Faith says “Yes” to God’s “No”
Matthew 15:21-28
March 8, 2020 anno Domini – Redeemer
Faith says “Yes” to God’s “No.” You’re dying of cancer. You ask God to keep you alive until your daughter is married in June. That’s a good thing. Nothing wrong with that prayer. God says “No.” Faith says, “Yes Lord.” All lifelong you have struggled in your vocation. You didn’t hate your job, but it caused so much anxiety and stress that you lived for retiring early. You saved and scrimped and prayed that God would relieve you of this burden. Then the market collapsed and you suffered a serious and costly medical problem. God said, “No.” Faith says, “Yes Lord.”
But wait! That’s not how the text goes. The woman got exactly what she was asking for. This ought to be a sermon about how persistent prayer pays off. I ought to encourage you to pester the Lord like a preschooler pesters his mom in the candy aisle at Coborn’s. This Canaanite woman had stick-to-it-tiveness and so should you. That is what many preachers will preach from this text, but it is wrong. Nowhere in the Scriptures does it say that if you pester God He’ll give in or if you get a big battalion of prayer warriors together you can storm God’s throne and overpower Him. In fact the text is not so much about prayer as it is about faith and faith says “yes” when God says, “no.”
“No” is not a word we like to hear. That’s why all the politicians are saying “Yes” in this election year. Whatever you want I’ll get. Whatever you need I’ll supply. They are all “yes” men because not one of us wants to hear “No.” “No” you’re not going to retire at 65. We’re going to raise the age to 70. “No” your student loans aren’t going to be forgiven. You borrowed the money you can pay it back. “No” marriage cannot be between two men or three people. “No” we cannot afford to raise your social security payment this year.
All that Canaanite woman heard from Jesus was “no.” And yet, by every standard her prayer was perfect. She cried, “Have mercy on me, Son of David, my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” Have mercy, because I am nothing, a beggar before you. Son of David, you are the promised Messiah. My daughter is severely oppressed. I’m not asking for luck at the Casino. I praying against Satan and for my daughter.
Don’t push my next statement too far, but you should not worry too much about getting your prayers exactly right. God’s answer to prayer doesn’t depend on the “right” prayer. God answers prayer rightly because He is good and does the right thing for His children. This woman had the perfect prayer. Jesus answers with a “No.” He did not answer her a word. If you ask your husband to help clean the bathroom and you know he heard you and he doesn’t answer a word he does not want to help. Jesus heard the woman. He is the perfect man so He has perfect hearing. And He answered her not a word. That’s “no” number one.
His “no” did not deter the “yes” of her faith. She kept after Jesus. She raised her voice. She cried out. Jesus said, “No” again. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” It doesn’t get much clearer than that. Lady, you’re a Canaanite. Right now I’m only working among the Israelites. I’m not here for you. Not yet. That’s “no” number two.
A modern woman would have filed charges against Jesus with the human rights commission at the Sidonian Court House. Bigot, racist, misogynist. How dare you say that I’m less than an Israelite?
But not this woman. Jesus’ “no” does not stop her “yes.” He said, “I haven’t come for you,” and she comes to Him and worships Him. The word “knelt” in our translation is somewhat weak. She likely hit the ground at His feet – like a beggar before a rich man.
But Jesus isn’t finished with His “no”s. Before proceeding we need to remember this is Jesus. He knows what He’s doing. He’s God after all. He knows this woman. He knows her faith. He knows what she needs and what she can take. This is a troublesome text for us because we’re not Jesus. We don’t understand His “no”s. So men, if a woman of any age asks you to do something and it’s not sinful – don’t say “no.” You’re not Jesus. Jesus knows what He’s doing. You do not. Say “yes” and then do it.
Jesus’ final “no” is a nasty “no,” apart from faith. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” First, Jesus gave the woman no answer. Then He said “not for you Canaanite.” Then came the final blow, “Not for you woman, you’re a dog at the table trying to swipe the children’s bread.”
“Yes, Lord.” Are you kidding? “Yes” to the Lord calling you a dog? Yes to Him accusing you of trying to take something that isn’t yours? “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” She isn’t looking for the Israelite’s bread. She’s looking to the Master to see her dogging His heels in faith, trusting that He’ll give her a crumb. She doesn’t need much. She simply needs Jesus of Nazareth, to be the Messiah He is, and rid her daughter of the demon.
To the yes of her faith, to pinning Jesus down with His Word and not letting Him go until she is blessed, Jesus says, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” Martin Luther says that the woman caught Jesus by His Word.
Where does such faith come from? It does not come from within you, by your decision or will power. Scripture says you don’t have that faith in you. That faith comes from Jesus Himself, from the Holy Spirit who told you the good that Jesus did as the Son of God in human flesh.
Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, … was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes.” (2 Corinthians 1:19, ESV) How can you say “Yes” to God’s “No”? Because Christ Jesus is God’s “yes” to you. In His Son, this is what the Father is saying to you, “Yes, I want to save all men so My Son became a man. Yes, I want to redeem you from the debt of sin, so My Son paid that debt with His blood. Yes, I want to clothe you in His righteousness and make you my child, so My Son accomplished all righteousness for you. He took My anger so you could receive My love and mercy.” If Jesus is God’s “Yes” to you by saying “no” to sin, death, and hell having you, you can believe He is God’s Savior and you can always trust God to do good for you. That’s faith. You won’t find it with your eyes. You won’t find it in your willpower. You won’t have it apart from God’s Word and His Sacraments. Spiritual people don’t have this kind of faith. Religious people have this kind of faith, faith that religiously hears the Word, faith that religiously gathers with their fellow believers, faith that religiously eats and drinks the true body and blood of Jesus. Only by hearing, eating, drinking and praying God’s great “yes” in Jesus can one hear God say, “No” and then still say, “Yes, Lord.” In the name of Jesus. Amen.