A feisty faith

by Stuart Gray

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Then Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.’ And her daughter was healed at that moment (Matthew 15:28).

Read Matthew 15:(10–20) 21–28

The elements of this story are simple. A woman seeks healing for her daughter from ‘The Healer’. However, her encounter with Jesus is quite profound. A Canaanite – historic enemy of Israel – and a woman, possibly without a husband, so an outsider even in her own country.

Yet this woman recognises Jesus as ‘Lord, Son of David’. She pleads for mercy and, much to the disciples’ annoyance, persists.

Jesus’ initial reaction and conversation seem harsh. Firstly, he ignores her, which I’m sure is not a technique recommended by modern counsellors dealing with a distressed person. But the silence demonstrates how persistent the woman is and points to the strength of her faith.

Jesus then emphasises her ‘outsideness’. ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ This does not stop her. She ignores what Jesus has said but takes advantage of the fact that he is talking to her. ‘Lord, help me.’ A simple and humble plea for help.

But Jesus has not finished testing her faith. ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’ Imagine the outrage that public statement would cause today! Social media would be white hot.

Again, this does not deter the woman, and her response is amazing. ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ That response would take me a day or two to formulate.

In her response, the woman recognises Jesus’ purpose for the lost people of Israel. She trusts that he has mercy enough for those beyond Israel.

This is a story of powerful spirituality. The woman acknowledges her need, refuses to give up, trusts Jesus’ mercy and approaches him with humility.

Jesus meets us in our individual situations, in the down-and-dirty harshness of life.

I wonder what the disciples learnt from this encounter. The Canaanite woman foreshadows the inclusion of Gentiles into God’s kingdom. Yet even after the resurrection, some of the disciples struggled to understand that Jesus died for all people and nations.

Do we persist in prayer like the Canaanite woman?

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the examples of faith you have given us in Scripture. Help us to acknowledge our needs, be humble, trust in your mercy and be persistent in prayer. Thank you for accepting Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross so that all people and nations can have a personal relationship with you. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Stuart lives with his wife Pamela Dalgliesh in Mansfield, in the beautiful High Country of Victoria. In between helping to maintain a large garden and domestic orchard with 80 fruit trees, Stuart is a volunteer mentor for learner drivers, a Red Cross patient transport driver and is involved in a very active Mansfield Anglican church community. Stuart loves travelling, being outdoors and maintaining a fit and healthy lifestyle.

Joyful expectation

by Pauline Simonsen

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May God be gracious to us and bless us (Psalm 67:1a).

Read Psalm 67

We have heard and seen this week our God’s salvation for wilful humans, and that God’s heart is grace: undeserved mercy. We’ve seen this repeatedly in the Bible, and we see it in our own lives. Pause for a few moments and think of God’s goodness to you, entirely undeserved. Given to you, simply because the Lord loves you. Maybe name those gifts out loud – such as precious people, a home, daily food, good work – and thank God for them.

Truly, our only prayer as humans can be:

God, continue to be gracious to us! Continue to bless us with your wise provision and help. Continue to look upon us with your love. Continue, God, to be you: rich in mercy, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Then the people of the earth will know who you are, when they see your faithfulness and how you save and care for your people. And they will praise you too! All the people groups of all the nations will see, know and rejoice with us. They will see how our God rules with justice, and causes the earth to flourish for all people. ‘God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will honour him.’

The psalmist’s praise song sounds so positive, but it may seem a forlorn hope to us today, as we look at a world increasingly hostile to the God we know in Jesus. People are more wilful and rebellious against the Lord than ever. How unlikely that they will all recognise and praise the Lord!

But the psalmist’s prayer is right. Like Isaiah (see Isaiah 52:10), the psalmist prophetically prays in faith, declaring that all people of the earth will see the grace and salvation of our God.

And as we say this psalm with him, we speak prophetically into the future, declaring that the Lord Jesus will return to judge with equity and to rule with goodness. Every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord, to the praise and glory of God.

Psalm 67 looks back to God’s faithfulness in the past, to his goodness in the present, and to his glory in the future.

Hold fast – God will bless us, and all the earth will praise our Lord!

Remind us, Lord God, when we see only the wickedness of our world, that your grace and salvation never fail! Lift our eyes to the horizon to look with joyful expectation for the coming of our King Jesus, when this psalm will be fulfilled. Amen.

Pauline lives in sight of the ranges in the beautiful Manawatu region of New Zealand with her husband Roger and their two cats. There, she leads Emmaus Bible College and offers spiritual direction and supervision to people from a wide range of backgrounds and denominations.

God never turns away

by Pauline Simonsen

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Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ (Romans 10:17).

Read Romans 10:16–11:1

Think of the times you’ve turned your back on God in the past week. When he’s been speaking, and you’ve metaphorically put your fingers in your ears and started saying ‘la, la, la’ very loudly. Like turning over and going back to sleep when you wake early in the morning with an invitation to spend some time with God. Or ignoring the prompt to connect with the person who keeps coming into your mind. Deciding to indulge the bad habit, even though you know it’s wrong. Telling yourself you’ll read the devotion ‘later’. Yeah, me too.

God is always speaking to us, calling us to him, but humans seem to be hardwired to reject him and to turn away from his invitations to come to him. Even we who have been redeemed by him, reborn in our baptism, made his children – we still struggle with this old nature that doesn’t want God. The Apostle Paul knew the struggle too. He lamented: ‘I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate’ (Romans 7:15).

It’s not like we haven’t heard the word of God; we have, over and over, from parents, pulpits, podcasts! It’s not like we don’t understand who God is in Jesus and what God has done for us. The Israelites had the same struggle, as Paul says in today’s reading. They heard, they understood – but many of them still rejected God’s word about Christ. The problem is human wilfulness, our ‘old Adam’. Paul quotes Isaiah quoting God: ‘All day long I have held my hands out to a disobedient and obstinate people.’ That’s Israel in captivity; Jonah in the belly of the fish; failing, sinking Peter; you and me – we are all those disobedient, obstinate people. Surely God gets sick of our repeated rejections of him? Surely he will turn his back on us?

‘No!’ says Paul. God will not reject his people. God still speaks his beautiful message of grace, the good news: the word about Christ. We hear again that God’s mercy in Jesus never ends, and with the Holy Spirit’s help, we believe. We put our faith in the one who is grace incarnate – our Jesus, standing before us right now, saying, ‘Come.’

Beloved Jesus, we hear you now, calling us to yourself, like you called Peter out of the boat. O loving Lord, help us to come to you and follow you today. Forgive our wilfulness, and with your Spirit’s help, give us hearts to love you, Lord, and to obey you this day. Amen.

Pauline lives in sight of the ranges in the beautiful Manawatu region of New Zealand with her husband Roger and their two cats. There, she leads Emmaus Bible College and offers spiritual direction and supervision to people from a wide range of backgrounds and denominations.