Understanding God’s Unmerited Grace Through the Canaanite Woman

Introduction

This talk was given at St. Peter’s Church on March 16, 2025. Revd. Mark Fletcher explores God’s unmerited grace through the story of the Canaanite woman, revealing how humility and faith unlock divine mercy. We discover that we are all outsiders who need grace, just like this persistent woman who found crumbs enough for healing.

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. That amongst these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Who knows where that comes from?

Declaration of Independence 1776. Wonderful sentiment. I have a couple of problems with it though. Anybody suggest what they might be?

Here’s my problem. It wasn’t true then. It wasn’t self-evident. And 250 years later, it still isn’t self-evident. That there are huge inequalities between people. Your wealth, your nationality, your race, all have an enormous impact on your experience of life and how you are treated. If a child was to die of starvation in Switzerland, there would be an outcry.

But if a child dies of starvation in the Horn of Africa, it is barely news. Though we might say that we believe everyone is equal. In practice we want equality first for ourselves and then for those close to us. And yet, of course, equality is exactly how God created the world. That very concept of equality is based on the biblical foundation, that we are all made in the image of God, that in Christ there is no male or female slave or free.

That is how things should be, and that is how things will be. That is our future. In eternity it will be exactly like that. But I suppose my question is do you believe that the blessings of God are for everyone equally, or are there those that you struggle to imagine could be part of God’s kingdom because of their culture or lifestyle or religion?

Well, if you have people that you struggle to imagine, could be here in church with us. The disciples do too. And they are going to meet someone today who challenges all of their prejudices. So Jesus and the disciples are traveling in the far north of the country, in the Borderlands. They went away to the District of Tyre and Sidon, and there they met a Canaanite woman.

Now, the Canaanites were an ethnic group. Believed to be descendants of one of the grandsons of Noah, but they had rebelled and were excluded from the purposes and covenant of God. And so this woman was part of a group of people who were hostile and distant and who were outsiders. But of course, she’s in a desperate circumstance.

Her daughter is desperately unwell, and as a result of that, she would be shunned by her own community. And so this woman comes seeking the one person who she believes can help her. But just look at the lack of compassion in the disciples. In verse 23, the disciples came and urged Jesus saying, send her away for she keeps shouting after us.

Can you hear the disdain and prejudice in those words? The disciples certainly didn’t think that she was someone worth caring for her. And Jesus speaks to her and she says, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. Now, you might ask the question, surely Jesus cares for everyone. And of course you’d be right, but the geography of this is interesting.

Jesus is at the far north, the boundaries of Israel, and there is an almost unlimited need, and he has a job to do, and time is short. He’s in fact going to turn around at this point and head back to Jerusalem to achieve what he’s doing. God’s plan of redemption has always been for the rescue of a particular group of people, and that those people will then be a light to the nations, a blessing to the world.

That’s generally how God works. He chose Israel. He chose the disciples. He chooses the church to be a blessing to the world. Jesus says, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. However, there is something about this woman. She kneels down and she says, have mercy on me, Lord, son of David. How does she know who he is?

And she uses this really quite profound biblical messianic title to describe Jesus. The disciples were only just coming to terms with who Jesus was. How did she know? And it seems very clear that God is at work in unexpected people and unexpected places. It’s as if when a light is lit on a hill, it shines out and people can see it for miles, and she has seen it and she has come.

However, did you notice Jesus does not make it easy for her? And I’m not really very comfortable with this. Verse 26, he says it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs. So the phrase dogs would be a sort of common word to describe non-Jewish people. And Jesus is saying, listen, I came to save the children of Israel, the lost sheep, the people of God.

What’s he saying to her? He’s saying, woman. You have no right to this. You have no right to this. And I suspect that a lot of us imagine that we do have a right. And I wonder whether a lot of our problems come from thinking that God owes us something. And that could have been it for her. She could so easily have taken offense.

