Dr. Wayne A. Lawson
Antioch Institutional Baptist Church
Oklahoma City, OK
Preached, Sunday August 16, 2009
Scripture: St. Matthew 15:21-28
21Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. 28Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Title: How to Develop Great Faith
Last week we looked at the idea of Faith that is able to Move Mountains. This morning we will consider the elements necessary to grow such faith. Past few days, I have felt the leading of the Holy Ghost in the direction of spending the next few weeks developing a faith series from the pulpit. We spend much time and resources on health, we schedule time for a Health Check-Up. When we re-cover from certain health crisis we have scheduled check-ups. I remember when my sister had a Kidney Transplant she began with a weekly check-up, she was excited when she moved to a Monthly check-up. Then one day after an appointment she was doing so well her doctor said see you in three months for a check-up.
Some days ago my son and I drove to Altus, OK to view on a potential job site. Before making the journey I put the automobile in the shop for a Mechanical check-up. We spend time and resources ensuring that our bodies and our possessions receive the attention that they need. My brothers and sisters, when it comes to our Faith, every now and then we need a Faith Check-Up. We will continue from last week and spend next few weeks conducting a Faith Check-Up series.
This mornings sermon will address our Faith -- but not just ordinary faith – I want to address the subject – How To Develop Great Faith. I’ve always admired those saints who have exhibited extraordinary faith – people like George Mueller - who had faith to believe that God would provide food to feed thousands of children in his orphanage in Bristol, England, even though his cupboard was bare. The Lord told Mueller not to make his needs known to God’s people, but only to make his needs known to God in prayer. Day by day, and year by year, he needed food for his orphans. He prayed daily for provision, and food came from unknown sources – most of the time! Even when food did not come just in time for a meal, Mueller still believed God would provide enough food – and God did, time after time. Mueller had only two shillings to his name when he began the orphanage work, but over the next sixty years God sent him more than $7,500,000– in 19th century dollars! That’s one picture of Great Faith.
We don’t need to reach that far back to understand Great Faith. Let’s examine another picture of great faith. It was about a year ago that many of us were introduced to a young man by the name of Michael Phelps. During the Beijing-Olympics he won his unprecedented Eight Gold Medals. What audacious faith to believe that he could swim in that many races and heats. He just kept knocking on the door of opportunity. He won seven of his eight races in new world record time. Phelps’s mother, Debbie, received a letter from Barbara Kines, who had taught Michael in the Third Grade. Before he found an outlet for his abundant energy in swimming, Phelps had immense difficulties – concentrating and sitting still - leading one of his grade school teachers to wonder if he would ever be able to focus on anything. Ms. Kines, recalling those days, wrote about how proud she was of Michael and how, perhaps, it had never been focus he lacked, but rather, a goal worthy of his focus. Michael Phelps said this: “If you dream as big as you can dream, anything is possible.” Isn’t that the underlying theme of the whole Bible? - With God, Nothing is Impossible.
Have you ever met anyone with Great Faith? Jesus met such a person found in today’s gospel lesson. He tells us that great faith looks like a distraught Cannanite mother, begging for mercy at the feet of Jesus, willing to accept any crumb God may drop her way. I’d sure like to have the kind of faith that Jesus calls “Great.”How about you? Let’s look at what the Cannanite mother did to earn that compliment from the Lord. This should provide us with the treasure chest we need as we continue to develop our Faith, and transition it to Great Faith.
Jesus was walking with his disciples from Galilee to Tyre, the Gentile city on the beautiful Phoenician coast. A local woman, a Cannanite, approaches Jesus, and cries out to him, “LORD, SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME! MY DAUGHTER IS SUFFERING TERRIBLY FROM DEMON POSSESSION.” Jesus doesn’t answer her first cry for mercy at all. But she doesn’t give up. Even though many of us would be discouraged by the Lord’s initial lack of response, she presses on. Let me help you set the parameters here. Remember with me that this was a Canaanite woman who came from her heathen land to see Jesus.
