When we are desperate. Matthew 15:21-28

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Matthew 15:21–28

The woman in our story is desperate. 



She is a Gentile yet she comes to a Jew, and not just any Jew. She recognises him as Messiah, 'Son of David'. 
She is shouting. She is going to get his attention
She keeps on shouting even when Jesus' followers try to get rid of her. 
She persists when Jesus says nothing: 'But he did not answer her at all' (v23)
She even persists when Jesus tells her bluntly that he was not sent for people like her. He calls her a dog.
To put it in context, this is a rabbinic exchange: sharp but opening up the conversation and not ending it. It invites a response.

What I love about this woman is that there is no attempt at self-justification.

She does not bristle at what could be taken as a racial slur
She does not argue for rights. She asks for mercy. 
She simply recognises that she is coming with nothing and she is asking for gift. 
Yesterday I was speaking with someone who was struggling to understand why the Church was supporting them. 'But I’ve done nothing to deserve it'. But that is the point. None of us deserves it. It is why it is grace. 
She recognizes that it is all of grace, and that even a tiny bit of grace is all that she needs. 

It is then that Jesus honours her, her persistence and her faith in him - and heals her daughter. 

This is story of a woman on a journey to find Jesus. 

At first she meets what appears to be one Jesus: silent, surrounded by an in-crowd, unyielding.
But she actually discovers that underneath the silence and sharpness is one who is full of grace and mercy and truth. 

There is much to draw out.

Perhaps this might tie in with your own experience?

Maybe you are still in the first half of the story. We have come seeking Jesus, and we have been rejected by his followers. Or it seems that Jesus is silent. Or we meet with things that Jesus is saying that just seem wrong. 

The challenge is to ask ourselves: how desperate are we? 
Maybe we would find it very hard to shout out loud. It is just not us. But we are screaming on the inside. 
How convinced are we that Jesus is the answer, that Jesus is the one we need?

Some of you will know the Jesus prayer and find it very helpful.
'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner'.
If you notice, this woman prays the Jesus prayer before it had a name: 'Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David'. 

Much of the time we pray that prayer it is words. But there are times, as it was with this woman, when the prayer comes from the depths of the heart. 

And I also notice that this woman prays, 'have mercy on me; my daughter is tormented by a demon'.

I think that tells us something about intercessory prayer. 
When we pray for others we really are also praying for ourselves - because we love them and because what happens to them affects us. 
To take a personal example, we pray for peace in the Ukraine not just for the sake of those in Ukraine and Russia, but because the conflict personally touches us. We see the suffering and we suffer. 

And when we grow cold, and our intercessions become simply words, perhaps then we should pray - possibly with some desperation but also trust in Jesus - 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me ... and fill me with your love.' 

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