"Vision is Creating the Future”

Mt. 15:21-28

February 27, 2000

Introduction: I.M. Pei is known in architectural circles as the Mandarin of Modernism. He was born in Canton, China, in 1917, to a wealthy banking family. As a young man, he knew that to get ahead as an architect he’d need the kind of education that would allow him to design the new things he saw in his head. He left China in 1935 and became a student at MIT.
After graduation, Pei went to work for a flamboyant real estate developer by the name of William Zeckendorf. When Zeckendorf got into financial trouble, Pei, instead of worrying about his future, saw an opportunity to start his own company. And so he did.
Walking down a New York street in the 1950’s with one of his designers, Pei gestured at the staid buildings around him on Madison Avenue and said to his protégé, “We are going to change all this.”
When Jacqueline Kennedy, newly widowed, arrived at Pei’s modest offices to interview him as a candidate to design the John Kennedy presidential library, she had already been to several other prominent architects. In Pei’s reception area, Mrs. Kennedy noticed fresh flowers, and she said, “That’s a beautiful bouquet. Do you always have those?” “Oh no,” Pei responded, “we only got those for you.”
Pei was awarded the project.
(“Architect I.M. Pei – His Vision Changed the World’s Skylines”, Investor’s Business Daily, Friday, January 7, 2000)
What I like about I.M. Pei is his understanding of vision. He set about to create the future! Whether it meant creating a new skyline in New York City or whether it meant creating the atmosphere to get the nod to build a presidential library, Pei wanted to do it. He had a vision for it.
As we continue to reflect upon the issue of vision, we see another element of it today in Matthew 15. As you turn there, consider what we already know about vision: Vision is a gift that God gives to those who will ask Him for it, to those who will pray. Vision as we see it in the experience of the man Nehemiah is a thing that can begin as a dream and end as a reality.
In the text before us today, I want you to see a mom and how she set about to create the future for her family. When we see her vision, we will be inspired to continue looking to God for the part each of us may play in creating the future as well.
None of us knows what the future holds. But God does, and He wants each of us to have a significant role in creating that future, in creating the yet-unformed parts of the kingdom of God. That, my friends, is an important element of vision—not only our personal visions, but our vision as a church family together.
The text before us is Matthew 15:21-28 – “Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.’
But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, ‘Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.’ But He answered and said, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me!’
And He answered and said, ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’ But she said, ‘Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.’
Then Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed at once.”
The three dimensions of this mom who is portrayed here by Matthew provide for us a simple outline for this message. We see her first as a desperate mom. Then she becomes before us a mother of determination. And finally, we see her delighted. Let’s consider her experience and learn some more lessons to help us with this issue of vision.
This mother’s desperation pops up before us like a target on a rifle range. We see it in verse 22. We can almost feel the shrillness of her cry. We can begin to imagine the tears on her face because of the heartbreaking condition of her daughter, a victim of cruel demon possession. Of course, she has heard about this ‘Son of David’ and some of what He has done for the sick and hurting, but now that He is passing by her region, she must act! He may not come this way again! This could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for healing. The desperation she feels at the hopeless condition of her daughter is heightened by the briefness of this open window of opportunity.
Like Nehemiah of old, this mother’s vision grows out of her burden for someone else. No doubt this mother’s life is full and challenging. No doubt she is willing to shoulder the moment-by-moment burden of a handicapped child. A mother’s love willingly takes her through every moment of every day with one eye on her offspring and one eye on her household tasks.
But what of the future for the child? What of the days after Mom, when mom won’t be there, can’t be there? We only have to read a portion of the Gospels to have our eyes opened to this mother’s desperation. What did demon-possession mean for a child? It often meant epileptic-like seizures that led to dangerous experiences of being thrown into a fire or a pool of water—life threatening episodes. In chapter 12 of Matthew, demon-ization is connected to being blind and mute. In chapter 8, those who are demon possessed are extremely violent. Perhaps these conditions describe this child.
To make matters even worse, Matthew tacks on the adverb ‘cruelly’ here. It’s a word that means all the things that come to our minds. In the Scriptures and in extra-Biblical literature, this word is used to speak of oxen in a bad way, as if mired in a muddy ditch. It is used of someone who is ill, and it sometimes refers to a menacing curse. Biblical images of “cruel” speak of a person running from a hunter who seeks to trap and kill. God warns Cain to master the evil cruelty of his own heart lest it, like a monster crouching at his door, destroy him!
