June 2017 - Matthew 15 Verses 21 to 28

In today’s gospel reading from Matthew we have the account of the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus seeking healing for her daughter.

And as I looked at this and prayed about it I started to see God’s planning in the story. In fact I realised that God had planned and watched over the whole story from beginning to end.

And as with a cake recipe, several ingredients in this story come together to make the whole plan work.

So, this morning I’d like to look at these ingredients and see what we can learn from them.

Firstly though we need to understand that God was in ultimate control of this whole situation. He had watched over the mother and daughter all their lives and he understood their situation perfectly.

He understood all about the demon that was tormenting the daughter and the grief it was causing this lady.

He had seen this lady’s suffering and he decided to engineer a solution.

He devised a plan for the daughter’s healing and what occurs as we read the story is the fulfilment of this plan.

Paul says in his letter to the Romans that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

And that is what we see occurring in this story.

We see God working for the good of both mother and daughter in this distressing situation and his plan is to turn their heartbreak into joy and to be glorified through the healing that will occur.

Furthermore, his plan is that this healing would be recorded in the bible for us to read and learn from today.

The lady has a major part to play herself – but God has provided her already with everything she needs to see his plan fulfilled.

So, let’s look at some of the ingredients in this plan.

Firstly, the Canaanite woman’s desire to see her daughter healed is motivated by love. She is desperate to find a solution to her daughter’s suffering because she loves her.

And really everything that we ask God for and pray for should be motivated by love. Our prayers should spring from a desire to see the people around us blessed and saved and healed. And to see those further afield who are hurting or suffering, touched and helped by God in some way.

When we pray in Jesus’ name we are praying in line with his character and will. We are asking for things to be done as he would want them done. We are asking for his good and perfect will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So, this lady’s desire to see her daughter made well and the demon cast out is in line with God’s will. And when we pray out of love we too will find that we are praying in line with God’s will

Secondly this lady looks in the right place for her answer. She looks to Jesus.

She doesn’t turn to spiritualist healers or Eastern mystics. She looks to the God who created her and who created her daughter. The one who understands them both perfectly and loves them deeply. The one who knows their every thought.

And the only one with the power and the authority to bring about her daughter’s healing.

And if we have problems in our lives – we too should turn Jesus – because he is the only one who truly knows us and loves us and can help us.

Thirdly this lady has a living faith. Although she is a Gentile and not a Jew she recognises that Jesus is the Messiah. She calls him Lord – son of David.

She recognises the identity of the one she is addressing and she knows that he can help her.

Like the Roman centurion who knew if only Jesus would speak the word of command his servant would be healed – this lady knows that a word – a crumb - from Jesus is all that is needed for her daughter to be healed.

But of course the faith this woman has – has come from God. It is a gift from him. God has built this faith in her life beforehand in preparation for this moment – so that she will be able to receive the healing he wants to give her.

And God wants to build faith in our lives – so that we too can receive help and healing and encouragement from him.

Fourthly this lady is determined and persistent, although she has every reason to be dismayed and to give up and go home.

Jesus at first ignores her and the disciples try and turn her away. But she carries on crying out to God.

Jesus teaches us in the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge – that we should be persistent in prayer.

Perhaps you’ve been calling out to God – and he seems to be ignoring you.

Well he isn’t. Like Jesus in this story – perhaps he wants to test your faith and see if it is genuine. Will you keep on knocking at God’s door and asking until you get an answer?

Sometimes it can take years for our prayers to be answered. This is particularly true when we are praying for someone’s salvation or healing but if we know that we are praying for something that is in line with God’s will we should persist and not give up.

Fifthly God arranges the meeting between Jesus and this lady. Often in bible stories we see God arranging meetings. For instance in Acts chapter 8 when Philip meets the Ethiopian eunuch.

And in the gospels particularly we see Jesus going exactly where God the Father wants him to go and meeting the people God wants him to meet.

