Great is Your Faith: 16 August, 2020
Matthew 15:[10-20] 21-28
After fifteen chapters of frustration with insiders who have little use for Jesus and little idea who he is, Jesus finally meets with a woman who knows the depth of her own need, and who knows who Jesus is. At last, we think, Jesus will smile, give her a big hug, and say, “Finally, someone understands.” How can he not reward such insight, such wisdom, and such spiritual knowledge? But Jesus doesn’t. And we are left asking why. Why? Why does Jesus behave so, well, offensively? Perhaps because the woman is right about who Jesus is—he is the Messiah of Israel. Jesus has been sent by God to save the lost sheep of Israel—the Jews. That’s his job. That’s what messiahs do. And Jesus is trying to do the job well.
Perhaps the woman knew a third thing, something that even Jesus didn’t know. That God’s Messiah was sent, not just to Israel, but also to all of us. Perhaps she taught Jesus a lesson that day about just whom he had been sent to save—everybody. Perhaps she taught him a lesson about insiders and outsiders: with God’s love, all of us, every one, is an insider.
I think what offends us most about this story is not that it shakes up our image of Jesus, but that it shakes up our image of ourselves. We are used to thinking of ourselves as insiders—as those who are favored by God. . . This story offends us because it implies that maybe we’re outsiders, without a real claim on Jesus’ favor, or his service, or his healing. . .
In the end, Jesus commends her . . . for her faith—for her dogged determination to receive even the crumbs that he might throw her way. Jesus apparently ignored her need and rebuffed her knowledge. But he couldn’t ignore her faith, her dog-like tenacity. She grabbed hold of the savior and would not let go. She refused to let her status as an outsider get in the way of Jesus’ saving power. Neither should we. Jesus cannot ignore our dogged pleas for help; Jesus will not turn away when we fall on our knees with a determined faith. –– Brent Laytham
Isaiah 56:1, 6-8
Second Isaiah’s message of hope and deliverance carries with it a paranetic force: “Hang in there; keep the faith. Be just and righteous; trust. My deliverance is coming.” . . . Ultimately, Israel’s promised liberation is to a redefined service that paves the way for other peoples, other servants, reconciliation, and peace. –– John E. Smith
Romans 11:1–2a, 29–32
Paul brings in the dynamic of salvation for the gentiles and the Jews. The scattered verses in this reading hold up the symbiotic relationship of the salvation available to these two groups. Do we still view Christian salvation and Jewish salvation as linked? How do we interpret this relationship in our message to our congregation? –– Beth Herrinton-Hodge
D. Brent Laytham, a United Methodist elder, is the Dean of The Ecumenical Institute of Theology of St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland.
John E. Smith has served as a Methodist pastor for many years.
Beth Herrinton-Hodge, an ordained Presbyterian minister and writer, teaches comparative religions at Jefferson Community College in Kentucky.
Homily Service 41, no. 3 (2008): 155-166.