But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ Jesus answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly. Matthew 15:25-28

Last week I wrote about a traumatic moment we experienced or rather, I shared about the emotional and spiritual aftermath. On our walk home after the fact, we were talking and processing our feelings and thoughts. To add insult to injury to an already bad day, it started to rain unexpectedly. Of course, we were without our umbrellas. The closest place with a shelter was an old cinema which has been converted into one of those prosperity gospel churches. They have a gift shop at one side and a woman stood outside its entrance selling cakes and coffee to church attendees or any passerby. There was an awning just above her and we stood under it waiting for the storm to pass.

A crack addict came up to the woman and asked if he could have a piece of cake. She did not reply to him but just shook her head to say no. The young man apologized for asking and just said that he was hungry. I was looking at this young man. He had a kind and friendly face. He did not look as bad as the other crack addicts. Most of the addicts are so lost in their own world that they lack the necessary social etiquette to interact with those outside their context. This young man was different. He did not insist when the woman refused to give him cake and was good natured about it. The woman was making a living. I suppose that she could not afford to give everyone free food although I think she could have been more pleasant about it. Momentarily, I forgot about all bad things which had happened and thought about buying something for this young fellow. I searched through my pockets to see if I had any change. Just then, the young man asked us if we could buy a piece of cake. He really looked hungry. I asked the lady how much the cake cost. Thankfully we had enough for it and a little more. I asked her to give him a piece. Strangely, she responded curtly saying that she only accepted cash payments. For some reason she was annoyed with us. The young man thanked us and starting devouring the cake. I asked him if he wanted a cup of coffee too. He nodded. We had the exact change for coffee and cake. Another crack addict arrived and asked if we could buy him a cake too. I told him that I did not have enough money for him. The young man divided his piece of cake and shared it with the newcomer. Then he took a sip from his coffee and gave the rest to this man. Before leaving, he thanked us again and went to a corner to sit down. The rain slowly subsided and we made our way home. Darkness and chaos tried to dominate our minds but we saw the powerful presence of Light prevailing.

Many judge the crack addicts by what they put into their bodies. They are deemed as thieves and criminals because of their addictions. In our personal experience living in close proximity where these poor souls hang out, I have never encountered nor seen any criminal act perpetrated by them. I am not saying that they are safe. They are unpredictable because of their mental state. They need help. More importantly, they need a heavy dose of love and compassion, not judgement and condemnation. The acts of violence we have seen and this time experienced were always committed by people who would be welcomed with open arms in any given church. Crack addicts and homeless people are not usually deterred from entering any church but they would not be welcomed in the same sense. If we are honest, we always feel a little unease with the presence of someone who doesn’t fit our idea of a “normal” attendee even when our spiritual sensibilities tell us that we should accept everyone and anyone. Most of us just ignore these feelings, sometimes pretending they don’t exist. In other times, we can even justify them. However, our Lord is different. He confronts them, not just in others but even in Himself.

The woman in the gospel story was a person who caused uneasiness among her Jewish neighbors. She was an outsider despite the fact that she lived among them and spoke their language. She had different dietary habits which they considered to be unclean. In other words, she was the “crack addict” of her society. People like her were often referred pejoratively as dogs because these animals eat anything. Dogs, in Jesus’ society, were tolerated vermin. Tolerated only because they provided some sort of protection to those who fed them. However, they were still vermin and people preferred if they did not exist altogether. Some preachers commit the sin of anachronism by saying that Jesus referred to her affectionally as “little dog”. Calling someone a dog in Jesus’ society was always an insult and never a term of endearment.

It could be argued that Jesus was being rude or racist or we could say that he was a complete human being. Our confessional creed reminds us that Jesus was fully human as well as divine. We tend to imagine that He was fully superhuman like the fantastic superheroes which seem to be the theme of every movie made presently. The problem of this mindset is that Jesus becomes a mere figure for us to admire and not imitate. However, the greatest form of worship is imitation. Someone said this and I can’t recall who. We can only imitate someone who is like us and faces the same challenges. Jesus shows the way to overcome some of the greatest barriers in humanity in order to build strong and eternal relationships. One of many dreadful traits which we, humans, possess is prejudice. We unconsciously inherit this from the community and society to which we belong. No one is free from it. It is not just about hating a person for whatever reason. Sometimes the more common way our prejudice is manifested is when we completely ignore certain people. In fact, this is the most common and worst form of prejudice. It was perfectly normal to overlook people like this Canaanite woman in Jesus’ society. There were historical and cultural and religious justifications for doing so. All these arguments were summarized in the term, “dog”. She was considered to be a like dog. Therefore, she did not deserve a place at the table with the children.

The disciples wanted Jesus to send her away. She was a nuisance and not contributing anything important to their cause. Instead, Jesus was open to her even though all the prejudices of his society informed him that she wasn’t worth his time. He did not treat her in a condescending manner. He argued with her. He believed that she was worth His time and energy. Jesus genuinely wanted to know her opinion. Consequently, this woman became the only person in the gospels to ever win an argument with Jesus.

“Even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table.”

This was her winning statement. For modern ears, it seems to be one wroth with self-loathing and low self esteem. One can always wonder why Jesus did not address this. There is a tragic element to this story. Unfortunately it is part of reality till today. All our modern sciences cannot solve it. It is something deep and profound. It is spiritual. When someone who has spent their whole life being called and treated like an outsider or second class citizen, they eventually accept this role just as a means of survival. No one coming from the outside will convince them that they are any different. This is true for our homeless children and youths too. Sadly, they believe and have accepted that they are discardable people. If we told them otherwise, they won’t believe us. However, this does not mean that they cannot overcome these lies. They can and will but not by persuasive arguments. There was something in this Canaanite woman informing her that she was worthy of receiving something from Jesus. Our Lord named it. It was her faith. This was more powerful than all the lies which she had heard in the past. It was more powerful than all the insults hurled at her person. Her faith gave her the confidence that she was worthy of God’s grace.

Jesus acknowledged this faith in this woman. Not by condescending to cliches and saying that she was worthy. He listened to her and acknowledged the Light of faith to shine brightly. It still shines today. Her response captivated the heart of the liturgical founder of the Anglican Church, Thomas Cranmer, who wrote the Prayer of Humble Access. It was the prayer which captivated my heart when I first stepped into the Anglican Church as a young teen. It’s role has evolved in my spirituality throughout the years. It used to be something personal and now I see it as the victory of faith over all the obstacles placed before us. I saw this faith in the young man as he shared his cake with his fellow addict. He was plagued by an illness but it did not hinder him from sharing love. We recognized his faith through his act of love and it restored our faith in humanity.