The story of Joseph and his brothers from Genesis tells a deep truth about every person. You can't tell what's in the heart. Maybe you know the story. Joseph's brothers were jealous, their father loved him more, and they got even with him. They sold him into slavery. They told their younger brother Joseph was dead. And they went on with their lives not worried about what would happen to Joseph. Times weren't easy for Joseph. He spent years in slavery in Egypt; he ended up in prison. But finally after years Joseph ended up in serving in the house of the Pharoah.

After many years later the tables were turned. Joseph was in a position of power and his brothers who'd sold him came looking for help. They came to Egypt seeking help. He recognized them; but they didn't know it was Joseph. He finally revealed his identity and they brought their elderly father.

When their father died Joseph's brother's were in deep fear. They'd been cared for by their brother as long as their father was alive; but now fear crept in. They worried because they feared what they didn't and couldn't know. What was in Joseph's heart. Would their brother still hold a grudge and now after their father was gone would he get justice. Joseph replied to his brothers not just with words but with action. What they'd meant for evil God had used for good. Now Joseph's heart was clear. He didn't turn his brothers out. He brought them closer in to himself.

The human heart heart is hard to pin down; its a lot like human faith in God. People of faith walk a fine line between what's seen and what's unseen. It's kind of like an old joke I found online about a preacher who was working on his sermon at home.

His son was watching him work hard trying to write a sermon.

"How do you know what to say?" he asked.

"Why, God tells me."

"Oh, then why do you keep crossing things out?"

We Christians are always trying to balance God's will with our own, our hearts and minds with God's heart and God's mind. We try and often fail to understand where God is calling us. Jesus has always had a powerful way of cutting through everything and getting beneath people's facades to see what's really inside of us. We have lots on the surface that we think matters. But Jesus is more concerned with your heart and your faith than how good you might appear to be or how religious you might act.

Listening to Jesus interaction with the Pharisees and the Canaanite woman in Matthew 14 allows us, 2000 years later, to hear the presumptions of power or weakness that existed in Jesus' day in Judah and to hear Jesus getting the heart of each person.

The Pharisees assumed they held a unique position in Judah. They were close to God because they followed the law completely and dedicated their lives to following God as the law and tradition revealed. They questioned Jesus from this position of power,

“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.” Matthew 15:2 NRSV

Jesus responded to their questions naming their own broken laws. They assumed they were always faithful to God through but Jesus turned the law toward them...

... God said, 'Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ ^5 But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’^ then that person need not honor the father. ^6 So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. Matthew 15:4-6 NRSV

Jesus words went to the very center of their lives and faith. Outwardly following the law was everything for them. But Jesus' would hear it. He used a different standard; what's inside the heart to judge a person. And now turning toward the whole crowd he challenged the Pharisees again. His disciples could tell that the Pharisees were offended. Jesus wasn't deterred by their offense. The unseen human heart is what matters. You can see what a person does, but you can never see what's inside of a human heart.

A new world view begins. In the old world view shaped by law ritual purity mattered; for Jesus purity of heart matters. In the old world view the appearances that other humans saw mattered; in Jesus world view the intentions that God sees matter. Jesus did not end the law; rather he put everything into a different perspective.

The Canaanite Woman presumed no position of privilege in her interaction with Jesus. She just believed he could release her daughter from demons; she begged for help. Jesus was silent. The disciples wanted to shoo her away. He answered her requests and not theirs, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 15:24 NRSV The desperate mother kept begging. She was pushing Jesus begging him to reach out.

^ He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ^27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ^28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Matthew 15:26-28 NRSV

Jesus words about dogs and the children's food stun us. But she was not about to stop. She believed Jesus could heal her daughter. She was ready to hold on in faith trusting that he had the power to set her, body and soul, free. Martin Luther compared her to Jacob wrestling in the night in Genesis 32.

In this manner God is conquered when faith does not leave off, is not wearied, and does not cease but presses and urges on. So it makes its appearance in the Canaanite woman, with whom Jesus was wrestling when He said: “You are a dog, the bread of the sons does not belong to you” (cf. Matt. 15:26). The woman did not yield here but offered opposition, saying: “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” And so she was victorious and heard the excellent word of praise: “O woman, great is your faith!”

Such examples teach us that faith should not yield or cease urging or pressing on even when it is already feeling God’s wrath and not only death and sin. This is the power and strength of the Spirit. Luther's Works, Vol. 6 : Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 31-37, Vol 6:139 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1970).

Jesus boldly invites us to hold on in faith. Now the outsider is truly the model for all people who are distant from God. She teaches us to hold on. She teaches us that the appearance doesn't matter to God, but the faith and the heart count for everything.