Weeds and thorns in a garden of flowers also portray the meaning of this term. Those of us who farm and garden can see “cruel” easily here.
But perhaps the foremost image of this term is darkness, as in the deep shadows of an alley in the inner city where terrible things can happen… darkness, as in a forest at midnight where we can’t see where we are going… darkness is perhaps the foremost Biblical image of this term Matthew uses to describe this girl’s demonization.
Through our imaginations, can we identify with this mother? Can we see why this mother is so desperate for her daughter? Is it hard to see why this mother wants to create a different kind of future for her child? Can we understand that this mom’s vision is to create a new future for the one she loves so much?
As our account continues to unfold, we see this mother’s desperation move into determination. Note the obstacles placed in the path of her vision; notice what obstructs the creation of a new future for her loved one: First, in verse 23, Jesus appears to completely ignore her! He won’t say a word!! What happened to His compassion we saw last week? What happened to His tender heart toward those enslaved by the evil one? What’s going on here? Did He forget to pray this morning? Has He forgotten why He came? At first blush, this is unbelievable!
There’s a second obstacle here. Matthew tells us she is a Canaanite woman. We haven’t forgotten that the Canaanites were the hated enemies of Israel. Mark simple tells us she is Greek, but Matthew can’t forget what a thorn in the flesh these people were to his ancestors! How does this descendent of Israel’s ancient enemies dare to come to the Jewish Messiah for a blessing?
A third obstacle surfaces in verse 23. The disciples don’t seem to be very sympathetic either. They beg Jesus to send her away. It appears they are annoyed by her cries, and they suppose that Jesus must be annoyed, too. “Send her away because she keeps shouting at us.”
A fourth barrier becomes clear in verse 24. Jesus declares that He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. What Matthew hints at in his reference to her background as a Canaanite now becomes crystal clear in the statement of His purpose. This woman is outside the covenants and has no claim to any of the blessings of those covenants. She’s just a dog! It wouldn’t be appropriate to share the children’s food with the dogs!
Though all these barriers seem formidable, none can withstand the determination of this woman of vision. She will not be stopped by anything from creating a new future for her daughter! She worships Him (vs. 25) and like a skilled swordsman, she parries His every thrust. She says in verse 27, “You’re right, Lord. The bread is for the children, but even the dogs get to eat the crumbs that fall from the table!” This desperate, determined mother agrees with the Savior. She does not claim that her needs and the needs of her daughter make them exceptions, that they should be invited to dine at the Messiah’s table. She just advances the analogy into new territory. Couldn’t she just be allowed to receive a crumb of God’s mercy even though she is outside the covenant? Would that be outside the realm of possibility? Is that so unthinkable?
Thirdly, and finally, this desperate, determined mom moves into satisfied delight. In verse 28, this mother hears the Son of David say the sweetest words imaginable: “…it shall be done for you as you wish.” Her determination in the face of desperation has paid off!
But the mother is not the only one filled with exhilaration here. Jesus is too. When He says, “O woman, your faith is great;…”, He is expressing greater emotion than we might catch at first blush. That little utterance, “O” in “O woman” reveals a heart moved by strong feeling. The Lord Jesus is as pleased as the woman is! We know what the writer of Hebrews said: “And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” We conclude the Lord Jesus is greatly pleased with this mother’s faith, and the pleasure He experiences because of her faith can’t be hidden! He takes great delight in rewarding her with the gift her vision longed for.
The daughter has a new future!! She will no longer be at the mercy of the Evil Kingdom! No longer epileptic, no longer violent, no longer mute, no longer blind, no longer in danger of violent accidents. And no doubt, the mother is pleased as punch!
Delight is such a happy ending to a story that began with such desperation!
Now, with this mom in mind, a mother first desperate, then determined, and finally delighted, let’s draw some lessons about vision from her experience.
Lesson One: Vision is creating the future! This mother teaches us that you and I can shape the future!! Tomorrow can be different from today. What we have become used to does not have to be the end. God is looking to draw us into the pattern He is weaving on this giant tapestry that one day will be revealed as the kingdom of His dear Son. We just have to sign on; we just have to buy into the idea that He has a vision for each of us and for all of us together!
Now remember: Vision begins with an awareness of someone else’s need. That’s how Nehemiah’s began; that’s how this mother’s began. And I’m convinced that God’s awareness of this daughter’s need is part of this vision picture. Who else but God has orchestrated the circumstances of this meeting between a Gentile mother and the Son of God?
