Leftovers

Pastor Meyer’s Sermon

 Sunday, November 25, 2007

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our heavenly Father and from our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus, our Christ.

October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issues a decree, a decree that the last Thursday of the month of November would be a day set aside to give thanks, a day set aside to pray and to look back on the blessings that we received as a nation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1939 also issued another decree that it would be the fourth Thursday of the month of November, in case November would have five Thursdays, it would be set aside for Thanksgiving and for looking at past blessings that the nation had received.

Both were in an effort to seek unity. First, Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, the hope that a nation split would come together to give thanks. Franklin Roosevelt, 1939, the Great Depression, and the hope that the nation would come together in the midst of that depression to give thanks. Both to seek unity. And I believe they accomplished that. When we look back on Thanksgiving Day and even in our lives on Thanksgiving Day, we feel like we are all kind of in the same boat, that we are united. But you know, I believe that feeling even goes further than just Thanksgiving Day. I believe it goes out five or six or even seven days after Thanksgiving and it’s not because of that fuzziness we feel because we’re Americans and we’re celebrating a national holiday. It’s not because of the warmth we feel because we reconnected with our friends and our family during this time. No, I think the reason why we feel like we’re united is because we’re all still eating leftovers.

Let’s show a sign of hands. How many of you are still eating leftovers from the Thanksgiving meal? Okay. So we’re all in the same boat because we are still eating leftovers. Now, mind you, I love leftovers. Now granted, there are some leftovers I do not like but when it comes to Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving leftovers whether it’s turkey or ham, I am there. You give me a plate and you put a piece of bread and some turkey on top, a little bit of stuffing and you drench it with gravy and I’m ready for the football game. I love leftovers. In fact, if you watched the morning TV program, they usually have a program that shows you different things that you can do with your leftovers, to drum them up, if you will, to help them taste differently. Maybe it would be Turkey Ala King or maybe it’s the Turkey Broccoli Quiche or maybe it’s Turkey Casserole, whatever it may be to help you to eat the leftovers. But if you were to ask me again next Tuesday or Wednesday whether I still like leftovers, I’m going to tell you I’m getting pretty tired of leftovers. It doesn’t matter how you drum it up, it doesn’t matter how you try to make it taste different, when you boil it down, it’s still what? Leftovers.

But you know, I had a member in my family that never got tired of leftovers. In fact, she would attack leftovers in that same anticipation and in that same fervor on the 14 th day of getting leftovers as the 1st day that she received it. It was my dog, Little Bear. I could still see it now. Whenever I give the leftovers, she has what we call the “sit pretty look.” She was a Chow Chow. She was all black. She had these sparkles in her eyes when she knew she was getting the leftovers and she had a pom-pom of a tail that sat on the top of her back and it would start waving all over the place when she was about ready to get those leftovers. She loved leftovers.

Well, it’s interesting that in our reading from the gospel, that Jesus called a Canaanite woman a dog. Now no matter how you try to massage the words, no matter how you try to interpret the words in a politically correct way, it still boils down to the fact that Jesus calls this woman a dog.

Well, let’s set up the context a little bit. Just in the scene prior to our reading, Jesus is talking about washing hands. He’s talking to the teachers of the law, to the Pharisees, to the Sadducees. He is saying whatever goes into your mouth doesn’t make you unclean, it’s what comes out of the mouth that makes you unclean. And then we have our scene. Jesus walking in the region of Tyre and Sidon. Tyre and Sidon were considered unclean lands. That was the area of the idolaters, those who did not believe in Jesus. Those were the Canaanites. But yet, Jesus is walking in unclean land. But even more surprising is that a woman comes out from that vicinity and she cries out to Jesus but do you notice how she cried out to Jesus? She says, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.” Lord, Son of David. Someone from an idolatrous country, area, land, coming out and calling Jesus Lord, Son of David. It’s the same way to say Lord, my Messiah, my helper, will you help me? She understood who Jesus is.

That was surprising but yet, what did Jesus say? Jesus says, “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” Now would it be surprising to call a Canaanite or a Gentile a dog? Well, when you read through the Old Testament, wicked people, those people who are not the chosen ones, were considered dogs. When we’re talking about dogs, we’re talking about wild dogs. We’re talking about those dogs that are mangy, those dogs that just have temperament problems, dogs that have fleas, dogs that are unclean, they’re dirty. That’s what they’re talking about when they talk about a dog. It might be the same thought in your mind at 2:00 in the morning, that neighborhood dog who will not be quiet. It’s the same thought, when they think of Gentiles, when they call Gentiles dogs. And the question is, “Is that what Jesus is doing? Is Jesus using a derogatory term here to call her a dog?” Well, when you look at the word, it refers to a pet dog, a dog who is part of the family. When we think of pet dogs, we think of what? Trust. We think of loyalty. We think of joy. They bring you joy. We think of care for the master.