How dare you? Who do you think you are? And I suspect that for many people it would be the same because there is this challenge the Bible tells us, of course, that we are hugely important, that we are of infinite worth because we are made in the image of God.

But that is only half the story, isn’t it? That’s the half of the story that we like, but the other half of the story tells us that we have all gone astray. We have all wandered far from God, like the prodigal son. We have sinned. God’s image in us is marred and fractured, and the brokenness of our world is in large part due to what we have done.

The long history of division and conflict is a consequence of the tragic legacy of our sin. We have no right to the grace of God. That’s what grace means. It is unmerited love. I am struck. I think that there is this offense in Christianity and in a world where we’re so afraid of giving offense, it means that we’re very often afraid to speak the good news of Jesus.

By contrast, Jesus is not afraid of giving offense, and that in actual fact it is that which is a key, which opens the door to that which is to follow. Because for Jesus, there is something far more important at stake than simply someone being offended. And this woman relies not on her own worth, but on God’s goodness and mercy and a very smart answer.

So verse 27, she says. Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from under the master’s table. Do you see? She’s not indignant or self-important, but she is persistent because she knows that God is good. She says, I’m just asking for the crumbs that fell from the table. Isn’t it lovely? It is humble and full of faith, and I love it because do you recognize it?

It’s been enshrined in our communion service. So in the prayer of humble access, we say we are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table. The humble, smart answer of this Canaanite woman has gone into the heart of our faith, and so of course, she gets what she came for. Jesus answered her. Woman, great is your faith. Let it be done for you as you wish.

But the point of this story is that you need to remember this. She is us.

We are not the children. We are the outsiders, the aliens, the gentiles. We are those who have wandered far from God. And if we think we can rely on our own worth, we are mistaken. We just as much as this Canaanite woman need the generosity of God. We need grace. And I think that pride is such an obstacle to this.

Do you know the Saint Augustine quote that says It was pride that made angels and devils. It was pride that made angels into devils, and it is humility that makes men as angels. The season of Lent reminds us that it isn’t just about faith, but it is also about humility and repentance too. And all too often the obstacle to grace is our self-importance, our indignation or our pride.

We think that God owes us. This woman has no claim on God or his mercy, and yet in humility and faith, she takes hold of the promises of God and she sees his kingdom come to bear on her life. She brings the future into her presence. Eternity breaks in for her in this moment. And of course, she teaches us this other thing.

That God is at work in surprising people and surprising places. There’s a lovely idea articulated by a missionary theologian called Leslie Newbegin, and he describes it as the Missio Dei, the mission of God, and it’s this idea that God is not limited by our nations or our churches or our structures.

That he is at work in the world. And when we go out into the world, we discover that God is already there and already at work in people’s lives. That’s exactly what the disciples discovered here. And if it’s true of the Canaanite woman, then it is also true of your workplaces and your community and your friends.

That we should be looking out for those surprising places where God is at work and encouraging that and drawing it out. In humility and faith, this woman brings the future into her present. Eternity breaks in at this point, and it means that whoever you are and wherever you have come from, the grace of God is big enough for you.

In humility and faith, eternity can be yours too. So instead of the fear and the exclusion or the boundaries that we live with in our world, we look for the boundary breaking love of God. That Missio Dei, that work of God in our world. We look for glimpses of God going ahead of us and changing our world.

I think we need to change the way that we think about people, that we are looking for those signs of the kingdom of God in people’s lives. And it may well be that the most unlikely person is the one who has caught a glimpse of the light that has been lit in this world and is hoping for a saviour. So let’s just be still, shall we?

And let’s pray for that grace that we need each of us for that humility. And also to be part of that Misio Dei, that kingdom of God.

Thank you, father, that you have reached out and you have drawn us to yourself. Thank you that your grace is enough for us and we pray that you give us confidence that in the most unlikely corners of this world, you are at work and that your eternity is breaking into this world. You are breaking down the boundaries and the fear and the exclusion as we look forward to that time and place where we are united in you and all is equal in Christ.

Amen.