Crumbs, that’s enough for this woman.
The crumbs that fall from the table are enough.
You really have to wonder at Jesus intention in going to Tyre, a city located north west of Galilee, where he fed the 5000 and walked on water.
Tyre is located in the province of Sidon and sits as a shipping port on the beautiful Mediterranean Sea.
It would be a welcomed break from the inland life that seemed to characterize Jesus ministry.
Here he was with the disciples, far away from the crowds that always seemed to find him, perhaps a moment of peace, but someone shouting soon breaks the peace.
“Have mercy on me Lord, Son of David, my daughter is tormented by a demon,” a Canaanite woman shouts out.
Now if you know anything about the relationship between Canaanite’s and Jews, you know that this is bound to be a bad situation.
The Canaanites worshipped Baal and various other gods.
They always lurked on the doorstep of the Jewish territory, threatening to enslave and destroy.
Why Jesus has decided to visit this of all places is a mystery but even more strange is his response to this women.
Silence.
When it came to the Pharisees and Sadducees, the leaders of the Jews, Jesus always has a response.
He rebuffs them at a moments notice and leaves them silent.
Suddenly the tables have turned and for whatever reason Jesus says nothing.
However the disciples aren’t nearly as quiet as you might well imagine.
They know exactly what to say to this Canaanite woman, a symbol of all that threatens the Jewish political and religious system, who has the audacity to ask Jesus for mercy.
In not so many words “Get her out of here Jesus.”
But once again Jesus response is peculiar.
This time its not silence but “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Really?
That’s the best you’ve got Jesus.
This sounds like it was taken directly out of the policy manual for Messiah’s.
It’s like when you go to the store to return something without a receipt and the teller says, “I can only exchange that if you have a receipt,” end of story.
It’s the policy after all and we have to stick to the policy right?
After all the policy or rules are there to keep order.
They tell us what we can and cannot do.
They help us know where the boundaries are and when we are about to step over them.
They give us structure so that things are predictable and well laid out.
But this woman is not impressed with Jesus policy.
There she is standing at the counter and getting a “Sorry we can’t do anything about that ma’am,” type of response from Jesus and she persists.
Three simple words.
“Lord, help me.”
She doesn’t argue with him or engage in debate she just presents her request as simply as she can.
“Lord, help me.”
These are the words of a person who is at the end of there options.
These are the words of someone in a house burning down or drowning in a lake and all they can do is say “Help.”
You would think at this point that Jesus, the one whose been preaching love your enemy would have mercy.
But what comes out of his mouth next is offensive.
“It’s not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs,” he responds to her plea for him to help her son tormented by a demon.
How heartless and cruel.
This woman, who begs mercy for her son possessed by a demon, is likened to a dog.
As if she’s not already beaten enough, begging for mercy, asking for help, barely able to keep her head above water and Jesus seems to take his foot and push her under the water one last time.
This encounter is truly disturbing.
But she is not out for the count just yet.
Realizing that begging for mercy and asking for help cannot change Jesus mind she says one last thing in response to his dog comment.
“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table.”
And with these words the dam of mercy breaks wide open.
Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
An encounter about dogs and crumbs that ends in mercy.
It’s a strange route that Jesus takes to get to this final statement of mercy and we finally get there with her last response
“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table.”
“Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table.”
Crumbs are enough.
She isn’t going to call out Jesus for referring to her as a dog.
She doesn’t demand a big slice of bread.
She simply points out that there will be crumbs that fall from this feast that’s happening and those who are a part of it, even the dogs skulking around the table edges, will get something.
And in the end that something is enough because it only takes a crumb, a touch, a word from God’s table to change everything.
In a world that demands more this image is tough to swallow.
We stand for equal rights for men and woman, for people of all cultures and backgrounds.
We try to feed the hungry as good as we can with our food bank and gift cards.
Jesus should be welcoming her to the table as an equal and putting generous portions on her plate.
Instead she’s relegated to the status of a dog who wanders the edges looking for what others do not want.
She’s a Canaanite women from the city of Tyre in the province of Sidon.
She’s as far away from the mission that Jesus was sent to fulfill as he can get.
But this encounter changes all of that.
In his response to her Jesus draws a border around the Jewish world and therefor around Gods table.
Why he does this is hard to tell but this woman simply points out that the edge of the table is not end of Gods mercy.
Gods mercy drops off the edge onto the floor where those of us who are at the edge for whatever reason, gather up the crumbs of mercy.
I am reminded of a similar yet contrasting image from our own time.
It’s the same image of a feast going on while along the edges those who are not at the main table pick up the leftovers.
It’s called trickle down economics.
Here’s how it works.
Corporations and those who own them are given tax breaks, incentives, and whatever it takes to lure them into the country.
The hope is that as they come to Canada, the US or wherever, there will be residual benefits for the general population.
There will be jobs, the corporations will pay more taxes on higher earnings and all will benefit.
The wealth from the top will trickle down to those at the bottom.
The problem with this image is what trickles down is never really satisfying.
It appeases the masses until they become restless and decide that they to want to be at the main table and so we have things like the French Revolution happening or the struggle for the rights of First Nations people.
All along the goal becomes getting to the table, getting more and never having enough.
While Jesus encounter with this Canaanite woman is harsh by today’s standards it is not about a trickle down effect.
In God’s kingdom there is enough for everyone.
Whether you’re sitting at the table or roaming around the periphery there’s mercy for all.
Jesus move is towards mercy not away from it.
Mercy is the end result even if during the process it seems as if he’s anything but merciful.
This is true of our own lives as well.
When the mercy of God seems far off and it seems as though life deals us one bad hand after another, this is not the last word.
The last word is God’s mercy however difficult the journey towards it is.
The crumbs that fall to the ground for this Canaanite woman in the city of Tyre in the province of Sidon are enough to heal her daughter.
They were enough for Kristine as she took her last breath this morning with her daughter by her side.
They are enough for us at this moment and for whatever we encounter on this journey.
They are enough.
Amen
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