Another
week, and more news of violence and destruction.
Another
week, and more news of corruption by politicians and others
another
week, and it seems like life is just getting stranger all the time.
And
on a personal level there are people who are ill, grieving, lonely and in pain.
And
yet we meet each week, we are here again this morning.
Often
in looking at the Matthew passage I think about the social context and the
religious context. Today I want us to think what it would be like to be this
woman. As a parent, grandparent, and friend what would you be prepared to do to
help a child in need? And not just any child, for those of you with children
and grandchildren what would you do for your child, for your grandchild?
The
current events in the USA, where another young black man has been killed by a
police officer, some of the comments that I have been reading have surprised
me. One person, who has black skin, talks about how she was taught by her parents to
always have her hands out in the open while they were shopping, so people would
not accuse her of stealing. Always have receipts in view so people knew that
you had paid for what you had in your hand. Growing up in the United States
with black or brown skin meant being constantly on guard.
And
mother of a white child writes of all the things she didn't have to tell her
son, to keep him out of trouble, the way black mothers have had to.
And
I think of the situation with surrogacy and the baby Gammie.
And
stories of women in detention centres, thinking that if they let their children
be adopted by Australians then their child will be safe.
Parents
and grandparents would do almost
anything for their child to be healed, to be safe, to be free. And the woman we
hear about in Matthews gospel is doing exactly that. Somehow or other she has
heard about Jesus and she is not going to take no for an answer.
This
woman talks of only wanting the crumbs, yet she is talking to Jesus, who is the
one who fed over 5000 people and had food leftover. She is willing to accept a
scrap, knowing that just the tiniest piece of God's grace can heal her
daughter.
We
are told that this woman's faith is great enough for her daughter to be healed.
Yet just last week we were hearing about how little faith the disciples had.
I
wonder how do we measure faith?
Having
been a science student I am familiar with metres and gallons, light years, and
nanometres, amps, and decibels. We know how to measure noise and distance,
volume and light intensity; but how do you measure faith?
How
much faith is enough? What does that mean that she is a person of great faith?
What is it
about her faith, that it would be described as great faith?
She is
persistent, she is honest about her situation, she asks for help, she
recognises who Jesus is. Are these the things that make for having a great
faith?
This woman
does not accept Jesus initial response, she answers back, she does not let the
standard boundaries stop her from getting what she wants, and she gets Jesus to
act. Maybe this is what makes her faith great.
The
woman wanted her daughter healed.
I
wonder, what is it that we want?
Do
we have enough faith?
What
is enough faith?
the
disciples are told they have little faith.
Peter
had enough faith to get out of the boat, but not enough to stay on top of the
water.
The
woman had enough faith that her daughter was healed.
With
all the bad news we see each night on the TV, with the pain and brokenness in
our own lives, still we come together to hear God's Word, to confess our brokenness,
to sing praise to God, to pray for ourselves and others. One of the ways we
talk about the church is as a community of faith, a community that comes
together so that we are reminded of who we are and to whom we belong. We are a
community of faith that cares for each other, that seeks to follow in the way
of Jesus.
Do
we have faith that the world can change?
Do
we have faith that people will no longer be oppressed?
Do
we have faith that people can change?
It
seems to me that faith is not measured in the quantity that we hold for
ourselves, faith is not something that we can store away for a rainy day. Faith,
enough faith, is when we act.
Where
is God calling you to put your faith into action today?
