Faith of the Canaanite woman

She comes and speaks
Finding Jesus, seeking hope and healing
She is ethnically wrong
Her sex prevents her from asking help

The daughter has not been right
Suffering, they say under a demon
The mind never clear
The heart never finding a moment of peace

Faith and desperation make a interesting mix
Finding the healer who has found success
Noting it involves a trip into a strange land
A land questioning her very right to exist

Though she speaks Jesus acts as if he does not hear
As if she is not worth noticing
He continues to lecture to his apostles
She does not take silence for an answer

She continues to speak, asking for mercy, praying
When Jesus takes notice he turns away
Speaks some words to the disciples about this woman
Tells them that it is not right to give the children’s food to such a dog

The mind stagers at such cruelty
To ignore the womans very existence
To insult her as if she is not even there
Not even willing to address her directly

One is shocked at this Jesus
Is this the Jesus who had compassion on lepers?
Is this the Jesus who left Palestine and entered Greek cities?
Is this the Jesus who showed compassion to the Roman officer?

One is shocked at this Jesus
Is this the Jesus who chose to cross Samaria
The Jesus who showed compassion to the Samaritan,
The Jesus who offered nothing but love

One is shocked at this Jesus
Is this the Jesus who forgave the adulteress?
Seeing the men holding the stones
Yet his words to the woman were “neither do I condemn you”

The story does not end in harshness
Jesus begins to speak as expected
The woman addresses the Lord to his feet
Pointing out that the dogs are allowed to eat the table scraps

One wonders at the words of Jesus,
What he knows and does not know
We know he answered according to the questioners heart
His harsh words were spoken to the disciples –

Did he know the faith of the woman?
Did he only speak the thought of the disciples out loud?
Did Jesus wait for the rebuttal?
A lesson taught by the sharp mind given to the ‘least of these?’

The final words were then spoken
“Good answer”
“Your daughter is healed, you have great faith”
Apparent cruelty followed by high praise

So difficult to read and understand the contents of the hearts
The result is clear, for the daughter was in her right mind.

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Poem written in response to a sermon preached by Gary Getting at Hutchinson Friends Church today. I have too things to say about this: First, Gary’s spoken ministry was valuable today — he spoke the gospel, he was thoughtful, he was relevant, and he made me think. Second, Gary has suffered from me for many years. It is difficult to be a professional in the presence of an opinionated, loudmouthed amateur with identical education [down to same degrees from same schools] — and somewhat more time to pursue the hobby (Pastors are busy people, parents are busy people). I guess it would be even more difficult if I became a professional lay-theologian and lecturer at some university (personal dream, can’t afford Ph.D. studies at this time).

~ by michaeldavidjay on © August 3, 2008.