important part of this story. Peter is the one that initiates the call. He tells Jesus, “I want you to tell me to come to you.” Peter wanted things on his terms. He put Jesus to the test. He had seen amazing things, but he still had trouble believing the things he had seen. “If it is you, tell me to come to you.”
I think at times, we still do this today. “If it is your will, God, then give me a sign.” “If you really want me to do this, make the way plain.”
We want to be called. But we want it on our terms. Peter sets the expectations. He tells Jesus how this is going to work. “If you tell me to come to you, I will.”
After Jesus calls him forth, Peter starts across the water.
Imagine it! Peter steps out of the boat onto the waves and begins to walk toward Jesus. The boat that had been tossed around all night. The boat that had been pushed out far from shore. The one bit of physical safety anywhere nearby. And Peter climbs out of the boat onto the water.
And then all of that seems to come crashing in on Peter at once. He looks around at the waves still pushed around by the strong winds, and he is afraid. He begins to sink into the water.
Now he has a new request. “Lord, save me!” What began as a test turns into a cry for help.
As Jesus reaches out to draw him up out of the water, Jesus says, “You man of weak faith!” Jesus calls Peter a man of weak faith.
Peter.
Peter, who was personally called by Jesus.
Peter, who was not only one of the Twelve, but who with the sons of Zebedee, James and John, were the closest to Jesus.
Peter, whom Jesus calls the rock, the rock on which the church is built.
When Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, Peter was there.
When Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter, Peter was there.
In Gethsemane, Peter is called further into the garden.
This Peter. This is the man who Jesus calls a man of weak faith.
As I was thinking about this, I was reminded of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy. In the original movie, Luke begins to learn about the Force. He is told to trust the Force - let the Force guide you instead of the other way around.
In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke seeks out a new teacher. He is expecting to find a great warrior. Instead, his expectations are twisted when he meets a small green creature. He eventually learns that this diminutive creature is in fact the Jedi Master, Yoda.
As Master Yoda continues his training, he tries to teach Luke more about the nature of the Force. It connects all living things. It makes unexpected things possible, like lifting rocks without touching them or deflecting blaster bolts with a glowing sword.
At one point, Luke’s ship begins to sink into the swamp. Luke is devastated. How is he going to get the ship out? He will eventually need it to leave the planet?
Yoda looks at him and basically says, “haven’t you been paying attention to what I’ve been teaching you?”
Like Peter in the boat, Luke tries to make it work. At first, it looks like he is going to succeed. The ship stops sinking. It even rises a bit. But just as Peter saw the strength of the wind and failed, Luke sees the size of the ship and realizes the task is impossible, and then the ship slowly sinks even further into the swamp.
Yoda then proceeds to lift out the ship that Luke had failed to raise. The ship clears the water and comes to rest on solid ground. Luke stares in disbelief and says, “I don’t believe it,” to which Yoda responds, “That is why you fail.”
Peter wanted to believe. He wanted to be called. But at the same time, Peter was afraid. He was a man of weak faith.
If Peter is a man of weak faith, where does that leave the rest of us?
The good news here is that it isn’t actually up to us. If it were up to us, up to our strength and abilities alone, we would still be cowering in the boat. If it were up to us, we would have watched the ship sink into the swamp and moved in with Yoda.
But God does not leave us there. Even though Peter doubted, even though Peter had responded to Jesus with demands, Jesus did not let him sink. Jesus pulled him out of the waves and took him back into the boat. And here we are, 2000 years later, still part of the church built on the rock of Peter’s faith. God took this man of weak faith and great things came from it.
Just imagine what God can do with us!
It is hard at times to believe. We want God to pay attention to us. We want to be called. But even when we are called, we are scared.
We are afraid that we are going to fail.
We are afraid we are not good enough.
We are afraid to risk our feelings, afraid to risk anything of value.
At times, we are so afraid to fail, that we don’t even know how to start.
And yet, just as God was able to do much with Peter, God can do great things with us. God can take what we have and do great things with it. Even when we feel like we aren’t good enough, like we aren’t worthy enough. Even when we have doubts. Event when we fail, God continues to love us. God continues to work miracles through the weakest faith.
In the last couple of years, there is a song that I have heard on the radio called “You Say.” The song is sung by Christian artist, Lauren Daigle. In this song, she sings about the weakness we all feel and the lies that we tell ourselves. The song acknowledges that God takes what we have, no matter how big or how small, and does what needs to be done with it. This song covers both the limits and the strength of faith.
So I want to invite you to listen to this song. Listen to these words, to the feelings that maybe you have felt yourself. And be encouraged that God loves us and calls us and uses us even when we feel we aren’t enough.
It is not dependent on our abilities, but, with God, all things are possible.
This week I wrap up this introductory series on how I understand my ministry as a deacon. Over the past few weeks, I have reflected on my core Biblical touchstone as well as the four areas of responsibility to which I have been ordained as a United Methodist deacon. It seemed only fair to borrow the title of the book, A Deacon's Heart, written by one of two of my mentors and professors, Margaret Ann Crain and Jack Seymour. Margaret Ann was part of the initial class of deacons ordained in 1996 under the current model of ministry. She helped me to explore and grow into a ministry that even today is not always well understood in many areas of The United Methodist Church. She helped me to see that I had a deacon's heart all along, even though I had no language for that when I started my path into ministry years ago.
Today, I reflect on the responsibility to lead the church in ministries of compassion. What does it mean to have compassion for others? Reading, Matthew 14:13-21, we get some idea of what compassion meant to Jesus and what it means for us to follow in his footsteps.
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A month ago, the people of Andrews Chapel United Methodist Church and I joined together in ministry. I am slowly getting to know the people of the congregation, and I am trying to help them get to know me. I started this sermon series for the first few weeks of my time with them to help them learn a little more about how I approach ministry.