Isaiah 56:, 6-8

Matthew 15:21-28

Previously on our summer story sermon series:

Cheryl was up all night after the 4th of July fireworks waiting for her son, Robby, to come home. Given Robby’s past, she isn’t surprised that he hasn’t come back yet. But that hasn’t made it hurt any less, and it hasn’t made her miss her husband Tim any less, who died of cancer 9 years ago.

Cheryl’s cousin, Roy, has been preoccupied with his two, new retirement hobbies, gardening and daily bible reading, with both proving to be more challenging than he ever imagined. He won’t admit it, but he loses almost as much sleep worrying about his cousin, Cheryl as he does worrying about the deer who seem to thwart his gardening efforts daily.

After a couple weeks of wandering and totally by chance, Robby reconnected with his only friend from college, Jinny. They spent an evening at the lake together that was so amazing he thought he could spend the rest of his life with her. At the very least, he would have been glad to spend the summer listening to her talk about her latest adventure, even though it happened to be her Bible as Literature class.

As far as Jinny’s father was concerned, it was more than providential that his buddy’s amusement park was in need of someone to operate the Tilt-a-whirl. Robby was out of the house the next day, safely away from Jinny and actually earning money at the amusement park. Every morning since then, before the park opens, he has been out cutting down wild grapevines in return for his meager accommodations. During his breaks, you can find him either at the snack shack eating his daily dose of a delightful fried dough concoction called an elephant ear, or in the arcade bent over the toy grabber. He swears that there’s a real pearl ring in there!

This past week, Roy has been more agitated than usual. Robby finally called home. Well, sort of. He actually called Roy. It made sense - if you knew Robby. On more than one occasion Robby had ended up staying with Roy when he was a teenager... when he was just too much for Cheryl to handle. But, the fact that it made sense for Robby to call Roy didn’t make him any less upset.

He slammed the phone down. He hated being angry. How was he going to break it to Cheryl that Robby had called him before her? The boy was ok. That’s what was important. He could do worse than a steady summer job at an amusement park. But why did he keep breaking his mother’s heart?!? Roy fumed.

It didn’t help that Roy’s bible reading had thrown him for a loop once more. He had been stuck yet again in the book of Matthew. He’d worked through much of the parables with an occasional call to Pastor Lisa to clear things up. But this last passage had him all worked up. Roy hated being all worked up almost as much as he hated being angry. Wasn’t retirement supposed to be easy?!?

But he just couldn’t wrap his head around the story of the woman from Canaan. Roy knew that the Canaanites were the ancient enemies of Israel. But, Jesus was beyond all those old divisions, those old conflicts... or so Roy thought.

But, when this woman came to Jesus begging for help - for mercy for her daughter - Jesus flat out ignored her. That didn’t seem like the Christ-like thing to do from Roy’s humble perspective.

When his disciples asked Jesus to send her away because she was pestering them, Jesus said that he was only sent to the people of Israel. That also confused Roy. Wasn’t Jesus supposed to be the savior of the world?

But, then it got worse after the woman knelt before him, begging for help. Roy had to read Jesus’ response over and over again for it to sink in: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs?!? A woman comes to Jesus for help and this is how the Son of God, the Lord of the Universe, responds?!?

But she doesn’t give up. “Even the dogs get some crumbs from the table,” she says.

After that, it all changes. For some reason, Jesus says she has great faith. And, her daughter is healed instantly.

Roy didn’t get it. He just didn’t get it.

During a late-night phone call, Pastor Lisa told Roy that the story is really all about Jesus’ disciples. Jesus was really trying to reveal to them that their own prejudice was not the will of God. They wanted to send her away, and they wouldn’t have batted an eye at what Jesus had said to her because they really did believe that she and her people were dogs. But, Jesus knew otherwise, and he knew that her persistence would show to them that she was a person of faith, just as deserving of healing as anyone in Israel.

