This past week I had the opportunity to attend an activity for, um, "mature" YSA sisters in our stake. (I'm not "mature" enough, but I was helping with a musical number so I got to participate, and I was glad to.)
I'll probably be talking about various aspects of that meeting for the next few weeks, but what I want to talk about today is something that came up while visiting teaching last night. We'd all been at the activity, and my companion had been struck by the story in Matthew 15 that the stake president told:
21 ¶Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.In this story Jesus isn't really very nice. There are lots of interpretations that go into it (and we discussed a few last night and at the meeting), but you have to admit it's not nice to call a woman a dog, even indirectly.
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
But what we decided is there is a difference between niceness and kindness. Being nice is a good thing; trying not to hurt people's feelings is certainly admirable. But if you are being nice at the expense of being honest at a time when honesty would be kinder in the long run, are you being kind?
We know that God is unfailingly kind. This morning I read in 3 Nephi where the Lord said, "With everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee....my kindness shall not depart from thee." So why does it sometimes seem like He is ignoring us, or letting us suffer much longer than we think is fair?
We need to remember God's kindness. What we go through is for our benefit. When Jesus dismissed the Canaanite woman, it was for her good in some way (perhaps to have her dig down deep for her faith, perhaps to show her humility, perhaps as an example to the disciples of faith and humility). In the same way, our trials should appear as an opportunity to strengthen our faith, show more humility, grow in patience. It's not always very nice, but it is rooted in God's kindness.
1 comment:
Yes, there are lots of different interpretations of that incident. One is that the translation of the particular Greek (or Aramaic) word for dog meant the household pets who did, indeed, eat the crumbs under the table. It was not one of the mean watch dogs. Still, interesting crumbs for thought.
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