Aug 16, 2020  SERMON ARCHIVE

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our heavenly Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, AMEN

The text for our meditation today is the Gospel Lesson for the 11th Sunday After Pentecost, Matthew 15:21-28. There we read these words:

And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

We begin in the name of Jesus, AMEN

Today's Gospel is Matthew’s account of Jesus' conversation with a Canaanite woman. This Gospel is extremely difficult to understand and I think you will see why.

Matthew tells us that Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon."

But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." And he answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

This is a hard and difficult Gospel because it paints a picture of the Lord Jesus that most people would rather not see. Admit it. Your mental pictures of Jesus involve Him, not pushing people aside, but welcoming them with opened arms.

In the happier places of your minds is .....the gentle Jesus who always has compassion on the crowds and heals them; .....the Jesus who always grants the most desperate requests (Mark 9:17-25); .....the Jesus who always stoops to the lowly and the oppressed (John 8:1-11).

But the Jesus seen in today's Gospel simply does not fit the tender, loving, heroic Jesus whom your mental pictures love and adore. Today Jesus is cold, deaf, aloof, unwilling even to acknowledge a desperate woman for whom there is no other help. In this Gospel, Jesus acts like He is totally disinterested in hearing this woman's prayer. "He did not answer her a word."

And when Jesus finally did speak, it was with averted eyes. He spoke only to His friends, as if this woman was invisible and unworthy to receive even the simple decency of direct speech. "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

When she finally threw herself into His path so that Jesus could no longer ignore her, this woman heard words from her God that would likely crush and drive away the likes of you and me. "It is not right," Jesus said, "to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.

My friends, admit it. This is a hard Gospel because it paints a rather brutal picture of Jesus, a picture that stands in glaring contrast to the ways you would prefer to think of Him.

Or could it be that this is a hard Gospel for a deeper reason than that. Maybe this is a hard Gospel is because it hits too close to home; because it forces you to think about other pictures of Jesus-pictures you see in your everyday lives.

Why do other Christians seem to have a better time of things than you do? They don’t struggle. They aren’t endlessly afflicted by one torment after another. They don’t move from bad news to more bad news.

You try to console yourself by saying, "Well, there are always others worse off than me." That may be true, but are there really any limits to God's grace? Is there not enough for everyone? Like you, this woman's request is really something very small, requiring only a Word from her God. But Jesus made it sound as though there wasn’t enough of God’s Word for everyone.

If this woman had been a bit like the Pharisees or the chief priests or the unbelieving thief on the cross, you could chalk off Jesus' backhandedness to her own sin. Maybe today's Gospel and its dark picture of the Lord would be much more enjoyable if this woman would have come to Him with a selfish or loveless request. But she didn't.

This woman's motivations were truly Christian; her motivations were pure and white like freshly drifted snow: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon."

In the same way, do not go around thinking that Jesus is ignoring your prayers because you are a sinner.

Your Lord Jesus Christ has fully and freely forgiven you all your sins. He washed you clean in His own blood, mingling that sin-cleansing blood together with the water of your Baptism, and you are now as St. Peter says, "a lamb without any blemish or defect".

God does hear in your prayers only the purest motives and the most Christian desires. Every selfishness you possess was crucified with Christ. Because of your Lord's death and resurrection for you, as far as your all-knowing God is concerned, your motivations for prayer are now truly Christian, truly pure and white, truly without guile.

This is a hard Gospel because this Gospel forces you to look beyond the way Jesus is acting here, just as this woman must look beyond Jesus' outward actions toward her.

Jesus appeared cold, deaf, and aloof, but this woman pressed beyond His appearance and she pleaded with Him on the basis of His nature.

This woman knew that Jesus is by nature kind, merciful, forbearing, and totally committed to doing only the best thing for her and she would not be slowed down or stopped by the mere impression or appearance of His neglect. This woman knew that her God could not and would not neglect her, even when it seemed to her eyes that He was.

Dear friends, when it seems like God might not be listening to you, perhaps even giving you the cold shoulder, look to this Gospel Lesson.

One of the sweetest and wonderful blessings of today's Gospel is the promise and assurance that yes, indeed, YOUR GOD HEARS AND ANSWERS YOUR PRAYERS EVEN WHEN IT SEEMS THAT HE IS NOT!

You know, as I close, I must admit something to you: I almost regret that this woman's daughter was healed instantly.

The reason I almost regret it is because had Jesus not healed the woman’s daughter, Jesus would still be this woman's faithful and loving God, even if her daughter had died. Jesus would still be the merciful dispenser of all mercy, even if this woman's prayer was not answered in the way she desired.

Understand your own daily life: no matter what the outcome of your prayers. Your God does hear you without fail, even though He might not answer you a word. Your God will always, unfailingly focus His attention upon you and provide for you, even though it may seem He is more interested in others.

Your God will not fail to give you your fill, even though it may seem to you that He has provided nothing more than crumbs. Because he has provided you with so much more.

Christ Is Risen.