Sermon - Reminscere 2019 - Matthew 15:21-28

Last Sunday we heard the Gospel lesson where Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Spirit to be assaulted by the devil’s temptations. We heard how Christ went to battle for us, He fought our ancient foe, He strove victoriously and won the battle on our behalf. His battle with Satan began in the wilderness and it has been finished when He was crucified on the cross.

From that lesson we furthermore learned that every Christian will do battle with Satan in this life as well. Job learned this lesson the hard way since Satan pushed him hard, such that Job said “Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired servant?” St. Paul struggled with the temptations of the flesh all his life, such that he told St. Timothy, “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” 

The Christian life is a battle, make no mistake. It’s a grievous error when some pastors tell people that after a person is converted and has come to Christ they will have an easy life. It is true that after conversion a Christian is no longer under the power of the devil but under the influence of the Holy Spirit. However, just because we aren’t of the world doesn’t mean that Satan won’t attack us. We may not be of the world, but we sure do still live in the world. We do still live here where Satan, the prince of darkness, rules and goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking that we have a Christianity without a continual battle. 

And as great as the battle against the world, our flesh, and Satan may be, there is still a greater battle which Christians must wage. This battle is against God Himself. For in today’s scripture readings we come to learn that Christians must struggle and battle with even God. In today’s Gospel lesson, the Canaanite woman battles with Christ, God Himself. Thus we learn that through prayer the Christian battles with God.

So before we go any further with this sermon, let us continue our battle with God through prayer: Lord, how wonderfully You associate with Your own. You struggle with them not to conquer them but to be conquered. You alone are the One who gives them power to conquer. You will crown them. Oh, teach us today from Your Word how to struggle with You and conquer, that You may also someday gloriously crown and lead us into Your eternal kingdom. Hear us for the sake of Jesus Christ, Your dear Son and the Lord of our salvation. Amen.

So how is it that God battles with us? What is it that God does when He goes to war against us? To help us understand, consider our Gospel lesson. “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.” 

Behold a Canaanite woman with faith that Jesus is the Messiah, her Savior! This is remarkable, the Canaanites were wicked heathens who worshiped false pagan gods, and among those people was this woman, who had heard the Word of the Lord, and she came to faith. Goodness how she must have struggled and battled with Satan and the heathens which surrounded her everyday of her life! What’s more, her own daughter is under the possession of a demon. What zealous joy must have struck her heart when she heard that her Lord and Savior, Jesus the Son of David, has walked into her region where the Canaanites dwelt. This was her chance to beg of Him and ask for mercy from her horrendous tribulations. 

Certainly you would expect Jesus to treat this woman with all the compassion and concern in the world. This woman is a diamond among trash, a pearl among  swine! But Jesus didn’t answer her a word, in that way He did battle with her.

This didn’t stop this faithful Christian woman though. She only continued crying out all the more. Such that even the disciples of Jesus were heartbroken for the poor woman, begging and pleading with their Master to answer her prayer, come to her rescue so that she may depart in peace. But in response Jesus only spoke such cold words in her presence “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” As if Jesus were to say, “I was not sent for you. You don’t deserve my compassion. You’re not one of my people.” 

But the woman didn’t flee from Him in tears, returning heartbroken to her people, but she remained undeterred and fell at His feet stammering the simple words “Lord, help me.” As if to say, “Yes, Lord, I know that I am unworthy, I don’t deserve it, but you’re my Lord: help me!” When Jesus finally speaks directly to her, He says such insulting, wrathful, contemptible words, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

So we see how Christ our Lord does battle with us even today. Firstly, God tests us by means of earthly distress. We Christians get sick, our closest friends and family get sick and die, we lose our jobs, we enter into poverty, our name gets slandered, our friends betray us, others (including other Christians) treat us like dirt. Yet the Lord doesn’t keep us from this poverty. So we learn that “through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God” and “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 

What’s even worse than all of these afflictions and tribulations crushing us, is that when we cry out to God like the Canaanite woman, far too often God is silent. He says not a word. Then what He does say, well, it’s painfully obvious that we don’t deserve His love, compassion, and mercy. So our Lord does do battle against us, but not so that He would conquer us, instead so that we would conquer Him.

So how is it that we Christians can battle against our God and victoriously conquer Him? Again, look to the wonderful example of this Canaanite woman! As soon as Jesus came into her midst, she went to Him and cried out “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” When we’re faced with sharp tribulations in life, such that cause our heart to sink, our mind to despair, and our bodies to weep, we do battle with our Lord by turning to Him in prayer.

Do know that Just because you face many tribulations and the Lord allows these crosses to befall you doesn’t mean He doesn’t care for you. In fact, the Lord explicitly says “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline,” and “For those who love God all things work together for good.” As odd as this seems, your tribulations aren’t a sign that God doesn’t love you, but rather that He does love you such that He tests and disciplines you in order to build up your faith.

When we pray, we call out His name like the Canaanite woman and confess who He is and what He does! Namely, He is our Lord and we’re not praying because we deserve to be heard, not because of who we are, not because of what we’ve done, but because of who He is! He is the Son of David, the promised Messiah, who will rescue us from this veil of tears. When we pray, we don’t shy away from explicitly telling Him what we need, but we let all of our petitions be known to Him in prayer.

When He’s silent and seems to ignore us, we faithful Christians don’t give up the battle with Him, and we persistently continue in prayer with Him. If it seems as if He has rejected us because we are such wicked sinners undeserving of His good favor, we still don’t give up! Rather, we fall to our knees at the feet of Jesus and plead to Him, “Lord, help me.” We confess to Him our many sins and our many failures, we acknowledge that we’re sinners and we don’t deserve His loving kindness. We don’t deserve to be counted among His children and be seated at the table because we are but dogs.

So instead of looking to ourselves and our worthiness, we cling to God’s promises, which say “Whoever comes to Me I will never cast out,” and “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked,” and “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” We declare to God, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Our worthiness is not what matters, instead God is loving, compassionate, and gracious, so what matters is who our God is and what He has promised to us in His Word. 

So in that way you will be victorious over against God in your struggles with Him. He’s not warring against you in order to destroy you, but so that you would conquer Him. Thus, remember these three things as you do battle against Jesus. First, be humble and patient, it’s not about you and it’s not in your time. God will act in His time; He’s in control. Second, pray without ceasing and pray with fervor! Would that we prayed as ardently as this Canaanite woman. I know she puts me to shame. Third, and this is most important, keep the faith in God’s true Word in spite of your experiences and feelings of your heart. The battle and road is long, so don’t give up when it seems as if there’s nowhere else for you to go.

Because like Jacob who fought with God, you can win this battle with God. God wants you to struggle and come forth victorious as you pray with Him. So say to God, “I will not let you go unless You bless me.” Don’t stop praying anytime soon. Instead, become more brave and emboldened to pray to God and do battle with Him in prayer. No Christian has ever nor ever will regret spending time in prayer, since it’s time well spent. Because one day your battle will be ended and you will leave this world victorious. God will say to you, “You have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” “Great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire!” Enter now into the joy of your Lord.