So we want to ask ourselves, what needs of others has God laid upon our hearts? It gives me a great sense of pleasure to see our college students and our grad students looking at summer ministries in far away places. There are so many people in other parts of the world with the need to hear the Gospel! Our own Katie will be spending her spring break down on the TexasMexico border with a group from the Baptist Student Union at TCU serving others and being used by God to meet their needs.
Somebody’s future is going to be different because of her vision. Vision is creating the future.
Lesson Two: Vision is a gift to those who are not satisfied with the present! This mother in our story is so burdened with her daughter’s need for release from her demons that she can never be satisfied with the present.
You see, my friends, there is a glorious future God wants us to have a part in crafting. But we’ll have to know some dissatisfaction with the present in order to see that crafting take place. Now, I suppose there will always be those of us who are quite content with things just as they are. We are satisfied with so much of the status quo that we don’t want anything to be different. We like the security of our rut; we know where the walls are, we like the protection we feel from the elements beyond our comfort zones.
But friends, we all know a rut is just a grave with the ends kicked out! For us personally, and for us as a church family, we must be willing to cut away some of the chains that keep us bound to the known, the comfortable, the safe if we want to create the future. We may not become as desperate as this mother was, but we’ll have to become at least a little bit desperate about the way things are now.
And, let’s not kid ourselves – there very well may be some in an audience this size just as desperate as our Matthew 15 mother. I know there are; their desperation is not frantic, yet, because of their faith, because of your support. They don’t need convincing that the present needs changing. They don’t need persuading that a very different future is waiting to be created. They are just wondering what it’ll take to make it happen. And that’s lesson three.
Lesson Three: Vision requires incredible determination! We’ve seen this determination in the mother of this passage. She is not put off by the total lack of response from the Lord Jesus to her cries. She ignores the disciples who were not pleased that she kept shouting at them. She refuses to buckle under the Lord’s comment that He was sent only to Israel. She will not surrender to the image of bread being off-limits to the dogs of the household.
Her love for her daughter fuels her determination like a bolt being flung from a crossbow. Her dissatisfaction with the present is like a smoldering volcano on the verge of eruption.. Her hope to create a better future, a demon-free future for her child, rages like a fire that refuse to die down.
So, the question for us is simply this: How would our determination be gauged against hers? How does the steel in our souls compare to the steel in hers?
I wonder if you’ve ever noticed the two events that follow this one in chapter 15? In verses 29-31, Jesus heals a great crowd of lame, crippled, blind, and mute people. Do you see where He is? Verse 29 says He’s sitting on a mountain.
Why there? Do you suppose He is gauging the determination of the friends of the lame, the crippled, the blind, and the mute? How badly do they want a new future for their handicapped friends? Bad enough to carry them up a mountain?
Look at the next text: Verses 32-39 record the feeding of the 4000, and I want you to see the setting in verse 32. These people have been with Jesus for 3 days, and they have nothing to eat. He doesn’t want to send them away hungry, “for they might faint on the way.”
Would any of us go to a weekend concert, a three day seminar if we knew there wouldn’t be any food there? Is Jesus making it difficult to follow Him? Has He set the bar a tad high just to see who will determine to follow Him, who is willing to pay the price of some discomfort, some exertion, some stress?
If we want God to share His vision for us with us, we must be committed to staying the course from the giving of the vision to the reality of it.
Conclusion: Vision is creating the future. Those that God will entrust a call to are those who are not terribly comfortable with the way things currently are.
They may even be desperate.
But the element that cannot be missing is determination. How badly do we want to follow the Lord Jesus? Howard Hendricks used to ask us at seminary, “So, what will it take to make you quit?”
I wouldn’t be surprised if this Canaanite mother didn’t hold Joseph up as one of her heroes. Remember his vision? Remember how desperate his situation became? Remember how he determined to obey his God? Remember the outcome of his faith?
If some of us today find our determination waning…
If some of us today are dreaming of a different future, but the sledding is pretty tough right now…
If some of us know we are just too content, too comfortable, too satisfied, and we’d like to know that vision God has for us…
Then I’d like to invite you to make a decision. Determine this day that God and God alone you will follow, that nothing will deter you from remaining true to Him, that you will trust Him to complete the vision that He gives you to meet the need of someone else.


DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!