The Rev. Robert Lundquist           XIII after Pentecost     8/14/05      St Paul’s, Ft Collins

Matthew 15:21-28   - Online Text -

Today’s Gospel lesson is about the Power of Persistence, isn’t it?  It’s also a story about – and stay with me here – it’s a story about an “uppity woman.”  And thank God for them, all the uppity women in our lives and in our history.

From 1953 – 1981, a woman who called herself “Peace Pilgrim” walked more than 25,000 miles for peace.  She said she was wandering until humanity learned peace.  “I will walk until I am given shelter, and I will fast until I am offered food,” she said.  She touched the hearts, the minds, and the lives of thousands on her journey, as a solitary witness – and a “push” toward our higher selves.

Recall Cindy Sheehan, holding vigil in Crawford, Texas, waiting for an opportunity to speak with the Commander in Chief, her President, about her son Casey, killed in action in Iraq.  Recall Harriet Tubman saving lives on the Underground Railway during our nation’s Civil War.  Recall Corazon Aquino leading the “People Power” gentle revolution in the Philippines against the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.  Uppity women standing against those in power, each of them.

The Canaanite Woman is another of this line.  Now the Canaanites were considered by the Jews to be their ancient and godless foe.  This is who stood before Jesus, in his eyes and in the eyes of his disciples.  She is objectified as Canaanite rather than mother.  But her focus is on her daughter – her eyes are on that prize, the health of her daughter – and she is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve her aim.

Just her luck – Jesus is having a bad day.  There is seemingly no compassion from him.  And rude?  He actually calls her a dog, the modern equivalent bandied about too frequently in our own day. 

But she holds him accountable – to his mission (of healing) and to his ministry of all of God’s children.  She shames him.  And he gets it.  “Great it your faith!”  Remember last week, when Jesus castigated Peter as one “of little faith”?  This uppity woman changes Jesus, enough so that the Evangelist records this meeting in the Gospel.  Lord knows, it’s not a very flattering story.  If Matthew was writing a “puff piece” this anecdote would certainly have been edited out.  But there is a truth here, a significance that we dare not ignore.

Some thoughts on the three aspects of persistence that we see today:

Contention with God – Remember Tevye from “Fiddler on the Roof”?  How he got up and shouted at God, demanding attention?  He reminds me of the Canaanite woman in the Gospel.  And they both raise some intriguing questions:  How bold are you in your prayers?  What is it that you expect when you pray?  Perhaps we ought focus our requests more sharply, as did this mother for her child.

• Health care professionals find that “fighters” recover more quickly from cancer than those who are passive. 

• Don’t forget Abraham and his chutzpah before the Lord, changing God’s mind about how many righteous men must be found in the city to prevent the destruction of Sodom.

Insistence in communicating with God – Parents know about urgency in fighting for their child.  The Canaanite woman didn’t give up, didn’t turn away after the first insult.  Jesus ends up praising her, as he did the centurion with the deceased child.  “Great is your faith,” he says to both of them, neither one of them being Jews.  Both of them sought out Jesus and insisted on being heard.  It’s almost as if “outsiders” to the faith get it, while those closest to Jesus, the disciples, struggle with their faith.  Maybe it’s because more is expected to those nearest to the LORD. 

Asking for what you need.  The Canaanite woman might be considered the patron saint of askers!  She is clear and direct about what it is she needs.  There’s a Chinese proverb that goes something like this:  The one who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth will wait for a very long time.  We live in a culture of self-sufficiency, of taking care of oneself, an attitude that goes along with the idea of looking out for Number One.  “I can do it myself.”  Asking is foreign to our culture.  And we can imagine reasons to find the actions of the Canaanite woman unusual:

• “My needs aren’t important.”  Does that mean I accept leftovers? 

• “Jesus should know what I need.”  Actually, no.  Asking releases power, and prayer evokes the Divine within each of us.  And sometimes we don’t even know what we need until we verbalize it, put it into words.

• “Other people are needier than I am.”  This is a variation of the martyr complex, the idea that everyone comes before me.  It also presumes that God’s love and care are limited, that there’s not enough to go around.  This is the theology of scarcity.

Gandhi said, “If you ask, you don’t get.”  It’s that simple, so simple that I’m sure Gandhi wasn’t the first or only one to say it.  Our honesty with each other, and our clarity in our communication, is so necessary in healthy Christian community!

So, ask for what you need.  Speak with someone about your hurts.  Share with one another.  The Body of Christ is filled with the joys and sorrows of the world.  Asking, speaking and sharing are the ways in which we strengthen the bonds.  Dr. Scott Peck is the author of the best-selling book The Road Less Traveled.  As a result of that book he was asked to speak and teach throughout the country.  In a later book he relates the story of a conference on Christian community, one of the exercises being to talk in small groups about personal triumphs and struggles.  At the break a woman came to him and began to pout out her heart.  He stopped her:  “This was what the exercise was about; it was your opportunity to do this sharing in small group.”  “I know,” she said, “but there are members of my church in my group!”  How sad!  How sad, that she felt she could not talk about her deep needs in the presence of those best able to help and support her.

“Lord, help me.  Heal my daughter.”  Direct and straightforward.  With God, with each other.  This is what I ask of you, and what I promise to do with you.  In this way will be both more fully behold and become the Body of Christ.

One more story of an uppity woman:  St Clare was St Francis’ sister.  When Francis formed the order that was to eventually bear his name, Clare founded the Poor Ladies of Sandiamo out of her determination to provide a way for women to serve Christ, though her order was never recognized by the Church.  A friend of Francis and Clare’s, actually a monk with Francis, was named Ugolino.  In time he became Pope Gregory IX.  One of his first acts was to travel to Assisi to bestow his blessing upon the Poor Ladies.  He brought a fairly large entourage, and they would need to be fed.  Now the Poor Ladies did not bake bread – they ate the crusts given as alms each day as their daily bread.  When the meal was to be shared, Clare brought the basket of crusts to Gregory and asked him to bless them.  “No, Clare,” he said, “you bless the bread.”  But you are a priest, she protested.  Again Gregory demurred.  “But you are the Pope, you must bless the bread!”   “No, Clare.  The hands that bring the bread are fit to bless the bread.  I command you.  Bless the bread that we may eat.”  So Clare, in obedience, made the sign of the cross over the bread.  And miraculously, all were fed.

The power of persistence.  And the place of uppity women in our lives and in our faith.  Thanks be to God!