Today in preaching I spent some time reflecting upon Jesus' non-response to the Canaanite woman. As she 'cried out' He said nothing. It is difficult to imagine Him ignoring her.
I think piety causes us to paint a picture of Jesus which is not reflected in the Scripture. For example, many folks want Jesus to be nice and politically correct. The reality is, nice and politically correct are not of necessity holy and good. Jesus is holy and good. Our popular forms of behavior and our cultural values are no always holy and good.
Jesus is on a mission, He has come to save the lost of the sheep of Israel. He is focused on them. In the popular view of our culture, that is too narrow. I imagine my Gentile self confronted by Jesus' silence. How would I respond? Am I humble enough to admit that I am not one of the covenant people? Can I joyfully feed on table scraps and consider myself blessed?
The grace is that those who submit to Jesus as Lord receive the deliverance, even though we are outsiders. Jesus did, after all, talk with the woman. He told her that her faith was key. At one of the services I said, "God is not a politician running for office. He is not buying our votes. He is a king, He demands our obedience and allegiance." Once more I am stunned by the hard reality of the Christian life.
Our God does not obey our rules, He rules. We are best situated when we are on our knees calling Him Lord. That is not politcally correct, nor is it popular. That is, however, the way it is. You are welcome to go to the St. Andrews' website if you would like to hear the homily. I invite you to ponder the Lord Who is much larger than our pious ideas!
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