Sermon - Reminiscere - Matthew 15:21-28

“Remember your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.” When we pray by calling upon the Lord to remember His mercy and His steadfast love, we’re also reminding ourselves that God is merciful and that He has steadfast love for His people. God really is merciful! God’s love really is steadfast and immovable!

God’s mercy is incredible. Not too long before Jesus entered into Syro-Phoenicia where He met this Canaanite woman, He was at Gennesaret in Galilee. “And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.” 

The Old Testament itself is a testament to God’s steadfast love for His people. Countless times, again and again, the Israelites whored after foreign gods and ceased to worship the one true God. Yet He still loved His people so strongly that He would take on human flesh in Jesus Christ and suffer and die for the very people who mock, beat, and crucify Him!

Jesus is like a physician who comes to care for those who are sick, distressed, needy, sinful, and despised. Jesus says “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Jesus who is merciful, out of His steadfast love, came to care for people like us who are in need of His compassion and healing. The virgin Mary sang in the magnificat: “The hungry He has filled with good things; and the rich He has sent empty away.” Jesus came for the poor and the destitute, Jesus came for the sick, Jesus came for us. 

But why then does it seem like so often we have to remind God to be merciful and loving because it feels like He’s forgotten us? Why does it seem like God is sleeping? Why does it seem like God is ignoring us? Why doesn’t He answer us when we call upon Him? Why is God silent?

Like the Syrophoenician woman, we’ve heard that God is merciful and that His steadfast love endures forever. We feel our need, for we and our loved ones are severely oppressed by demons. Our bodies are sick. They are frail, weak, and dying. Our souls are sick. They are sinful, depraved, and indignant. Our bodies and our souls are sick. We are in need. So we come to the Lord, crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!” 

“But He did not answer her a word.” What’s happening? What’s going on? I had heard that God was merciful and loving! I thought He would bow down His ear to me and listen to me! Is this the gracious and loving God I believe in, or is He all a lie? Why is He silent as a stone? Is He my enemy? Is God dead? What must I do?

What did the Canaanite woman do? “And His disciples came and begged Him, saying ‘Send her away, for she is crying out after us.’” She persisted. She didn’t trust in her experience of meeting a silent Christ, but she remembered the word she had heard which attested that Jesus is merciful and loving. She clung to the Word and she never gave up her confidence in Jesus. She continued to cry out after Jesus. We must cling to Jesus and we must cling to the word of hope that we have in Jesus.

But then Jesus seems to send a second blow, saying “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Before Jesus was silent, but now it seems as if Jesus is saying He wasn’t sent for me but for others instead. Those words must have stung like a bolt of thunder to the heart. Jesus was sent, He has come to rescue, but not me.

This poor woman, what does she do next? Does she forsake all hope and trust in God? Does she curse Him and walk away? “She came and knelt before Him, saying ‘Lord, help me!’” She falls down at His feet and worships Him! She cries out in desperation for help! This woman is steadfast and she perseveres.

But she then receives the harshest blow: Jesus answered her, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Right to her face, Jesus calls her a dog, not a child, but a dog. What do you say to that? What kind of an answer can you give? Oh this woman’s faith is so strong. She completely denies herself and concedes with Jesus’ judgment that she must be a dog. “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 

Her faith never faltered. Like Jacob, even when his hip was put out of place while wrestling with the preincarnate Christ, Jacob refused to let go. So should you refuse to let go of Christ when all it seems like you hear is “no.” For this account of the Canaanite woman has been recorded for your benefit and for your comfort. Jesus here teaches us that God’s grace is hidden, it is concealed from before our eyes in this life.

So frequently all we see is suffering and anguish. We see the impoverished continue in their squalor, the sick go from bad to worse, and 17 children murdered at the hands of an evil man. We see our prayers go unanswered over and over again. But Jesus teaches us not to judge our God based upon what we see and feel, but instead based upon the clear and certain Word which reveals God’s will.

Even though Jesus seemed to answer the woman “no” every time, the fact is that Jesus never told the woman “no.” It seemed as if Jesus told the woman He wouldn’t listen to her, but He never said that. Likewise, He never told the woman that she wasn’t part of the lost sheep of Israel for whom He has been sent. He also doesn’t call her a dog or a child, He leaves it open as to whether she is a dog or not. It sounded like Jesus was only saying “no.” But in reality, He was saying far more yes than no, and indeed His entire answer was yes! “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” 

This is the hiddenness of God’s grace. In this life we see only the cross. We see only suffering and anxiety. We see a lot of “no.” But hidden behind the cross, behind the anxiety, behind the suffering, behind the “no,” we find only God’s yes. 

We hear God tell us that He “has not called us for impurity, but for holiness.” Yet, when we hear this we must confess that we are impure and unholy. We are dogs. We don’t belong in God’s house. We are sinners. Unrighteous and deserving only of wrath and punishment. God is right, we don’t deserve His love and mercy. This is why we confess “I am a poor miserable sinner.” But this is again why we cling to the Word and remind God that He is merciful and abounding in steadfast love. We say “Yes Lord, I am a sinner!” “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

So cling onto Jesus’ Words! Hold God to His promises and tell Him that you are a sinner and that you claim the rights of all sinners, namely, the forgiveness of sins! Yes, we are sinners. We are broken people who have done broken things and we don’t deserve to be called righteous and holy. But God has promised to come for sinners, He has promised to come for broken people, and He promises to heal them with His forgiveness. So cling to that.

 Cling to Jesus and the forgiveness that He gives. Cling to the cross, even if it’s covered in splinters and blood and rusty nails, hold onto it and don’t let it go because hidden behind the cross is your Savior who isn’t silent, but instead speaks up on your behalf. Hidden behind the cross is your Jesus, who has come to rescue and restore you, His lost and lonely sheep. Hidden behind the cross is your Lord, who adopts you as His beloved child and feeds you living bread from heaven upon the altar of God.

By faith we wrestle with God and cling to Him in prayer. No praying isn’t as easy a task at it might seem. You may probably feel like the Syrophoenician woman who doesn’t immediately get the results asked for. It may be painful and it may never be fun. But by the power of your faith, cling to the Word, and repeat those words back again and again to God. Remind Him of His mercy and His love, remind Him of the forgiveness He promises, and you remember that God is merciful and loving, you remember that God forgives you and rescues you from many demons.