Reminiscere, the 2nd Sunday in Lent + Matthew 15:21-28 + February 25, 2018

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

In today’s appointed gospel lesson, St. Matthew shows us a woman in dire need. Her daughter is severely demon-possessed and the woman has no way of helping her. She of herself has no strength to save her daughter. So she goes to Jesus. He had left the ancient boundary of Israel and gone into the region of Tyre and Sidon where this woman and her daughter lived. She seizes her opportunity. The woman goes to Jesus and prays mightily, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” She is not an Israelite, yet she knew that Jesus was Lord. She knew that He was the Son of David. She knew that Jesus was merciful to people who called upon Him in the hour of utmost need. The good report about Jesus had spread to this far away region and she believed it. In faith she approaches Jesus and asks Him to have mercy on her utterly helpless daughter. This is a great picture of faith. Faith hears the good report about Jesus, that He is Lord and Messiah, the Son of David, and asks for mercy, in spite of the fact that faith has never seen Jesus. When a person’s heart is imbued with faith by the Holy Ghost, it cannot help but pray to the Lord in the hour of its utmost need, trusting in Christ’s mercy.

But the woman’s faith is immediately put to the test. She cries out to Him in earnest prayer and “He answered her not a word.” This may seem rude to us at first. But isn’t this precisely how the Lord often deals with those who trust in Him? David, who trusted in the Lord, wrote, “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1). Asaph writes in Psalm 83:1, “Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God!” Throughout the pages of Scriptures don’t we see faithful and men and women calling upon God in the hour of utmost need, only to hear nothing at first? Jesus isn’t being rude. He is doing what He has always done for the saints, and what He continues to do for those who put their trust in Him. He is silent at first to test this poor woman’s faith, to exercise it and strengthen it.  His disciples have forgotten this. They assume what we so often assume, that if Christ doesn’t respond to someone immediately, then He must not want anything to do with that person and that He won’t answer. Imagining that Jesus doesn’t want to help this woman, the urge Him to send her away. They’re annoyed by her. “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”

But Jesus doesn’t send her away. He presses her faith further. He tells the disciples, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The disciples hear this to mean that Jesus won’t help the woman because she isn’t of the house of Israel. She’s of the wrong ancestry. She’s a Gentile. They imagine that this woman, because she is a Gentile, is beyond the pale of Christ’s mercy. She is not of the house of Israel. Case closed. But even this doesn’t deter the woman! She presses on. She wrangles her way past the disciples. “She came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me!’” Her prayer is shorter but no less intense than the original. She has heard that Jesus is merciful. She has heard that Jesus is compassionate to those who are in need. She presses Jesus further. And this time her faith is rewarded with a word from Jesus directly to her, though it is not the word she expected. “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” She is not a child of Israel. She is undeserving of His help and unworthy of His mercy.

At this point most would hang their head in despair and go home. And too many do when their prayers aren’t answered immediately and their faith is tested. But not this woman. Her Lord has spoken to her. And though it sounded rough and calloused, she takes that word and holds onto it for dear life. She doesn’t fight Jesus about her unworthiness. She confesses it. He has called her a dog. She owns it, holds onto it. She does not than simply believe it though. She finds in that word something merciful about Jesus so that she can trust that word. “Yes Lord,” she says, “yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” She agrees with Him. “Yes Lord, I am a little dog. Yes Lord, I am unworthy. Yes Lord, I am a Gentile dog. So give me the scraps of your mercy, for I know that will be more than enough for me and my daughter.” This woman is not deterred by her own unworthiness. Her eyes on fixed on Jesus, so that her worthiness or unworthiness don’t matter to her one bit. What matters is that Jesus is merciful.  Jesus answers her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” With those words Jesus healed her demon-possessed daughter at that very moment. As you believe, so you shall receive. She may not have been a flesh and blood descendant of Israel, but she proved herself to have the same faith that Israel had when He wrestled with the angel of the Lord all night and refused to let the Lord go until the Lord blessed Him.

This was written so that our faith might be encouraged and strengthened by this woman’s example. We have a lot of in common with her, don’t we? This woman is a good picture of our lives. We find ourselves in the hour of utmost need. We have a dire need. Our health falters. We need a new job. We need a second job. Our family needs something. The list goes on. These adversities of the body are tests of our faith. God sends them so that we run to Him in prayer and faith. So in faith we immediately fall on our knees and implore the Lord for mercy. We call upon Him in the day of trouble. We ask. We seek. We knock. But all that follows is silence. There is no answer. Nothing is given to you. Nothing is found. The door is not opened to you. So often we pray, and fervently at that, in true faith and confidence as Christ commands, and yet, like with the Canaanite woman, He answers not a word. The adversities of life are always tests of faith. But God often does not answer our prayers immediately for the same reason: He is testing our faith, exercising it.

It’s in the exercising of faith that evil thoughts then arise. Perhaps God doesn’t want to help us. Perhaps we are beyond the pale of His mercy. Like the woman in the gospel lesson, we mustn’t let that evil thought take root in our heart. She had heard the good report about Jesus and believed it. She trusted what she has heard about Jesus. You though, you have the very words of Christ Himself. Christ tells you in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He consoles our doubts when He tells us, “What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:9-11). So our faith is fortified by these words of Christ. He does want to help us. We are not beyond the pale of His mercy. He gives us His Sacraments as visible signs of His grace as well. When in the hour of utmost need, when evil thoughts tempt us to doubt God’s good will toward us, we are to look to our baptism. In baptism God has made you His own child. Here in the Lord’s Supper Christ gives you His very flesh to eat and His very blood to drink to forgive your sins and show you, individually, that you are not beyond the pale of His mercy. He does not want us to ever imagine that He doesn’t want to help us.

There is another evil thought which hurts and assaults the soul. That is our own unworthiness. Just as Jesus pointed out that this Canaanite woman was unworthy, a “little dog,” so there are times when our sins accuse our conscience so that we suddenly remember our sins and feel their weight. We feel unworthy to pray. We feel that God should not hear us because of our many sins. But like the Canaanite woman, we must not run from our unworthiness, nor should downplay it. We must own it and confess our unworthiness as she did. This is why we prayed in the Introit, “Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness' sake, O LORD” (Psalm 25:7). When the evil conscience stirs so that you can only dwell on sins present and those long past, simply admit that you are a sinner and deserve none of the things for which you pray. Then press though and boldly ask for what you need. Your prayers are not answered because of your worthiness. God answers them for His goodness’ sake, just as He forgives you all yours sins not because of your own merits and worthiness but out of sheer grace for Christ’s sake.

This woman had great faith. Jesus says so. Her faith is written for our learning. Remember this woman when your prayers are not immediately answered. Remember this woman when God sends adversity of body, so that you immediately call on the Lord in the day of your trouble. Remember this woman when your Lord is silent, when evil thoughts try to assault and hurt the soul, for this is simply His way with all those who trust in Him. Her faith received what it sought because she endured testing and overcame. So you too shall obtain all that you ask if you overcome by faith, trusting firmly in Christ’s mercy. May God grant this faith to us all.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.