It was a good moment for that Canaanite woman, yes it was a good day. She had plenty of bad moments lately. Her daughter was possessed by a demon. An agent of Satan attacked her body. Today some might consider this to be a form of mental illness, but the Bible differentiates between mental illnesses and demon possession. Jesus cast out many demons, and he also healed people from paralysis and palsies. A demon occupied this little body. Even children suffer the attacks of the devil. So this woman came to Jesus and followed him begging for his help. There was nothing she would not do for her little girl, even beg, just as you would do for your children. Lord, anything, just help her.
No doubt this mother had heard of Jesus and His miracles and had wanted Him to heal her daughter of demon possession. Clearly, she believed that Jesus could fix what was broken in her life - her daughter
But she was not an Israelite – not of the bloodline the Lord came to redeem. This woman was in a predicament. What greater need could she have had, than to have her daughter vexed with a devil. And the crowd was great no doubt around. She cried out “……HAVE MERCY ON ME”! Perhaps these were the only words that she could come up with that would gain Jesus attention. Perhaps she said if there are any words that would cause Him to look my way and have compassion, surely have mercy on me would do it. But Jesus answered her not a word.
Maybe I could understand if she would have walked up to Him and began to tell Jesus how good her works have bee – All the great things she had Accomplished -- And how worthy she felt, therefore; He should do this for her. But no, she said nothing of this sort. She said the only words, and they were the right words, that she knew to gain His attention.
• There are times that you come as humbly before Him as you possible know how
• And with a trembling voice you cry, “Have mercy on me”
• The heavens seem to be brass
• It seems as if the Lord Himself turns from your feeble plea
• It’s almost like he turns a deaf ear to your cry
What do you do when God does not respond? There are times when you get down to pray, that it seems no sooner than your knees hit the floor, the answer is already spoken. But what do you do when you have acknowledged your weakness and your needs before God, and He seemingly doesn’t respond? Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "SEND HERE AWAY FOR SHE KEEPS CRYING OUT AFTER US."” I thank God that this Mother from Tyre did not trust in Jesus’ disciples. Notice that at first, the disciples try to keep her from addressing Jesus.
Just because it may not look like He’s responding, doesn’t mean he isn’t listening. You think being ignored is bad. You think praying and not hearing back from God is troublesome. What about when Jesus did answer this woman. He answered and said, it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to the dogs. Well, of all the things He could have said, he had to call me and my daughter a dog! Oh No He didn’t!
• Oh how easily we are sometimes offended when we pick God’s word up and read it.
• Oh how easily we are sometimes offended when the man of God says, thus saith the Lord.
• We get discouraged by the words people around us say.
We have come to expect stories of compassion from Jesus - stories of Jesus healing those who were hurt – sick - lost. But this time, Jesus’ response is far from what we would expect. First, he ignores her, and only talks to his disciples as if she were not even there. Finally, she comes and kneels down in the dirt right there in front of him. Does not begin with Long Drawn out prayer -- “Lord Help Me!” she demands. His next remark sounds so callous to our ears: “It’s not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs!”. It was never the Lord’s intention to send this woman away without a miracle. It was never His intention with her leaving with the need she came with. But if He would have responded the first time he never could have said Great is Thy Faith.
• He allowed her faith to be put to the test
• He allowed her faith to be tried, to prove it was genuine
• He wanted everyone around to know, this woman means business
• She’s not going to stop when the answer doesn’t come the first time
• She’s not going to quit praying when everyone has grown weary with her
• She’s not going to give up when her feelings get hurt
• It’s not God’s intention for you to leave here like you came
• It’s not God’s will for you to go without the miracle and the help that you need
• But He’s allowing your faith to be on trial
• Not only will He know how great your faith is
• Not only will everyone around you know
• But more importantly you will know that your faith is great
The province of faith begins where probabilities cease, and sight and sense fail. A great many of God’s children are cast down and lament their want of Faith. The Canaanite mother addresses Jesus as “Lord” – three times in this passage. She acknowledges that He is the Lord and Master, and she is not. This needy mother is the underdog, begging for leftover crumbs; she knows that she’s there only because of the Lord’s mercy. Notice what she didn’t do. She did not demand a place at the table. She knew that she was a beggar before the table of God, and she said so.
