Dogs and Children
Matthew 15:21-28[1]
If you’re like me, dogs and
children are some of your favorite “people.” I know not everyone is a
dog-lover, but I definitely am. There’s something special about the
unconditional devotion that a dog gives you. Yes, they can be difficult and
challenging at times. But the joy I’ve received from the dogs I’ve known has
far outweighed the challenges. I don’t currently live with a dog, because I
think it would be unfair to keep any animal cooped up in my apartment. And
until recently, I didn’t spend much time at home. Most evenings had been taken
up with some kind of meeting or activity. So, I guess I would say my love of
dogs precludes me from living with one at this time in my life.
Of course, dogs weren’t always
treated like “one of the family.” And that’s true even today. In many places,
dogs are kept for the work they do. In some places, people use dogs to churn
out puppies for sale. In other places, they use dogs for the money they can
make from racing of fighting. These neglected and mistreated animals live a
hard life. The fortunate ones find their way to rescue organizations. One of
the best dog friends I’ve known was Roscoe, a French pointer mix, whom I
“rescued” in Houston. When we first met, he was very timid, but after a couple
of weeks he was flourishing. It was a joy to share that experience!
Our Gospel lesson for today speaks
about dogs and children in a way that we might find surprising. While Jesus was
in what was considered “foreign” territory, a gentile woman approached him and
asked him to heal her daughter. At first his response simply seems strange: “I
was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt. 15:24). But when
the woman continued to ask for his help, Jesus’ response seems downright
insulting: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the
dogs” (Mt. 15:26). For me, it’s hard to understand why Jesus would call this
woman a “dog!”
This encounter is confusing to me because
it is so out of character not only with Jesus but also with the rest of the
Scriptures. Even biblical scholars don’t quite know what to make of it. Some
think Jesus was testing the woman to see if her faith was genuine. But I don’t
buy that. When she approached him, she not only called him “Son of David,” acknowledging
him as the Messiah (which Jewish leaders refused to believe). She also called
him “Lord,” which is important because only those with genuine faith call Jesus
“Lord” in Matthew’s Gospel. I would say that any doubt about her faith in Jesus
is erased by the fact that she assumed a posture of worship—she knelt before
him.
Others have suggested that maybe
this was a test for Jesus. They take him literally when he says that he was
“sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and assume that Jesus truly
believed he was not meant to share God’s blessings with gentiles. And yet this
flies in the face of most of what we learn about Jesus in the Gospels. I think
it’s pretty clear that Jesus knew his mission was to benefit the whole world,
not just the Jewish people.
If this is a test, then the only
people left to test are the disciples. And, in fact, I do think that this whole
strange interaction between Jesus and this desperate mother was learning
opportunity for the disciples who wanted to send her away because she was
bothering them! I think Jesus was trying to demonstrate to them that God’s
mercy is not limited by ways in which we exclude people we consider to be
“other.” The disciples were the ones who thought it wasn’t right to take what
belonged to the Jewish people and share it with Gentiles, who in their minds were
no better than stray dogs. But Jesus will have none of this kind of thinking!
I think this is the point of the
whole chapter in Matthew’s Gospel. It begins with the Jewish leaders asking why
Jesus didn’t observe their boundaries about what (and who) was clean or unclean.
In reply, Jesus scolds them for “honoring” God with their lips while their
actions actually negated God’s commands. He proceeds to set aside their notions
of “clean” and “unclean.” I would say that, in this context, Jesus wasn’t
primarily talking about food, but rather about how wrong-headed it was to draw
lines that exclude people from God’s blessing. And following that, even his own
disciples failed to grasp the point when they wanted to send this woman away because
she was an “outsider.”
While we may not call those we
deem to be outsiders “dogs,” we can still disregard their humanity. I think
it’s telling that in the verses following, Jesus healed everyone who came to
him in this foreign territory. I can’t imagine that he first checked the color
of their skin, or their belief system, or their identity papers, or any of the
other things we still use to divide between “us” and “them.” Jesus knew in the
depth of his very being that God’s mercy is for all. In God’s sight there are
no “dogs” to be kept “outside” in kennels. We’re all beloved children of God!
[1] ©2020 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan
Brehm, Ph. D. on 8/16/2020 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
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