I went to college at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, and I loved every minute of it. I catch myself sometimes day dreaming and thinking about all of the memories my friends and I shared while I worked toward an English degree. One strange but fond memory was forever sealed in my mind late one night, when I found myself at a restaurant around one o' clock in the morning. We had just left the Iowa City nightclub scene, and strutted into a booth for some pancakes and orange juice; the restaurant was almost full believe it or not. At any rate, I remember there were five of us that sat down, but only four ordered from the menu. I'm not sure if our fifth friend didn't have enough money or maybe he wasn't hungry at the moment, I cannot recall. But when the waitress brought out four dinner plates, he just sat there and watched everyone else eat. 
When we were finished gobbling up the food and reclined in our chairs, my friend began grabbing bits of leftovers from everyone's plate. A breakfast sausage here, a half eaten pancake there. He had been biding his time until everyone else was done, and only then did he fill his stomach. I will never forget this event. We all laughed about it at the time, but in hindsight, we should have pitched in together for his dinner. We were broke college students I suppose. Or maybe we simply didn't notice that he never ordered a meal. It's enough to say that years later, I still think about what happened.
I tell this story because it has to do with swallowing one's pride, and being satisfied with what you get. The kingdom of heaven as Jesus often describes it in the Bible is full of parables which instruct us to be grateful for what we have.
Let us begin today by looking at Matthew 15:25-28, it says, "The woman came and knelt before him, 'Lord, help me!' she said. He replied, 'It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.' 'Yes it is, Lord,' she said. 'Even the dog's eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.' Then Jesus said to her, 'Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.' And her daughter was healed at that moment."
Now it should be mentioned here that this is also an account of Jesus healing a woman's daughter from a demon. It should also be recounted that this is a story of how Jesus dealt with someone of non-Jewish lineage. Remember in first century Palestine there were the Jews, and there were the Gentiles. So in essence, Jesus has decided to heal the child of someone outside of the "religious elect" crowd. This would have elicited some strong negative responses during that time, by the way. There are many who would have faulted Jesus for taking the trouble to deal with a non-Jew.
I believe we may take two things away from this historical account. First of all, we may note the fact that salvation came first to the Jews, and then second to the Gentiles. Remember all of the Biblical accounts where the apostle Paul laments about how great it would be if Israel repented and decided to listen to God's son and acknowledge Him? As it turns out, some did and some didn't ... so God then turns His message of salvation to everyone else (the Gentiles). When Jesus mentions rather bluntly, that what is Holy ought not be sacrificed to "the dogs", this is what he was referring to. The message of salvation came to God's elect Jewish nation first.
Second, I believe we can take from this story that the Canaanite woman was willing to settle for whatever God granted her - it didn't matter if it was the crumbs originally meant for other people or not. She simply opened herself up fully to the message that Jesus brought to the world. He recognized this, and rewarded her faith by healing her daughter.
Now let me interject here that both of these concepts may seem highly politically incorrect by today's standards. Was Jesus really comparing this poor woman to a dog? Was God's message of forgiveness and salvation really meant for Israel first, while everyone else had to wait? Now this doesn't seem fair or equitable at all. And here we go again, demonstrating that we would very much like to ascribe our own sense of 21st century fairness to the Ancient of Days. We want God to fit into our own sense of accountability sometimes, rather than just accepting His attributes and divine sense of right and wrong. If it doesn't make sense to us, then it must be unfair.
Keep in mind that the religious elect of this time did the same thing to Jesus. They listened to what he was saying, and then promptly decided that surely this 'wouldn't be the way God would do things.' So they cultivated the opposite attitude, one of rebellion and manipulation. They attempted to subvert God's plan of salvation by discrediting Jesus and conspiring to have him crucified. Please note here how different this reaction is from what the Canaanite woman was saying. She was willing to take whatever God gave her, in whatever form He was willing to give it.
Notice also her prayer in Matthew 15:25 which says, "The woman came and knelt down before him, 'Lord, help me!' she said." In this simple prayer there is no attempt to manipulate God. There is no hidden agenda, no testing or trying to catch Jesus in his words. There is no attempt to explain away a concept she may not like. Instead, it's a simple request for God's help. Even the leftover crumbs that may have been meant for someone else will suffice in her situation.
What an unpopular idea by today's standards. Nowadays, we want to be taken seriously as an individual, we want to be listened to, and we want to be treated fairly. What God does for this person, we think He must also do for that person over there. I understand this way of thinking and I do empathize with it. But please remember, God is sovereign and King over all things. He does what He wants to do. Fortunately for you and I, we also know that forgiveness and salvation is open to all mankind (open to anyone who calls on the name of the Lord). Who cares about what order He may save us, or who gets what crown when we get to the other side? Instead, just drop to your knees and be grateful that He has saved you at all. Allow His goodness and grace to be sufficient (because it is). Be glad that He doesn't treat us "fairly" all the time, and allow the full consequences of our sin to mature and take hold.
I think that ultimately, we should be satisfied with whatever God has gifted to us. No bargaining, and no manipulation ... just gratitude. If this means that we need to eat leftover pancakes and sausage links from our friend's plate at one o'clock in the morning, then pass the maple syrup and get out of my way. I'm not too proud to do so. My stomach will get full either way.
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