SUnDAY 16 AUGUST, 2020

Reflection:

Does God Have Favourites?

Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133
Matthew 15:21-2
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

​In today’s passages we encounter the prickly theme of “being chosen” and we wonder:
“Does God have favourites?" 

Is there really a chosen nation, a chosen people? 
Is it the Jewish nation of Israel?
If God’s the Creator of us all, how can this be? 

These are not easy questions to confront, or to answer. 

Not when we now know what terrible acts have been perpetrated in the past by those who believe that God is on their side – and that includes both Christians, Jews and Gentiles.

The passage from the gospel of Matthew is not a very long one, but it is definitely a very interesting one.
Jesus went to Tyre and Sidon – part of Lebanon – and just 30 minutes’ drive south of Beirut, where there was a terrible explosion last week (but more of that at the end of this reflection). 

Why did Jesus go there?  

It was a journey of approximately 64 kilometres, which is a long way just to heal one child (if that was, indeed, his reason for going there).  

Possibly he just went for privacy – we know that he liked to get away from crowds – or maybe it was to find a location where he could quietly teach and educate his disciples.
When he arrives, he meets a Canaanite woman.
(as an aside, there was no country called Canaan, it was just a general area between the Mediterranean coast and the Dead Sea / River Jordan)
From that, we can discern that she’s not Jewish – not one of God’s chosen ones – she’s a Gentile.

However, this Gentile woman has heard a lot about Jesus and she managed to find Jesus at his retreat with the disciples.

Unlike some of his own people, the Jews, who doubted him and tried to trap him at every conversation, this woman takes it as a given that he alone has the power to heal her little daughter, who is possessed by a demon. 
And because she loves her daughter, she begs, asks and shouts until his power gives her what she wants: the healing of her child.

It’s notable that, in her pleading and her shouting, she asks first for mercy and only then for healing.

She recognises Jesus as the Messiah (a Jewish term), who has the power to cast the demon out of her daughter.

Initially Jesus ignores her, but she’s persistent. The disciples want Jesus to send her away.

Yet, here we encounter a side of Jesus that might affront our modern sensibilities and political correctness. 
The words Jesus uses to argue with the Canaanite woman are not ones we expect from his mouth.
He tells her that he was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel.
So, what can we determine from that?
Is Jesus playing favourites (Jews over Gentiles), or was it said just for the ears of the disciples to show that, even though it wasn’t his main commission, he could, and would, do miracles even for the gentiles.
These words didn’t stop the woman - she persisted, even when Jesus tries to tell her that it isn’t right for him to deviate from his appointed task and that he is supposed to be focussed on God’s chosen ones. 

Maybe, in this encounter, Jesus recognises that his mission has expanded, or perhaps he is using it to make a point to his disciples. 
His response to the woman shows them that Jesus did not come just for Israel, but his mercy extends to everyone.

Again, she argues with Jesus, trying to persuade him that even a small amount of his goodness would be sufficient.
We see her willingness to take even the crumbs from Jesus, reasoning that it would be sufficient.

Jesus then utters the words. “Woman, great is your faith. Let it be done for you as you wish.”

A miracle by long distance! 
The girl was healed from that very hour (not just when the woman got home). 

It is interesting to note the figurative language in the passage: the children represent the disciples; the children’s bread represents the benefits of Jesus’ ministry to them; and the dogs (lit., “little dogs” - household ones, not outdoor scavengers) represented the Gentiles.

Jesus was telling the woman that his first priority in being there was to instruct his disciples. 
It wasn’t appropriate to interrupt a family meal to give the dogs food from the table. 
Therefore, it wasn’t appropriate for him to interrupt his ministry to his disciples to give his services to her, a Gentile. 
But it seems that Jesus’ reluctance to help her, only seemed to stimulated her faith.

She realised he had the right to refuse her request. However, feeling no insult in the analogy he used, she pressed it a little further, saying that even the dogs under the table eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. 
Her point was that the dogs get some food at the same time as the children and thus do not have to wait. 
There needed to be no interruption in his instruction to the disciples, because all she humbly requested was a crumb, a small benefit of his grace for her desperate need.
She acknowledged that the majority of food should go to the Jews, but suggested to Jesus that just a small bit of his grace would heal her daughter, to which he agreed and told her that it was her faith that had healed the girl. 

Jesus had subjected her to a threefold test: 
a test of the sincerity of her desire; 
a test of its intensity; 
a test of her own integrity. 

Her faith triumphed and her daughter was healed, leading us to wonder what we should learn from this passage?

1) We must acknowledge Jesus as Lord. 
2) We must come to him, recognizing that we have no claim on his grace, but we can expect him to be gracious. 
3) and when we do, Jesus himself will heal our diseased hearts, bringing us new life.

Great faith is faith that takes God at his word and won’t let go until he meets our need. 
Great faith can lay hold of even the slightest encouragement and turn it into a fulfilled promise. 
“Lord, increase our faith.”


As I mentioned earlier, we should respond to the terrible news of the factory blast in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. 
Whatever the reasons behind this tragedy, God’s people are hurting and dying. 

In our Lower North Shore Uniting Church community, there are many who came from there, especially those in the Armenian Evangelical Church at Willoughby and the minister at our neighbouring congregation at Longueville.  

They have asked for our prayers for their friends and relatives who have been impacted by the chaos.
But as we learned above, we should not just be praying for our Christian brothers and sisters, but for all of God’s creation in that place.

Besides our heartfelt prayers, there are also ways that we can assist the rebuilding – both of their lives and their livelihoods.

Donations of money are the fastest way to provide relief and the suggested focal point is: 
the Armenian Missionary Association of Australia. (many Armenians were born and educated in Lebanon)

Rather than spell out all the ways of making these donations in this letter, I suggest that you make contact with me and I will assist you in the mechanics of making your donation.
Alternatively, we have set out some of the ways you can assist in this week's Online newsletter.

Pastor Rick