Keeping the Light On

A Mother That Can Change the World

A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Randy Hammer, May 9, 2021

Matthew 15:21-28 GNT;l Carl Sandburg's poem, "Home"

 It saddens me, and perhaps you as well, to see people separated by cultural, ethnic, and religious barriers.  It seems unnatural—we might even say un-godly—for people to be divided into haves and have-nots, to be corralled like cattle by barbed wire fences, concrete barricades, and the like.  Yet, such has been the way of the world through time.

When I traveled to Israel and Jordan some years ago, such is exactly what I saw.  Jews can’t go here.  Palestinians can’t go over there.  There is a place for Christians in this part of Jerusalem, a place for Jews in another part of the city, and still another place for Muslims in another section of the city.  So, one’s ancestry and religion in effect throw up, if not a physical then an invisible, yet very real, sort of barrier that tends to divide and separate people one from another.  That was the way I saw it in Israel and Palestine, and it has been that way for millenniums. 

So it shouldn’t surprise us that people separated by cultural and ethnic boundaries was the situation in Jesus’ day as well.  The gospel reading I chose for this Mother’s Day relates the story of a woman—a mother—who found herself restricted by such cultural, ethnic, and religious barriers.  She was a Canaanite, descended from the original inhabitants of the land at the time when the Jews came from Egypt and settled in Canaan.  Thus, she was a Gentile, a non-Jew, one of the “have-nots” of that day and time.  Her kind were commonly referred to as “dogs,” a derogatory term not unlike some of the derogatory terms that are used to denigrate people today such as “white trash” and other words that we refuse to utter. 

Yet, a mother is still a mother, regardless of her ancestry, religion, or culture.  Great mothers are to be found in all cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and religions.  And the Canaanite woman proved to be one of the great mothers of the world.

Indeed, the Canaanite mother possessed some characteristics that great mothers have in common.  Like, for instance, persistence, or perseverance.  This unnamed mother in today’s story was one who was persistent in faith in the power of God manifested in the ministry of Jesus.  She had faith that God wants the sick to be well, especially a sick child.  Her faith was tested when Jesus at first ignored her.  But she did not give up.  And Jesus commended her before everyone in her village: “Woman, great is your faith!”

She was also persistent in hope.  In spite of the fact that she was a woman, a Gentile woman begging at the feet of a Jewish rabbi, and a “dog” in the eyes of many, unworthy of the Master’s attention, she was persistent in hope that there might be enough of God’s grace leftover for her child who was ill.

And she was persistent in love.  Her motive was pure—a great love for her daughter that led her to risk reputation and public scorn by falling down at the feet of Jesus and begging for a crumb of grace.  Preacher John Killinger describes this woman as “one of the beautiful women of the Bible.  She was beautiful in her love for her daughter.”¹  No greater force on earth can be found than a mother’s love for her own.  It is a love that shows itself in action, that loves without credit, that leads one to pour oneself out for others for the sheer joy of doing it.  This woman would not give up.  She would not take “No” for an answer.  She was determined and persistent.

  But motherhood has always required dedication and persistent faith, hope, and love.  Many mothers today, not unlike the Canaanite mother, find themselves facing tremendous odds.  Some are enslaved by poverty that forces them to work two or more jobs to support their children.  Others make themselves a human shield between their child and an abusive father and husband.  Others take on big insurance companies to get them to cover the medical procedures they should be covering for their children.  I cannot help but think of our own daughter who has spent dozens, perhaps hundreds, of hours on the telephone and writing e-mails and letters to insurance companies, doctors, and hospitals on behalf of our grandchildren, lobbying for the services they have needed.  And still other mothers ignore their own hunger, and sacrifice their own nutritional health, so that their children may eat.  In faith, hope, and sacrificial love they persevere for the sake of the children they love.

Preacher Killinger tells the story of one such woman who demonstrated persistent faith, hope, and love on behalf of her child.   Margaret Howard lived in Richmond, Kentucky.  Margaret was a good, solid woman of the hills who managed a small bookstore, in spite of the fact that she only had an eighth-grade education.  She had married when she was fourteen.   But she was a woman of rare qualities.  When one of her daughters had a brain tumor at the age of seven, the doctors removed much of the right hemisphere of her brain.  They told Margaret the girl would probably be a mere vegetable for the rest of her life.  But Margaret wouldn’t accept the doctors’ judgment.  She nursed the child and prayed for her.  She saw an article in the newspaper about a special operation being performed in Canada that might improve her daughter’s condition.  The operation would cost several thousand dollars.  Margaret’s family was dirt poor and didn’t have seventy dollars, much less several thousand.  But Margaret prayed some more and told others of her plight.  Someone ran an article in the newspaper, telling their story.  Enough money was raised for the operation.

When Margaret and her daughter arrived in Canada, they didn’t have the proper papers, so the authorities would not let them off the plane.  Margaret persuaded the airport officials to call the Canadian government.  She told the government officials that she was from the Commonwealth of Kentucky and needed to get her daughter to the hospital.  For some reason, the officials thought she was related to the governor of Kentucky.  So, they sent an ambulance and limousine to take her and her daughter to the hospital.  The doctors at the hospital took x-rays, studied them, and said they did not want to operate.  But Margaret said, “There’s a power higher than you that obviously wants you to.”  The doctors did operate, and the girl lived an almost normal life until she was a young woman.¹ A mother’s persistent faith in God, persistent hope in spite of the odds, and persistent love in action secured a wonderful blessing for her sick child.  Mothers often have to overcome great odds to be a mother.

But there is another thing about that Canaanite mother that shouldn’t be missed: It may be said of her that because of her persistent faith, hope, and love she changed the course of the world.  We also find this story in the gospel of Mark.  But in Mark’s view, it was Jesus’ encounter with this Canaanite mother that in part led him to turn to the Gentiles with his message of good news and grace.  Up to this point Jesus’ ministry had been limited to the Jewish people.  This woman proved to Jesus and his disciples that Gentiles, too, could have faith in God, a sacred hope, and a loving heart.

How many other mothers, after the example of this unnamed Canaanite woman, have anonymously played a part in altering the course of the world because of their persistent faith, unfaltering hope, and sacrificial love?  President Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said, “All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”  Indeed, the mother of Abraham Lincoln was a woman who, through the influence she exerted upon her son, changed the course of the world. 

But the truth is any mother—or any father for that matter—through persistent faith, persistent hope for the betterment of their child, and persistent love in action can not only make a difference in the life of their child.  They can possibly change the world for the better. 

So, happy Mother’s Day, mothers and grandmothers.  In persistent faith, hope, and love, may we go forth to change the world.  Amen.

 ¹John Killinger, ”The Mother Who Changed the World,” 1995 Ministers Manual, pp. 95-98.