Humility and Faith

            In the Gospel of Matthew (Mat 15:21-28) we hear a story of a desperate mother seeking the help of Jesus to heal her demon possessed daughter.

Imagine the woman in this story.  She probably heard others talking about Jesus and how he healed.  All of a sudden she had a new hope.  Jesus could heal her daughter.  The love this woman had for her daughter and knowing Jesus could heal, drew her to him.  I think we can learn a lot from this story.  A lot about our relationship with Jesus and with one another by what didn’t happen. 

First, Jesus didn’t send her away.  She was a Canaanite, a Gentile.  She was not a follower of Jesus and had no claim on his healing, as he made clear to her.  Still, she approached him, and Jesus didn’t send her away.  The lesson for us here is that we can go to Jesus no matter who we think we are, we can go to him just as we are.  We don’t have to be afraid that we’re not good enough.  We can trust that he will never turn his back on us, never send us away, will always receive us, and that our life matters to him. 

The woman didn’t stop her pleading.  Even though she was annoying to his followers, and they were telling him to send her away, she didn’t listen to them but kept her focus on him. 

Jesus didn’t answer the woman as she expected.  At first, there was no answer.  And when he did answer, it wasn’t the answer she thought she would hear.  So, we shouldn’t be surprised to sometimes wonder if God is even listening.  In those times we don’t get the answer we want when we want it, we can be sure that he will always give us what is best for us.

This woman didn’t leave Jesus.  Driven by the love for her daughter, and her hope that Jesus was the one who could end their suffering, she didn’t leave.  Even after he implied she wasn’t worthy of his attention, she didn’t give up.  She kept the conversation open.  She didn’t become offended but remained humble and determined and stayed with Jesus, she clung to him. 

Even though they were different, even though people were trying to send her away and separate them, even though she wasn’t getting the answers she expected, through it all, motivated by love and knowing he could and was able to heal her daughter, she wasn’t going to leave him.  And that is her great faith. 

And that is our faith.  To know Jesus is able and can do what we ask, and in whatever we experience in life, to cling to him in our humility even if he doesn’t answer how and when we expect. It’s humility and faith that allows the power of Jesus to take hold in our lives.

And if Jesus does that for us, we should do it for one another.  Even in our differences, receive one another and know that everyone’s life matters.   Work to move beyond doubt, pride, anger, fear and the noise and voices that can distract us. And with humble determination, focus on the love that brings us closer to Jesus and closer to one another.  To stay with one another.  To be faithful to one another. To be a source of hope.