In fact, Groucho Marx, one of the Marx Brothers, had a great quote. He says, “Outside of the dog, a book’s a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” But we get that understanding, though, that a man’s best friend is a dog. And the woman understood this. The woman took this to the next step and she goes on to say, “But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” The crumbs, the leftovers, she, too, was anxiously and with a fervor trying to get the crumbs, the leftovers. They weren’t crumbs for her. She was talking about her daughter but, for Jesus and His power, for the simple thing, leftovers, crumbs. She was going after the leftovers. Then Jesus says, “Woman, your faith.” He goes on to say, “Woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted.”

But the question is just after calling her a dog, why did Jesus commend her for her faith? And I believe the reason why Jesus did so is it was an opportunity to make a twist on the term “dog” so we can learn from a pet dog, that we can learn from them on how we can handle the blessings in our lives, not just on Thanksgiving Day but everyday of our lives, everyday of the year. How can we handle the blessings, even the little things, even the crumbs, even the leftovers?

The first one is that we need to know where our blessings come from. When Little Bear gets leftovers, he knows exactly who they’re coming from. She sees me put them into the bowl and she knows exactly where they’re coming from. There’s no way that she would be thinking that, “Oh, my neighbor gave it to me.” Or that, “Somehow I had earned it,” or something of that nature. No. She knew that her master was the one who gave her the blessing.

The woman, too, the Canaanite woman knew exactly who was going to give her the blessing. That’s why she cried out, “Lord, Son of David,” in other words, Son of God, gives me the blessings. And there’s something that the Psalmist picks up on in Psalm 145 when the Psalmist says, “The eyes have all looked to you and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” Remembering that no matter how you drum it up, the blessings we receive, when you boil it down, they all come from God.

The second thing we can remember is that we can expect a blessing from God. It’s a little different than thinking that we deserve a blessing. For instance, whenever I’m cutting the turkey, Little Bear would come in and she would have that, what did I say, a pretty look. And she would sit there and she would look at me. Some of you would call it begging. She would look at me with the eyes of expectation, like she would be expecting for me to give her some food. It’s the same for the Canaanite woman. The Canaanite woman cried out with expectation. In fact, she was crying out so much, the disciples were getting tired of it. Did you catch that part? “His disciples came to Him and urged Him, ‘Send her away for she keeps crying out after us.’” She repeatedly came back crying out to Jesus expecting a blessing.

Martin Luther had a great quote where he says, “When you pray, rub into the ear God’s promises.” Rub into God’s ears His promises. Expect that God will keep His promise, that He will give you the blessing which you’ve asked for. It’s different than thinking that you deserve it. It’s different than thinking, “You know, I’ve been doing well. I’ve been spending time with the family. I’ve been going to church. I’ve been trying to be a good Christian. I deserve these blessings.” You see, deserving these blessings or feeling like you deserve these blessings comes out of pride.

It’s interesting, there’s another story about the Centurion who came to Jesus to ask for his servant to be healed. And Jesus said, “Yes, I’ll go heal your servant. Let’s go to your home.” And he said, “No, I don’t deserve for you to be under my roof. You can just say the word and he will be healed.” We know what we deserve. According to Romans, we deserve death. But instead, we receive a wonderful blessing of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Having a heart of expectation is a heart of trust, trusting that God will give you the blessing.

Now knowing where the blessings come from and having that expectation that the blessing will come will help you to keep that thankfulness throughout the year. Like I told you before, Little Bear would be just as happy getting the leftovers on the 14 th day as she was on the 1 st day of receiving the blessing. She would have that same reaction, that joyous reaction of anticipation and fervor.

The same for us throughout the year that we, too, expect from God and we look to God with that same fervor and anticipation of the blessings that He will give us. I’m not just talking about the big things, like getting cured from cancer or the wonderful blessing of having a child or if your job is doing well or that your relationship with your kids is doing well. I’m talking about the little things, the crumbs, the leftovers, giving thanks for those every day and doing what the Psalmist in Psalm 30 tells us, where he encourages us, “My heart may sing to you and not be silent. Oh, Lord, my God, I will give you thanks forever.”

That’s what we learn from a little dog, from the pet dogs and I pray in the weeks ahead, you’re able to take time out to give thanks. Amen.

Copyright 2007 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church