St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church -- Watertown, WI
Pastor Mark Gartner
Sermon for Pentecost 13 – August 11^th and August 14^th, 2005

Dear fellow children of God,

To start our worship service this morning we sang the hymn, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand." What a beautiful hymn this is. It is a hymn that directs God’s children to trust in God to lead them through life’s good times and bad times. This hymn was written by an African American named Thomas Dorsey. Mr. Dorsey was a man who fled from the south to the north to gain economic freedom. He took up work in the north to earn enough money to send for his wife and daughter who had to stay back in the south. While he was working he found out that his wife and daughter had died. In this time of sadness and grief, Thomas Dorsey wrote the hymn "Precious Lord, Take my Hand." Mr. Dorsey trusted that God would lead him and guide him all his days on this earth and would lead him to his eternal home in heaven. It was the faith that the Holy Spirit had worked in his heart that led him to put his full trust in God in this most difficult of times.

This morning we are going to look at the life of another Christian. This time we are going to look at the life of a Canaanite woman whose story of faith is recorded for us on the pages of God’s inspired Bible. Once again we are going to see that the only thing that is able to keep her and all Christians going is our faith in God. That is why our theme for this morning is going to look at the faith of the Canaanite lady:

If we can remember back to some of the thoughts we have covered from the book of Matthew over the past couple of Sunday’s, we might remember the feeding of the 5000 or maybe some of the parables such as the sower or the weeds. We might remember how Jesus walked on water or many other things as we have marveled at how the life of Jesus was meant to build up and strengthen the faith of the disciples and Christians throughout the ages. Today is no different. It tells us, "Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²²A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." From these few words we once again find out that Jesus needed a little time away from the area around the Sea of Galilee. It tells us that Jesus went with his disciples to the area around Tyre and Sidon. This was the territory that was north of! the land of Israel. It was here that Jesus hoped to find some private time.

But as we soon find out, there was never really any private time for Jesus and his disciples. While they were there a Canaanite woman came to Jesus. She was a Gentile lady. She was part of the people that the Israelites didn’t destroy when they entered into the land of Canaan under Joshua’s rule many years earlier. How did she know who Jesus was? How did she know that Jesus had the power to heal her daughter? We will never know how she heard about Jesus, but we are still amazed at the faith she had.

Her cry for help tells us quite a bit, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me." This lady knew Jesus for who he truly was. He was the one promised to come from the line of David. He was the long awaited Messiah. He was the one who was the very Son of God. We don’t know how great her knowledge of Jesus was, but we do know that her faith was based on Jesus her Savior. She knew that Jesus alone could help her and her daughter who was demon-possessed.

Let’s talk for just a minute about the similarities between this lady and us. Here was this Gentile lady who was not part of the chosen people of Israel. Sounds pretty much like us, who also are Gentiles. Here was a lady who realized that she needed Jesus’ help. As we go through life we soon realize that Jesus is our only help. This lady believed that Jesus could help her. Through the faith that is worked in our hearts, we soon realize and believe that Jesus has all the answers that we need. But let’s be truthful with ourselves. Do we always trust that Jesus has the answers for our life? Do we always believe that Jesus does what is best for us? Do we truly have faith that God can handle all the problems in my life? Just think how easy it would have been for this Canaanite lady to not go to Jesus. The world around us is telling us that Jesus doesn’t really have the answers – you need to find the help you need on your own. But this is not what faith is all abou! t. Faith trusts that Jesus is the answer to my sin and the answer to all that happens to me.

The other day I was watching a small boy on the monkey bars at the park. This child was going to make it across the monkey bars even if it meant many bumps and bruises and even possible blisters on his hands. He would fall and then he would get right back up again and go again. Sometimes he would go only a few bars and fall, while other times he almost made it across. Finally after what must have seemed to be hours for this kid, he made it across. You can only imagine the smile on that boy’s face as he jumped up and down. He had made it. He had persevered.

As we progress through our text for today, we see this same type of perseverance. The difference is that this wasn’t a physical perseverance. This was spiritual perseverance. Our text tells us, "Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." ²⁴He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." ²⁵The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. ²⁶He replied, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs." ²⁷"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table." Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour." This lady had every reason to just toss in the towel and say that it wasn’t goi! ng to work out. Numerous times, we see Jesus testing her faith and each time the Holy Spirit is working as her faith passes these tests.

Let’s just take a quick peek at these tests. First Jesus just begins to walk away, but she keeps crying out. She is not deterred by Jesus’ none response. Then Jesus says, that his main mission was to preach to the lost sheep of Israel. While we know that Jesus came to save the whole world, we also know that the people of Israel were God’s chosen people --The line from which the Savior would come. Even though she was a Gentile lady, this did not stop her. She said, "Lord, help me." Then he gives her the picture of the house puppy that is well liked, but shouldn’t get the food that is meant for the children. Once again we see that Jesus’ main mission was to the Israelites. But with persistence that would not end she says, "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table." Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughte! r was healed from that very hour." She then tells Jesus that even the dogs get the crumbs. She realizes through faith that Jesus was sent for all people.. At this point Jesus tells her that her faith was great and that her daughter was healed from her demon possession.

As we look through the Bible we can think of heroes of faith who were persistent. We can think of Jacob who wrestled with God and said he would not give up until he was blessed. We see Abraham pleading with God to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah if 10 believers were found in the cities. Has your faith been this persistent? Have you approached God with the confidence and trust that he will answer your prayers? Do you humbly approach God’s throne of grace with perseverance as you look for his help and guidance?

Last week a man named Jim Dreyer became the first man to swim across all 5 of the Great Lakes. His final lake was Lake Superior. Last week he completed the 54-mile swim across Lake Superior. It took him just over three days. This was actually his 6^th try at Swimming Lake Superior. It tells us that he almost died in a storm that produced 15-foot waves, only four miles from shore, but that he continued to swim. As we go through our lives on this earth, we need to realize that our faith is what will carry us through our troubles and concerns. Our faith, which is based on the solid foundation of Jesus and his forgiveness, is the only place we can turn, even when the storms of life seem to crashing around us. Jesus uses the many problems of this world to test and strengthen our faith, but he is always leading us closer to our eternal home in heaven, which will last forever.

We began our sermon today talking about Thomas Dorsey who wrote the hymn in his time of distress. We never hear about Thomas Dorsey again. We don’t know what happened to him or if he wrote more hymns, but may we take comfort in knowing that our faith and the faith of Mr. Dorsey are based on the same strength of Jesus. This is the only faith that counts. This is the only faith that will persevere. This is the only faith that knows and trust in Jesus as our Savior. Amen