August 17 - A Pushy Faith is Great Faith

For our 2^nd lesson, we’ve been reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. That Christian community in Rome was relatively small, and many had been Jews before they became Christian. Most had come from someplace else, not necessarily by their own free will. Some are slaves, some the descendants of slaves. Some are comfortable, but none are you would call “well-off”. They lived in Rome but were not Roman citizens. They were an insignificant group and had no real power – and very little say in the decisions that shape their lives.

Can you imagine how they felt? Maybe you can. At times we may feel powerless – and subjected to forces beyond our control. Suddenly gas prices start going up and up – to unbelievable new heights – and then drop a little bit. Now they tell us the economy is in trouble. All kinds of prices are going up – but your salary isn’t going up - and the value of your house is going down.

On a more personal level, many of us have discovered that our health is another area where we are not in control. There is very little in life that we can be sure of – few certainties.

What can we count on? Paul’s answer for the little Roman church – and for us:

The gifts of God and the calling of God are irrevocable. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Romans 11:29,2

God’s promises are forever. Irrevocable - done, final - that’s it. You can count on it.

As individuals, we can review our choices, and change our choices after we’ve made our choices. There are few choices that people in our culture haven’t somehow found a way to wiggle out of. Not much is irrevocable.

But the gifts of God are irrevocable. The calling of God is irrevocable. God will not take back his gifts nor withdraw his call. He will keep his promises. God is faithful even when we are not.

But notice that the verse does not say the blessings of God are irrevocable. God has and does withdraw the blessing. Just read the Old Testament. Sometimes when the people fail to walk in God’s way, he withdraws the blessing: the rains may cease; the locusts my come. Seasons of blessing may be temporary.

But despite their disobedience, the Lord still offers his people mercy, as Paul writes:

So that he might be merciful to all 11:32

God continually extends his steadfast love to more and more people. He is willing to have mercy are all who come to Him. And he keeps calling His people back to himself.

Perhaps parents can best understand the heart which grants mercy in response to disobedience. It is a heart of love, despite behavior. A heart that values the relationship over punishment. A heart that puts more stock in the future than in the past.

Through it all, God’s call to us and God’s empowerment of us to do His will remain constant, even in those times when we’re not willing to get involved. God would be merciful to all, and calls us to be a part of His loving mission to bless and heal and reconcile. You are all on a mission from God to share the blessing - to share the love of Christ.

God’s call is irrevocable, but not irresistible. While God will not take back what he has offered, we are certainly able to reject it.

“God does not give up on his commitment - His promise - simply because it’s not working as planned with us.” Things may not be working out as planned, but that doesn’t mean God is giving up on commitments made, promises offered.

The gifts of God and the calling of God are irrevocable.

You can rely on God to keep His promises.

Eli Wiesel is a survivor of the death camp at Dachau. In a lecture he spent nearly an hour telling one story after another of the horror and despair of those bleak days in the '40s. Painfully, silently, the audience relived the events of Wiesel's young life in the death camp. Finally the stories ceased. His eyes dropped to the floor. There was no sound at all in the room. Then he repeated the question,

"After Auschwitz, can we still believe?"

He shook his head slowly, sadly, "No, no,..." before concluding powerfully, "but we must!"

Concerning whether or not to have faith, there is no choice. There was none for Eli Wiesel, for he discovered faith was the difference between life and death in that desperate situation. Those without faith and hope perished in their despair.

Somehow he was able to hang on to the faith that God would not desert him. In spite of the evil that surrounded him,

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.

The gifts of God and the calling of God are irrevocable.

His message was you can "Chose to believe anyway!"

Chose to believe even when surrounded by evil.

There is a lot we don’t understand. Why does God permit evil in the world? Why is there unmerited suffering?

O the depths and the wisdom and knowledge of God. God’s judgments are unsearchable,

and God’s ways inscrutable. 11:33

God’s wisdom and knowledge are far too deep for us to completely understand; they are unsearchable and beyond tracing. In spite of the things we can’t understand, we can chose to have faith. You may not feel you can have faith, have it anyway. You may not feel God loves you, believe it anyway. You may come to understand that you are not included, include yourself anyway.

Faith has no meaning apart from real life. Faith helps to get us through life – every uncertainty, every insecurity. Faith is sometimes seen as a passive action, a rock we rely on in difficult times that leads to acceptance of "the way things are", like terminal illness or a death in the family. These are valid times for such faith. We accept our fate and ask the Lord for the strength to endure. However, this kind of passive accepting faith can also be an excuse for not doing anything. Sometimes passive accepting faith is not the appropriate faith answer.

The Canaanite woman in this week's Gospel demonstrated a more active faith. She was not passive, but persistent to the point of being annoying. She wouldn’t give up hope. Her persistence, combined with humility and wit, won the day.

She was not a Jew, but a Canaanite – a foreigner, an outsider. When she came to Jesus with her request, the reaction of His disciples, ever mindful of what the Pharisees might think, was “Send her away.” Don’t have contact with this unclean Gentile.

Jesus has just had another disagreement with the Pharisees, and they’re watching to see what he will do. It almost seemed Jesus was going along with their request when he turned to her and said: “I have been sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 15:24

Jesus is a Jew; indeed, he is the Jew who stands as the culmination of all of Israel's history. Jesus can be the savior of all people only by remaining faithful to God's chosen people Israel.

At his point in His ministry, she is an interruption. Jesus and his disciples were preaching to Jews - and the Pharisees are already questioning his teaching. If he turns away from Jews to Gentiles, he’d be crossing the line, Jesus even uses a common Jewish expression for Gentiles, saying, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Matthew 15:25

But she immediately turns that phrase around to her advantage: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Matthew 15:27 Then Jesus said to her, Woman, great is your faith. Let it be done for you as you wish. Matt 15:28

“Woman, Great is your faith.”

Remember what Jesus had said to Peter in last week’s gospel: “You of little faith. Why did you doubt?” Perhaps, an embarrassing moment for Peter. The woman he wanted to send away - this unclean Gentile - has a greater faith in Jesus than he does. Jesus’ example of great faith is not Peter or one of the disciples, but a Canaanite woman.

Why?

Her faith exhibits persistence, and expectant trust. She doesn’t doubt – and doesn’t give up hope. Yet at the same time, she is humble and submissive.

This week's Gospel teaches us that Great Faith is a pushy faith that even may seem to annoy God by repeating the same request again and again.

* Her persistent and pushy faith is an example for us: Keep on asking God for help. It may seem that God is ignoring you, but He isn’t. Don’t give up.

* Remember her expectant trust Keep trusting that God loves each one of us - we are His children.

And he would be merciful to all 11:32 He is willing to have mercy are all who come to Him in faith.

We can confidently hope in the Lord for

“The gifts of God and the calling of God are irrevocable.

God is faithful even when we are not.

We can count on Him to keep His promises.