A true story:  A small congregation in the Smoky Mtns. built a new church on a tiny piece of land willed to them by a member.  Ten days before the new church was to open, the town building inspector informed the pastor there was a serious problem.  Their parking lot was inadequate for the size of their building.  Until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use their new church.

          Unfortunately, the church with its tiny lot had used every inch of flat land except for the hill against which it had been built.  In order to have more parking, they'd have to move the hill.  Undaunted, the pastor announced the problem the next Sunday morning and said he'd meet that evening with all members who had "mountain moving faith."  They would hold a prayer session asking God to remove that hill and to somehow provide the money to pave it before next Sunday's dedication.  24 of the congregation's 300 members showed up and prayed for nearly three hours.  At ten o'clock the pastor said, "Amen!  We'll open next Sunday as scheduled.  God has never let us down before, and I believe He will be faithful this time, too."

          The next morning there came a knock at the door of his study.  A rough looking construction foreman came in, "Excuse me, Reverend.  I'm from Acme Construction Company.  We're building a huge shopping mall over in the next county and we need some fill dirt.  Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that hill behind your church?  We'll pay you for the dirt we take and pave all the exposed area free of charge.  But we need it right away.  We can't do anything else until we get fill dirt.  What do you say?"

          Needless to say, the little church was dedicated the next Sunday as planned, parking lot and all.  And there were quite a few more members with "mountain moving faith" than there had been the previous week!  What about you?  Would you have shown up for that prayer meeting?  And if you did, would have believed the pastor?

          We are people who reach out for things in life.  When we see what we want, we go after it.  Sometimes we reach for the wrong things and sometimes they're the right things.  In this text Jesus found a woman reaching out to Him who wanted something good - for her daughter to be healed.  She had a faith that would move mountains, and the Lord granted her wish.

          She was a Canaanite, the equivalent of a Native American.  Her people had been killed and pushed out of their homeland hundreds of years before.  She had evidently maintained her ethnic identity among a people who could be very cruel to those who were different.  Her coming to Jesus for help was bold and courageous.  She knew she'd be treated harshly, but her love for her daughter spurred her on.  She reached out to God because it was all she had left to do.

          She'd tried everything else, and now she was coming to a Jewish Rabbi for help.  But her reaching out involved risk, a risk she was willing to take.  "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  She knew who she was reaching out to - the Lord, the Son of David.

          The Lord's response is surprising.  First He said nothing.  Typical of men, the disciples thought that meant she was a problem and wanted Jesus to send her away.  But why didn't they send her away?  I suppose they wanted Him to solve the problem.

          Then He said something surprising, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."  That sounds pretty harsh, like, "I haven't got time for you - go somewhere else!"  There are times when God seems to treat us that way.  We pray and plead but no answer comes.  Sometimes things even get worse as we pray.  It seems God wants us to go somewhere else.

          But Jesus was testing this woman.  And He will test us also.  God always hears us.  There's never a prayer He doesn't hear.  But often He gives us time to think.  He wants to see if we really want what we're asking for, that we want it enough to keep asking, maybe even plead as we reach out.  He wants to see if we're willing to trust Him, or if we'll grow tired and quit.

          When Jesus says nothing, this woman doesn't quit.  She asks Him again and again.  She doesn't worry that others think she's a nuisance.  She was not there to win friends and influence people.  She pleaded with the Lord and finally He spoke again, "It's not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."  Whoa - cutting words!  He called her a dog!  She was no better than the animals that beg for food!  Most of us would have been shocked at this.  How dare Jesus say such a thing?  That's against the law!  People today could say, "I don't care if He is God - He has no right to say that!  Where's my lawyer?"

          You and I have become such vain people.  We've been told to be proud of who we are, to not let anyone push us around, and for sure, to never tolerate anyone calling us a name.  Whether minorities or not, some of us have become so touchy that when someone insults us, we immediately find a lawyer or call the ACLU.  In the old days, when insulted, we defended ourselves with our fists.  Frankly, I think a battle of the fists consumed far less time and was far more rewarding than a battle in the courts.  But we don't do that now.  We have become such a vain and touchy people.

          But this Canaanite woman wasn't touchy.  She brushed aside His comment and said, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."  Whoa!  This woman won't quit!  She has guts!  She looks Jesus straight in the face and says, "Lord, You have what I need, and I won't leave until I get it!"  That's faith!  That's real courage and that's real faith.  She reached out to God and kept on until He saw her faith in action.  And Jesus did.  "Woman, you have great faith!  Your request is granted."  And her daughter was healed that very instant.

          Would you have stayed with Jesus after what He said?  Would you have trusted Him or stomped off angrily?  Would you have gone to the prayer meeting at that little church in the Smokies?  Would you have believed the preacher?

          Another true story:  A Lutheran church wanted to build a school, but their lot was uneven and couldn't be used.  They were told it would take 5,000 yards of fill costing $30,000 or more, so they prayed about it.  One day a contractor came by and said, "We're digging a huge hole and need a place to put the dirt.  Could we put it in that deep hole in your land?  It's about 5,000 yards."  The congregation was overjoyed at the answer to their prayer until they were told they would need 1,200 more yards to complete the fill.  As they met to pray over this, the contractor called the pastor with news:  There was more dirt than he thought - about 1,200 yards more.

          You see, it all takes faith.  When you and I reach out to God, He's there to listen.  He knows our needs and well provides them.  He won't turn His back on us.  He may take time with His answers, but He never forgets us.  He is a real God of real love for real people.  He cares about us and will help all who reach out to Him in faith.

          When you and I lay our problems at His feet, He sees them.  When we box up our cares and send them to Him sealed with "faith," miracles happen.  When you go to Jesus, expect a miracle because that's what He does best.  He fixes the tiniest care or the biggest dilemma.  He loves us all, no matter what we've done.  He cleanses the dirtiest heart of the most terrible sinner that repents.  Just reach out to Him.

          And when we do, we'll hear Him say, "Woman...man...child, great is your faith!"  Let's pray:  Dear Savior, thanks for loving us.  Thanks for hearing our prayers.  Help us, Lord, not to grow weary of waiting for Your answers.  Forgive us our pride and vanity, because, Lord, Your crumbs are enough.  Thanks for giving us them.  Amen!

Copyright © 1999 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.