At first, that settled things down a bit for Roy. Pastor Lisa had been to seminary. She had studied these things. But, for some reason, Roy couldn’t stop re-reading it. And, the more he read it, the more he was haunted by a thought. And he didn’t like it one bit.

Despite what Pastor Lisa said, it seemed to Roy that something else was going on. He really didn’t like the idea, but the more he read it, the more it seemed like Jesus actually changed his mind. Maybe Jesus really wasn’t going to be bothered by her. Jesus knew his call and it wasn’t to serve “those people.” But, maybe the persistence of the woman moved Jesus to have compassion on those dogs? Roy was more and more haunted by the question, “Was Jesus changed by the faith of pestering of the woman?”

To be honest, Roy wanted to believe that people could change. He really wanted to believe that Robby could change. But, he would prefer his Lord to be of more of a firm foundation, thank you very much. To say Roy was shaken was an understatement.

Which is why, when he called Cheryl, she knew something was up.

“You up for a walk?” Roy said.

“What’s wrong?” she responded.

“How ‘bout this afternoon?” he tried to evade the question.

“Have you heard from Robby?” she asked, desperately.

“I’ll be by around three,” he blurted out before hanging up the phone.

That afternoon, his plan to ease her into things failed miserably. He’d told her everything he knew before they had even made it to the front sidewalk.

Cheryl processed the news in silence as they headed down the street. Robby was safe... he had a summer job at an amusement park... he’d call her one of these days...

She let out a sigh.

They continued - without saying a word to each other - to a path on the edge of town. It started next to an abandoned lot, wound down past a farmer’s field, and ended in an old pine forest. It was a path they discovered as kids, but they hadn’t been there in years. Since Tim died.

The buzz of the cicadas filled the afternoon as they passed the full, sagging sunflowers in the lot and the rows of tall corn in the field. Finally, they got out of the afternoon heat and into the cool, dark pine forest.

It was totally silent, as they moved through the dappling sun like breaths of gold stretched taught through the pine needles.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, there was a loud chirp - almost like a shriek - and a rush of wind over their heads. It happened again, a sharp chirp and a fluttering out of the darkness, this time it brushed through Roy’s hair as it zoomed past.

“We’re being dive bombed,” Roy yelled as they ducked and covered their heads with their arms, stumbling back a few steps as the bird kept blustering past them, letting out the loudest chirps it could muster.

Their terror turned to laughter when they realized that it was just a little bird - looked like a robin. But, even as they laughed, it kept frantically flying right at them, swerving at the last moment, and then circling back to the same branch.

They played this game of ducking and laughing for a while as the bird continued to circle their heads. Cheryl was trying to remember the last time she had laughed so hard.

Then, she saw it.

“Look!” she shouted.

On the ground was a small ball of dark feathers, quivering in the dappled light.

“It’s a baby. It must have fallen out of the nest,” she whispered as they crouched down toward the little chick. It was a miracle they didn’t step on it with all their stumbling around.

The bird swooped by, brushing Cheryl’s head.

“Geesh, Momma Bird! Isn’t it late in the summer for birds to be having babies?” Cheryl wondered.

“Who can explain these things?” pondered Roy, ducking down to join her.

“It still looks strong enough,” said Cheryl, “but it needs to get back in the nest. You need to go home, Little Bird.”

The bird flew by again, this time pecking Roy in the head.

“Ow,” he shouted. “I don’t think we’re supposed to pick up baby birds. Won’t the mother reject them if they get our scent on them?”

“Look at it, Roy, it’s not going to survive down here on its own.”

They watched it quiver in the light... big eyes looking up from a wobbly head.

Cheryl followed the eyes up to the bird in the tree and the nest right next to it. She squawked again, but held her ground up there on the branch.

“What choice do we have?” Cheryl looked at Roy.

He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket at cupped that chick as gentle as he could. It felt like air in his hands.

“Lord God, who gathers the outcasts...” Roy prayed, reaching up to place the tiny life back into the nest.