Today could be a good day to find our knees.
There is an incredibly odd text in Matthew that has always been difficult for me. A Canaanite woman comes to Jesus near hysterical because her daughter is demon-possessed. What does Jesus do? He ignores her. In fact, we are told he spoke not a word. [Matthew 15:23]
Scholars have had a field day trying to explain that one away. To be honest, I do not have a clue as to why he appears so insensitive in this story. He even goes on to tell the woman that he has come to save only the lost sheep of Israel or in other words the entire nation of Israel since it has gotten lost. [Matthew 15:24]
But there is one thing I do know, when the woman found her knees, Jesus engaged. She said to him, “Lord, help me!” [Matthew 15:25b] Jesus then went on to tell her she had great faith and the daughter was healed. I wonder sometimes if Christ is standing by, just waiting for us to find our knees so that he can engage.
Sometimes, I think we act like Burger King people. We just want life our way and in our selfish journeys to satisfy our wants, we forget how to kneel. Amazing isn’t, just how poor our memories become over time. Daily we put our minds in cruise control mode and stay there until some bump in the road jars us awake. We become alert to the fact that we are speeding down a turnpike with no brakes.
But, being human as we are, we readily remember our knees once there is nothing left to do and nowhere else to go. And, when we are little and poor, hitting our knees before Christ is not a bad idea.
Maybe today would be a good day for some of us to find our knees again. And no, I cannot explain how or why Jesus did everything but I do know there is a pattern where becoming empty is an invitation for our Lord to come inside and move things around. When the dust finally settles, things are as they should be.
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