Yes, Jesus response seems harsh – Equates her to a Dog. She does not despair, but agrees with his judgment and concedes, she is a dog, and desires also no more than a god is entitled to -- namely, that she may eat the crumbs that fall from the table of the Lord. Is not that a masterly stroke as a reply? She catches Christ with His own words. He compares her to a dog, she concedes it, and asks nothing more than that He let her be a dog, as He Himself judged her to be. Where will Christ now take refuge? He is caught. Truly, people let the dog have the crumbs under the table; it is entitled to that. Therefore Christ now completely opens his heart to her and yields to her will, so that she is now no dog, but even a child of Israel. All this, however, is written for our comfort and instruction, that we may know how deeply God conceals His grace before our face, and that we may not estimate him according to our feelings and thinking, but strictly to His Word.
If we all could only admit that each of us comes before the throne of grace only on the basis of God’s mercy. The truths is, we are all beggars! None of us deserves a place at the heavenly banquet. All of us come by grace alone.
• Everything we have is a gift from God
• No matter how hard you work
• Your paycheck is a gift from God
• It was God who gave you your talents in the first place
• No matter how much you exercise or eat right, your health is a gift from God.
Great faith dictates that we are persistent in prayer. Remember, Jesus didn’t answer her first call. She kept crying out. Look at Vs 23-24. When Jesus spoke, it was not to her, but only to his disciples about her. Even when she fell at Jesus’ feet, and Jesus spoke to her, at first, they were hard words. Still, she persisted. That bold persistence helps make her faith great. No bold persistence, no great faith. Persistent, bold prayer may seem counter-intuitive to you. Many of us were taught as children that after we have asked Dad for something, and received a No, that we are not to ask him again. In Philippians 4, we are taught to be content with what we have. In many ways, those are very helpful attitudes when dealing with people. However, those attitudes don’t always translate well in our relationship with God. In ST. MATTHEW 11:12 Jesus says, “AND FROM THE DAYS OF JOHN THE BAPTSIT UNTIL NOW THE KINDGOM OF HEAVEN SUFFERS VIOLENCE AND THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE.”
• Beloved, sometimes you have to reach out and grab hold of the things of God!
• Jesus is telling us here to pray boldly and persistently.
• Be like the Canaanite mother, and never give up.
• Never, never, never give up!
We can learn from her vision. Here is a woman who recognizes nourishment even in the crumbs.
• Crumbs are little things
• A little portion of something much larger
• Crumbs are insignificant
They are what most people overlook, even in the spiritual life, because we are so busy grabbing for the whole loaf. But this woman didn’t overlook them. Her heart was too single and pure to miss even the opportunity of a crumb. Someone she loved was in need. She would not be put off even by the Lord of all the earth. And so she said, "OK, you’re saving the loaf for your family? I know I’m outside the household--a dog, you called me. If you’re saving the loaves for your children, I’ll settle for the crumbs It was as though she were saying, “Look, I don’t need a lot, not a big, flashy, headline healing!”
• Just a crumb!
• Just a word!
• Just a look of love!
• Just desire my daughter’s healing!
• That will be enough!"
-I don’t know about you, but all I need is a Crumb from the Master’s Table
-I don’t need the whole loaf
-If there’s MILK in the loaf – there’s MILK in the Crumb
-If there’s EGGS in the loaf – there’s EGGS in the Crumb
-If there’s YEAST in the loaf – there’s YEAST in the Loaf
SOME OF YOU ARE STILL NOT WITH ME THIS MORNING.
-If there’s HEALING in the loaf – there’s HEALING in the Crumb
-If there’s LOVE in the loaf – there’s LOVE in the Crumb
-If there’s JOY in the loaf – there’s JOY in the Crumb
-If there’s FAITH in the loaf – there’s FAITH in the Crumb
-If there’s HOPE in the loaf – there’s HOPE in the Crumb
-If there’s PEACE in the loaf – there’s PEACE in the Crumb
-If there’s ANOINTING in the loaf – there’s ANOINTING in the Crumb
-If there’s MERCY in the loaf – there’s MERCY in the Crumb
-If there’s GRACE in the loaf – there’s GRACE in the Crumb
-If there’s DILEVERANCE in the loaf – there’s DILEVERANCE in the Crumb
-If there’s SALVATION in the loaf – there’s SALVATION in the Crumb
How to Develop Great Faith – Let’s be persistent in our prayer life and our faith – don’t give up, even if we must settle for the Crumbs for all we need is Mustard seed faith .