He is always in the right place at the right time. And it’s interesting that we are told in verse 21 that Jesus goes to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

God is moving him into position for his plan to be fulfilled. And like-wise he ensures that this lady gets to hear that Jesus is in town.  

None of this is random or lucky – it is planned. And of course God plans for us to be in the right place at the right time. He deliberately brings people across our paths that he wants us to help or bless in some way.

Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God has prepared places for us to be and people for us to meet – so that we can be an answer to their prayers – and sometimes so that they can be an answer to our prayers.

Sixthly God has given the woman sufficient spiritual insight and wisdom to be able to answer Jesus when he tests her by pointing out that she is a Gentile and he has been sent firstly to the Jews.

We may be shocked that Jesus uses the term dog to describe Gentiles – but this was a term that was commonly used by Jews to describe Gentiles – whom they considered as likely as dogs to receive any blessing from God.

Much of Jesus’ ministry, however, involved turning expectations and prejudices on their heads and he does precisely that in this situation.

I think he uses the term here ironically to make a point to his disciples. You may consider this woman a dog – but she is deserving of my help – and to prove the point – he heals her daughter.

So, as we look at this story we see God working in a difficult and distressing situation and turning it around for good.

And this is what God still does today, where people have faith in him.

In situations where there is hopelessness and hurt and division, He works to bring hope and healing and reconciliation.

To reiterate – the bible verse I quoted earlier from Paul’s letter to the Romans - in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

If you are God’s child and you have put your faith in him – he is always working for your good.

His intention – as you submit yourself to him and co-operate with him - is to bless you and help you and heal you and deliver you - because he loves you and he wants the best for you.

This doesn’t mean that problems and suffering won’t come our way but when they do – God wants to help us through these situations and to bring good things out of them for us.

And this is why we should thank and praise God particularly when times are difficult and we are struggling with life.

As Paul says in his letter to the Thessalonians; “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I know this is not an easy thing to do particularly when things seem bleak – but as we start to realise that God is on our side and working for our good we should start to thank him in faith for this.

Thank you Lord that you love me and that in the midst of this difficult time I am going through, you are working out your plan to help and deliver and bless me.

I recently read a very good little book called From Prison to Praise by an American Army chaplain called Merlin Carothers.

And in this book he explains how he came to see the importance of praising and thanking God in all situations.

And as he points out in the book we should do this – not because we feel like it – but out of obedience – because it is what God tells us to do.

And sometimes we may need to do it through gritted teeth – but when we start to actively put our trust and faith in God – he will respond.

When we resent and complain about our situation it diminishes our faith – but as we start to trust God and to thank him for what he is doing – even before we can see any results - our faith grows.

He gives few examples in his book of the power of prayer with thanksgiving, including recounting how his own hay fever was healed.

He’d asked God to heal him from it for years without success. But then he changed his tack – and when he started suffering from it he decided to thank God instead.

Lord you know all about my hay fever – and I choose to trust you with it. I thank you that you understand me and that you love me and I thank you for the good plan you have for me including my hay fever even if I have to suffer with it for a while.

Soon after he adopted this approach he was healed.

So, to tie up what I want to say today – just as he did for the Canaanite woman - God has good plans for us and those we love.

And if we have put our faith and trust in him – whatever situation we may be facing – we can be confident that God is working for our good in it – even if we don’t understand it.

Of course, like the Canaanite lady we need to play our part in seeing these plans come to fruition – by praying out of love. By looking to Jesus for our answer and by recognising that he is our Lord and God. And by being determined and persistent in prayer.

Most importantly, even though it may not be easy, we should put our trust in him and his love for us – and start thanking him in faith for working for our good in the situations we are facing in our lives.

I’d like to close in a moment with a brief time of prayer and reflection where you can respond to God in your hearts to what I’ve said this morning.

If there are situations that are troubling you at the moment I believe that God wants you to realise that he loves you; that he has a plan to help you and that he is working for your good and the good of those you love.

And if you can accept this I’d urge you to start thanking him in faith for what he’s doing.

So let’s pray and spend a few moments talking quietly in our hearts to God .